Recommendation for my Son

[tankerjohn]

Lots of good info here. Here’s what I would do:

First, do a little research yourself. There are tons of “best starter pen” and “best pen under $XX” lists out there. Pen Addict, Gentleman Stationer, and Well Appointed Desk are good places to start. Also, the Pen Addict Podcast is doing their annual gift guide episode tomorrow, so you might want to tune into that.

Second, armed with knowledge of what’s good, go check out some of the popular online retailers and see who’s got sales and deals, etc.

Then, if you can, I would shop with your son and let him pick something out within your price limit. Fountain pens are very personal and it’s hard to tell what he’ll like. For instance, the Kaweco Sport is an awesome pen, but the design is somewhat polarizing and not what everyone thinks of when you say “fountain pen”. TWISBI Eco is an awesome pen, but does he want to jump straight into filling from a bottle? Will he like a clear demonstrator? The Pilot Metro is an awesome pen, but is the styling too staid? Anyway, you get the picture. Good luck and have fun!

 

[Vacumatic]

My daily pen, a Chinese copy of a Kaweco. all brass, tough as old boots, go anywhere. Its a copy of Kaweco sport, I like the design of the Kaweco but I have owned 3 and they were all duds, YMMV, I know of many users who say that they have had no problems with their Kaweco.

I like the styling, weight and coldness of the pen in my hand.

The pen was under $6 delivered.

 

[Doc4]

I like the design of the Kaweco but I have owned 3 and they were all duds, YMMV, I know

I have a bunch of Kawecos and they are all great. Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck.

The pen was under $6 delivered.

Yowza! No complaints.

 

[Vacumatic]

I have a bunch of Kawecos and they are all great. Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck.



Yowza! No complaints.

I saw thread elsewhere on Kawecos that dry up after writing for a couple of lines, the issue was blamed on porr feeds and may have only been a temporary issue, this was around 10 years ago, I tried to fix it myself with differemt inks and paper, even new nibs. Pleased to hear that Kaweco have fixed the issue.

 

[stream26]

I personally recommend the Pilot Kakuno. The nib is (afaik) the same as the one on the Metro, but lighter and with a rounded triangular grip which I personally find more comfortable to write with for longer durations. It takes Pilot cartridges/converters. Also, how can you resist the smiling face on the nib However, the design might seem a bit childish.

 

[dojpros]

Pilot Metropolitan. Mostly metal construction. Consistently good from the factory without the need to modify/tune.
Like most Japanese products, they absolutely exceed the intersection of quality and value.

Pen/box/converter/starter cartridge can all be had at well under 20 all day long from Amazon.
While there are many quality paper sources, the Black and Red notebook series on Amazon is very fountain pen friendly as well.

 

[Hecklor Koch]

I personally like the NOS Sheaffer Taranis fountain pens. Write very nice and made very well.