Worst Brands Of 2016

[jar]

First, welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell.

 

Starting out in fountain pen advice on what to avoid is oft misleading. First, I suggest not buying too many pens. Stick with what you have for awhile. Then, instead of buying that next pen, set that money aside to fund a trip to a pen show, a local pen club meeting or a Brick and Mortar store where you can try and fondle and lok at a drool over hundreds of pens.

 

Get a feel for what YOU like before heading down the Yellow Brick Road.

[TheRealMikeDr]

Hello!

 

I am new to the fountain pen world, so far I've purchased the Pilot Metropolitan and the Lamy Safari, and I was curious to know of any brands I should steer clear away from. Pen brands, ink brands, notebook brands... Any place you've had consistent bad experiences with would be helpful.

 

Thanks!

 

Those are both highly regarded pens by the masses - and two that I purchased very early on as well!! I find them both to be superb values actually - now that I have a number of higher priced pens as well to compare them to. If you like them you may do well to explore other pens put out by Pilot and Lamy.

 

I'm not an old vet at this by any means but my strategy has been to purchase pens that are well reviewed (by numerous people) by established brands. There's always a chance you can get that one in a thousand pen that's trouble - but your odds are rather small based upon my research and experience.

 

Perhaps I've just been lucky but I've spent more than I care to admit this year on fountain pens and have yet to be unhappy with a single purchase - buying from Pilot, Platinum, Lamy, Pelikan, Parker, Cross, Montblanc, Nakaya, Sheaffer, etc.

 

Good luck and try not to stress about it!

[kakunofan]

I'm fairly new to fountain pens as well, and this is what I noticed so far:

 

- If you can try a pen before buying it, that's really worth it. We don't all hold our pens the same way, and that might affect the experience. (Example: the way I hold pens make the Pilot Metropolitan really hurt my index finger, so I had to get rid of mine.) it's easy to get good deals online, but that doesn't mean anything if the pen is not comfortable to use.

 

-Go for ink samples first, if you feel you might want to try a lot of colors or aren't sure about what you want.

 

Just my new-to-this two cents anyway

[sirgilbert357]

I'm fairly new to fountain pens as well, and this is what I noticed so far:

 

- If you can try a pen before buying it, that's really worth it. We don't all hold our pens the same way, and that might affect the experience. (Example: the way I hold pens make the Pilot Metropolitan really hurt my index finger, so I had to get rid of mine.) it's easy to get good deals online, but that doesn't mean anything if the pen is not comfortable to use.

 

-Go for ink samples first, if you feel you might want to try a lot of colors or aren't sure about what you want.

 

Just my new-to-this two cents anyway

 

Along these same lines, I would add that you should order a variety pack of papers to test out too. Goulet sells a pack that did the job nicely for me. Paper should not be overlooked; it is a vital part of the trifecta that creates the whole experience: Pen, Ink, Paper...the right paper can transform a pen (or ink) you thought unusable into something that's a joy to use.

Edited May 27, 2016 by sirgilbert357

[torstar]

Oooh I'm not sure we're allowed to post negative comments here.

 

But Moleskine has certainly fallen out of favor with me. Can't really say why.

 

only MB and Moleskine can be hammered with the most baseless finger pointing on here...

[ac12]

 

 

Along these same lines, I would add that you should order a variety pack of papers to test out too. Goulet sells a pack that did the job nicely for me. Paper should not be overlooked; it is a vital part of the trifecta that creates the whole experience: Pen, Ink, Paper...the right paper can transform a pen (or ink) you thought unusable into something that's a joy to use.

 

 

Not a TRIfecta, but a Quad.

- pen

- ink

- paper

- writer (the writer him/herself is a critical variable that many people seem to overlook; how they hold the pen, how much downward pressure on the pen, do they roll the pen, etc.)

[snowbear]

Well, let me see. My Noodlers ink bottles always break when I drop them on concrete.

My plastic Noodler's bottle didn't break, so if you have sidewalks, just shop carefully.

[rwilsonedn]

Unfortunately, questions about good or bad labels on pens tend to bring out everyone's pet peeves. But from a beginner's point of view, our prejudices are not that important. It's easier than that. In general, then:

 

The good news is that just about any pen brand you are likely to find as a beginner will work fine, right out of the box, after proper flushing. (Flushing is important for any new pen except a pre-filled disposable.) Not every pen is perfect, so take a look at the pinned topic Five Bad Things That Happen With New Pens if your new pen doesn't write well.

 

Ink is a different matter. If you use any ink intended for fountain pens, you should be fine. There are some specialty fountain pen inks that are waterproof or of historical interest, but you needn't worry about them now. What you must be careful about is to never, ever to use ink (such as India Ink) that is not intended for fountain pens. It will mess a pen up very quickly. Beyond that there is endless debate about inks, but the bottom line is all readily available fountain pen inks work pretty well--some better than others with a particular pen and paper.

 

Paper is another complicated topic, with endless combinations of pen, ink, writing style and even weather causing endless debate. Unfortunately, many papers today are made for printers, ball-point pens, or other devices with very different characteristics from a fountain pen. Some will take ink poorly, some will take so much that the ink bleeds out into fat lines and blobs, and some will wick the ink right through to the other side of the paper, making a mess. Basically you can only tell by experimenting. So the rule is, try anything you are interested in writing on, but don't buy a large amount of any paper the first time you try it.

 

Beyond that, there is at least one set of opinions for every member of FPN, and you are likely to see a good sample.

Welcome, and thanks for asking a great question!

ron

[inkstainedruth]

What rwilsonedn said is right on the money. But be aware that your tastes could very easily change. If you had asked me 3 years ago I would have told you I'd NEVER own a Lamy Safari -- that I didn't think I could get used to the triangular grip (I had tried someone's, early on, at a pen club meeting). Then someone gave me a Jinhao 599 (which is a Safari/al-Star knock-off) -- and it wasn't too bad. So when the Dark Lilac ones came out this year and I saw the color (and that they came with black clips, so not as obtrusive and paperclip-looking) I just had to get one. Will it replace my Plum 51 in the "favorite pen" category? Hardly -- but it's also Not Too Bad, and the F nib is pretty smooth.

Of course I also thought I'd never get a Parker Vacumatic (because I didn't like that Art Deco look to them) either. Now I have 5 of them....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth