Hi guys. I'm a senior high school student from the Philippines who's just gotten into fountain pens oh... two days ago.

My first pen was one of those cheap Parker ones (can't recall the name right now) loaded with cartridges which I gave up on because I was a kid and the thick lines (compared to ballpoint) just didn't suit my tastes. After that, I tossed it into the drawer, never to be seen again...

Last Saturday, while I was looking around for a small pen to go with my Moleskine (which I'm deathly afraid to write on by the way), I stumbled across my aunt's (I knew whose it was because it had her name engraved on it) old US-made Parker 45 GT, Forest Green, gold extra-fine nib, with an air-sac type converter (which seems to be permanently stuck in it). Being the impulsive person that I am, I ended up buying a converter and a bottle of ink, just for kicks, along with some other stuff (Uni Pins, and a Zebra F-301 Compact) the day after. To my surprise, writing with my old pen felt... great. It was smooth and it took near-zero effort to put thoughts into words - like writing with a fountain pen had some sort of weird placebo effect on my writing ability or something. Soon after, I secretly took (technically stole) the P45 from my mom's work dresser and tried it out, though only after a good thorough rinsing (it is 40-something years old, after all) and when the ink flowed, it was... comparable to running around in a field of flowers. Only, not exactly. Now, I've pretty much sworn off ballpoint for house-usage, and only for emergencies at school and everywhere else, like when the ink sac and reservoir for the both of the pens run out.

Anyway, sorry for having made you read all that, so I'll just leave a quick question:

What pen would you guys recommend that is:

-under $20 (that's all the money I can scrounge up, given my limited budget, though I could stretch it by a little bit),
-Parker, Waterman, Cross, or Mont Blanc, as they're the only easily accessible brands in the Philippines (obviously though, the latter two are out),
-black with gold trim, designed like a Flighter, or anything else that's clean, simple, and streamlined, in general,
-nice and weighty (roughly P45-ish or heavier),
-reasonably tough and can generally hold enough ink to take down lots of notes or memos, as I'll be bringing it with me everywhere,
-already equipped with an extra-fine tipped nib (I write small),
-one that uses a simple cap (not screw-in caps; nib retractability is fine too)?

Sorry for the long, long introduction. I'll uh, go back to lurking now >_>

What a find! You sound like you were born to be a writer. ^^

Under $20 might be tough. The only pen I am familiar with that MIGHT go for that price (of the ones you mentioned) is the Waterman Phileas, and you might have to go eBay to get one that cheap. I don't know if they come in black, though.

I do know they're smooth writers, and the long carts give you a lot of ink. And they're not too lightweight, but still light enough for me to use.

Others are more familiar with Parkers et al than I am!

Welcome to FPN.

The Phileas comes in black, blue marble, red marble, and (the one which I can never find) green marble. The black is available almost everywhere so you could try posting a WTB on the classifieds here.
You could also try a Pilot 78G. It is another wonderful starter pen. Also the Asian Fine nib is very well suited to small writing(somewhat dryer and more fine than European fines).
Hope that this has been helpful.

Hello and welcome to FPN! You may want to look at Duke or Hero pens.

hi, zeroblade, welcome to FPN from a fellow pinoy. if you do a search for "filipinos", you'll find that we have a pretty active sub-group here, and some of them are also teenagers like you (lance katigbak, for one). some of us just had a very fruitful meeting last saturday. (if you check my pictures on my signature and look around my flickr site, you'll see lots of pens and lots of fellow filipinos with pens.)

Hi, if you are a newby then you already have a lot of good experience!!
The only pen I cn think of would be a Phileas too. Might cost a bit more, but as far as I know, there are no better pens for less money.

Bet regards

Mike

Welcome. My favorite pen under $20.00 is the Waterman Kultur, but it doesn't satisfy your third and fourth criteria.

Welcome to FPN, zeroblade! I have a few tips for you:

1. Try National Bookstore for soon-to-be-phased-out Rotring 600 pens. They come in fine nib, are black and best of all, heavily discounted. But hurry, because they are going fast!
2. PM vintagepenster - he is Baguio-based but he may ship the stuff to you via Air21. He is currently thinning his herd of some 400 pens. I'm sure one of them is calling out your name. I recently got a lovely and pristine vintage Esterbrook LJ for way less than your budget.
3. Folks or friends traveling to Malaysia? Have them pick up a Lamy Safari at pengallery.
4. Try lancekatigbak's hand-me-down pens...

Enjoy your stay at FPN!

Hey guys, thanks for the advice!

Getting fountain pens online is indeed very tempting, and if I could, I'd jump at the chance to do so. Thing is, I'm still not of age to get a credit card, and I don't think my parents would find my buying an "overpriced" writing instrument very... reasonable. Likewise with mail-orders and non-COD stuff. Being a full-time student and all, I haven't a single chance to go to the post office to send and receive things, so I'll have to ask either parent to do it, leading to them having a fit about it. Which of course leaves only brick and mortar outlets and other, more well-supplied, local enthusiasts.

The Phileas does seem to be the most feasible choice right now, though I'll also try to look for those Rotrings and Pilots that you guys mentioned - I remember seeing a nice, black Rotring Esprit at a department store once, though apparently they didn't have the converter for it, so I held off on buying it - no sense in getting a pen intended for converter use without even getting a converter, right?

I'm rather... what's the word... a little reserved about just receiving pens from other people without anything expected in return. That, and of course, the whole post office issue.

As for the Waterman Kultur, I ought to take a look at that too since there'll have to be some compromise when it comes to having such a limited budget and such limited access (generally speaking, only places I can go to easily are anywhere near SM Megamall, Greenhills Shopping Center, Glorietta / Rockwell, or anywhere along MRT Line 3 - the Filipinos here will know what I'm talking about).

Again, thanks guys. I'll be poking around the local bookstores and stationery shops around the area to see what I can find.

PS: Are there any places within Manila that deal with the more hard-to-find pens? 16,000 Peso Pelikan M600's are of course, out of the question though.

Here you are:

Luis Store
375 Escolta St., Manila
Tel. 2413484 and 2412886

They have Pilot pens that are within your budget. Gogirl has a nice blog about Luis Store and Pilot pens. This is required reading before you go there.

Wow, um, how do I say this...?

By some strange twist of fate, the owner of the said store is actually a friend and former customer of my mom's. Ain't that something?

That connection must be worth something in your quest for the right pen for you…

I love it when these things just 'happen.'

Hello and welcome to FPN.

Hello and welcome to FPN. Kick off your shoes and have a stroll around the grounds. There is lots of good information as well as people willing to share information. Heck you might even pick up a pen or two at the Marketplace.


Once again welcome.

Kurt

Welcome to FPN!
I'm a Filipino HS sophomore.
Try a Parker Jotter or Vector, or maybe an Inoxcrom. If you go to some NBS branches, they have rOtrings. rOtring Cores are great, and they're only P600.

Oh god, the Core. I hate, hate, hate the core because it looks terrible and would never fit in my chest pocket.

On the other hand, the price is rather enticing. Still, I'd prefer to go for a few 600s, then just auction 'em off ebay for money.

Welcome to FPN!
I'm a Filipino college freshman.

There's always the Rotring Esprit/400. I saw one in National Book Store for about 600 pesos.

Welcome to FPN, Zeroblade, from a kababayan in NY state.

I'm planning to buy a couple of 600s in the near future, actually. Once I have money.
Cores are wonderful writers, you know. Even Richard Binder admits it-- check out his website.

They are!

I even like their looks. It's the grip I can't deal with.

Welcome to the FPN forums, from the "Water-Winter Wonderland State" of Michigan. It's really cool to see that there are fountain pen users in the Philippines. Sadly, I did not meet any while I was in Manila or Cagyan De Oro. In fact, the younger people I met in the latter, had never seen a fountain pen before.

Welcome to FPN!

I'm from Cebu and here in Cebu. We don't have a dealership for waterman's. National bookstore is only selling cross and parker's. where can i buy waterman's in Manila?

Welcome to the fun-filled forums!

Hello and welcome to FPN!

I would recommend either a Hero or a Parker Frontier.