Hi all,

I would like to get your feedback regarding some (newbie?) issues. There are some places (very few, unfortunately) like http://fountainpenreview.blogspot.com (I know, the last review is more than a year old), and (of course) this forum, with pen reviews.

Pens' qualifications:

Balance: Which would be the "perfect" (10/10) balance? The lightest possible pen? Heavy on one end and light on the other one? With how much ink in the reservoir?

Size: Which would be the "perfect" size? I find pens shorter than 11cm / 4 3/8 inch quite uncomfortable to use unposted (without the cap on the back). I don't like the feeling of very thin pens either (my Pelikan New Classic is about the thinnest "fine/OK" pen for me).

Nib: I find that some of the crap chinese pens my daugther buys for school (about USD 1.-) can be adjusted to write quite well. Of course they are going to be rusty in a couple of years... but nobody expects it to last that much either!! What would be the perfect nib? Having such a variety (stub, italic, BB, FF, M, XF, flexible, rigid, ...) might get comparisons quite difficult. Which is better, a Ferrari or a Rolls-Royce?

Any other site containing reviews? Besides this forum, of course.

Thanks to all.

Martin

Short of just going and buying a bunch of pens and figuring it out experientially -- not the worst choice, but costly and time-consuming -- my best advice would be to go to a small pen shop and spend some time there. If you don't have one locally, before you travel anywhere, search for a pen store in that area and set aside time to go.

If you do go the local pen store route, don't just go and try pens and then order online. If you're going to take up some of their time, leave some green behind.