Forgot My Lamy 2000 F At Home And 'making Do' With A Varisty.

[New_Falcon]

Hello All,

 

I forgot my Lamy 2000 F at home today and at work we only have ball point pens in the cupboard. So after the usual grumbling I remembered the backup but only used once every 3months Pilot varsity that I had filled with Noodlers Black.

 

It's a wonderfully performing pen. The nib is great and the handling isn't bad at all. It looks the all of $3 it costs, but writes and handles way above that price point.

 

I wonder what other pens are unsung heroes that are at lower price points.

 

I think that for me the lower price point would be <$35 and the normal, need to think for a month or two before dropping that on a pen, price point is $150.

 

If only they mad a better looking varsity.

[ac12]

Less than $35:

• Pilot Metro ($15)
• Parker IM (less than $20 street price)
• Baoer 388 ($7, or 7 for $25) But 4 of 5 of my pens needed nib adjustment to flow ink well.

[tomgartin]

There are "good buy" pens and then there are "spousal permission" pens. I have several of the former, but at this point I can only get away with one of the latter, which is why I knew I needed to sell it if I wanted to be able to buy something worthwhile at the upcoming pen show.

 

For me, the Kaweco Classic Sport is a no-brainer <$35 pen. It's my go-to right now.

[doggonecarl]

I wonder what other pens are unsung heroes that are at lower price points.

 

I don't think great writing "entry level" or "cheap" pens go unsung on this forum.

 

I think the Platium Preppy, with it's ability to take refills and be converted to an eyedropper make it a great bargin pen. And there is any number of Chinese pens that can be found for the same or near price. But if they write well, few go unsung. However, if we score a real good deal, we don't mind tooting our horn about it.

[SnorriRafn]

I have a few Hero 612s that really work for me. None have had any problems. These days I usually carry a TWSBI 580 and a Hero 612.

[mcc1701]

I love all of my Bulow pens. They are similar to Jinhaos, and I don't think that I paid more than $12 for any of them. I got a pack of 5 that ended up being $9 per pen. I did have to adjust the nib to the feed on most of the, but once that was done, I've found them to be smooth writers and great work horses. I take several pages of notes a week for school and I've never had a problem out of any of them, besides the initial nib/feed adjustments.

[displacermoose]

If you are willing to learn some basic nib adjustment skills there are tons of excellent Indian and Chinese pens to be had under $35. I have a couple of Dukes that look and feel like "spousal permission pens," but were well under the point when my husband starts giving me the hairy eyeball.

[lurcho]

That bloody Varsity! Or V-Pen as they are here.

 

It's unbelievably good. Though they work better if you set them up a bit, and stick some decent ink in them.

[WirsPlm]

I think the Pilot Petit1 is a bit of a unsung pen, they're like Varsities that are easily refillable and look nicer (but they're also cheaper, generally, which is awesome) but I don't see them mentioned as often as the Varsity. Other than that, I think the coverage of cheap pens around here is pretty good, people always look for a bargain.

[OcalaFlGuy]

I forgot my Lamy 2000 F at home today and at work we only have ball point pens in the cupboard. So after the usual grumbling I remembered the backup but only used once every 3months Pilot varsity that I had filled with Noodlers Black.

 

It's a wonderfully performing pen. The nib is great and the handling isn't bad at all. It looks the all of $3 it costs, but writes and handles way above that price point.

 

I wonder what other pens are unsung heroes that are at lower price points.

 

I think that for me the lower price point would be <$35 and the normal, need to think for a month or two before dropping that on a pen, price point is $150.

 

If only they mad a better looking varsity.

 

There are a lot of much more expensive pens that didn't write new as well as a Varsity.

If I were artistically accomplished, and I'm not, I might get a couple cans of the Plasticote spray paint and some masking tape and go to town on a Varsity. Even better if you had an airbrush. A Varsity with Flames?

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Edited April 7, 2014 by OcalaFlGuy

[scrivelry]

In fact, one of the things I really love about this place is that some people only purchase high end, some of us only purchase pretty low end, and some people float happily from pen to pen all over the place, and there is room for everybody. I've never felt a lack of respect, and my bottom feeding budget is certainly not some secret I am keeping.

 

I like that term, "Spousal permission pen..." I think my spouse likes FPs in part because they are small. My other half does not have to look at them. I betcha I could get approval for quite the pens before I could get approval for, say, a new kitchen table...

 

T

[OcalaFlGuy]

Just a few pages of posts in the Show your pen, writing and ink thread and you see that pen happiness can come very inexpensively. That's one thing that's really neat about that thread too.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[freedomrider]

For me, Sailor High Ace Neo, 16USD and smooth EF nib

[New_Falcon]

I've forgotten the Lamy once or twice since the original occasion but still the varsity performed wonderfully.

 

Looks wise it probably fits the $3 price tag.

Ergonomics works well and performs well above the $3 price tag.

 

I'll definitely be continuing to leave a couple of these at work for when I forget my main pen.

[ac12]

When I got the Baoer pens from a HK eBay seller, they were for gifts to new FP users (my brother and sister and their spouces).

At that price if they did not like it, nothing really lost, as the pen + ink was less than lunch at McDonalds.

7 Baoer 388 for $25 shipped to me. Close copy of the Parker Sonnet.

6 Baoer 801 for $20 shipped to me. Close copy of the Parker 88.

So buying in quantity, the pens came out to about $3.30 each.

And they come with a converter.

As I mentioned most of the 388s needed nib adjustment to flow ink well, the 801s did not.

These were 2 of the very few smaller diameter Chinese pens that came with a M nib. Most of the Chinese pens have F nibs which are too small for use as a daily writer, especially a new FP user.

Edited April 7, 2014 by ac12

[MBFan]

I bought a varsity to turn into an eyedropper. They're pretty neat pens in and of themselves.

 

I too really like the diversity of FP use and love. It's a testament to the community. Well done everyone

[Moose22]

 

If only they mad a better looking varsity.

 

 

It's called the Pilot Petite. Little purse pen sized thing, cartridge filler, uses the same nib as the varsity (which is surprisingly nice for the price) and I got a few for less than $3 each from jstationery. They are actually MORE comfortable to me than the varsity as I find that pen a touch more slender than I like and they're so cheap I have no problem hauling them with me anywhere, anytime, and even tossing one in a desk drawer. Nobody will steal it and if they do it's cheap to replace.

 

I write with 78Gs a lot, have several Metropolitans lying around, and can recommend them both wholeheartedly. $10-15 pens and, while I still prefer vintage, they are a fantastic bargain at that price. I haven't tried the Sailor or Kaweko cheaper pens mentioned by others, but I have a stack of Baoer 388s and I got 4 out of 5 to write well enough. The 5th was unusable no matter what. Still came out to less than $5 per pen and a half hour of work getting the nibs aligned and adjusted.