Hello all!

I just wanted to say hello and that I'm really glad to be here. I've been a fountain pen user off and on for a very long time. Due to all my computer use I've developed problems and I find it very hard to write for very long with anything other than a fountain pen. Unfortunately this has also led to me needing lighter fountain pens.

I had gotten rid of all my fountain pens at one point in time for a reason I cannot remember. Must've been temporary stupidity. But on the bright side it gives me a great excuse to search and search for that perfect pen once again.

I've been using a Pilot Preppy in pink lately. I found it in a great bookstore in New York. I LOVE Japanese fountain pens and I know the first thing I'm going to be buying soon is another Vanishing Point. I think they're truly a love it or hate it pen and I absolutely love them. It's such a little work horse.

Thanks for letting me introduce myself and if anyone has any great suggestions for mid to light-weight pens with fine or extra-fine nibs I'm listening.

Hi there and welcome aboard!

You might want to try out a Pelikan M200 or M215 or M250. I'd say they are all mid-to light-weight. My M215 weighs in a 21 grams. You can go up the scale up to M1000 which is the biggest and heaviest here. An M320 is even smaller than the M200 group.

Lots of luck here!

Mike

Hello Orangina and Welcome to FPN!

I'm sure you are going to have a good time among us other FP-lovers.

My recommendations for lightweight FP:s, available in F-nib are:

Pelikan M200
Sailor Sapporo or 1911M

or perhaps a quality cheapo like Reform 1745 that you can find here on this board.

Lennart

PS: I'm a Swede, but the photo of me is taken in NYC 2004.

Hello and welcome to FPN!

I don't have any recommendations(I don't own any japanese f/ps)but as you have already seen,there are more than
enough folks here to help indulge your desire for japanese fountain pens!

John

Welcome aboard!!

Welcome to FPN.

Thank you all for the warm welcomes. Other than the VP I don't have any favorites so thanks all for the suggestions too. So far I've used Montblanc (some worked well most didn't unfortunately), Cartier (couldn't get fine point so I never really enjoyed using them as much as I may have otherwise), Lamy Safari (don't remember much about it because I can't remember where the pen went off to) and the various VPs and cheap plastic Pilots (those have actually worked better more of the time than others).

I've actually been curious about Pelikan fountain pens for a while now but for some reason I've never gotten one. Maybe it's time. So something in the 200 range then? I must say I truly miss a nice heavy fountain pen but it takes me days to recover after using one.

Welcome!

Where 'bouts in Jersey? I'm in Pennsauken.

Thank you for the welcome!

West Paterson. I think I'm about half an hour outside New York as long as traffic agrees with you. I'm not familiar with where Pennsauken is.

Pennsauken is right across the river from Philly, about a mile from being under the Betsy Ross bridge. We're just north of Camden. Exit 4 off the pike puts you in Moorestown. I'm about 7-8 miles from there via 73 N.

Just FYI, there's a pen show scheduled for Sep. 19-21 just outside the Newark airport up your way. Check out www.richardspens.com for not only a wealth of info about pens, but if you scroll down to the bottom you'll find a show schedule. I went last year and plan on it again this year. A great time!

Wow! Thank you for the information. I'll definitely put it on my calendar and check out the web site.

Welcome. I prefer lighter weight pens and my Pelikan M200 is wonderful.

Welcome to the FPN.

Mark

Welcome to FPN,

had you not said you love japanese pen I would have sais Pelikan as well, but if you like fine AND japanese then you ought to get a look at Sailors!

I remember hearing about Sailors in passing a few years ago but I never looked into them. Thank you for the recommendation. Do you happen to know a good, reliable site to obtain one?

Do you have one yourself? What's it like?

I dont have one yet but they are high in my must buy list They have very good reputation in term of nib smoothness and in term of F and XF I read many times that they are among the smoothest "out of the box". If you do some search in the Japanese forum you'll see that they are highly regarded.

As for where to buy the first two that comes to mind are Pam at www.oscarbraunpens.com and www.nibs.com

Again welcome to FPN

The best site for Sailors, according to my knowledge, is www.nibs.com

I love the username.. Orangina such a good drink lol

Hello and welcome to FPN!

I'm in the same boat! Can't use a lot of my heavier pens any more---I'm sticking to the Sheaffer NN, the Pelikano Jr., and a few from Hero. I also like a fatter pen; a skinny one tires my hand out.

I need good smooth nib-ness as well.

Welcome.

Welcome!

Sorry to hear about your hand issues; I can sympathize, because I've been struggling, recently, with similar problems of my own. Those struggles led me to post an omnibus review of several pens, focusing on ergonomic considerations. (I have the greatest success with lightweight, wide-profile designs.) Here's a link to it...typographical errors, poor photographs and all. I hope there's something useful there.

One of these days I plan to post a sequel, covering several other pens that have proven to be reasonably comfortable: a Ratnamson Supreme eyedropper (as well as some other Indian Ebonite pens); a Danitrio "Mae West" pen; a Senator Softique Euro (inexpensive, but surprisingly good); and a few others.

There's such a diversity of designs out there - vintage and modern, expensive and cheap - that I'm confident you'll be able to find a few pens that will work for you. Good luck!

Cheers,

Jon

I have a Sailor Sapporo Fine nib that is nice and smooth. It writes finer than my EF Pelikans. I also recommend getting it from www.nibs.com. If I don't buy my pens from them they end up there anyway.

Great review, Univer! Thanks for linking it. Want Schneider! Want!

Thank you! I enjoy the drink very much too. It goes great with Sunday brunch.

I too really like wider pens but they are so very hard to find for me. It seems like every one I run across weighs so much.

I think my next pen may be a Sailer. I've been to nibs.com (so many thanks to everyone who has recommended them!) and they have a great selection so it wouldn't be too hard to find one. I did see something else there that totally caught my eye. It's the Nakaya Piccolo cigar in black. Wow. I saw that and I fell in love! Unfortunately it seems like they don't have any in stock and they have a notice that when you order one it can take a few months to get it.

In the meantime I've obtained a new VP. It's a workhorse and I love it even if some days it does feel a tad heavy. Today I ordered a Pelikan 200 and it'll arrive tomorrow. I'm rather anxious about it. I've never had a piston pen before and I always make a mess with the converter. I really want to get more into pens with a piston system and I thought the Pelikan might be a good place to start. It seems like most everyone here likes them and it's not too horribly expensive so if I completely mess it up and have to send it in to be fixed.

Thank you so much for the link to your reviews Univer! What I've read so far is very helpful.

My dream is for a pen that doesn't weigh much, on the chunky side, a nice fine (to super fine) line and on the dry side. lol I don't ask for much do I?

Not at all and John Mottoshaw at nibs.com can deliver! The Sailor nibs are great and run small. My Sapporo fine is thin enough I could almost draw eyelashes on a mosquito. For a thicker pen I would go for the pro gear. When you talk to them on the phone ask them to get John to make it on the dry side and I always ask to have it made smooth as possible. Everyone there is very helpful!

Thank you so much for the information! When I purchase my next pen I'm definitely going to call there. I've looked at their web site and I really like the looks of the Nakaya pens too.

Hiya!

I'm in NJ too, in the Woodbridge/Edison are ^_^ Great to have another NJer here, hehe
Light fountain pens? I'd put another vote in for the Pelikan M200, as well as the Waterman Phileas. Heros are great too (not to mention underrated ;P).
Welcome to FPN!!

So funny you would mention a Pelikan M200! I bought one just last week. It's a fine nib and I'm really loving it. It writes a little wetter than what I'm used to but the Pelikan ink seems to dry pretty fast so it's not a problem.

I've never been down into that part of New Jersey before but I hear it's really pretty. Thanks for the welcome!

I dunno about pretty, but we have a lot of malls XD I literally live right between Menlo Park and Woodbridge. I also recently got my Pelikan M200, fine nib

How do you like it? I enjoy writing with it but I think I'm just so used to my VP that it automatically ends up in my hand no matter what. I sometimes have to force myself to reach for it. I'm really into that piston though. And even though it's fine it's not quite as fine as my VP and it seems like the bigger (wider?) the nib I have the larger I write and that kind of stinks when I have pages and pages of notes that I have to search through for the information I need. lol