Top Five Fountain Pens (If Viewed Purely As A Writing Instrument)

[DrDebG]

Great answers all!

 

I am going to interpret this a bit differently. I am going to list the top 5 pens that I reach for when I am working, and the top 5 pens that I travel with.

 

Top 5 for work. These are solid performers without any problems:

1. TWSBI Eco with stub nib (yes, I know this surprised me as well but they are great pens just not durable enough for travel)

2. Lamy 2000 with medium nib

3. Lamy Studio with 14K Medium nib

4. Lamy Safari/Al-Star with broad or stub nib

5. Pilot Vanishing Point with stub nib

 

Top 5 for travel. These stand up to international travel well with solid performance. And if I lose one or give one away, it isn't a huge loss.

1. Jinhao 450

2. Picasso Montmartre

3. Conklin Duragraph with Stub nib

4. Monteverde Prima with stub nib

5. Faber Castell Loom

 

And sometimes when I travel, I just take a few Platinum Preppys or Pilot Petits with me, particularly if I know I will be giving pens away.

 

Yes, I have my Pelikans and Mont Blancs and many others, but these seem to be those that I use most often.

[Stompie]

For reliability and ease of use, plus price, I have Manuscript calligraphy pens with me almost all the time. On top of which I prefer an italic nib and I find the Parker and Shaeffer pens too unreliable to carry or depend on to write when you suddenly need a pen.

[pajaro]

Very amusing.

[manolo]

 

Thanks. Now, based on your suggestion, I want a Pelikan 140. I shouldn't be adding anything to my wishlist, but ...

 

Then...Why are we here?

[goodpens]

 

Then...Why are we here?

Good point!

[torstar]

Pelikan M1000? Boston Safety pen? Seriously?

Ever tried intermittent note taking with M1000 or 149? It’s a chore. It’s like using a Corvette for moving home.

 

these lists are no more than someone trumpeting their favourite pens purchased.

 

SHOCKING how they like best the cheaper pens they purchased, SHOCKING!!!

 

purely for amusement and maybe get some ideas for your next purchase

[pajaro]

Parker Sonnet.

Wearever 29 cent lever filler.

Esterbrook Phaeton.

Esterbrook Safari cartridge filler.

Sheaffer Cadet lever filler.

 

For your viewing pleasure.

[TSherbs]

today's top five, in random order:

 

Pilot Custom 74 SFM

Sheaffer 330 Imperial

Lamy Nexx

Pelikan 200

Parker Vacumatic

[cellmatrix]

sheaffer imperial 330 (my fav)
parker 51 vac
esterbrook m2
sheaffer balance
waterman 52

 

Edit to add: I can't understand why we have to spend resources manufacturing and buying all these new pens when so many amazing vintage pens are out there waiting for a new home!

[ardene]

Don't lynch me, but I think that if we are to think just as a writing instrument, then the school pens win. This is why:

 

Moderate flow: not too wet, not too dry

C/C filling system: you can't break what you don't have

Built to last being thrown around inside a pencil bag

The cheaper the better, lose or break one, buy another one

 

My thoughts exactly.

[amk]

Just for writing:

 

Lamy 2000 BB nib.

Edison Collier factory stub.

Any modern Pelikan.

Pilot Custom 92 fine.

Parker 45 and Slimfold, Waterman Kultur as EDC.

Lamy Joy, Rotring artpen, Reform Kalligraf and Pilot parallel. For *that* kind of writing.

 

Absent from the list are all my high-end Watermans even though the gold nibs are gorgeously bouncy, my Bexleys and my Platinum 3776s. I love them dearly but the list above is the stand-out list for pleasure of nib-to-paper experience. Parker 51 I adore, have several, but the hooded nib is a devil for moving around when you're not expecting it, and suddenly there you are attempting to write with the bum end of a bit of lucite.

[pajaro]

Parker Sonnet.

Wearever 29 cent lever filler.

Esterbrook Phaeton.

Esterbrook Safari cartridge filler.

Sheaffer Cadet lever filler.

 

For your viewing pleasure.

This was a joke, prompted by some of the other lists.

[Mech-for-i]

well well I take it a little different ; my take for the five would be ...

 

1. Original Waterman .... establish how the basic mechanism for pens to come

2. Original Pelikan Piston Filler .... the success of a truly all in one self filler with build in reservoir without much hassle

3. Parker 51... for its combination of utilizing truly modern material and technology including injection molding, thermoplastic, and making a balance of having all works together in a package, transitioning the fountain pen from mainly ( workshop bench ) crafted item to true mass writing instrument / tool that are manufacture and produced

4. Pilot original Vanishing Point / Capless ... a functional evolution

5. Any economically priced functional founctain pen of whatever era and period ... not everyone had thousands of dollars to burn for a pen but all the entry level pens which exhibit the functionality help to put the name to work, as a PEN .. none more, and none less ..

[GreyPix]

 

these lists are no more than someone trumpeting their favourite pens purchased.

 

SHOCKING how they like best the cheaper pens they purchased, SHOCKING!!!

 

purely for amusement and maybe get some ideas for your next purchase

 

If your being sarcastic ( ) you would get in trouble in Australian Universities where 'Sarcasm' is now deemed an act of Violence. Tch, tch! You'll need to grovel to the Australian snowflakes for forgiveness now or forever be damned

[senzen]

It's not like I'm overthinking this or anything ...

 

 

I think the test is: if I had to go on a trip and needed a reliable, comfortable pen, which one would I take?

 

Either a Pelikan m600/m200 with their f nibs: reliable, don't evaporate.

Or a Sailor Professional Gear in medium: makes Tsuyu Kusa look awesome.

 

My other pens are a possibility, except for my two Parker Sonnets, aka mega evaporators.

[nibtip]

90% 👍

It's not like I'm overthinking this or anything ...

 

I think the test is: if I had to go on a trip and needed a reliable, comfortable pen, which one would I take?

 

Either a Pelikan m600/m200 with their f nibs: reliable, don't evaporate.

Or a Sailor Professional Gear in medium: makes Tsuyu Kusa look awesome.

 

My other pens are a possibility, except for my two Parker Sonnets, aka mega evaporators.

 

Edited November 24, 2018 by inkking

[cellmatrix]

 

If your being sarcastic ( ) you would get in trouble in Australian Universities where 'Sarcasm' is now deemed an act of Violence. Tch, tch! You'll need to grovel to the Australian snowflakes for forgiveness now or forever be damned

 

Torstar's sarcasm rings true with me - I have a bunch of really nice pens, but mostly use my cheap old sheaffer 330 or esterbrook M2!

 

Seriously though, using sarcasm or name calling in a mean way to insult people and then use the excuse "can't you take a joke?" is pretty lame, and on this I agree with so called australian "snowflakes".

[pajaro]

well well I take it a little different ; my take for the five would be ...

 

1. Original Waterman .... establish how the basic mechanism for pens to come

2. Original Pelikan Piston Filler .... the success of a truly all in one self filler with build in reservoir without much hassle

3. Parker 51... for its combination of utilizing truly modern material and technology including injection molding, thermoplastic, and making a balance of having all works together in a package, transitioning the fountain pen from mainly ( workshop bench ) crafted item to true mass writing instrument / tool that are manufacture and produced

4. Pilot original Vanishing Point / Capless ... a functional evolution

5. Any economically priced functional founctain pen of whatever era and period ... not everyone had thousands of dollars to burn for a pen but all the entry level pens which exhibit the functionality help to put the name to work, as a PEN .. none more, and none less ..

Makes sense.

[praxim]

Seriously though, using sarcasm or name calling in a mean way to insult people and then use the excuse "can't you take a joke?" is pretty lame, and on this I agree with so called australian "snowflakes".

 

Despite being the only person so far on this page who lives in Australia, and somewhat plugged into politics, I had not heard about this ban. I found references to it only on very right wing web sites or publications, mostly from overseas. Given there has been no ripple here, it sounds pretty much like either a beat-up of some aspect of treating people with ordinary respect, or a right wing bubble reaction to some left wing bubble, and not an active issue of the mainstream or centre.

 

I think we can move along safely without discussing politics.

[GreyPix]

 

Torstar's sarcasm rings true with me - I have a bunch of really nice pens, but mostly use my cheap old sheaffer 330 or esterbrook M2!

 

Seriously though, using sarcasm or name calling in a mean way to insult people and then use the excuse "can't you take a joke?" is pretty lame, and on this I agree with so called australian "snowflakes".

 

Sarcasm and 'name calling' are two totally different things neither of which could ever be called 'an act of violence'. To think so leads to a weaker society that will eventually melt and drown under all the snowflakes melting down due to a lack of fortitude. Perhaps it will be for the best. Persons of stronger character will then be free to build a stronger, more robust, society with fine fountain pens.

Edited November 25, 2018 by GreyPix