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Looking for starter fountain pen

I don't like the Lamy triangular grip so I'd recommend the pilot 78G or even better the Muji. I first saw it on "Peter Draws", He really likes it too. I bought mine for $15, Amazon has them for $20.Cool pen, writes nice
 
Wow. Your experience with a Safari and mine are completely opposite. It is one of the two smoothest pens in my small collection.

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Out of curiousity do you like medium or wide bibs? It’s possible the safari is a bit more forgiving with those tips in contrast with fine ?

it perhaps we just had a bad safari?
Regards
Avi
 
It's a fine nib in the Lamy, but that's fatter than the Pilot fine...

It was also the black with black nib version.

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Doc4

Stumpy in cold weather
Staff member
Out of curiousity do you like medium or wide bibs? It’s possible the safari is a bit more forgiving with those tips in contrast with fine ?

A lot of it boils down to personal preference, influenced by personal writing style. Most guys tend to experiment with a few different nibs to find their favourite.

The good news with the Safari is the nibs are pretty cheap, and easy to swap out.
 
Fenlander, your list of considerations before buying a new pen would be useful to me. I have a Metropolitan, and was given a Lamy 2000 recently as a gift. I started with Pilot Varsity disposables, which I still really enjoy. Regards, Lane

The things I look at now are:
- weight. Not so important for just taking notes, but for extended writing sessions a pen that is too heavy ends up cramping my wrist.
- section diameter. There's definitely a sweet spot, not too narrow, not too wide.
- section material. I find chrome plated sections really slippery and difficult, some do and some don't.
- I also avoid pens with big steps from the barrel to the section, that often bodes ill for me.
- design. There's too many good pens out there to use something that you're not drawn too. If it isn't something you want to use, you'll find yourself reaching for something else.

Obviously I look at the nib, but what people want varies enough that there's no point going into further details. I'll just say that not everyone likes flex, triple broad width or music nibs. Don't force yourself to enjoy something because it gets a lot of air time on the forums.

All very YMMV, but that's what I look at.
 
I’d recommend a Parker 75. You can find them online made of solid silver with a gold nib for not much more than $50, yet you will have a “starter pen” which is also a fine classic.
 
I just received a Lamy Safari in black, my second fountain pen ever. Really see this one working well at work.
My first pen was the Metropolitan. I still have it and like its weight.
 
I just received a Lamy Safari in black, my second fountain pen ever. Really see this one working well at work.
My first pen was the Metropolitan. I still have it and like its weight.
My first pen was a Pilot Metropolitan and my second pen was a Lamy Safari in yellow. Great minds think alike! I love both of them.
 
My first pen was a Pilot Metropolitan and my second pen was a Lamy Safari in yellow. Great minds think alike! I love both of them.
And as you said, another rabit hole!

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The Pilot Metropolitan and the Lamy Safari/Al-Star are recommended again and again THE ideal 1st fountain pen for a reason.
Google best fountain pen under 30.00. Those 2 come up almost always together. One or the other virtually always.
 
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