What Are Your Work Horses? And Why?

[SteveID]

To my eternal surprise, my true workhorse pen turns out to be a black Ohto Tasche in medium, which never dries out, gets used almost constantly,is always up to the task, and is always accessible because the little (bleep) fits in any pocket anywhere.

 

For work, my go to drawing pens remain my Noodler's Konrad flex, my Rotring Art Pen EF, and to a lesser extent my Noodler's Ahab, which I would use more, except that it still fights back even after constant adjusting, even after owning it as long as I have.

[Jezza]

Lamy Safari pens with 14k EF nib. I use them until the cap wears out, and then swap nibs to a new body. At least, thats my plan. Ive yet to wear-out the friction fit cap, yet.

[Tom Kellie]

~ Montblanc 149 OBBB.

Writes and writes without any squawks.

Tom K.

[KaB]

For leisure, my Lamy Al-Star (1.1) is always on me. Scratches and dents don't bother me on this pen. The clip loosing grip on my shirtpockets does.

For work, there's a continuous rotation. But I'll always make sure to have my Parson's essential (amber, medium cursive stub) well filled in this rotation when I know I'll have to take a lot of notes in front of a client of when I run a workshop. It's dependable, nice but not too much of a show-off and the clip gives 100% security on a shirt pocket.

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

Very interesting to read what everybody is using and why!

 

I'm a student, so my choices are very humble.

 

My portable workhorses are two, depending on my location. One is the Pilot Kakuno with a Pilot Pluminix F nib. This one I use when I need to edit the grocery list in supermarket or add notes en-route, or write something on public transporation because it's a snap cap and it posts.

 

The portable workhorses I use when I can sit down somewhere such as class/library is my favourite chimera, the Wing Sung 698 with Pilot Kakuno F nib.

 

At home, my workhorses are the Sailor Pro Gear Slim FM (too scared to take it outside since it's my one and only gold nib), and my 2 Faber-Castell Loom with M nibs that I stubbornly use for hours even though my fingers ache a bit at the end of the day.

[TheDutchGuy]

These 3 are my main workhorses, the van Gogh being brand-new. I have 8 fountain pens and I use all of them, but these 3 carry the main burden. The Diplomat is probably my best pen by objective standards. The Kaweco is my all day every day pocket pen - I don't go anywhere without it. The Visconti is a pen that called my name when I saw it in the store, love at first sight and possibly against better judgement. Despite all my fears (and perhaps even prejudices), it is a lovely pen to write with.

[Orthostylos]

My go to Workhorse is my Namiki faceted VP-F.

 

Writes like a champ, versatile and as a Japanese fine does not bleed through.

 

Click to write, and click to put away.

 

I prefer the Con 20 converter, but the option of pilot cartridges on the go is an advantage.

 

 

I have been using it some 20+ years, it has some scars (clicker brassing) but then again, I am not as pretty as I once was either.

[AL01]

I have used an older VP before.

 

They are MUUUUUCCCHHH easier to handle than newer ones, (even the Decimos, IMO).

 

Are their plastics durable?

[WanderingAuthor]

First, to state my qualifications, although I love vintage pens, I am also more afraid of anything happening to them, so although there are several I love and use often, I would not quite call those "workhorses". And as a writer, I want a pen that will hold a decent amount of ink, write for a long session with little or no fuss, and which is relatively easy to refill. The more expensive or hard to replace the pen, the less likely I would quite think of it as a "workhorse".

 

With all that in mind, I have recently decided the ideal choice for me is the Noodlers Ahab. Simple filling system, decent amount of ink, the demonstrator models let me see how much ink is left at a glance (and even unscrewing the barrel for a moment isn't a big deal) and I can reset the nib and feed fairly easily on my own to make sure they have good ink flow. So far, I have found no reason to regret this decision.

 

There is one accessory I wish Nathan would make for the Ahab - a cylinder full of ink which can be screwed on in place of the cap to serve as a portable option for refills - and I also wish there were ebonite examples of this pen available, but the Ahab is about as ideal as it gets for serious, all day writing.

[zap210]

My current edc is a Pelikan P1 with a steel P25 nib. They are now rare and expensive, and not super robust, but I have three of them. They don't leak or dry out with temperature or altitude changes, and can lie dormant for months then write right off the bat.

 

When the P1's die out I'll go back to my Parker 45's. Every good thing you hear about them is true. The 45 ticks all the edc boxes.

 

I use a Lecai for writing checks once a month. I think it may be one of the best under $10 pens being sold now. I have had no problems with it at all.

 

For some reason my franken pen Reform with a Parker 45 nib just won't quit no matter what I do to it. It works all the time and does not leak. I keep it as a backup to my backup.

 

One can't talk about edc pens without mentioning edc ink. All the pens above will work fine with any ink except old Superchrome, IG, or india, but I use a mixture of Pelikan 4001 black and Pilot BB. It works reasonably well on a variety of papers and I have a gallon of it.

[KLscribbler]

The old faceted Vanishing Point is a great and durable pen with just one vulnerability: the threads in the middle of the barrel on the button half of the pen are plastic, and over long periods of use, they can break. Ron Zorn once wrote a blog post about the repair of this by installing a new set of threaded brass inserts: http://mainstreetpens.com/wordpress/?tag=thread-repair

 

My go to Workhorse is my Namiki faceted VP-F.

Writes like a champ, versatile and as a Japanese fine does not bleed through.

Click to write, and click to put away.

I prefer the Con 20 converter, but the option of pilot cartridges on the go is an advantage.

VP.jpg

I have been using it some 20+ years, it has some scars (clicker brassing) but then again, I am not as pretty as I once was either.

 

 

I have used an older VP before.

 

They are MUUUUUCCCHHH easier to handle than newer ones, (even the Decimos, IMO).

 

Are their plastics durable?

Edited March 21, 2018 by KLscribbler

[Joe Penmanship]

I've read so many positives and negatives about my go-to workhorse -- it is a pen with many viewpoints. My sweetheart Lamy 2000.

 

I will always grab my Lamy 2000 if I need a pen that is always ready to write with no muss nor fuss. Other pens that I like to write with for long stretches of time (or just show off with) such as my Montblanc Jules Verne or my Omas 360 just aren't reliable enough when ink is expected on a page right here and right now. Those pens, and others, often need a bit of priming and love before they can make me instantly proud.

 

So Lamy 2000. She's my dependable girl.

[biancitwo]

My EDC pens are virtually all Pelikan. The new ones are 2 M600s and an M800. In addition, I will always have at least one 400NN, usually the tortoise, one 140, these days a burgundy, and a 100. This past week I have also had a Sailor 1911 L, with a 21k H-B, reworked by Pendleton Brown (PB). Except these last few days while working the Sailor, if I carry only a couple of pens, they would be the M600 dark blue, with a PB CI, and an M800 black, with a PB CI. The M800 has the broader nib. The Sailor has a narrow CI, also by PB. The older Pelikans have nibs from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, nibs likely original to the pens. They are stubs, EF, F, M and a B, mostly with flex.

[dfbach]

For longer writing sessions I mostly use my Aurora 88 M. The size is just right for me, very comfortable, the nib is smooth with just a hint of feedback, and the ink capacity is good. And I just love the look of the satin black and rose gold.

 

For short notes, jotting things down on the go, or if I'm just carrying a small notebook with me (like I do at trade fairs), I usually go to my Waterman Expert M (matt black with silver). It glides wonderfully over the page with good ink flow, and it doesn't look quite as pretentious as the Aurora. I'd probably prefer it in F, though. The thick, wet lines fill up little notebooks very fast.

[Orthostylos]

I have used an older VP before.

 

They are MUUUUUCCCHHH easier to handle than newer ones, (even the Decimos, IMO).

 

Are their plastics durable?

I have two of the facted Namiki VP's. My one has brassing on the clicker, the other, which I do not use as often, but sits on my desk looks pristine.

[pajaro]

Parker 51. Always works comfortably. Montblanc 144. Doesn't dry out overnight requiring heroic life support measures in the morning.

[Noihvo]

[lucraak]

Lamy Safari pens with 14k EF nib. I use them until the cap wears out, and then swap nibs to a new body. At least, thats my plan. Ive yet to wear-out the friction fit cap, yet.

 

Good luck with wearing that cap out... In June 1998 I got a Lamy Logo with a friction fit cap for my 18th birthday. It is my daily writer since that day and still works like a charm (and the cap closes just fine ;-))

[wjeverly]

I write a lot of notes during my days, sometimes several pages a day, so I like being able to use non-premium paper, which means dry extra-fine nibs. Over the last four years I've rotated through a lot of pens searching for the best ones for this application, but my 1948 (1st quarter) Parker 51 Vacumatic and a red Pilot Prera - for my red ink, of course - have risen to the top of the heap and have become the ones I depend on.

 

Recently I bought a Sheaffer Sentinel Deluxe from Ron Zorn that is dry enough and "EF" enough that it has been added to my daily writers.

 

Walt

[AL01]

I have two of the facted Namiki VP's. My one has brassing on the clicker, the other, which I do not use as often, but sits on my desk looks pristine.

 

Hm...

 

Thanks for the heads - up.

 

I am actually waiting on my 3rd daily writer: a vintage Pilot Elite.

 

I sent it off to Japan for nib work.

 

Hopefully it will come within a week or so.