Looking for a fountain pen for a beginner

[LuckyGlenn]

I have never owned of used a fountain pen, but have carried a pen with me everywhere for years now. I currently rotate between parker jotter, zebra f701, and a fisher space pen.
I know absolutely nothing about fountain pens.
My budget is tight. I guess I am wondering if the pilot metropolitan is my best option or is there something better in the same price range?

 

[silverlifter]

Pilot Metro is good. For my money, a Lamy Safari or a TWSBI would be a better pen. The TWSBI is incredible value: piston filler, durable, and the nibs are great.

 

[Keyvan]

If you want to spend less than $10 and you want a heavy pen, I would go with a Jinhao 450. They are available in medium and Fine nibs and come in a variety of very interesting colors. You can purchase them on Amazon or AliExpress.

The Pilot Metropolitan is a bit slimmer and lighter, but it gives you 90% of the high end FP experience for less than $20. Pilot makes nearly perfect FPs.

I have the Lamy Vista, which is similar to a Safari. It’s a lighter pen and the ergonomics are similar to a standard pen.

Sometimes you can find Parker FPs at Office Stores on sale in the $30 range. This would be an upgrade over the other pens that I have mentioned.

One thing is that the fine nib on a Pilot would be finer than a fine on the Jinhao and European models.

All of these are very serviceable pens with excellent nibs. The Jinhao comes with a converter included. You would have to buy a separate converter for the Lamy and Parker pens. I can’t remember whether the Metropolitan includes a converter.

If you buy a fountain pen from a dedicated vendor, they will also give you some advice. The FP industry generally attracts very nice people.

Most importantly, get good paper (e.g. Rhodia or Heavy HP laser jet paper) and a nice non-permanent ink (e.g. Waterman Serenity Blue).

 

[The Blackadder]

TWSBI Eco, Pilot Metropolitan. The Pilot is great, I’d get it in medium.

 

[LuckyGlenn]

The twsbi is a very interesting looking pen. How durable is it?

 

[brucered]

Pilot Metro is good. For my money, a Lamy Safari or a TWSBI would be a better pen. The TWSBI is incredible value: piston filler, durable, and the nibs are great.

I own a couple Lamy Safari's (demo and aluminum) and my son has a Pilot Metropolitan we picked up a few months ago for him.

Having handled both....I vote for the Pilot in Fine. It's an awesome pen at any price point. The all black Metro is classy.

 

[Keyvan]

The twsbi is a very interesting looking pen. How durable is it?

The TWSBI is very durable. I prefer having a converter that allows me to change out ink more often. I would usually recommend a piston filler as a second pen, but you will certainly enjoy it. The nibs on the TWSBI’s are high quality JOWO nibs.

 

[airmech]

For paper, look at Composition books, get the ones made in Brazil, they will work best for Fountain pens!!!

Tom

 

[dojpros]

Pilot Metropolitan far exceeds the intersection of quality/value/performance.

The Lamy safari-polymer body is near bulletproof in its construction unlike the al-star aluminum version which can scratch and dent a bit ( I love them I have several al stars on my desk with matching inks but…)

Because the Lamy‘s cartridge holds more and refills easily v. the converter that often comes with the Pilot, I might lean Lamy despite the fact that pen and converter (which much be purchased separately) might be 30-40 all in v Pilot at 20-25 which comes with a converter.

Links are illustrative

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

 

[Capt. Pat]

There are several good options, many are listed above. A word of advice be sure to include in your budget an allocation for ink(s), and good fountain pen-friendly notebooks/paper (Rhodia or Clarefontaine are good places to start, Moleskine not so much). Venture over to The Fountain Pen Network - https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/ --- if you dare

 

[blethenstrom]

Many good suggestions that I agree with here on this thread. If you just want to dip your toe in I would go for a cartridge pen. That way you do not have to commit to an ink bottle and converter/ink syringe. Pens listed above like the Lamy Safari, Lamy Vista, Pilot metropolitan are great pens. If you want to step into fountain pens and don't even want to spend $20 - $30, here are some alternatives:
Platinum Preppy ~$6
Pilot Kakuno ~$10-14
Platinum Prefounte ~$10-15
Platinum Plaisir ~$11-16
All of them will come with an ink cartridge and you can pick up a pack more for a few bucks. Try it first and then get into the ink bottles. Fountain pens for me is a much worse rabbit hole than shaving stuff.

 

[Kent Kimmons]

MAy be a bit late, but Lamy Safari and Parker Quink ink.

 

[gpjoe]

I'm a n00b, so...

My first pens were:

Pilot Metropolitan (M)
Lamy Safari (F)
Lamy Al-Star (M)
TWSBI Eco (M)
TWSBI Diamond 580ALR (M)

The only two that I use regularly are the TWSBI pens. They hold a bit more ink and write very nicely - smooth with little feedback (scratch).

Still, the Metropolitan is a heck of a nice pen. It's brass and heavy for its size, writes very nicely, and a great value - under 20 bucks on the 'zon.

 

[Matt O]

I have owned two TWSBIs, and I have had two TWSBIs have piston/plunger mechanism fail on both…so I haven’t had luck with the TWSBIs.

I like Lamy Pens…solid…quality…I have owned two Safaris and a 2000…all three, great pens!

 

[Breen]

I don't venture into this area of B&B much but I'm a fountain pen user, and I'd like to echo the Jinhao recommendation.

I like the 750 because I prefer silver to gold.

You cannot go wrong with a TWSBI, Metro or Safari either.

@LuckyGlenn - Did you ever end up taking the plunge?

 

[Breen]

Here's one of my Jinhao 750s

This one is textured (not the starry night). I got it on ebay several years back and I've never seen another one like it for sale anywhere. It's fitted with a Nemosine "re-entry" .8 stub nib.

 

[Breen]

I looked on ebay for a Jinhao for the first time in years and I see the textured version of the x750 from multiple sellers, so I guess it's much less exclusive than I thought it was.

 

[Keyvan]

I like the Jinhao pens. The nibs are always good and have never given me any problems. The 100 Centennial is a nice lighter pen and the 450 and 750 are heavier pens. I have many Jinhao's and none of them are bad. Penbbs is another vendor that consistently gets good reviews, but I don't have any of their pens.

Ironically, the only pen that I have ever had a problem with is a Sailor Lecoule. The lower section developed a microcrack and leaks a small amount of ink. If somebody wants a pen for long writing sessions, I would go with the Safari or the Pilot Metropolitan. They have really worked out the ergonomics on those pens.

You probably get more pen for your money with the Jihaos (better aesthetics), but they are not quite as ergonomic for long writing sessions.

 

[blethenstrom]

I like the Jinhao pens. The nibs are always good and have never given me any problems. The 100 Centennial is a nice lighter pen and the 450 and 750 are heavier pens. I have many Jinhao's and none of them are bad. Penbbs is another vendor that consistently gets good reviews, but I don't have any of their pens.

Ironically, the only pen that I have ever had a problem with is a Sailor Lecoule. The lower section developed a microcrack and leaks a small amount of ink. If somebody wants a pen for long writing sessions, I would go with the Safari or the Pilot Metropolitan. They have really worked out the ergonomics on those pens.

You probably get more pen for your money with the Jihaos (better aesthetics), but they are not quite as ergonomic for long writing sessions.

I have really taken a liking to the Jinhao 80 lately. Nice and solidly built. Yes it tries to be a Lamy 2000 and I do have a Lamy 2000 as well, but for a pen around the office that I don't have to be so careful with it does a very nice job. The other benefit of the Jinhao 80 is that you can get the nibs all the way down to ultra-fine(0.3mm) and when you have crappy office paper to write on it really helps. The regular Lamy 2000 EF that I have is really fat for an EF even with European standards.

 

[Keyvan]

I have really taken a liking to the Jinhao 80 lately. Nice and solidly built. Yes it tries to be a Lamy 2000 and I do have a Lamy 2000 as well, but for a pen around the office that I don't have to be so careful with it does a very nice job. The other benefit of the Jinhao 80 is that you can get the nibs all the way down to ultra-fine(0.3mm) and when you have crappy office paper to write on it really helps. The regular Lamy 2000 EF that I have is really fat for an EF even with European standards.

A while ago I purchased the Jinhao 85 ($8) and the Jinhao 911 ($2). The 911 has an EF nib and it performs very well. I use it to test pigmented inks. The 85 is a Parker 51 clone.

I don't have the 80 or the 82, but they both look like nice pens with optimized ergonomics. I definitely recommend the Jinhao 0.3 mm nib for writing on cheap paper.