Pens Everyone Seems To Love That You Hate

[maus930]

I have a Lamy 2000, which I like-- but the Safari etc -- i don;t understand how anyone could appreciate them -- they are a caricature of a real fountain pen

[Downcelot]

Visconti Didgeridoo - I love the look, the celluloid, the filling mechanism. I loath the double filling system. Unscrew back cap is really bothering when the writing is going on. Worst, the system makes complete cleaning the pen a nightmare. Mine came with a super wet and broad M nib, I sent to a nibmeister and it turned out not what I wanted. Now I need a new replacement nib which is only $250 (sarcasm). To hell with it, I rather get a new pen!

[VivienR]

Read many posts about Sailor's nib, that they are not always perfect or scratchy or such thing.

I have only two Sailor, so its not a huge sample set, but I'm really satisfied with both. One is a Sapporo 14k fine nib. Yes, sounds like writing with a nail, but always delivering its perfect thin line. The another one is 1911L 21K H-MF nib. It writes like a dream! But comparing a Montblanc Princesse Grace or a Parker Duofold which all are good writers, but comparing them to Sailors 21K nib... well they became only a good writer instead of great writes. Not mention the price differences.

[akustyk]

Read many posts about Sailor's nib, that they are not always perfect or scratchy or such thing.

I have only two Sailor, so its not a huge sample set, but I'm really satisfied with both. One is a Sapporo 14k fine nib. Yes, sounds like writing with a nail, but always delivering its perfect thin line. The another one is 1911L 21K H-MF nib. It writes like a dream! But comparing a Montblanc Princesse Grace or a Parker Duofold which all are good writers, but comparing them to Sailors 21K nib... well they became only a good writer instead of great writes. Not mention the price differences.

I love Sailor nibs, both the 14k and the 21k nibs. Sailor nibs are ground to a foot, so people who rotate their pens while writing may perceive it as scratchiness.

[PDW]

Odi et amo ...

 

I'm severely conflicted on Parker 45s. Love the design, the handling, the ability to swap nibs, how easy it is to refill cartridges through that nice wide hole, the price (especially in junk shops), how easy it is to clean the nib unit ... but I find the chrome/gold ring easy to lose when opening one to fill it and I actively hate cleaning old ink from the section/collector on a new arrival. Soak, rolled-up tissue into the hole, remove and see heavy ink stain on tissue, repeat, zzz ...

 

Once they're cleaned out enough to use, I love them.

[LKVS]

I would not say that I hate it, but I've had multiple Lamy 2000 pens, and on at least two occasions, their barrel has cracked for little reason. Googling this issue reveals a plethora of other owners with the same problem. I'm not sure whether this has been fixed in more recent iterations of the Lamy 2000, but I am certainly surprised that it continues to be recommended despite this problem, which I think is a function of the fibreglass pen material (for which it, ironically, receives so much praise).

 

Edit: Apparently, Lamy had taken steps to fix this issue with the 2000 as explained here. However, I remain a little bit suspicious. My friend had a Lamy Safari that also cracked near the midsection of the barrel, and I trust that she cared for the pen well. I've not had any other pens crack in the same fashion, so to put it gently, I'm a little bit suspicious of Lamy. I loved my Lamy 2000 otherwise, but I can't recommend the pen given my history with it.

 

That being said, the Lamy customer service is top notch.

[jp1337]

I only own 9 fountain pens, and certainly don't hate a single one of them, I love my 4 Visconti pens (Hall of Music, Homo Sapiens Bronze Age Maxi, Divina Elegance & Saturno Blue Titan) and my Lamy Vista is a surprisingly smooth writer. My Monteverde Invincia Deluxe doesn't write as well as I'd like, my TWSBI Diamond 580 is wonderful, my Custom 74 hasn't arrived yet so I don't know but I have reasonable hopes for that one and my Noodler's Ahab was a bit of a let down in some ways, but all common issues people have with it (smell & stiffness of flex nib) but I plan to modify the nib to make it flex easier so that might turn out alright.

 

I will say that I have absolutely no desire to own either the Pilot Vanishing Point or Lamy 2000, they just have no appeal to me. I'm sure they would write well, everyone seems to love them but they just do nothing for me.

 

So basically, no pens for me have been a disappointment, all issues I've had are all well documented issues that I knew would be a risk when I bought them (The Monteverde nib not being particularly great, the Noodler's Ahab smell/nib stiffness) all other things have been wonderful.

[4lex]

I have a Lamy 2000, which I like-- but the Safari etc -- i don;t understand how anyone could appreciate them -- they are a caricature of a real fountain penYou

You may say that but when I was sitting a really tough legal exam I ignored all other pens, most of them 5, 10 or 20 times more expensive, and went for Lamy Al Star. No hassle, practical, always works, no distractions.