Pens For Small Hands?

[txomsy]

Have to agree, those old German pens are a beauty.

 

Besides these, ringtops are also good choices, Salz Bros Peter Pan pens run for very sensible prices and may turn out wonderful flexy writers.

 

On the modern camp, the Kawecos (Sport and Liliput) are cute and affordable, well within your budget and come in a variety of finishes, some of which might potentially look gorgeous...

 

Which takes me to the most important part: aesthetics. You didn't give much information on what direction do your aesthetics tastes run. That would help everybody narrow down the suggestions to more specifically catered ones.

[A Smug Dill]

For a daily writer, I want a pen that writes AT LEAST as thin as the Safari F or Esterbrook 9556. If I can get a tad thinner line without a lot of scratchiness, I think I'd prefer it. I really wish I could try the Sailor F and M and Pelikan F and EF nibs to see which I'd like best.

 

I simply cannot in good conscience recommend Pelikan gold EF and F nibs to anyone who cares about a putting down crisp narrow lines. I have two M400 14K gold EF nibs here are they're only barely tolerable. The M815 18K gold F nib I had annoyed me so much with how thick a line it put down, I eventually brutalised it with an emery board and a four-sided nail buffer block — luckily with a good enough result, after some, "Oh no! What have I done!" moments.

 

(Pelikan M200 steel F and EF nibs are a different kettle of fish. The M200 steel F nib that came with my first M200 Smoky Quartz is one of my favourite nibs.)

[pajaro]

I have found the Pelikan gold EF nibs perfectly acceptable for the line thinness. There is a line that they are overly blobby, though. Perhaps better to let the potential owners of these pens try them and form their own opinions. I particularly like the M300 EF.

[A Smug Dill]

Perhaps better to let the potential owners of these pens try them and form their own opinions.

 

 

Nobody is advocating preventing prospective owners/users from trying. I trust you aren't advocating refraining from giving unfavourable reviews of products either?

[Mangrove Jack]

Have a look at the Parker 75. It's a fairly small pen. Comes in many different materials and colours. Has history behind it. Works wonderfully well. Is one of my favourite pens.

[Bo Bo Olson]

"""Have a look at the Parker 75. It's a fairly small pen.!!!!!

It is a standard sized pen...from an era of standard pens....light for metal (silver) and posted has a grand balance.

Once @ a decade ago as 'noobie' I went through my 20 pens looking for balance and the P-75 was one of my top 3 pens....all somewhat different, all with great balance.

[pajaro]

 

 

Nobody is advocating preventing prospective owners/users from trying. I trust you aren't advocating refraining from giving unfavourable reviews of products either?

 

Different opinion expressed. Not a with the crowd opinion.

[farmkiti]

I have very small hands; heel of hand to tip of middle finger is 6.5"; span from side to side is 7". So I prefer very small pens.

 

Sailor Pro Gear Slim is excellent. Their nibs are finer than most other pens; I use a B nib and it writes like the M nib of most other pens. I would imagine that their F would write like an EF, but Sailor is known for having a bit of a feedback; the finer the nib, the more feedback you're likely to get. Their broader nibs have (to me) a slight, very pleasant feedback. Overall, they have some beautiful models and you get a gold nib at an excellent price.

 

I also love Pelikan M300/M320; I like broad nibs and stubs, but an EF might be fine enough for you. Depends on how fine you want it; Pelikans run wider than most other pens. I haven't seen many M320s for sale lately (they were special editions), but M300s are still carried by Pelikan dealers. To me, they are very comfy when posted. Just the right size for my hand. I also have several M200s. I like to put 14K M400 nibs in them; they're interchangeable. The M200 & M400 are the same size and very comfortable to write with. Pelikans are my favorites. They're easy to fill with their excellent piston-fill system, and very easy to clean, too.

 

I also really like Kaweco AL Sports and Liliputs. Posted, they're very comfy for my hand. You can add gold nibs to them if you want. Their steel nibs are pretty good, though. They used to be on the dry side, but they seem to have gotten better lately. Of course, my experience is based on the broader nibs and stubs.

 

It's great that you recognized early on that you prefer smaller pens. I had no idea in the beginning of my pen collecting days, and made the mistake of buying lots of larger pens that ended up languishing unused in a drawer. Oh, I don't know if it matters to you, but I prefer pens with #5 nibs vs. #6 nibs. A #6 nib puts my hand too far above the paper, so it feels like my hand is hovering. All the pens I've mentioned have small nibs.

[sombrueil]

I have very small hands (6 3/8"). But there are pens for every size. Yes you'll need a smaller pen, and the majority of vintage pens are considerably smaller and slimmer than the average modern pen.

 

Just speaking about size, one of the MANY parameters of a fountain pen, one inexpensive way to get a feel for what size you really want to aim for is to try out all three Esterbrook J sizes. The J is a medium-sized pen. The LJ is a thinner version of the J. The SJ is a shorter AND thinner version of the J, almost ringtop size. I have had a number of Esties, they are really fine, practical, handsome workhorse pens. I found that the J was just a tad too fat for me; the other two sizes fit me well. The diameter of the pen is at least as important as its length.

The only thing that made me move on from Esties was my hunt for truly wonderful flexible nibs. You can get soft-writing nibs but not real flex. Another parameter.

 

A pen can be too short even for a small hand -- whether it writes comfortably posted or not makes a big difference.

Don't leave out considering your budget. The suggestions in this thread run a considerable range.

PS: I love celluloid!

Edited November 5, 2019 by sombrueil

[inkstainedruth]

Another person here with "girly" hands. So size and weight/balance are definitely an issue, especially since I am ALSO a person who posts caps. The absolute size/weight limit for pens for me are my TWSBI-580AL and 580ALR. I now know that (for new pens, at least) to check the specs -- and anything that weighs more than 28 grams capped is a dealbreaker.

So.... Pens that work well for me size/weight-wise? Parker 51s, Pelikan M200 and M400 (and smaller -- I have a 1980s Pelikano that I like a lot even though the nib is a nail). Esterbrook J series pens. Parker 45s and Vectors (although I wouldn't want to be trying to write the Great American novel with something quite that skinny), and also Parks 61s, and I have a Parker 41 which I scored at an estate sale for 50¢ a few years ago. Pilot Decimo. Some Parker Vacumatics (but nothing larger than a Major). Sheaffer Snorkels. Surprising, a Sheaffer Balance Oversize -- I have one that was my husband's grandfather's pen, and while large it is very lightweight. Sailor Pro-Gear Slim. Also surprisingly, although I don't have one (yet) -- a Parker 75 Ciselé. I expected it to be a heavy pen because of the sterling silver body and cap, but it isn't. Noodler's Konrads are also a good size for me (even the slightly longer ebonite one) -- I haven't noticed the odor that people complain about, and pretty much all of Noodler's pens have been good out of the box, with the exception of one Charlie pen. But given that it was FREE with a bottle of ink I can't quibble too much....

Yeah, a lot of the pens on the above list are vintage or semi-vintage. They are often less expensive than modern pens (even adding in the cost of repairs). But if you want to narrow it down, first on the list for vintage would be a Parker 51 Aerometric -- you can sometimes find them in the wild (Parker stopped counting how many 51s had rolled off the production line at 12 MILLION -- and then made more; they were the flagship line for 20 years for a reason); and while I really like some of my 51 Vacs as well, the advantage to the Aerometrics is that often you can just flush the pen out well and don't have to do any other repairs. I found one a year ago September at an estate sale for two bucks, and then spent another $20 at the Commonwealth Pen Show getting the EF nib tweaked a bit so it wasn't a scratchy writer. It's hard to get a modern pen that good for that little amount of money, although most of mine admittedly were NOT that inexpensive (but the most I've ever paid for an Aerometric was $120 and that included the buyers' premium at an auction at a pen show, and I was bidding on the pen for the OB nib....

Oh, for inexpensive modern pens, I'd add Lamy Safari (but the OP has one) and Pilot Metropolitan.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Mangrove Jack]

"""Have a look at the Parker 75. It's a fairly small pen.!!!!!

It is a standard sized pen...from an era of standard pens....light for metal (silver) and posted has a grand balance.

Once @ a decade ago as 'noobie' I went through my 20 pens looking for balance and the P-75 was one of my top 3 pens....all somewhat different, all with great balance.

Well, from the many posts recommending the Pelikan M200 as being a (small) pen suitable for small hands, using that as a yardstick, the Parker 75 is pretty much the same size. In fact in some areas it is smaller.

 

Length when capped: Pelikan M200 5". Parker 5 1/16" (difference in length only 1/16").

When uncapped: the Pelikan is longer.

When posted: the Pelikan is significantly longer.

Grip section diameter: Pelikan 6/16". Parker 5/16" (triangular grip model).

The Pelikan has a fatter body.

[bitterwonder]

Pilot Elite, Pelikan M120

[displacermoose]

Another vote for the Pilot Elite. I love mine. Also the Pilot Stella/Stargazer. These are small slip-cap pens about the same size as a Prera but with a metal body and a #3 14k gold nib. They've been discontinued but my local brick and mortar still had a couple the last time I was in.

 

And you just can't go wrong with a Sapporo (I have two). I prefer my medium over my fine (which is a hair too fine), but I'm going to have to get a fine-medium soon.

[JulieParadise]

So, mentions are getting repetitive ... I also have pretty small hands, and my preferred pens (length wise, unfortunately, because my favourite nibs are the Pilot #10 FA nibs that only come in those big & somewhat boring, if not ugly Custom Heritage 912 bodies) are

 

Pilot Elite/E95s

Pelikan M3x0 and M200/400

Sailor Pro Gear Slim (=Sapporo Slim) [flat top], 1911s [cigar shaped and thus just a tad bit longer, the only difference really being the shape of the ends, the rest of these models in interchangeable)

Montblanc 114, 144 and 342 (vintage)

for notes and on the go: Pilot Capless Décimo

 

I liked the feel and size of the Kaweco Sport (plastic & Luxe models, the metal ones not so much) as well as the Liliput, I just did not use these in a long while (maybe almost 2 years) because my children have taken over this section of my collection.

[Erik Dalton]

Wow! Lots of great advice. I can’t add anything more than what has been said. Except to suggest that you look at the Waterman Charleston. It’s a light, smaller pen and one of the few today that come with an 18k nib and a price around $150.

Its an exciting time looking for new pens. Good luck on your quest. Be sure to let us know what you choose...and we like pics...

[melissa59]

Sorry for the late reply. I was out of town for a couple days.

 

Which takes me to the most important part: aesthetics. You didn't give much information on what direction do your aesthetics tastes run. That would help everybody narrow down the suggestions to more specifically catered ones.

While looks are important in a fountain pen, my main priority is function. I want a pen that writes well, writes consistently and lays down a very fine line. Perhaps I should be shopping for a sewing needle and a drop of ink.

 

As far as aesthetics go, pens I've seen that caught my eye include:

New: Pelikan Stripe (especially blue or black with silver trim); Pelikan black with silver rings; Visconti Breeze (love those colors); Aurora Optima; Parker Duofold with flat ends; an array of $1,000+ pens and just about anything that is purple or pink.

Vintage: Parker Vacumatic with the blue/green/red/amber rings; Esterbrook J; rubber with silver overlay; Parker Duofold with flat ends; probably anything that is celluloid and/or shimmers.

 

While I don't find the TWSBI, Kaweko, Lamy or clear demonstrator pens visually appealing, I don't discount them for future purchases. I wouldn't mind a TWSBI mini for my purse. And I do love having a Lamy Safari to match each of my six bottles of ink (black, blue, red, green, pink, purple). Bonus points to Lamy for the affordable, interchangeable nibs.

 

I simply cannot in good conscience recommend Pelikan gold EF and F nibs to anyone who cares about a putting down crisp narrow lines. I have two M400 14K gold EF nibs here are they're only barely tolerable. The M815 18K gold F nib I had annoyed me so much with how thick a line it put down, I eventually brutalised it with an emery board and a four-sided nail buffer block — luckily with a good enough result, after some, "Oh no! What have I done!" moments.

(Pelikan M200 steel F and EF nibs are a different kettle of fish. The M200 steel F nib that came with my first M200 Smoky Quartz is one of my favourite nibs.)

After looking at your posts, I'd have to agree that the Pelikan gold EF and F nibs don't have the thin line I'm looking for -- at least not for my next pen purchase.

 

I do love the look of the Pelikans but I will probably pick up a blueberry (purple) Sailor Pro-Gear Slim (Sapporo) with a fine nib (or medium-fine or extra fine -- too bad we can't test drive pens before buying). Later, after I get a decent fine-point daily writer, I can consider adding pens with more aesthetic appeal.

[A Smug Dill]

After looking at your posts, I'd have to agree that the Pelikan gold EF and F nibs don't have the thin line I'm looking for -- at least not for my next pen purchase.

The Pelikan M2xx steel nibs aren't so bad. Maybe I got lucky with the first M200 Smoky Quartz I bought which came with an F nib (because the EF nib wasn't available from that retailer at the time), but it's proven to be one of my favourite steel nibs.

 

I do love the look of the Pelikans but I will probably pick up a blueberry (purple) Sailor Pro-Gear Slim (Sapporo) with a fine nib (or medium-fine or extra fine -- too bad we can't test drive pens before buying).

I don't know about you, but I sorta can test drive the pens before buying; there are a couple of local bricks-and-mortar stores here that will allow prospective customers in-store to try out the pens, but in particular the specialist pen store (as opposed to the stationery department of the other retailer, which is a large but quirky department store) sells everything at roughly double what I could get each model delivered by ordering online from overseas.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Modern....post '98 gold Pelikan are fat and blobby, 400/600 are semi-nails, and the 800 is a nail. The 1000 is a gold regular flex....still lots fatter and blobbier than the 'pre-98 gold or steel and the 200's nib.

Semi-vintage and the 200 which is @ 1/2 a width narrower And !!! has a nice clean line in it is classic tear drop tipping instead of clunky wide balls so one can write with it before the big index knuckle like a ball point....can't have something upsetting like spending three minutes learning how to hold a fountain pen properly. Why the customer will go back to roller ball or ball points.

Also the nibs are harder than the old '82-97 regular flex, in ham fisted make less pretzeled nibs when they are harder to bend.

 

There is a myth to repeat....and always carry a ball point to lend....in a Jack Hammer fisted ball point user can pretzel your nib is a half a second, to tell them it took you months to get the nib broken into your Hand....and any use by anyone else will set you back months.... ........

 

Suggest the 200 or if you need?? gold then the semi-vintage 400. In those steel and gold nibs are exactly =....in I have semi-vintage two steel and 4-5 gold nibs from that era..... I could count 3 soon to be 4 modern 200's in the same category.........those are good as good gold good steel nibs.....................better than the modern stiffer blobby !!@@##$%^ excuses for a blobby gold nib.

 

How ever there are some who rotate/cant their nib uncontrollably that want such round ball nibs....or are willing to put up with a fat blurry line for the Butter Smooth of modern.

...Sigh I'm sure some one of them will jump to their defense....as is their right............such as I'd never buy an Japanese EF or western XXF nib...............(I prefer good and smooth the next level under butter smooth...still good and smooth, where one can feel the paper a bit....but do use as good a paper as you can afford it will make a difference......one of the problems with the 'butter smooth' nib is it slides and skates on slick paper.

 

Springy regular flex can be confused with Japanese soft, except they are not so mushy.

 

Later after five or six pens, look for the German semi-flex stubbed vintage '50-70 era pens.

 

Go for the used '82-97 semi-vintage springy regular flex in gold or steel or the same or new in the 200.

I use to be a semi-flex snob....now I'm a fan of both.

[melissa59]

Thanks to everyone who replied in this thread. After reading through the comments, more than once, and mulling things over for two weeks, I decided on a Sailor Pro-Gear Slim in metallic purple with a fine (F) nib.

 

Last night I sat down to place my order. I ordered the Sailor pen AND a Pelikan M405 Stresemann with a medium (M) nib.

 

That was a HUGE splurge for a gal whose most expensive pens are in the $30 range (Lamy Safari; Esterbrook J). I'll admit I was a bit hesitant on the Pelikan since it was only available (at that price point) with a medium nib. I have decided that if I hate the Pelikan's medium line, then I will look into making it my first custom ground nib.

[amk]

Wow, a splurge! But you've done your research really thoroughly to make that selection. I hope you enjoy the pens when they arrive.