I am a newbie in the delightful world of Pelikan pens, and after my pleasant experience with a Pelikan M600 with a fine nib, I have decided to purchase a M1000 in the next few weeks. I am now choosing between a medium nib and a fine nib for that pen. I know Pelikan nibs are magically smooth and generously wet, but I am concerned whether average notebooks and most importantly, college blue books can withstand the tremendous ink flow. Furthermore, how are Pelikan mediums compared with a Mont Blanc mediums and Parker mediums in width and wetness?

Cordially
Greg

I found the medium nib in the first Pelikan I bought (an M800) too wet for my taste, to the extent that I opted for a fine nib in subsequent purchases.

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Col

FWIW, I purchased a Pelikan 300 series (I think) some years ago off eBay with a medium nib. I found it unusable and resold it immediately. Needless to say, YMMV (your mileage may vary) and will certainly be less than with a fine nib.

Try the nib in person if you can. My M320 came with a medium nib and I don't feel much of a difference between it and the fine nib on another pen. If you can't try in person and you decide you don't like whichever nib you get, you can send it in for an exchange.

My M nib on my m800 works very well even with cheap notebook paper. The only ink I've used in it is Noodler's Ottoman Azure, which is highly saturated. Its wet, yes, but not as wet as say one of winedoc's $33 pens, but it is wetter then my MB146 M nib. Of course, nib decision is not as important with Pelikans because you can always do a nib swap through Chartpak at no cost to you, other then shipping. I also have an m200 with an F nib and love it as well, I just prefer M nibs in general, more fun.

The nibs on my two M600s were on the dry to mediium side until I sent one to Chartpak and one to Dillo. So, based on other people saying that their Pels write wet from the start, there seems to be some variability in the way these nibs write when they come from the factory.

I have an M405 with a medium nib that writes very wet. I love it, but it would not be my first choice for writing in cheap paper that is likely to feather with such a heavy dispensing of ink. I also have a M400 and an M800 with fine nibs and those would be my choice. They are still wet writers but the fine nib helps when writing on paper that is less then ideal.

I've had much (much) better luck with Pelikan Fine nibs than Mediums. The Mediums I've had are often quite smooth in the sweet spot, but the edges are sharp and any nib rotation will result in definite scratchiness. I have had a couple nice Mediums (mostly steel nibs on m200/m215s), but by and large I only use Pelikan Fines, which are often very nice and lean toward a Medium line anyway.

I've just gone for a fine having had a broad in my M800; I made some enquiries about a medium and scoured the internet for advice before replacing the broad I had in the pen when I bought it.

The fine arrived today and it's absolutely lovely. Perfect for writing on the 6mm ruled paper that I have to use at work. The broad was exceptionally smooth but was a signature nib really. If I was writing on plain paper or 9mm ruled I'd probably have gone for a medium. Don't know if that kind of sizing helps?

IMO they are broader than the MB equivalent (having said that, I have had one MB medium nib that seemed much narrower than another - I've totally gone off MB pens though, my first (precious gift) pen has now got a cracked barrel for the second time and I'm reluctant to spend the money getting it repaired when I can use my Pelikan instead!)