This summer I was asked to write about choosing a first fountain pen for the 'zine All This Is Mine. I didn't put the article online initially so as to give people incentive to buy the 'zine but asked the publisher to let me know when it sold out so that I could post the article. ATIM #12 is still available, but #13 is out and she told me to go ahead and put the article online. So I did!

Choosing Your First Fountain Pen

I know it's a subject most people here don't need, but the question of how to get started does come up from time to time, and besides, I'm sure folks here will have suggestions or additions that I should have included.

Splicer,

Nicely done. You struck a delicate balance between pedantic and not enough information to make an intelligent decision. I applaud your efforts, and your results. If you do a follow-up article, I suggest you mention some characteristics of different brands, and filling systems, say a compare/contrast on Piston, Aerometric, C/C filler, Lever Fill.

Donnie

Donnie, thanks for your kind words and your suggestions. I'm certainly shy about getting into the relative merits of particular brands. Even if for no other reason, I haven't tried 'em all and any recommendations would be severely limited by my own experience.

However, I cringed at your mention of filling systems. That was an oversight on my part. I'd recommend a cartridge/converter filler for someone's first pen, and I really should have said so with some mention of the other options. I wish I'd shown it to you before it got published!

I'm waiting for the controversy to begin [rubs hands together like Mr. Burns].

Start with the Pilot Varsity...? ORLY?




My emoticon is laughing.

Hehehe, well, that's what I said and I'll stand by it.

I've never seen a Varsity skip. They write whether held entirely vertical or at a shallow angle to the paper. I've never seen a Varsity leak or drop ink on a document. They are as low-maintenance as a ballpoint. Their nibs are smooth and easily withstand the sort of pressure that someone fresh from a lifetime of ballpoint use will bear down with.

And for two bucks no one will get mad at me for suggesting that they go get one, even if they think it sucks. My posterior has covering.

Splice that into your memory banks, baby! Hey Splicer, that article was very well done IMO, both the text and the drawings. Remembering a time when I was an uber newbie (instead of just a newbie like I am now) it would have been great to have a reference like that before purchasing my first pen. Have you ever considered putting that into print, perhaps with a few additions such as how to work the various filling mechanisms, etc.? Such a reference, even in pamphlet form, would likely encourage a lot of people to start using fountain pens. The various stationery and office supply stores would likely find it a useful sales tool or pen purchase add-on. That being the case, you could make a little extra moola on the side, too.

Heh. Maybe it's time for me to start a part-time career in pen sales.

Not sure how to work a business model around giving out pamphlets, but it's an intriguing idea. And a quite flattering one as well!

Well worth the time reading it Splicer. Well done. The drawings are amazing too.

Thank you so much!

What, no one's gonna jump on Ethernautrix's controversy? Heh heh.

Congrats, great job!!!

I rather enjoyed the article. I could pick nits, of course, but overall it was an evenhanded and useful guide.

The pricing discussion is a bit perturbing, though. As you move above a certain price point, you are no longer buying a higher quality pen. You may be buying a more beautiful pen, or a fine piece of art, or jewelry, or tchotchke, but pen quality tops out somewhere. My feeling is that it is somewhere around $500 but other opinions may be equally valid.

You correctly point out that there is very little qualitative difference between pens as you move up in price. Other values come to predominate.

While my "best-writing" pen is indeed my most expensive pen, a Waterman Edson, my second through 10th next best writing pens seem to fall into the $50-$150 range. However, my $12 Wality is nearly as good and my $35 Phileas is the writing equal of pens twice the price.

The Price - Quality - Value equation in Fountain Pens is probably the most delicious part of this strange hobby we share.

My major "nit" to "pick" with your article is that while a disposable FP may be a good way to learn if you like to write with fountain pens, they are not a good way to learn if you want to live with a fountain pen. Filling and cleaning are critical aspects of fountain pen reality. Just writing with one isn't enough.

Nicely done indeed!

Andy

Thanks Andy!

I usually carry a Varsity or two around. When someone expresses some interest in one of my pens, I give them a Varsity and say "keep it. If you like it, we'll go find you a real one." The Varsity gives a nice taste. I suppose it depends on whether the person in question is sure they want a fountain pen or not. If she or he isn't sure about wanting a fountain pen, a couple bucks makes for a painless introduction.

I do wish I'd touched on filling systems, as that would have opened the door to the filling and cleaning aspects

Let's see if I get asked to write "Choosing Your Second Fountain Pen" so that I can make amends for my omissions.

Nice job on the article, Splicer and I love the line drawings!
I have to admit I did a bit of a double-take when I saw your recommendation of a Pilot Varsity....but (and I've said this in the past), it is a very reliable fountain pen that lays down a really nice line, so if someone isn't sure whether or not they like using a fountain pen or not, the Varsity is a cheap way of trying out an FP.

Well, if it makes you feel better, my first FP was a Pilot Varsity.

The nib looked flimsy, it was too light, wrote too wet with ink seeping through all over and worst of all, it was only available in dead-boring blue and black.

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So my girlfriend bought me a Safari with a converter

Incidentally, I still use the Varsity in cases where I need to use boring colours e.g. on forms.

The Varsity is a sweet pen. I've never had one skip or start slow, which is a lot more than I can say for pens hundreds of times its price.

At the risk of going on a tangent, the FP world needs good, inexpensive reliable pens for people to use as starters. (Almost) no one starts out with a $600 pen or even an $85 pen. The vast majority of the public thinks $10 is an obscenely high price to pay for a pen. It's the Varsities and the Vectors that keep new blood coming into the market. Newell/Rubbermaid is shooting itself and the entire FP market in the foot by distancing itself from low-end fountain pens.

I'll tell you something. If it weren't for the Varsity, and to some degree the Knight, I wouldn't own my Bamboo. I bought the Bamboo mail-order without having held one in my hand, essentially sight-unseen. I figured that if Pilot could get a $2 pen and a $50 pen as right as they did, that they could be trusted with $400 of my money. To me that's a huge amount of trust, and not many penmakers inspire that level of trust. I didn't buy my Edson without using one first.

Well done. If it were my article I would mention the rituals involved in the care, feeding, and use of FPs. For me it's a grounding and useful antidote to an increasingly throwaway world.

- Yumbo