Well I ordered some cheap Pilot Varsity pens for my first fountains and I was at work jotting some stuff down, when I accidently jammed the nib into the plastic sleeve inside the cap. From what I can tell it snapped the little weld that connects the 2 halves of the Nib (correct if I am wrong, I am very new to FPs) and now it writes horribly. The ink comes out unevenly and is very thin. I guess it's a good thing I have another one at home, and that I didn't buy something that cost more than $2 for my first FP.

~ Alex

It's always nice to learn on the cheap stuff. But you'll always be learning (read: screwing up) and the pens will get more expensive. Brace yourself.

Yuck - but sounds like it was a good thing they were the $2 versions. One FP which is pretty indestructible is the Lamy Safari - very rigid nib but works well and has taken a fair share of abuse from me. And for only $21-25, it's not too bad on the pocket book.

Yeah the Safari is the next pen I plan on buying, hopefully lesson learned on capping FPs too fast!

Do not worry, that is nothing compared with what I did today: I plugged a 110V device straight into 220V. Luckily the cost of the replacement was only U$ 15. I confess here because none of my colleagues or students visit this forum