...but I Always Seem To Find Myself Reaching For My....

[Fabienne]

You are a seasoned fountain pen collector. You have a beautiful mature set of pens you have tracked down, snaffled up, and hoarded after you spied them at a flea market or on e-Bay. You have Mont Blancs, Pelikans, fancy Japanese pens which you had to wait for months to be made especially for you. You have old pens dug out of treasured estate possessions, and some which came from your grandfather. Though you have so many lovely pens, what do you reach for every day? Do you really use a fancy pen for daily writing? Do you sneak off and play house with a TWSBI? Do you really carry that White Tortoise around and write with it daily? Or are you secretly a Varsity sniffer?

 

The reason I have put up this thread is so that people with fancy pens can confess what they really do when no one is looking. C'mon, you know you want to get a load off your chest...let's hear you tell on yourself.

 

I'll go first. I have a nice collection of pens for someone who has been collecting for a year or so. Waterman flex nibs, Ahab flex nibs, TWSBIs and Kawekos, a lovely older Parker 75, White Tortoise, and two hard fought for Fabers and many more BUT what I carry every day and use most? My recently acquired Mont Blanc 146. I love that pen. I love it even more than my TWSBI 540s or 580s. It's from about 1989-90 and the nib is so smooth and flexible (it's an OB which was a surprise to me and to the seller who didn't know what it was exactly). The history and surprise factor was a delight, writing with it is a dream. I am sure to lock my car when it's in there, I have a special case for it to keep it looking good, and I look forward to writing with it every day.

 

How about you?

Edited June 12, 2013 by Fabienne

[WOBentley]

I pretty much rotate them evenly, but I will admit that if there is any tendency to use one more than the others it is any of my nibmeister worked nibs. I love stubs and I love CIs even more so I may use them slightly more often.

[Joe in Seattle]

Edison Herald in ebonite with Brian Grey tuned F nib. I would have to take this one to the proverbial desert island.

[thedeacon]

If only there was an easy answer. I'm situational/mood dependent. Most clients would be "taken aback" if I offered my neon yellow Safari to sign a contract. For this, I always have a Dupont Olympio or MB 149 (or both). Otherwise, it depends on what is inked and the mood I'm in. I do use that yellow Safari a lot, or the Retro 51 Tornado Infusion. They have funk soul, brother!

[Nashten]

My 1927 Duofold Junior that I obtained for a hefty price of 40 dollars.

 

Light, short enough to go into almost any pocket, nice inky flexy nib, and great looks. Plus, it was made in Toronto!

 

I had it in repair for a while. I had pen withdrawl. Now I can't keep my mitts off it since its back.

[Fabienne]

My fingers are tingling. Moar!

[Runnin_Ute]

The two I seem to be using the most lately are my True Writer Silver Anniversary and my Lamy Al Star - especially since I put the 1.1 mm nib on it and loaded it with Diamine Sherwood Green......

 

I only have 5-6 total. If I had to rank them it would be like this:

 

True Writer Silver Anniversary

Lamy Al Star

Waterman Phileas

Waterman Phileas (I have both M & F - and it goes back and forth)

Noodlers Konrad

Pilot Varsity

[Nick13]

For me it is definitely my Lamy 2000, I find that I do not leave the house before I take that pen, it's sleek and beautiful, hopefully the Namiki Falcon I am going to pick up is going to join the rank!

 

 

Nick

[NedC]

I most often carry a Pelkan m2xx because they're reliable, hold lots of ink and are easy to judge if they're full enough—and fit in most shirt pockets though a TWSBI mini has recently joined them. However, now that it's summer and I'm often wearing shorts and a t-shirt my Kaweco Sports are getting more play as I can just pop them into a side pocket of my shorts or jeans without any worry.

[pencils+pens]

The two pens I normally reach for first are currently resting: Noodler's Konrad Hudson Bay Fathoms with PR American Blue and Noodler's Konrad Clear Demo with Noodler's Black Swan In Australian Roses. When inked those pens are also among the likely to leave the house. With those resting, I often find myself reaching for the Noodler's Ahab Clear Demo with Noodler's Black Swan In Australian Roses or Noodler's Ahab Tiger with Noodler's Dragon's Napalm. The Ahabs do not leave the house.

 

My TWSBI VAC 700 filled with Levenger Blue Bahama is another often reached for pen, as is the Lamy Vista with Levenger Smokey and Lamy Safari with blue Lamy cartridge, which will be replaced by a converter and as yet to be determined blue ink. The Lamy's can leave the house, the TWSBI does not.

 

But the pen most likely to leave the house because it wouldn't bother me if it got lost and it is easily replaced would be one of my Parker Vectors or Sheaffer No Nonsense pens. I have 9 of each with another Parker Vector coming in the mail.

[HDRoot]

Conway Stewart Scribe 330, was black now brown, was chased now smooth, broken cap, imprint barely visible, cost $15. The nib is a soft, sloppy, B-BBB superflex gusher! That and a Waterman 12 xxf-bbb noodle.

[I like mango cheesecake]

I too have a 146 with an OB nib. It definitely is a working relationship with that pen. I rotate between the few I have. But once I get a good number of them, the workhorse pens will start to show their stuff.

[GabrielleDuVent]

Recently I've been reaching more and more for my Lamy safari, but previously it was Preppy everywhere. It was almost "When in doubt, reach for Preppy".

 

My MB sits in the case, waiting to be pulled out, which happens when I have correspondence. Which would be... every other day.

[apkayle]

My Noodler's Ahab pretty much overtook all my pens as the daily writer.

 

Perhaps the jade green Sheaffer ring top I have in the mail will be the new edc...

[Meaty0]

I have collected pens for about 6 years but still only have 8 pens. I rotate usage of all pens, but if I just had to use one, it would be the Parker Premier 75 with Chinese Lacque. It's beautiful to look at, lovely to write with and once you've used the Parker 75 triangular grip, nothing else feels as good.

[de_pen_dent]

Gates City New Dunn. Possibly my best pen.

[Mesu]

Camlin 47.. Workhorse of a pen, light weight and smooth writer

 

Lamy Safari

[richardandtracy]

I have a few pricy pens - Duofold Centennial, International, Onoto Magna Classic & the FPN Stipula Etruria.

 

The pen I reach for most often at the moment is a Kaigelu. In the week where I want nice writing it's a K316 with a home made barrel finial to replace the overweight brass one and a JoWo broad nib, and for the weekend when I need a robust pen, it's the K356 I go for.

I always carry a second pen, which will be a more fancy pen (one of the Duofolds, the Onoto or a P51/61 - but never the Stipula), but I do enjoy the Kaigelus a lot.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Namru]

A scratched up modern Kaweco Sport and a 78G not far behind condition wise. Cheap robustness turns me on with anything.

 

I use my EagleTac flashlight everyday, my expencive custom sits on my desk.

I use my 15 year old Victorinox way more than my titanium UKPK, which is used mostly as a letter opener.

The satchel I bought a decade ago from River Island has lasted longer and worked harder than a Crumpler that cost 5x as much.

I will always take my Savinelli University over my Dunhill.

 

These days, at the grand old age of 25, I'm glad I've learnt the difference between cost and value

[ethernautrix]

Once upon a time, I would have reached for my cheap(er) pens, worried about marring my better (more expensive) pens with use. But I preferred my better pens - because they were better. Maybe the writing itself was comparable, but the tactile experience was more pleasing, not to mention the aesthetic joy.

 

So... I either sold or gave away my cheaper pens - the Lamy Safaris and Vistas, the Platinum Preppies, the Pilot Prera, even the not-so- cheap pens, like the Sailor Sapporo Minis.

 

These days, I reach for the Nakayas first - unpolished shu Piccolo Cigar my favorite - or a Montblanc 100-Year Historical or one of two Pelikan Toledos. Another favorite is an Edison Morgan Triumph (Brian Gray made me a Morgan with my favorite Sheaffer Tucky nib and section; I love using this pen).