What Did You Try And How Did You Feel About It? (2017)

[Flippy]

I bought four Lamy Safaris. Two dark lilac, one red and one yellow, all efs. One Pelikan M200 anthricite. All good.

Lucky. All of my previous Safaris have or had issues before. My first one (neon lime) had a problem with the cap mechanism right out of the box. My Lilac Safari has a nib problem, and my Neon pen I had bought a few days ago is writing in water-ink (due to the feed, I suspect.)

[inkfade]

I've bought six pens this year so far:

 

-2 Hero 616 (regular size)

-2 Hero 616 (jumbo size)

-1 Faber-Castell Loom (m)

-1 Delta Unica (f)

 

I had to buy the Loom in medium to take advantage of an offer on a site and planned on getting the nib exchanged for an EF, but I am enjoying the medium, much to my surprise, considering I only use needlepoint and ef nibs. The Delta Unica was an impulse buy, but I am very happy with it. It is the wettest pen I've ever used, but I love the way the ink pools on the paper.

[Aquaria]

I just realized that I've bought a whole bunch of pens already this year.

 

Far exceeded expectations:

 

Franklin-Christoph m66 Stabilis in Italian Ice, XF steel nib. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this pen. It rides in my Lihit Lab Smart Fit pouch, which means it goes everywhere I do.

 

Sailor 1911S in plain old black. Another XF nib, but in 21K. Love at first write.

 

Sailor Junior Demonstrator, MF nib. It writes so well that it convinced me to eat ramen for the next month so that I could spring for a 1911.

 

Pilot Kakuno, soft blue, F nib. For its price, it's an incredible writer.

Exceeded expectations:

 

Monteverde Artista in blue, M nib. Pretty pen, writes far better than its price point would indicate.

 

Diplomat Soft Touch in Grey, F nib. I bought it only because I needed to reach a price point for free shipping. Was blown away by it, especially since it's so inexpensive. It's now tucked into my Midori Traveler, so it's another pen that goes where I do, most of the time.

 

 

Met expectations:

 

Picasso 918 in Red. Not sure what the nib size is. Very pretty pen, nice packaging, smooth writer. I don't know that I'll write with it often since the nib is broader than my typical needs are, but I do like it a great deal.

 

Levenger True Writer in Always Greener, F nib, although it lays down a line much thicker than the Monteverde Artista. Go figure. Still, I like it, and the color of it makes me smile. It's an EDC pen for me as well.

 

 

Did not meet expectations:

 

Nemosine Singularity, in purple and azalea, both XF. They write well, but they have some serious drawbacks that make them NO NO NO pens for me, namely how the barrel and cap turn in the same direction, so that you never know which end will open up, and it's invariably the one you didn't want to open. Also, the nibs tend to be very creepy and will splatter ink inside the cap if you even look at them funny. I had splatters inside the azalea simply from laying the pen on the desk to look up something on my computer. Unacceptable. Especially if expensive inks like Iroshizuku or Bungubox are in them.

 

Pilot Penmanship, XF nib. Never again. I've bought two Pilot XF nib pens, and had horrible experiences with both of them. Misaligned tines, hard starts, dry writing even when the ink sorta comes down--Never again. I swear I've learned my lesson with this disaster of a nib.

 

Haven't decided yet what I think:

 

Sheaffer Calligraphy pen with a 2.0 stub nib. The only reason I have this pen is because it came with my iPenBox subscription. Otherwise, I probably never would have bought it. Obviously, I'm not a fan of broad nib pens of any kind. I don't have anything against them, necessarily, but my writing needs as a college student really don't leave much room for broad nib pens of any kind, never mind a 2.0 nib. Still, I have played with it, for the fun of it, but I'm not sure that I'll ever have much need for it, once the cartridge runs out. Which, with a nib that dang broad, won't take long.

 

Pilot Metropolitan Turquoise, with an F nib. I don't know what I think yet, because I haven't inked it up. The color alone is enough to make me love it to death, though. I might just keep it near, to see that beautiful turquoise all the time.

Edited February 25, 2017 by Aquaria