Good Fountain Pen For Law School?

[Mswan]

I bought a Yafa cartridge fountain pen from Office Depot four months ago and I now cannot write without a fountain pen. The Yafa pen is disintegrating on me and I am in need of a new pen. I will be attending my first semester of law school next semester and I anticipate doing a great deal of writing. I need my pen mainly to take notes during class. I'm currently on a $30 budget however if there is a significant difference between the $30 and say $50-$60 range I am willing to spend a bit more. Any recommendations are welcome and appreciated. Thanks!

[jar]

Welcome home. Pull up a stump and set a spell. Good luck in law school and in your quest.

[CAG_1787]

The responses you'll get on this one will be as varied as the people providing them.

 

Here are some recommendations:

TWSBI 540 - nice pen, the clear demonstrator may be too flashy for your classroom, though.

Lamy Safari - solid, consistent pen

Lamy Al-Star - like the Safari, but with a metal body, if that's important to you

[inkstainedruth]

Wow -- now I'm glad I didn't buy one of those.

I had looked at them, but it wasn't clear whether you could get a converter for them (and the cartridges only seemed to be available through Yafa -- they were inexpensive as cartridges go, but the shipping seemed to be more than the cartridges cost!).

I don't know enough to recommend a specific brand or model. (I'm sure that more knowledgable folks will be more than happy to give you suggestions). I would say that you need something that has a fairly large ink capacity (either cartridges -- which are more expensive, but convenient and can be cleaned and refilled with the ink of your choice -- or a relatively easy to use converter). You're going to be doing a lot of writing, I'd guess, and you're probably not going to have a lot of extra time to fussing about with pen flushes and large ink bottles (there was a thread I was reading where people did discuss methods of carrying small containers of ink instead of cartridges, like nalgene bottles that seal well -- you can probably search for the thread fairly easily by using terms like "nalgene" and "school").

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[jotterius]

TWSBI 540

[pelman]

TWSBI 540 or a vintage Sheaffer pen from Teri at Peyton Street Pens. No affiliation etc...

[dcpritch]

Welcome to FPN!

 

I would look for a Pelikan M200 with a gold F or M nib, which can be found on the classifieds for fairly low prices from time to time, for two reasons: First, the Pelikan gold nibs write great and are very reliable, plus they can be removed easily (screw in nib unit) for cleaning; and second, they hold a large quantity of ink so you should almost never have to refill during a day of taking notes. One reason I would recommend an F or M nib is those tips will put less ink down than a wider nib and you could put more lines on a page of paper with a B or stub nib (which are my preferences, but I don't take pages of notes at lectures any longer).

 

Good luck with law school!

 

DAVID

[whitedot]

There should be a sticky list on budget school pens by now. Here are some common suggestions in no particular order:

• TWSBI 540 (piston)
• Lamy Safari
• Lamy Al-Star (lighter metal)
• Sheaffer Imperial
• Sheaffer Prelude (heavier metal)
• Pilot Prera

For the record, the Sheaffer Prelude got me through LS - comfortable grip, robust. Where are you located?

Edited April 24, 2012 by whitedot

[Laura N]

On a $30 budget I would buy a Lamy Safari with converter. I suspect that isellpens or Jetpens probably would give you the best price.

 

I also love my TWSBIs, but I can't say it's worth the extra money, if saving money is your prime consideration. If your budget were higher, the 540 is a fine pen.

 

I have tried a lot of pens that cost less than the Lamy Safari, but I don't think they measure up. The Safari is as low as I'd go.

 

I do think you are wise to spend as little as possible. That law school debt really adds up. Enjoy school. And pay a lot of attention to your Legal Writing course.

[kps]

I'm currently on a $30 budget however if there is a significant difference between the $30 and say $50-$60 range I am willing to spend a bit more.

Having said that, you will mostly get responses for pens that are around $60 plus shipping, not to mention ink.

 

Here are a few options that you can buy right now that are very likely to write well and reliably:

- Pilot 78G ($10 on eBay).

- Reform 1745 ($15 in the Classifieds).

- Sheaffer Imperial II cosmetic seconds ($30 at Peyton St Pens).

 

In any case, check the Reviews for details of your various options.

[Draless]

I would say - if you could - spend around $100-150 and get yourself a Lamy 2000. Yes I do realize its above your budget but, it is well built, sturdy, snap cap, smooth nib, holds a ton of ink. If you plan on saving money and just buying ONE pen (good luck) then I personally would try and get a Lamy 2000.

 

If not then I would recommend a TWSBI 540 $55 , or a refurbished Parker 51 if possible ( around $60-90)

 

edit:

 

ok well I just re-read your original post and saw you're at $30, for some reason i processed $55-60 as your budget but could go up.

 

I would go for a TWSBI 540

Edited April 24, 2012 by Draless

[Mswan]

I live in Texas. I'll be attending University of Houston Law Center in the fall. I'm trying to decide between the Lamy and the TWSBI right now, but those Scheaffers also look really good although I haven't heard a lot about them so far. Decisions decisions.

[rapid_butterfly]

I am a practicing attorney. I find that metal body NOS Sheaffer 444s make reliable, wonderful work pens that can handle a fair bit of abuse. They may be nearly 40 years old but they are stout, and every one I've ever had has written beautifully. I really love them and I keep coming back to them. You can fit a modern Sheaffer cartridge converter which can be sourced from places like Goulet Pens. They're not that spendy either. They're moderately awkward posted, which is no worry for me as I write unposted. In a work pen I like that the caps are not threaded - I can slide it off with my writing hand as I reach for the phone or whatevs.

 

I've also had good luck with Lamy Logos, ugly though they are. I don't care for the grip on the Lamy Safari.

 

ymmv, etc.

[Lothianjavert]

A Lamy Safari will work with your budget. You can use cartridges with it or you can get a converter for it so that it can use bottled ink. The cartridges and the converter don't hold a lot of ink, so you will want to make sure you have extras. The Lamy however is a decent pen that will be a good inexpensive workhorse.

 

The TWSBI 540 is more expensive. It is a big pen, and it holds a ton of ink. Most owners of them here like them very much and it's a lot of pen for the money. It should easily get you through a day of note taking (if not a couple days) with the amount of ink that it can hold.

 

Both TWSBI and Lamy have interchangeable nib units so you can just replace the nib or pick up another size just for fun.

 

The Pelikan is an awesome pen, but I have not seen one in your price range- especially with a gold nib. You might be able to pick up a well-used one with a steel nib in your price range if you look for a while.

 

There are also some great vintage pens that would work well. Some of the vintage Sheaffers are great writers and relatively inexpensive.

 

 

[whitedot]

If you know someone in the UK who'd do the legwork for you, I strongly recommend a German Diplomat. They aren't often discussed, because they aren't widely available in the States, and their nibs aren't particularly expressive. But, they are extremely reliable, super-smooth and compatible with international standard cartridges or converters. The lower-end models have the same nib as higher-end ($250) models, which makes them great value for money. The Diplomat Esteem Effect is $80 in the US, $16 in the UK. Reviews here.

Edited April 24, 2012 by whitedot

[Mercian]

The Diplomat Esteem Effect is $80 in the US, $16 in the UK.

 

That UK pen is a rollerball

 

Searching on that site (gbapen.co.uk) for Esteem FPs brings up only two pens.

Both have thumbnaill pics showing FP's, but one has 'RB' in the product title and shows a picture of a rollerball when you hover the mouse over the thumbnail to see a larger image, whilst the other says 'ballpen' in the product description and shows a ballpoint when you hover over the thumbnail.

So I don't think that they do have Esteem FP's for that price

 

Especially as every other UK site I've seen that sells Diplomat Esteem FP's sells them in the £35 - £60 price range .

[whitedot]

The Diplomat Esteem Effect is $80 in the US, $16 in the UK.

 

That UK pen is a rollerball

 

Searching on that site (gbapen.co.uk) for Esteem FPs brings up only two pens.

Both have thumbnaill pics showing FP's, but one has 'RB' in the product title and shows a picture of a rollerball when you hover the mouse over the thumbnail to see a larger image, whilst the other says 'ballpen' in the product description and shows a ballpoint when you hover over the thumbnail.

So I don't think that they do have Esteem FP's for that price

 

Especially as every other UK site I've seen that sells Diplomat Esteem FP's sells them in the £35 - £60 price range .

 

www.gbapen.co.uk/productinfo.aspx?productcode=D10447803

 

They do. I just put one in my "shopping basket".

Edited April 24, 2012 by whitedot

[reval]

That is a great deal for a Diplomat Esteem FP. Probably a good daily writer!

[whitedot]

That is a great deal for a Diplomat Esteem FP. Probably a good daily writer!

 

Great daily writer! GBA has stopped distributing Diplomats, so they are clearing stock. (No aff.)

[nickapos]

I live in Texas. I'll be attending University of Houston Law Center in the fall. I'm trying to decide between the Lamy and the TWSBI right now, but those Scheaffers also look really good although I haven't heard a lot about them so far. Decisions decisions.

 

Hello, get a Lamy initially, preferably an all star, since it will be more tolerant (being made from metal) to difficult situations, like carrying it in a bag or something.

Later get a TWSBI since it is a great pen with large ink capacity (and some problems for some)

 

Anyway, for your initial pen i think that it is better to get a cheaper, sturdy, replaceable pen (like all star).

 

Of course there are other choices (pilot 78G, pilot prera, a vintage parker 45, any number of baoer or jinhao metal pens etc)

some of them are in the range of 5$, some at 10$ and prera i think is in the range of 30-40$.

 

There are plenty of choices.