Affordable Luxury Pens That Are Ideal For Taking A Copious Amount Of Fast-Paced Lecture Notes?

[apkayle]

The Japanese Sailor-Sheaffer fountain pens have fine yet not too fine (not a hairline width) nibs. They can be found for less than $50 on eBay and they'll accept international short cartridges. I've heard they're compatible with mini converters but I just refill the pens using empty cartridges and syringes.

 

The Kaigelu line is "luxury" in that their pens have handsome decorations and aesthetics. And of course, the pens are very very cheap. I recommend the Kaigelu 220 if you're prepared to smooth a possibly somewhat scratchy nib.

 

The pens I just listed have no problems with fast paced lecture note taking, and this is coming from a college student who endured 2 hour long lectures on finance.

[CharlieTurtle]

Yup. I wouldn't mind using an FP its just I had a bad experience with the TWSBI 580. And waht are the chances that a Lamy Safari will fare any better?

 

To be honest? fairly decent, as it's entirely possible that there was some kind of issue with the Twsbi or paper or something. Wouldn't recommend a Safari though since you didn't like having to 'learn' to hold it.

[xwingrox]

Yup. I wouldn't mind using an FP its just I had a bad experience with the TWSBI 580. And waht are the chances that a Lamy Safari will fare any better?

 

The Pilot Metropolitan is a cheaper alternative to the Safari and a decent way of finding your way back to fountain pens. Furthermore, it does not have the Safari's horrible finger indents.

[huhjunn]

 

To be honest? fairly decent, as it's entirely possible that there was some kind of issue with the Twsbi or paper or something. Wouldn't recommend a Safari though since you didn't like having to 'learn' to hold it.

 

 

The Pilot Metropolitan is a cheaper alternative to the Safari and a decent way of finding your way back to fountain pens. Furthermore, it does not have the Safari's horrible finger indents.

Great advice, thank you! Would the metropolitan be a good and non-scratchy writer for lots of note taking? This might sound like a redundant thing to say, but a lot of the notes I take are in the form of words as opposed to numbers (which I believe an engineering/math student would write). Will I have to learn to hold this FP in order to get a good experience? And what nib do you recommend to be the smoothest? Thank you.

[xwingrox]

The Pilot MR should be a good choice for note taking. I think the pen (which only comes in 1 nib size) writes in between a fine and medium, which I personally find suitable for long hand notes. Oh and the nib should be decently smooth considering the pen costs less than $25. I sound like a salesman at this point but the squeeze converter on the MR holds a pretty decent amount of ink as well.

How much you have to adjust your grip to make the pen write will depend on how much you are currently rotating your hand. You basically just need to hold any fountain pen in such a way that both tines are touching the paper at all times. Hell, I have lefty friends who write with their hands in a strange hook shape (no offense to lefties!) and they are still having fun.

[huhjunn]

The Pilot MR should be a good choice for note taking. I think the pen (which only comes in 1 nib size) writes in between a fine and medium, which I personally find suitable for long hand notes. Oh and the nib should be decently smooth considering the pen costs less than $25. I sound like a salesman at this point but the squeeze converter on the MR holds a pretty decent amount of ink as well.

How much you have to adjust your grip to make the pen write will depend on how much you are currently rotating your hand. You basically just need to hold any fountain pen in such a way that both tines are touching the paper at all times. Hell, I have lefty friends who write with their hands in a strange hook shape (no offense to lefties!) and they are still having fun.

Yeah, I don't have a problem with making the nib meet the paper so that the ink flows out. So I guess I should be good. So far there are no Canadian Suppliers of the Pilot Metropolitan, so shipping is an added 10 dollars on top of the 18 making it total 28 dollars for the pen. For that price is there anything else that I should consider for my needs? Thanks for your help!

 

EDIT: I actually found a site where shipping is only 3 bux! so its 16 dollars. (20 with tax)

Edited June 1, 2013 by huhjunn

[xwingrox]

Pull the trigger and get back to us after you've played with the pen

[huhjunn]

Pull the trigger and get back to us after you've played with the pen

Will do!

[dapv]

I continue to come back to my old Parker 51 fine/medium, and Ballograf Epoca BP. However, recently my old Parker 45, and not so old Pelikan M205 have worked their way in. The nibs, feeds, consistency, and reservoirs are terrific. The Ballograf Epoca has always been with me as is my very old Papermate Husky. Another pen I need to mention is my new Edison Collier with a fine steel nib. I have no affiliation with the Edison Pen Co, nor Goblet Pens. That said, I am as impressed with the ability of this Edison FP as I have always been with my Parker 51. BTW: The Goblet Pen Co - absolutely wonderful. Lastly, my Lamy Safari Al-Star with a fine nib holds up well to the test. These pens are always ready to write problem free. Now, without a doubt a push/click button for me is the most quick and convenient (not a Pilot VP guy), then the pull-off caps (not a Lamy 2000 guy), and lastly the twist off caps. Most satisfying w/o a doubt are the twist off caps, and in particular the Edison twist off cap.

Edited June 26, 2016 by dapv

[Mech-for-i]

I've finding the Platinum Plaisir a better one than the Pilot MR, especially after the fact that its almost 50% cheaper than the MR's price here in my locale. I have the Gunmetal finish Medium nib, but its not hard to customize it, just go buy the F and EF preppy and unscrew the nib and section and they will fit into the Plaisir right on. Making it possible for me to field a single pen with all 3 nib/section for the cost of the MR alone. This cost and pricing might not be the case in other locale though. Also I've found that the Platinum write smoother and more consistent than the Pilot. If that Luxury part the OP mention is allowed to slack, then I will probably go for the Pilot Kaküno ; I swap my dark gray cap and smoked section onto a white barrel ( which only come with transparent section and pastel color cap ) and it looks so modern and serious , sort of like a 60's retro single piece plastic furniture .. you know the kind, right.

 

Its kind of hard to define Affordable Luxury as they certainly contradict each other most of the times, but there are still quite a number of options about in the market.

[Arkanabar]

I'd look into a pair of pens, perhaps both c/c filled.

You start with the one, that has a converter. When it runs dry, you switch to the next, which may also have a converter. When you take a breath after you start using the second, put a cartridge in the first. Fine points will stretch out your ink supply. Your grip should be nearly slack; no pressure should be needed to get ink onto the paper. If it isn't smooth, the tip may be misaligned. Try examining it under 15-40x magnification to see if the tip is properly aligned.

If anyone suggests the Metro or Safari, I always add "or the Platinum Plaisir." It has more girth, it's made of aluminum, so it weighs less than the Metro and can handle more falls to the concrete (while capped) than the Safari. It doesn't have the annoying section facets of the Safari (de gustibus, you Safari fans) or the sharp step between barrel and section of the Metro. They generally provide some writing feedback, rather than having a super-smooth writing experience. You could also try a Pilot Kakuno, which should have a bit more girth than the Metro, and a hexagonal section, and a or on the nib to show you you're holding it correctly.

My preferred recommendation for EDC ink is Noodler's Heart of Darkness, Pilot Black or Blue-Black, or Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black. All are well-behaved inks with a decent amount of water resistance (HoD withstands everything once dry; the others are unlikely to wash away to the point of illegibility). If you find any of them taking too long to dry, you can dilute them a bit (10-20% water). This tempers feathering and smudging, and shouldn't affect darkness too much.

Iron gall inks are a solution of tannoferrogallic acid, which is clear in solution, and a colorant, usually blue. The colorant is so you can see what you're writing. The tannoferrogallic acid oxidizes in air to a dark grey insoluble solid. Iron gall inks formulated for fountain pens are pretty benign, as long as you don't let them dry out in the pen. They are sort of dry, but they behave well on most papers.

As long as you don't need a whole lot of lightfastness, you can try PaperMate InkJoy pens. They may need to be held really upright compared to a fountain pen, but they need very little pressure.