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Hi! I'm a student from bristol newly into fountain pens. Is anyone else here from Bristol? So far i have a parker urban, parker vector, platinum preppy, another one but broken, an old pen i have no idea what it is(https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/323826-nib-upside-down/?view=getnewpost), and a load of disposable pilot v pens. Does anyone know the best places in Bristol for fountain pens etc?

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a50/LitlJaimo/Fountain%20Pens/Paper/8aa39040-d115-4e50-9443-750d83cf8ccc.jpg I like to use index cards, and while the Exacompta ones are great, they're availability in the 3x5 size is spotty. I figured that if I was going to be cutting the larger ones down anyway, I'd try out some paper alternatives. Bristol paper/board was recommended in a few other threads on the forums, so I ordered four different brands from Blick (dickblick.com). Fabriano Bristol+ is lovely! Brightest white of the four, smooth, & didn't seem to feather at all. I paid $11.33 for a 20 sheet 9x12 pad, so this isn't as cost effective as the others, but the paper surface is most similar to the Exacompta cards. I accidentally got the Bienfang Vellum instead of the Smooth finish. The Bienfang has a slightly coarse side & a smooth side, but I didn't notice a difference between the two when writing on them. Both it and the Strathmore are white, but not bright white like the Fabriano. There was a smidge of feathering, but it's not enough to be very deterring. The Strathmore felt very similar to the Bienfang, and at $8.75 for a 15-sheet 14x17 pad this is probably the one I'll go with unless I really feel like the Fabriano for smoothness. The Blick pad is the cheapest, but also the least pleasing of the four. It feathered with a fine nib TWSBI, and I'd be worried about it with a thicker nib. It's also more noticeably off-white/cream-colored than the others. If you don't mind cutting your own index cards, consider giving bristol a try!