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Hi - Finally A Fp User After I Have Tried Everything!


CoolBreeze

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Hello, thank you for letting me join the community. I have loved pens all of my life and I am finally getting into fountain pens. I have loved pens all of my life and have gone through the entire gambit of testing and evaluating all of the disposable gels/rollers out there, through beautiful "rollerball" pens, rollerball pens that take fountain pen converters, and now finally to fountain pens. I am so excited to formally join the community as I have referenced the pages for several years now.

 

I have an unhealthy obsession with ST Dupont and my first nice pen was a ST Dupont Olympio Large Rollerball with gold trim. That quickly was followed up by another ST Dupont Olympio Medium Rollerball in Paladium trim. To my eyes they are some of the most beautiful pens I have ever held or seen. Unfortunately, they rarely get used because I have immense dislike for the rollerball refills of ST Dupont/Monteverde that kept drying out on me and had tremendous color variation. I must have gone through over dozen different ones. On the plus side one of them had the most beautiful blue/purple color that I wanted to replicate but couldn't do so consistently because of the variation with refills and required a lot of pressure to actually write. That brings me to.....

 

I quickly moved to the Visconti Rembrant Eco with the rollerball tip and converter. This solved two problems. 1) It was a much better writer than the refills of Dupont/Monteverde. I was also able to find the exact color that matched the 1 (out of 12+) refills that I tried with the Dupont. I wasn't the biggest fan of the "look" of the Rembrant and wanted something more "classic" like the Dupont so that brought me to....

 

I got a Faber Castell Ambition Rollerball - I got it because I loved the extra weight (like the Dupont) and that it took many different refills (as opposed to the proprietary refills of the Dupont) which seemed to scratch the itch of substantial feeling and good looking pen for me. Refills were better than the Dupont, but just ok by my standards. It still took a lot of pressure to write vs. the Eco which was a gusher.

 

This brought me to a hiatus using just digital technology and a tablet/stylus system. As much as I thought this would simplify my life, it just never caught on. It was very hard to use the tablet and reference my notes at the same time (so much app switching was a pain). I did like how I was able to have all my notes with me in a small package though. Ultimately, I just liked having notes in front of my while using a computer/tablet at the same time and the ability to turn pages quickly and reference a bunch of stuff quickly with a notebook and it eventually won out.

 

This brought me back to disposable rollerball/gel pens because I wanted different colors and a smoother experience than Faber-style refills (which were only a slight upgrade to dupont/monteverde) but a more "sophisticated" pen than the Visconti. I did figure out how to "hack" the Dupont proprietary system to accept the more standard refills of the Faber AND disposable refills that fit in pens like the Uniball 307. I still haven't settled on my favorite refill yet because that project got hijacked by discovering fountain pens.

 

Within a week of the disposable refill project, reviews for Fountain pens kept coming up on my search in youtube and I bit the bullet and just did it. I remember in the beginning of my early pen obsession that I never wanted to use fountain pens because I was worried they were too messy or potentially going to explode and destroy my suits. After some research, that fear was quickly dispelled. I started with a Pilot Metro (M nib), then got a Faber Castell Loom (M nib), then a Pilot Custom Heritage 91 (M nib), and finally a Faber Castell Loom (F nib). I have never enjoyed writing so much. I have started a journal which has been an amazing way to get my thoughts on paper and to organize them everyday. Before this, I have never done journaling in my life. I just love the hobby so far.

 

Some projects that I am working on - figuring out how to better my cursive handwriting and figure out what is a more beautiful (but a still fast) way of writing for business meetings than the traditional basic American cursive. Potentially, getting a stub nib to see how that affects my handwriting. Good note-taking systems for work where I have one notebook but lots of projects/topics that I need to organize in it. Maybe finishing the disposable refill project that I started. Finding some new inks to try out (I am starting out a fan of more waterproof/resistant ones).And finally, every once in awhile looking for a new old stock fountain pen of a Dupont Olympio in Paladium (medium or large) but that will probably not happen as I am worried too much about counterfeits.

 

Anyway, thanks again for having me! Enjoying the journey!

Edited by CoolBreeze
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Welcome to our little corner of the universe from a pen user in San Diego.

...............................................................

We Are Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams

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Welcome to FPN! Enjoyed hearing your story - definitely recommend trying a stub or italic nib, particularly for letters or journaling. Enjoy your stay!

Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I found out long ago.

~C.S. Lewis

--------------

Current Rotation:

Edison Menlo <m italic>, Lamy 2000 <EF>, Wing Sung 601 <F>

Pilot VP <F>, Pilot Metropolitan <F>, Pilot Penmanship <EF>

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Hello and Welcome to FPN!! Glad to have you as a member!!

PAKMAN

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Hello and welcome to FPN.

Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous  Who taught by the pen

Taught man that which he knew not (96/3-5)

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Hello and welcome from Indiana!

Please visit my store A&D Penworx.

Brands we carry: Benu Pen, Conklin, Kaweco, Monteverde, TWSBI - Diamine, J Herbin, KWZ- Clairefontaine, Field Notes, Rhodia, Whitelines

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Welcome! We are glad you are with us!

"The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it."  - Selwyn Duke    

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Welcome !

 

The only healthy fp obsessions are Parker and Esterbrook.

Treatment for your condition is available on this site.

 

Write with joy.

Edited by Sasha Royale

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Hello and welcome to FPN, from Cape Town, South Africa.

To sit at one's table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a [fountain] pen - that is true happiness!


- Winston Churchill



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