I am new to fountain pens as to this site, but I've always been a little hung up on writing implements. When I was younger (a child, young teenager) it was heavily dip pens (of any variety I could afford)--plain dip pens, glass pens, bamboo, even touristy feather pens with changeable metal nibs. Sealing wax also occasionally came into play. Also, mechanical pencils: I have always used exclusively mechanical pencils (since the first grade!) and for the last 6 years or so have had a "thing" for 0.3mm mechanical pencils, and so I have a lot of those.
Until recently I stuck to 0.25mm gel pens and a Pentel GraphGear 1000 0.5mm ballpoint pen for the majority of my writing; I tend to hate the feel of writing with ballpoints as well as the finished look, but this one is fantastic and has a point fine enough for me.
A few days ago, though, I fell down the rabbit hole and ordered a Lamy Al Star in Silvergreen (I was going to get a Safari, but I'm not yet sure if I could deal with the plastic casing--I'll have to find a store and see if they have any I could hold) with a converter and some Noodler's ink; I can't wait for these to arrive so that I may play with them. I'm kind of balking at buying anything nicer or more expensive before doing a lot of research, which is how I ended up here.
All but one of my friends think I'm a madperson for noting differences in pens, pencils, writing, and papers, so I'm glad to have found a place where there are others who share this particular interest.
(Oh, and me in general? I'm currently in college; a computer science major with an electrical engineering bent.)
I have been using fountain pens since junior high school (25 years now, since I have gone back to college). They are addictive! You will find all kinds of great advice here.
