Good, Tough, Cheap Pen

[william2001]

This has spent almost four years in my jeans pocket. Gets dropped at least once a month, crushed/scraped against walls on my morning commute, rarely gets cleaned, has been to some of the remotest places on earth and is generally a very "loved" tool.

 

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u11/davidfielding3832/IMAG0382.jpg

 

I uncap it and it writes every single time. I've treated it to a new style clip, because the old ones were pug ugly. Fitted it with a sac and a 1.1 nib. Pretty much my "Grail Pen".

You can probably take that to a war, and it wouldn't even get a scratch.

A very strong looking pen.

-William S. Park

 

EDIT: Grammar issues

Edited July 23, 2014 by william2001

[FayeV]

(I snipped the photos from the quoted sections so it won't take so darn long to load ... for those who have slower internet or are browsing from their phone)

 

I think the Lamy Safari/Al-Star/Vista pens are good choices, as well as the Pilot Metropolitan.

 

This has spent almost four years in my jeans pocket. Gets dropped at least once a month, crushed/scraped against walls on my morning commute, rarely gets cleaned, has been to some of the remotest places on earth and is generally a very "loved" tool.

I uncap it and it writes every single time. I've treated it to a new style clip, because the old ones were pug ugly. Fitted it with a sac and a 1.1 nib. Pretty much my "Grail Pen".

 

Beautiful photo. Whenever I run across one, I think, maybe I should get a Kaweco! I remember considering one a few months ago and then I nixed the idea. I can't remember why. Maybe because it was cartridge only and does not use bottle ink?

 

 

And FWIW, dont buy into the "you are a kid so you must only use cheap, functional pens as tools" comments you will get here - you are allowed to enjoy pens as a hobby as much as anyone else. As for budget, again - that is for you/your parents to decide on what is appropriate, not a bunch of strangers here.

 

+1

 

My 9yr old can play with any of my fountain pens, ranging from $6 to $600. No, she's not allowed to take the $600 pen to school. However she's quite attached to her Neon Coral Lamy Safari, filled with Rose Cyclamen, and takes that to school, sleepovers at the grandparents' house, and even on vacation.

 

It may look childish but a Pelikano Junior is a tough dependable pen that one can find for under $15 dollars. I just paid $10 and some change for one.

 

My daughter has a Pelikano. She tells me she doesn't like the grip and that the pen doesn't write well. It writes fine when I use it.
Yet she loves her Lamy Safari, even though it has a similar grip. Go figure. I think the Pelikano is a fine pen. I can only think of 2 faults: a fat cap that doesn't slide into many pen slots; no clip.

 

I have the most "beat-up" LAMY Vista anybody has ever seen It still writes fine.

 

Wow. So this is what my Vista will look like after a couple of decades.

[VOKEY]

Toughest inexpensive pen is the Kaweco Sport, hands down. It's very short and needs to be posted to write well for most people, no biggie if you usually post your pen anyway. It's about $25, but you need to buy the clip separately for a few dollars more. Here's a pic of my daily carry showing many years of shirt pocket wear:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/IMG_0227_zps9e468b85.jpg

 

Many younger types carry these in their pants pockets along with their spare change and whatnot. A really bullet-proof pen, I expect many will be dug up a few million years from now as the only trace of our civilization.

The warn patina on your pen is gorgeous. This post inspired me to get a blue Kaweco AL Sport, with the clip. I'm all excited about how it will look in a year or two.

[Thuja]

Beautiful photo. Whenever I run across one, I think, maybe I should get a Kaweco! I remember considering one a few months ago and then I nixed the idea. I can't remember why. Maybe because it was cartridge only and does not use bottle ink?

 

Kaweco Sport can be used with a converter as well.

[Namru]

Beautiful photo. Whenever I run across one, I think, maybe I should get a Kaweco! I remember considering one a few months ago and then I nixed the idea. I can't remember why. Maybe because it was cartridge only and does not use bottle ink?

I fixed that problem a few years ago when an official converter didn't exist.

 

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u11/davidfielding3832/IMAG0390_1.jpg

 

I believe the current converter Kaweco sells is basically the same thing.

[bernardo]

Let me start by telling you that I am a teenager who goes to middle school.

This means that all of my fountain pens I am carrying will be thrown everywhere, crushed between walls, dropped, and so on.

I used to write with my Parker Sonnet at school, since that is the cheapest pen I have.

However, yesterday, I dropped my pen at school and the cap almost broke.

I am afraid that my fountain pen is going to break soon.

Although Parker Sonnet is one of the cheaper fountain pens, I am 13 years old and $100 is a lot of money to me.

Is there any cheap (less than $100), but well performing pen I can bring to school?

Thank you in advance.

-William S. Park

 

I've had terriffic experience with these, all of which are well below the $100 mark:

http://76.my/Malaysia/pelikan-pelikano-fountain-pen-p480-1109-20-naturefine@3.jpg

http://gi2.md.alicdn.com/bao/uploaded/i2/T1oG_WXb4fXXbv9J.0_035024.jpg

http://www.studentbees.com.au/DesktopModules/Things4Sale/Vault/-1961408691.jpg

[WaskiSquirrel]

I've made some recommendations earlier, but I wanted to say that those who are recommending the Kaweco Sport are right: it's a fun, very rugged pen.