Favourite Cheap Pen

[ehemem]

This week it's my Pelikan Twist. Looks near indestructible, feels great in my hand. My only complaint is that it is only available with a medium nib...

[sandy101]

Platinum Preppy - very consistent & nice writers for the price. OK, being plastic, they're not going to last a life time, but great pens and you won't get upset if one disappears - the Platinum Plasir will last longer, but the funky plastic and coloured nibs on the preppy make them fun.

[fountainpenlady]

Noodler's Ahab. You can tweak it to write like you want it to, swap nibs, and it has a great filling system.

Just received my Burmese Red today. I love it! Swapped out flex nib for a Goulet Pen Company XF steel one toned. Now, my Bexley, America the Beautiful is pouting. I could not wait for the one purchased to arrive in the mail, removed nib from it. I love the Noodler's Ahab Flex. My A.T.B., not so much. Hope the replacement nib arrives tomorrow, or my pen case will be very uncomfortable for the rest of them.

[Oldtimer]

The Rosetta Explorer. $15. What a soft nib! It glides over paper.

[ScienceChick]

Nemosine singularity with a 0.6 mm stub. Because, stub.

Another Singularity fan here. I have two - a 0.6 and a 0.8 - and love them both. I also have a Jinhao 599A F that's a workhorse with a very smooth nib.

[OakIris]

The Pilot Metropolitan is an absolute gem. Retails for about $20 and is not too light, is balanced, looks nice, and is a great smooth writer. It's what got my interested in Pilot's other offerings since their entry level pen was this good.

LOL - that's pretty much what happened with me, too, though my "gateway drug" was the Pilot Varsity, followed by the 78G and then the Metropolitan. Like you, I was impressed by the quality of their less expensive pens, especially the quality of their nibs, and wondered how much better their more expensive pens might be. I have a Pilot Custom Heritage 92 on its way to me so that I can find out. It can only get more expensive from there.

 

Holly

[Freddy]

Glad it ended up in good hands! Enjoy your Torino! (which color did you get?)

 

Usin' to edit and for quick notes........excuse the poor scan........

 

Fred

[Barkingpig]

My Sheaffer No Nonsense pens that I "rediscovered" & led me to renewed interest in this madness. I had a bunch of the calligraphy nibs & besides being kind of fun to write with the same pen 50 years later one was a nice place to try the J Herbin Rouge Hematite without worry over harm to a more expensive pen. Gave me the courage to put the Stormy Gray RIGHT into a modern Sheaffer & after finally getting some of the Parker Penmans I was so confident (thanks to the NN's) I inked a Bexley Broad RIGHT up with Penman Mocha. I think it is pretty cool that a $1 pen is still writing well @ age 50+!

[FountainPages]

Hero 382.

[Arkanabar]

It might not quite fit under your price cap, but I am very impressed with the Platinum Plaisir (which I am given to understand shares nib, feed & section with the Preppy). I am also very impressed with my 3.8mm Pilot Parallel. I have some nice Hero 616s. As for the Ahab, I find I much prefer the Konrad. While the colors of the $20 model are nowhere near so pretty, I find the form factor much more agreeable. I've had good luck with 1mm Sheaffer Viewpoints, in spite of the humongous barrel cutouts. The medium (1.3-1.5mm, depending) is far less reliable IMX.

[ac12]

Reform 1745, F nib. About $12. Slimline (fits my small hand well), smooth writer, piston filler. Currently loaded with Diamine Sherwood Green.

 

Baoer 388, M nib. For less then $4 in quantity of 7, it is a GREAT buy. It is a good writer, once adjusted for flow. It looks good, just like a Parker Sonnet, so people think it is way more expensive than it is. Good enough to give as gifts. And if you want, it has a matching roller ball pen.

 

Honorable Mention:

- Baoer 801, M nib.

- Pilot 78G, M nib.

- Pilot Metropolitan, M nib.

- Rosetta Explorer, M nib.

[markleewebb]

Jinhao x750. Metal body. $9 with stock nib, which writes great, or $24 with Goulet #6, which writes a bit better.

[Moshe ben David]

Only pen I have at that price point is the Pilot Metropolitan. Although it definitely is 'punching' well above its price point! Love this pen.

[deepak23]

My Wality 69TLs. Less than $5 and write like a dream...

[mehandiratta]

My favorite these days is a cute pen by Jinhao named JINHAO 886

Amazing writer by the way.

My review of the same can be found here LINK

[Maurizio]

Noodles Ahab

[Nibbler]

I'm surprised at the lack of Lamy Safari's in this thread. I have two and they are super. Smooth and reliable.

[Blue_Moon]

Pilot Varsity and I love to give them away.

 

I love the Pilot Varsity, and that's my work pen of choice.

 

I'm surprised at the lack of Lamy Safari's in this thread. I have two and they are super. Smooth and reliable.

 

That's because the OP stipulated under $20.00. A new Safari is almost $30.00.

[Charles Rice]

I have to give the Pilot Varsity another plug. My brother is cleaning out his basement and in doing so, he found a box of pens that have not been used for at least 15 years. Two of them were Pilot Varsities. He gave them a try and they wrote like they were fresh from the factory.

[Skyppere]

Pilot Metropolitan is my favorite so far... I use mine almost everyday and I haven't had any problems with it.

I'll second that. I have two and they are flawless.

skyppere