I've always been interested in trying out a fountain pen, but two things are currently impeding my purchase of one. The first is that my writing is absolutely terrible, the second is that I'm a university student, so any free spending money has to be rationed out fairly wisely. I guess my questions for the established fellows of the Nib are: 1. Will using a fountain pen make my writing even worse, due to the free flow nature, and therefore make me enjoy the experience less? 2. Would you consider the writing experience that much better over a standard pen that you would justify the purchase, if on a tight budget? I know both answers are probably YMMV, but I'd still love to get some feedback.
To buy or not to buy ( ... ... ... um, "buy", obviously!!)
- Thread starter Thu'umhammer
- Start date
What is your budget? You can pick up a Pilot 78G for around 10 bucks or a Pilot Metropolitan for 15. Both very good starter pens.
A fountain pen will not make your hand writing worse.
A fountain pen will not make your hand writing worse.
I have atrocious left-handed chicken scratch. A FP makes you slow down, pay attention and focus on writing properly and neatly. It really helps, I guarantee it.
The metro is a good one, and if you really want to go less expensive, platinum preppy has some fans. Dare I mention the 616? 
Not sure how long you've been reading here, but when you ask a question starting with "Should I buy..", the answer is always yes. Unless you ask "Should I buy X or Y", and then the answer is both, and 3 others, too. Welcome to the AD enabling world of B&B.
Not sure how long you've been reading here, but when you ask a question starting with "Should I buy..", the answer is always yes. Unless you ask "Should I buy X or Y", and then the answer is both, and 3 others, too. Welcome to the AD enabling world of B&B.
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My hand writing go better because I loved using them so much... it really will depend on how much you love it
And there are pens and inks in every budget... you can even go to staples and get disposable ones for 4 or 5 bucks.. but they are not as nice
You are better off with the 78G or metropolitan and some ink samples or a bottle
You sound curious enough that you have just the right amount of enthusiasm that I'm sure you'll love your pen
And there are pens and inks in every budget... you can even go to staples and get disposable ones for 4 or 5 bucks.. but they are not as nice
You are better off with the 78G or metropolitan and some ink samples or a bottle
You sound curious enough that you have just the right amount of enthusiasm that I'm sure you'll love your pen
I'm still amazed by that. He has some great handwriting, and then there's the typing LOL
You can get a huge 4.5oz bottle of Heart of Darkness ink with a free pen included, for $19 plus shipping. (Be careful though, not all 4.5oz bottles of Noodler's come with the free pen, and some that do come with lousy Indian pens rather than the Preppy. It's the Preppy you want.)
- Thread starter
- #9
Thanks for all the responses. As for asking this question and expecting an "unbiased" answer, I knew you would all say yes, but I wanted to hear the reasons to see if they'd sway me. I think I've been swayed, I definitely wasn't aware you could get a quality fountain pen for $10 or $15.
- Thread starter
- #10
By looking online, I see the Staples near me has Parker Vector's for $30. Is that a quality pen at a fair value? And does the value compare to the Pilot pens mentioned above?
You can get a set of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens- black, violet and blue at Staples for $10. See if you like writing with them while you have fun color coding your notes. My handwriting improved and I was surprised how well I do without the spell ck though I frequently long for it.
- Thread starter
- #12
I'll have to swing by and check out their selection.
+1 on the Pilot 78g! i have one with a B nib and it writes amazingly well. You will never go back to other pens.
thu ( is there something you prefer to be called ?) For thirty dollars you could get a metro AND ink AND a nice note pad uhh but not including shipping so maybe just a pen and some ink samples lol
Ive never used the new parkers so im really not sure about the 30 dollar mark
- Thread starter
- #15
Thu'um is fine, or Hammer, or TH.
lol im less likely to spell TH wrong, but ill go for Thu'um as long as i can do so without messing it up,... if i post to you and call you TH im probably on my cell, and its better then thu...um
1 No
2 Definitely yes. B & Bers seem to reallyenjoy the finer things in life, even if they aren't necessarily expensive. A fountain pen is a finer thing. I signed my wife's Valentine card with a FP inked in a nice dark red. Looked pretty and just the effect Iwas going for. I couldn't have done that with a ballpoint.
2 Definitely yes. B & Bers seem to reallyenjoy the finer things in life, even if they aren't necessarily expensive. A fountain pen is a finer thing. I signed my wife's Valentine card with a FP inked in a nice dark red. Looked pretty and just the effect Iwas going for. I couldn't have done that with a ballpoint.
- Thread starter
- #18
Valid point dco. I tend to write my fiancee poems and essays on love for things like Valentine's Day and her birthday, I think a fountain pen would definitely enhance that. I hadn't even thought of that until you brought it up.
Ive told a few members for Bdays or Vday, to write their better halfs a letter or poem, use the fancy paper and Mail it to them. These days it so rare to get a hand written letter, it never fails to impress, and the extra effort of a stamp and a post box, just a cherry on the cake
- Thread starter
- #20
Imagine if it was sealed with wax.
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