Minimalism - Only 6

[FountainPages]

Lamy 2000, Aurora Optima, Pelikan M605, Hero 382, TWSBI Mini Classic, and a Graf von Faber-Castell Intuition. Six works for me!

[carlos.q]

Only six? Let's see....

 

1) Pelikan 100N (M) - my first Pelikan!

2) Pelikan M205 (F) - it's red! (my EDC)

3) Pelikan 400NN brown tortoise (B and KF nib)

4) Pelikan 400 green striated (B and DEF nib)

5) Montblanc 146 (80's with F nib)

6) Montblanc 234 1/2 (BB nib) - awesome steel nib!

 

Narrowly missed the cut: Lamy 2000 with a vintage stubby M nib.

[Medsen Fey]

Painful choice.

 

1. Yard-o-Led Grand Viceroy F

2. Yard-o-Led Grand Victorian M italic

3. MB 149 Ariel Kullock EF

4. MB 146 solitaire EF

5. Sheaffer Legacy Heritage barleycorn M

6. Grifos "pillar of Hercules" (or whatever it's called now) with 1.1mm italic

[Consulting_Detective]

Hmm.. The Six pens I would use everyday, that really would be the pens that I use and have to this day, and two pens that I really want to get.

 

Pens for Everyday Use and Future Pens

 

1. Jinhao 950 Ceramic Dragon

2. Jinhao 5000 Year of the Dragon

((I have those purely for aesthetics, the 950 is moderately heavy, and the 5000 is a wet medium writer))

3. Lamy Safari F

4. Lamy Vista Ex-F

((I have those purely for usability, which is completely opposite of the Jinhaos))

5. Monteverde Jewelria

6. Monteverde Invincia

((This is mostly for aesthetics, but also for usability))

 

I do admit, some people might criticize me choosing aesthetics but oh well, those pens are lovely ((especially the 5000, Shiny))

 

-C.D

[masterguns]

Six fly rods ? How many does a person need ?

I am not offended, sir.

I have 150 fountain pens. My wife has none. Neither of us has a fly rod.

She has a horse. (A stupid Swedish something that eats 20 kilos of stuff per day.)

She is married to a man with 150 fountain pens !

 

Someday, we should sit at a table full of beer, and compare insanities.

 

LOL

[masterguns]

I only ink, carry, and use three pens at a time, but that isn't the question.

My six keepers would be, in no particular order:

 

Jinhao 159 w/ 1.1 stub nib

Monteverde Regatta sport w/ XF nib

Visconti Van Gogh Maxi w/ F nib

Esterbrook Transitional J w/ M nib

Kaweco Sport w/ 1.1 stub

Noodler's Ahab w/ 1.5 nib

[pajaro]

 

The advantage of the Pelikan is you could have a selection of nibs and, technically, one pen.

 

Given the cost of the nibs, I would just use the Pelikan with my favorite nib and get a little variety by having other pens.

 

The idea of having several nibs for my Pelikans was initially appealing. Reconsidering, I felt the hassle of changing them and the cost of the nibs alone made it more convenient to just have a pen for each nib. I am lazy, though.

[pajaro]

Parker 51 aerometric fine, my first one.

 

Montblanc 144R fine, red C/C pen I bought on a visit to Beantown when my great aunt was buried. Bought it in the Left Handed Store. Makes it doubly sentimental.

 

Waterman Phileas with an 18K extra fine nib from a L'etalon. Nice dry, thin line.

 

Waterman Laureat with an extra fine nib from an Expert II. Dry, thin line.

 

Parker 51 aero with a broad Minuskin stub.

 

Waterman Carene EF, not so dry, but a thin line. Have extra sections here.

[parnesh]

Of the current ones I have:

 

1) Lamy 2000 M (preferably with a 0.9 stub)

2) Aurora Optima Blue Auroloide with factory stub

3) Pilot 823 M

4) Pilot 92 SM

5) Pilot VP faceted M (preferably with a stub)

6) Omas Art Deco certified MB No34 OM

Edited November 14, 2014 by parnesh

[Paddler]

If you are a real minimalist, you have just one pen. It is a ballpoint that you found in the Goodwill parking lot.

 

[maverick777]

If I could only have 6 based on what i have now or plan to own it would include the following:

 

1. Pelikan M60x - this is/was my grail pen. I still want to get another one in the classic blue stripes but if I could only have one, I'd take the Marine Blue.

2. Lamy 2000 - this was the pen that intrigued me most to get into fountain pens. I love the design and how well it writes.

3. Pilot Custom Heritage 92 - the FM nib from Pilot is my ideal nib size and this pen writes wonderfully.

4. Visconti Wall Street - this pen looks amazing and I'd like to get one someday. Their nibs seem to be hit or miss though, which is a problem considering the price of the pens.

5. Sailor Professional Imperial Black - I'd love to get this in Medium-Fine, but sadly that combination doesn't exist, so I'd probably get fine.

6. Montblanc 146 - rounding out the German trifecta. I'd like to get this one at some point as well to compare to my Pelikan.

 

I own 1-3 and may or may not get 4-6 down the road.

 

EDIT: if 4-6 must be pens I currently own, then I'll add the following:

 

4. TWSBI Mini Rose Gold

5. TWSBI 580 USA

6. Pilot Stargazer Sapphire

Edited November 14, 2014 by maverick777

[foamy]

Fun topic. I have about a dozen fountain pens. To pick just six to keep:

 

1. Pelikan M605, F, Marine Blue—it's a smoothy and it looks famous

2. Sailor Reglus, F—the finest line/writer I have and will ever need—it gives meaning to the term "hair-line"

3. Pilot Elite 95, F—good looking and a great writer

4. Kaweco Dia, M—just because I like it

5. Pilot 78G, 1.1mm stub—only stub I have and it's kind of fun

6. Sailor Clear Candy, F—nice to draw with

 

I have a Montblanc (don't know what model) and a Pelikan M600 that haven't been used so they didn't get counted or considered.

 

Truly, I like all my pens—there's not a dud in the lot.

Edited November 14, 2014 by foamy

[Hallel]

Hmm, this is a tricky bug. I'm still in the middle if my 'must-acquire-all-the-pens!' phase, so I'm sure this list will have changed in a few months time.

 

But from my current hoard,

1. Esterbrook J with my handful of nibs, of which my favourite is the 2314-M

2. Franklin Christoph 66 with 0.7 Stub (a pen I was and am obsessed with, now I have to get the cracked ice version)

3. Noodlers Konrad Acrylic for a wet writer, fun to tinker with, high ink capacity pen. (I tinkered and tinkered and TINKERED until I finally got it working, so now using it is half triumph, half reaffirming my dominance over an unruly pen.)

4. Pilot Metro (white tiger or taupe lizard) with the option to swap between F and M nibs

5. My vintage du jour - this one would be the hardest to pin down. Currently a flexy Wahl-Eversharp Doric in carmine red

6. My modern du jour - Twsbi 580 for now, but I have a Levenger Truewriter coming in from Massdrop, and a Pilot custom 74 for Christmas so we'll see.

[pgmrdan]

Sheaffer 300, medium nib (bought new a couple of weeks ago)

Parker 25, fine nib (bought the pen new around 1980)

Sheaffer No Nonsense, fine nib (bought NOS a couple days ago, yet to arrive)

Sheaffer No Nonsense, medium nib (bought NOS a couple days ago, yet to arrive)

 

The 300 stays at my desk. The 25 is my work horse pen. The 2 No Nonsense pens haven't arrived in the mail yet. I bought them for sentimental reasons and to play with.

 

The two pens in my posession (the 300 and the 25) have black ink in them and are all I'd ever need. Actually, I could do without the 300 and do everything with the 25.

 

I have a Pilot Pensemble. It has 5 slots for carrying pens. In it I have the 25, a ballpoint, a mechanical pencil, a Pentel Clic pencil shaped eraser holder with eraser, and a highlighter. That's my EDC stuff. It's all I need for travel/work. This is what I consider 'minimalist'.

Edited November 15, 2014 by pgmrdan

[French]

Here is a group shot of my six... Apologies for the cell phone phone quality pictures

From left to right:

1.Danitrio fellowship

2. Raden vanishing point

3. Lamy 2000

4. Danitrio raw ebonite Mae West

5. Noodlers Cardinal Darkness Ahab (older style)

6. Noodlers Dixie Konrad

Edited November 15, 2014 by French

[de_pen_dent]

Six, you say?

 

Hmm, if i was going to be limited to just 6, it would be:

1/ Pelikan M1000 Raden

2/ MB Da Vinci

3/ Visconti Wall Street LE

4/ Namiki King Cobra

5/ Visconti Opera Crystal

6/ MB Einstein

 

If I were to pick 6 from my current collection:

1/ Visconti Wall Street LE

2/ Visconti Opera Crystal

3/ Izumo Yagumonuri

4/ MB 149 90th Anniversary

5/ Omas Paragon Arco

6/ Pelikan M800 Tortoise

Honorable mentions: Sailor KoP, Nakaya Neo Standard

Edited November 15, 2014 by de_pen_dent

[penrivers]

Good pertinent question, and pertinent because here in fpn are some eminent collectors of many years and hundreds of pens and would be helpful to hear their opinions. And I think 6 are a lot of pens, lets say 2 or 3, in that case I would mention Parker 51 with an xf, Esterbrook J with a humble Gregg 1555, and a Sheaffer Snorkel triumph conic nib again with an xf (xf are multipurpose).

Edited November 15, 2014 by penrivers

[dornblaser]

Yes, 6 is an arbitrary number. I would love to hear some of the folks who have large collections weigh in along with the reasons on why they made the selections that they did.

[CSG]

Six sounds about right to me. I'm not a collector nor a serious fountain pen user. I currently use these:

 

MB146

Waterman Charleston

Parker 75 cisele

Waterman Phileas

2 Pilot Metros (one fine, one med)

 

I also have my great-grandfather's Diamond Medal flat top from the 1920's. I used to just dip it but then had Danny Fudge put in a new sac. I'll use it on occasion and it's a GREAT pen but I'd hate to do any damage to it as I'm simply a custodian for the next generation.

 

I could seriously do with just three - the Montblanc, the Charleston, and most definitely, the Parker 75 (I just LOVE that pen).

 

I'd still like to consider a Parker 51, a nice user Duofold, and *maybe* a Pelikan M800. Oooh, and a Montblanc 149. But so far have resisted any temptations on these.

Edited November 15, 2014 by CSG

[tinta]

I value my customized edged nibs much more than the pens themselves. Nine pens with eleven nibs are more than enough. (You can only write with one pen/nib at a time.)

I also have many more inks than I actually need,...ending up using the same three or four colours, over & over.

 

(I'm going through a similar struggle to reduce the number of fly-rods, classic fly reels & fly tying vices. Their numbers sure have crept up throughout the years. A downsizing is in order.)