What is the best cheap pen you can buy today ?

[goodguy]

If we put a price cap of lets say up to 35$ what would be the best pen you can buy ?

Old or new its up to you.

 

My thoughts are:

 

New pen I would buy a Waterman Phileas.Its a beautiful big smooth writer.Even though I sold mine it was a wonderful pen.

 

Vintage I would probably go for either Parker 51 or 21 depends of the price I could find.

Edited February 6, 2007 by goodguy

[Ray]

A Parker Frontier - for that price, probably two or three of them.

 

Ray

[helius]

Depends.

 

For Fine/Extra-Fine nibs: Three or four Hero 329/330 pens.

 

For Medium nibs: Pilot Knight, or a whole bunch of Pilot Varsity/V-pens.

 

For Broad nibs: Waterman Phileas or Lamy Safari/Al-Star.

[jd50ae]

Lamy or Varsity, hands down.

[jsonewald]

If we put a price cap of lets say up to 35$ what would be the best pen you can buy ?

"Best" covers a lot of ground. Is it based on overall characteristics, or writing quality, or build quality, or reliability, or... ?

 

With no other qualifiers, the Phileas and Safari would tie for top of my list, closely followed by some of the Chinese pens.

[Betty]

for a cheapie, like around $7, the Hero 329 is a really good wet EF writer. I love it's writing characteristics, but the barrel definitely feels cheap

 

Or the disposable varsity pen if you like a broader line, but somehow I don't think of the varsities as real fountain pens though

Edited February 6, 2007 by Betty

[KateGladstone]

Lamy Vista or Safari.

[EventHorizon]

A Little More Info

 

Might find something here also. I am a big backer of LAMY so I of course recommend those.

[Johnnie]

Here's some more suggestions that helped me.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=24387

 

J

[sonia_simone]

There are a lot of contenders. I'd say Phileas for me, with Safari right behind. If I could only keep one pen and it had to be worth less than $35, the Phileas is what I would pick.

[georges zaslavsky]

The phileas or the older waterman forum

[Cloud]

Waterman kultur fine nib or pilot 78G

[Ray-Vigo]

For a wider line: Phileas

For a finer line: Pilot Knight or 78g (if you can take self-fillers)

Edited February 6, 2007 by Ray-Vigo

[goodguy]

For a wider line: Phileas

For a finer line: Pilot Knight or 78g (if you can take self-fillers)

I love self fillers!!!

[Ruaidhri]

Hang tight, fill the piggy bank, then go for your "51"

 

You'll actually get a reasonable one far cheaper than you might think

 

Regards,

Ruaidhrí

[mmoncur]

There are lots of good cheap pens... A few "bests" in my collection:

 

- Pilot Knight

- Pilot 78G

- Waterman Phileas

- Lamy Vista

- Hero 100

 

In the vintage category, you can get a fully restored Esterbrook or Sheaffer Snorkel for $35, and if you're lucky a Parker 51 that works...

[KCat]

i would have said Safari but given the price increase I'm not going to. I'm amazed by that price since I had seen them for under $20 recently.

 

So I'll stick with my standard - Phileas or Kultur

 

I keep hearing about the Knight but sure don't see them in my Office Depot. (edit - was thinking of different pen.)

Edited February 6, 2007 by KCat

[Ray-Vigo]

For a wider line: Phileas

For a finer line: Pilot Knight or 78g (if you can take self-fillers)

I love self fillers!!!

The beauty of getting used to self-fillers is that it opens up the realm of vintage pens too. While I like the convenience of the converters (especially being able to open it up and see how much ink is there), I do love the simplicity of self-fillers.

 

The 78g is worth a look, especially if you really like a finer tip and want a rock bottom price.

[sleek_lover]

I'm surprised nobody has come in with a couple of Esterbrooks...always can get an Estie or two for $35. Nice 2xxx series M nib. Great writer, solidly vintage...

 

Parapharsing...

 

Nobody doesn't like Esterbrooks...

 

Bill in South Jersey...

 

edited so it makes sense

Edited February 7, 2007 by paircon01

[southpaw]

Another contender would have to be a Reform. It's a German company that's no longer in business, but they made great piston fillers. On Ebay, do a search on "Reform" and take a look at Speerbob's. No affiliation, he's just a great, reputable seller, and he has found a big stash of these NOS and they're going at a great price. Got a few myself.