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I have to say, being a part of the fountain pen world has been excellent, and an "accidental" discovery can turn into a gold mine. For example, the Skilcraft Fountain Pen, in burgundy or blue. The burgundy nib, at least in my purchases, are a little more fine, than the blue. The blue, however, is a bit more of a "wet" writer. You can get them on Amazon or via http://www.blind-made.com/office-products/pens/skilcraft-executive-fountain-pen-and-ball-point-pen-set-7520-01-451-9188-burgundy-barrel-black-ink.html The burgundy comes with a ballpoint (I gave that to my wife, who loves a good ballpoint). I think the thin look gives it a little more of a business look. I have not heard any negative reactions to this pen from comments on FB, so apparently the quality is pretty much standard. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71%2B5X0doVZL._SX522_.jpg http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51SaBPQEKpL._SY355_.jpg

I got back into doing shorthand again this year, after 30+ years of neglect! That led me on a search for steno pads that would work with fountain pen ink. Here are two that have worked for me: Ampad Pastel Orchid Steno Pad and Skilcraft Bagasse Steno Book. Both are Gregg-ruled (which means 3 spaces per inch). Ampad Pastel Steno Pad -- Orchid ($13.99 for a 4-pack on Amazon -- free shipping if you have Prime) The sheets are supposed to be orchid in color, but they look more like a light blue to me. The sheets are quite thick and have next to no show-through. The ink does not feather. It looks like this company makes a Dusty Rose pad, too, though I have not tested it. Colored sheets are always a nice option. The writing sample below shows Noodler's Heart of Darkness, written with a Jinhao 599 EF nib (this pen writes more like a medium, though). You can see how much show-through is on the sheet, though in this scan it looks a little more pronounced than it is in reality. I don't have a problem with writing on both sides of the sheet. This product is made in Mexico. Skilcraft Bagasse Steno Book ($15.49 for a 6 pack + free shipping at Paper Clips Etc.) The Skilcraft pad has sugarcane paper, and so far as I know, it is the only steno pad available that has sugarcane paper. The sheets are quite thin (16 lb.) so there is a some show-through. For practicing shorthand I don't find the show-through too bothersome-- I'm not sure I'd want to write someone a letter using both sides, however. The degree of show-through for Skilcraft falls in between what you'll find with Office Depot's Sugar Cane Notebooks (which is basically unfit for fountain pen inks) and Staples Sustainable Earth Notebooks (which has minimal show-through). Some may find Skilcraft to have a little too much show-through for their needs. The ink performs quite well on it otherwise, without feathering. The writing sample below was done with Noodler's Heart of Darkness and Noodler's Bad Blue Heron, with Sheaffer Gregg Writer and Jinhao 599 fountain pens. As an aside for the Skilcraft pad, the sales of this paper benefit the blind, so you can feel good about buying this American product for not only helping the Arkansas LIghthouse for the Blind, but also for saving trees. So of all the steno pads I have tested, these two perform the best with fountain pen ink and I would gladly buy both products again. I've also tested the Staples Steno Book, Staples Graph Ruled Steno Book, and Tops Docket with blue paper, and they all show through far too heavily on the back side of the sheet for fountain pen ink. But they're perfectly fine for ballpoint pens.

Hi all, Some time last week I caught myself switching back and forth between 3 or 4 different fountain pens and I became curious about why I did it. I love variety, of course, but I also wondered whether I could get a clearer view of the relative virtues of my pens if I focused on them one at a time. That was all the inspiration I needed to start the "working week pen challenge". The premise is simple: pick a pen and try to use it exclusively for five days, keeping a record of what you like and don't like about it. My first pick was the humble Skilcraft fountain pen. Costing about $5 after shipping, this little pen is easy to overlook. It's also, it turns out, a sturdy and reliable workhorse. In what follows I'll give you a brief account of what it's like to use this pen as an EDC. This is my first pen review so please let me know what you'd like to see in any future reviews. Appearance and Construction First thing's first, here's the pen in question: It's not a particularly attractive pen, I don't think. The clip, for instance, is very cheap looking and the fit and finish are what you'd expect for a pen in its price range. I'm not a very big fan of the three rings on the barrel. They're very signature looking, but I actually think the whole thing would be more classy in appearance without them. What I like most about it is it's very solid metal construction. I dropped this pen once to twice during the week and not a thing happened to it. I'd be fairly confident chucking this across a room. The section is the only plastic part of the construction and so far it has proven very durable. The cap, as you can see, snaps on. It's a very secure fit in my experience. One little quibble is that twice as I carried the pen in my pocket I noted that the barrel was coming unscrewed from the section. This doesn't normally occur, but once or twice in a week is enough of an issue to raise it in a review. Ergonomics and Performance The most delightful surprise this pen has in store for its users is the super smooth nib and impeccably reliable ink delivery. I really cannot stress enough what a reliable writing instrument this has proven to be over the last week and really with every ink I've tried over the last several months I've owned it. Another praiseworthy element is the diameter of the section. I have an ebonite Konrad and I've had a Shaeffer No Nonsense in the past. Both of those are pens I'd say had a thick section -- definitely a little too thick of maximum comfort, in my opinion. On the other hand, I find the sections of pens like the Lamy Safari and Pilot Metro to be too thin. This Skilcraft hits the golden spot in the middle. I wrote extensively over the week (hand drafting essays), and I never felt that the grip section was anything but accommodative. One major quibble, however, is with the balance of the pen. For reasons I cannot imagine, someone decided this pen needed a tremendously long and top heavy cap. The pen is already somewhat back heavy (see balance photo below), but when you add the cap the balance point moves quite a ways back. For my hand, when I grip the pen with the cap posted, the balance point is at the fleshy point between my thumb and index finger (anatomy, anyone?). Some writers might appreciate that, but it's all too awkward for me. I prefer the balance to be as near as possible dead center of the pen barrel. Else-wise, the pen should be a little nib heavy. All that said, I tend not to post my pens, so it is not a big issue for me. I mentioned before that this pen is a very reliable writer. I want to stress that point again. I never had a hard start, or got any ink spilling into the cap, and I found the pen to have great consistency in its wetness. On that latter point, I wouldn't call this pen a wet writer or a dry one. Less saturated inks will come out a little pale, but overall it lays down enough ink to keep things true to color without leaving puddles everywhere. I'd say this pen has a medium nib (sadly there are no options), but it tends to write a line that varies a good deal by the ink. Inks I used over this last week: Noodler's Black and Liberties Elysium, Waterman Brown and Black. With Waterman Absolute Brown or Intense black it is a nice medium or fm. With something like Noodler's Liberties Elysium it writes much broader. I have a photo below to demonstrate the difference. I found the line this pen made to be adequate for most applications, although it isn't fine or dry enough to be used for small writing on cheap paper. In one class I had to resort to a ballpoint pen when asked to fill out a form with small cells on cheap copy paper. Fortunately I was caring a ballpoint as a backup. (Another fountain pen would have been cheating). Summary thoughts Due to the comfort of the grip section and utter reliability of the pen I've found myself still going back to the Skilcraft a couple days after this first challenge ended. I am, however, still annoyed with the cap length and clip design. Those are small quibbles but they make a difference. At some point this week it occurred to me that a challenge like this really equips you to specify three possible praises about a pen. In question form, they go like this: If this was your only fountain pen would you have a good opinion of fountain pens? If you were only allowed to recommend one pen to someone would this be it? If you had to choose just one of your pens to keep would this be the one? Here are my ratings: (X) Happy User ( ) Top Recommendation ( ) Sophie's Choice Pen Big Quibble: None Little Quibble: Little aesthetic sticking points, really. Big Praises: Nib smoothness, section comfortability, reliability Little Praises: None