What's Your Best Writer?

[missuslovett]

Two very different pens. My Montblanc 264 writes so smoothly it's almost disconcerting. Why can't I feel the paper? How did that ink get there?? The other is almost scratchy by comparison. It's a vintage Swan Mabie Todd SF130. The number one nib is an extra fine with ordinary handwriting but it flexes to double broad at a twitch. Lovely.

[jar]

The pen I'm using that particular day. I'm not sure how one could pick a best writer or put up with pens that are not best writers. That seems like having unruly children. If they is a problem, fix it.

[Uncial]

I would find it very difficult to choose. The best writing nibs are not always the best to use 'out and about' in the wilds where a kind of tissue paper often masquerades as paper that can be written on. It might also be ink dependent too; some shading inks are better in some pens; some colours show up better in certain nibs. Sometimes I write for fun, so certain nibs might be used only for that, or for calligraphy or writing a journal. If I was really, really pushed, I would say that the nibs I like the best are (best first); Montblanc, Pelikan, Delta and my vintage Waterman's.

[FLZapped]

It might be easier for me to list those that don't....

[flipper_gv]

The pen I'm using that particular day. I'm not sure how one could pick a best writer or put up with pens that are not best writers. That seems like having unruly children. If they is a problem, fix it.

 

Agreed. FPs are easy to work on or to get fixed.

[fplover01]

All my pens are good writers, or they wouldnt be there.

 

Pelikan M800 wih B nib would be the one i like most.

[Moynihan]

All my modern pens are "good" writers. But i guess the handful that stay inked, and when cleaned are refilled, are my measure to the question, and of those, my "favorite" depends on the need/mood of the moment.

 

Pilot Custom 742 WA

Pilot Custom 743 sfm

A Parker 51

Pilot Metal Falcon sf

Pilot Falcon sef

Pelikan m800 B

Delta Unica 2015 Anderson Pens Ltd. Ed. m

Sailor 1911L M

Sailor 1911L Z

Lamy 2000 M

Akashiya Bamboo Body Brush Pen (converter fill)

Kuretake #13 Fountain Brush Pen

Platinum Carbon Desk Pen

Edited December 29, 2015 by Moynihan

[MarineDad]

Franklin Christoph Model 20 with a Masuyama medium italic nib

[brownargus]

It's very difficult to pick one pen because the 'best' pens in my small collection are all very good. However, if I had to pick one, it would be the Caran D'Ache Ecridor Chevron with a fine nib. It handles a wide range of paper qualities with ease and is quite smooth with good feedback. I perhaps have more elegant looking pens but that quality is very subjective. However, the pen is very well made and durable.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

It depends partly on how it's to be used. For most of my writing, pens with ordinary fine or medium nibs are best, but if it's time for thank you notes or greeting cards, and I want to do some "fancy" writing with major line variation, it's time to break out the italics (and/or the dip pens). If I'm traveling and only want to carry one fountain pen, it will be a good one, but probably not one of my absolute favorites.

 

But for everyday writing, I at least have a group of several which are about as good as it gets, for me. They don't have to do anything exciting, just keep writing with an ease that's almost boringly predictable, so that I can concentrate on what I'm writing, not the little quirks of the pen. That group would include my Pilot Custom Heritage 92 with an FM nib, Montblanc Noblesse with a reground medium, Lamy 2000, fine nib, Pilot Capless Decimo, fine nib (moved over from a regular Vanishing Point body), and well, some others. But the four mentioned are the ones which are most often inked; it's rare for all of them to be empty at one time.

[Runnin_Ute]

Best is such a subjective term. I don't know if I have just one "best"

 

Some days best is one of my M200's. Other days it is an Esterbrook. Still others a Parker 45. Or my TWSBI 580.

 

Certainly the pens that get the most use are just that - one of my Pelikan M200's, or Parker 45's, or TWSBI 580.

 

I have a Parker 51 Special which I don't know what it is, and as much as I like it but the nib is a bit scratchy. I probably should have it looked at. I certainly don't have the skills to take it apart and fix it without destroying it. But I like it well enough to not get rid of it.. Go figure.

[DrDebG]

It would depend upon what and where I was writing.

 

If I am journaling, or writing notes, it would definitely be my Franklin-Christoph Panther 40 with a 14K Masuyama Medium Stub Semiflex nib.

 

If I am writing notes for work, then it would be my Jinhao 450 with Goulet 1.1 Stub nib.

[Leftytoo]

My Sailor Realo writes perfectly with any ink on any paper. Not too wet (yes!). Sadly, its kind of "meh". At the opposite extreme (sometimes a slow starter, occasional burps, a loose cap) is my 1950 Aurora 88. But pure bliss when ink touches paper. A happy medium is my modern Aurora Optima. As dependable and better built than the Sailor, and a healthy dose of pleasing feedback. Too bad Auroras are so expensive.

Bob

[Zookie]

The smoothest writer I own is a Diplomat Attache.

[cjr]

Without a doubt it's my Oma's Ogiva Cocktail EF extra flessibile. The smoothest and most comfortable writer in my collection.

[openionated]

All of my pens are smooth, but each one has a unique "feel" all its own. My current favorite is my Waterman Kultur.

[flipper_gv]

Best is such a subjective term. I don't know if I have just one "best"

 

Some days best is one of my M200's. Other days it is an Esterbrook. Still others a Parker 45. Or my TWSBI 580.

 

Certainly the pens that get the most use are just that - one of my Pelikan M200's, or Parker 45's, or TWSBI 580.

 

I have a Parker 51 Special which I don't know what it is, and as much as I like it but the nib is a bit scratchy. I probably should have it looked at. I certainly don't have the skills to take it apart and fix it without destroying it. But I like it well enough to not get rid of it.. Go figure.

 

I had the same problem and I fixed it by hand without disassembling it.

[sidthecat]

There's a little brown Waterman ringtop with a wonderfully flexy nib...I resort to it again and again, but there's also the graceful, cracked-ice Moore...and the extra-fine, flexy Mabie Todd Swan...

 

It's hard. I may have to take them all to the desert island. And buy a few more journals.

[ethernautrix]

Um... all of my pens, cos if they didn't provide an enjoyable writing experience, then I wouldn't have them. (Replying before reading all the other contributions.)

And I have even sold or given away pens that have provided enjoyable writing experiences. Other reasons, other priorities. So... keeping a pen that I didn't like how it writes? Unthinkable.

[Mangrove Jack]

Difficult to pick one best pen. If I had to it would be the Cross Solo. A no nonsense, hardy, well balanced pen with a most wonderful nib. XF, F, M they are all super nibs made for Cross by Namiki in Japan, I think.