College Note Taking Best Pen Recommendations Pls

[Whistlingwriter]

Hi, 40 yr old mom & college student (history major) here...getting ready to go back to college in August & will be taking a full course load with lots of note taking....lots & lots of note taking. Used a Pelikan M205 extra fine binderized nib with Noodler's Navy ink, TWSBI diamond 530 fine nib w assorted inks from Goulet ink drops & a Pilot Metropolitan medium nib w Noodler's 54th Massachusetts ink throughout my Associates degree classes.

 

I'm all tapped out inkwise now & would like to find 1 or 2 new pens to add to note taking rotation along with a couple of new inks. Prefer blue, brown & green ink colors.

 

Love the piston filling of the Pelikan & TWSBI & the screw on cap makes me feel more secure if I accidentally drop a pen (when not in use/uncapped, of course). I do admit, I love the inexpensive factor on the Pilot Metropolitan. Any suggestions for good fairly water resistant inks? Also for lightweight pens that hold a good amount of ink & aren't too pricey & do well for lengthy note taking?

 

Thanks for any suggestions! Hope I posted in the right place, haven't been on here in ages.

[lionheartlee]

I love my Twsbi Eco, the fine is perfect for note taking, if you'rs a fast writer consider a M.

[Dragonmaster Lou]

I'd basically suggest Pilot's Black, Blue, and Blue Black inks (available from JetPens.com as it seems like the other folks don't carry all of them) as good, fairly water-resistant inks that are also reasonably priced. If you look on Amazon or some of the Japanese retailers, sometimes you can get huge 350ml bottles of them for a very reasonable price, making them a true bargain if you need a lot of ink.

 

I haven't tried the TWSBI Eco myself, but everything I've read about it indicates that it'd be a good choice. Another alternative would be the Pilot Metropolitan, but carry a couple of extra cartridges with you just in case you run out. Cartridges are more expensive that bottled inks, but they are great as a backup in case you run out when you don't have your bottle handy.

[Erik Dalton]

I second Dragonmaster's recommendation of Pilot Blue black available in coke bottle sizes through Amazon. The stuff is very water resistant, low priced, and flows nicely.

As for pens, you seem to have already hit on the better ones. For ink supply and reliability I don't think you can beat Pelikan and TWSBI. You certainly wouldn't want to carry a Montblanc around campus. I don't know if you've tried this or not, but the TWSBI Vac 700 is one of my all time favorites. It's one of the larger, more robust and solid of the TWSBI line, plus it holds a ton of ink.

My other pen recommendation is a personal love of mine. The Gateway Belmont is American made by independance.com, Richard Binder's old company. The pen has a nice large smooth #6 nib in the front. They are Binder trained and will customize any nib to your liking. It's a piston filler with a simple plunger type system, that holds lots if ink. But the best thing is the way it just snuggles into your hand when writing. It's light weight so not a problem with long writing sessions.

Hope this helps some.

[ac12]

IMHO, the pen NEEDS to fit your hand well, in order to take notes FAST, and LIGHT in order to take notes and do homework over a long period of time without your hand getting tired.

 

I used a pair of Parker 45s with F nibs in undergrad and grad school.

- With a pair of pens, when pen #1 runs out of ink or stops for whatever reason, I just switch to pen #2. Then when I have more time, change cartridges or trouble-shoot the pen.

- The F nib stretches the ink to last longer than a wider nib. Also the F nib allowed me to pack more writing/notes on a page than a wider nib. And for classes where you have to write equations or drawings, a finer nib makes it easier to do those.

 

As for ink, I used Parker Quink black cartridges.

Though in hind sight, today I would use bottle ink in converters for both P45s. Although a converter holds less ink than a cartridge, a converter-full seems to last long enough. The method is to refill your pens after you finish you homework, so you start the day with a FULL load of ink in both pens.

I never had problems using washable ink, but there is always the chance of spilling a cup of coffee on your notes.

 

I rather like Noodler's Forest or Hunter Greens, but I don't think they are waterproof/water resistant.

Edited June 8, 2016 by ac12

[TheRealMikeDr]

The Lamy Safari comes in myriad colors and is a great writing (albeit a little on the wet side from my experience) pen. Lightweight and fairly indestructible. Cost effective too - if you lose it you won't feel too much pain.

 

Alternatively if you're looking to upgrade to something a little nicer looking you could look at the Metropolitan's big brother - the Pilot Custom 74. Pretty much the same size uncapped but comes with a nice gold nib and will look much more classy than the Metro. If you buy direct from Japan you can find one for around 80 clams. You can get the Con-70 converter for the C74 which holds a fair amount of ink although AC is correct - just do a quick top off of the tank every day or two and you won't have issues running out.

 

Another option would be the Platinum 3776 Century. Light and small and comes in a couple colors (I have the blue and it looks great!) and will be priced the same as the C74 when buying direct from Japan.

 

Good luck - my wife has one of her masters degrees in history - LOTS of research and writing of reports!!

[Erik Dalton]

Stumbled ont this extensive article on Pilot Blue Black ink, thought it might interest.

https://www.penucopia.com/pilot-blue-black-favorite-ink/

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

A previous Topic 'Tips For Writing For Long Periods of Time' seems a worthy read. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/293895-tips-for-writing-for-long-periods-of-time/?p=3410383

 

Your dedication to ongoing education is admirable - be all you can be and then some.

 

Bye,

S1

[ac12]

 

I'd basically suggest Pilot's Black, Blue, and Blue Black inks (available from JetPens.com as it seems like the other folks don't carry all of them) as good, fairly water-resistant inks that are also reasonably priced. If you look on Amazon or some of the Japanese retailers, sometimes you can get huge 350ml bottles of them for a very reasonable price, making them a true bargain if you need a lot of ink.

 

 

 

Those HUGE 350ml bottles are so neat.

One bottle would probably take me through 4 years of undergrad.

Edited June 8, 2016 by ac12

[strictlyobiter]

Ebonite? I used ebonite pens all throughout college and still today. Super light, and depending on the style you can buy one to your preferred grip thickness. I get no fatigue using them and I'd be writing 10+ pages of notes on an average work day.

[sandy101]

Something from the Faber Castell range - the Loom, basic or something like that. Not too expensive, but very nice nibs. Problem is the grip (certainly of the Loom) does not suit everyone.

 

Parker 45 is a good shout if you can get a good one - and you can get a matching ball pen.

[Water Ouzel]

Lots of good choices above. One of my favorite note-taking pens in the Lamy 2000.

 

Piston filler that holds a lot of ink, reasonably light, slip-on cap that holds securely. Quicker to remove/replace than a screw-on cap, and it's easier to keep the nib from drying out in between times of writeningness.

 

Another possibility would be a Pilot Prera; small, light, good nib selection, slip-on cap that again sets securely. The main shortfall of the Prera would be ink capacity, but carrying a spare cartridge or three, or a small vial of ink to refill from would be two ways of handling the issue.

[MBFan]

I use either a Lamy 2000 for when i'm feeling like using a nice pen. Otherwise, I have 2 EF Platinum Preppy's that are converted to eyedropper. I use those when I need to take lots of notes real quick, and don't have time to be sensitive about the pen/ angle held/ knocking it about etc. The preppy's are also handy because i can put in permanent inks (Noodlers Black and Baystate Blue) without having to worry about ruining the pen, thus making my notes waterproof (which has actually been a life saver once or twice). Plus, they actually look nice.

[Blue_Moon]

Except for the brown ink, this pen would suit the classroom perfectly - the Pilot Varsity. Comes in both the other colors you wanted - blue and green.

 

• A dependable writer.
• Cheap, so if someone borrows it, and forgets to give it back, it's fine.
• Cheap, so if someone "borrows" it, it's fine.
• Cheap, so if someone presses too hard because he/she doesn't know how to use a fountain pen, it's fine.
• Cheap, so if you drop it, and it damages it - no problem. However, if you drop the varsity, chances are it'll be fine anyway.
• You don't have to cap it each and every time you take a break from writing. Let's say the instructor pauses, or expands upon a point and you're just listening for a couple of minutes, or starts off on a rabbit trail, and tells the class a story for ten minutes. Most of the other pens are going to dry out, unless capped. Not the Varsity. It'll pick up without a skip or hesitation, I won't say 100% of the time, but I've never had a problem.
• You don't have to carry ink bottles or keep up with little cartridges, worrying about running out of ink. Just carry two or three of the Varsities.
• Lightweight

You can't go wrong with a Varsity! BTW, I have no affiliation with Pilot...Blah, Blah, Blah

[flipper_gv]

Eco is a solid recommendation and is easily maintainable.

[benbot517]

Like many others have said, the Eco is a great pen. Nice size, pretty comfortable, and most importantly pretty inexpensive. Another pen I'd recommend if you wanted to try something different is a kaweco sport converted to eyedropper. Holds a ton of ink in a small package. I have a demonstrator and love it. That said, it's not as practical as the Eco, but I find it to be a ton of fun. Which is why I love fountain pens: they're a ton of fun!

[Arkanabar]

Nemosine Singularity is an inexpensive, lightweight, screw-cap piston filled pen offered at xfountainpens.com for $15-20 with nibs from XF to B to 0.8mm stub. International c/c fill. It comes with a six-pack of cartridges and a converter.

Platinum Plaisir is an anodized aluminum pen offered with either 0.5 or .3mm tipping; my last one was under $15 from Amazon. It has section girth comparable to the Pelikan. You can leave it in a drawer for a year or more and it will write on the first stroke. The proprietary cartridge can be refilled with a disposable 3ml pipette. It has some tooth/feedback. eta: If you drop it on the nib, you can buy a Platinum Preppy (around $4-5) and drop the nib/feed unit in. Preppies come as fine as 0.2mm.

For blue, I like Noodler's Blue. For green, Diamine Sherwood. For brown, I am still making up my mind.

For water resistance, I have used Noodler's Red-Black. The red will run when wet, but the black won't. I think Heart of Darkness is the best behaved of Noodler's bulletproof inks. It dries quickly and feathers less than others I've tried, and it is everything-proof. Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black and Pilot Blue-Black are both inks Sandy1 has found to be quite water-resistant, and are inexpensive. So too is Iroshizuku Yama-Guri (Wild chestnut, a dark brown), but it can be rather pricey.

Edited June 9, 2016 by Arkanabar

[gordyt]

There is another Gate City pen that I recently purchased. It is the "New Postal." This thing has a 3.2 ml ink capacity! You can see it here and buy it here. They are $195 so may be a bit pricey, but they are great pens.

[Sasha Royale]

You are soliciting suggestions of which pen each member likes. Irrelevant ! What do YOU like ? Which of your current fountain pens is most comfortable to you ? What do you like about it ? What would you change about it ? What is your level of comfort, using the TWSBI and the M205 ? Heavy-handed or light touch writer ?

 

If I were going back to college, I would use Noodler's Heart of Darkness. It is easy to read and is bulletproof. Amazing what can be spilled on college notes ! (Yuk !)

Edited June 9, 2016 by Sasha Royale

[Erik Dalton]

There is another Gate City pen that I recently purchased. It is the "New Postal." This thing has a 3.2 ml ink capacity! You can see it here and buy it here. They are $195 so may be a bit pricey, but they are great pens.

Another Gateway fan. Nice to know I'm not alone. Welcome