Starter Fps - Why Are They So Fugly?

[ethernautrix]

That is (afaik) the normal, usual, S.O.P for every male child of that age. Each and every one of us is, as you so rightly say, Mr. Destructo Boy.

I'm remembering my big brother when we were kids. He's the one who taught me how fun it was (and pretty!) to melt crayons on the radiator, and I learned from example not to play with matches. Especially not in the kitchen garbage. We might have jumped off the roof of our building with towels tied around our shoulders, or maybe that was a dream.

 

Haha... big brother Batman and little sister Robin. I highly recommend having an older brother.

[corniche]

Which is, of course, nobbut a hi-falutin way of saying that whenever we see something that piques our interest, we pick it up and play with it until it we break it

 

How else are you going to figure out how something works if you don't take it apart first?

 

Sean

[Arkanabar]

Out of the pen models I've shown in my photo earlier, I'd definitely recommend against choosing a FPR Himalaya ahead of whichever other model. Their converters smell and are of awful quality. In spite of being threaded and screws onto the section, in my experience they're less secure against dislodgement and/or leakage than typical converters in the tradition of a Schmidt K5; and the push-and-pull driving mechanism for the piston is rudimentary and harder to use than a rotary mechanism. I don't think that the considerations for which some adult users favour that pen model, such as the ebonite feed, supposed ease of swapping nibs, or the ability to use it as an eyedroppered pen, are relevant for a cheap fountain pen for a seven-year-old child to use. The cap doesn't seal well against ink evaporation, and I say so from my experience with half a dozen FPR HImalaya pens I have here.

 

If a self-motivated user wants to give the FPR Himalaya a try, after having already had experience with two dozen or more other cheap Chinese (inclusive of Taiwanese), Japanese and perhaps Indian pens, because of the room for tinkering, that'd be a different story. Even then, I'd recommend the PenBBS 308 or Lorelei 019 well ahead of the FPR pens, which come with better converters, are designed to be eyedropper-able, employ threaded nib units for easy nib swapping but also allows any number of other-branded #6 nibs to be swapped into the housing just like a friction-fit nib, and have more effective caps.

 

In my opinion, the FPR Himalaya simply cannot be "stellar" no matter how much effort you put into the project; for the same amount of dollars and effort, there are umpteen other options with which you'd get a better-performing and more reliable writing instrument, unless you're specifically looking for either the FPR flex nibs or something to house an oddball "vintage" nib that other modern pen models won't accommodate.

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the FPR Himalaya pens, otherwise I wouldn't have so many of them (and they weren't bought all at once); but I think they're second-rate as "starter" fountain pens for the asking price, compared to what else is available in today's market.

The internals of all Himalayas are pretty smelly; I use it to test function of the olfactory nerve when I need to assess that. But I've gotten used to the syringe filler on the V1, and now find it as easy to use as a piston/screw filler. Maybe I've just been lucky with my emerald acrylic and green ebonite V1s, both of which write well and stay wet for at least a few days at a time, particularly when EDC.

 

My main thinking in recommending the Himalaya was aesthetics and price point (particularly of replacement nibs). Kevin has got some really pretty acrylic rods for those pens. But I'll freely admit that many of the Pen BBS acrylics are every bit as pretty, if not more so, and they are very price competitive.

 

Finally, I'm a little surprised that you keep buying Himalayas when the internals of FPR's Triveni and/or Triveni Jr. would seem to fit your needs so much better.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Arkanabar

[inkstainedruth]

Which is, of course, nobbut a hi-falutin way of saying that whenever we see something that piques our interest, we pick it up and play with it until it we break it

 

So you're saying that's why this guy I dated in college on and off for a couple of years took me to a bar one time, ordered me some drink with one of those little umbrellas in it, and then played with the umbrella till he broke it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[TSherbs]

 

So you're saying that's why this guy I dated in college on and off for a couple of years took me to a bar one time, ordered me some drink with one of those little umbrellas in it, and then played with the umbrella till he broke it?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but likely his fidgeting with the swizzle stick was the expression of other interest, more on than off.... Edited March 4, 2020 by TSherbs

[KCat]

That is (afaik) the normal, usual, ‘S.O.P’ for every male child of that age. Each and every one of us is, as you so rightly say, ‘Mr. Destructo Boy’.

 

E.g. at around that age I found my mum’s lipstick and then enjoyed using it to draw a swirly trail of colourful grease all over the walls and the furniture and the soft furnishings and the carpet in my parents’ bedroom.

On another day I found her Parker “51”, and the (1950s/60s vintage) Conway Stewart lever-fillers in beautiful swirly-burgundy-and-pink plastic that belonged to her and to my dad.

 

Indeed. I haven't been around many MDBs at this age but I have heard the stories.

[KCat]

I'm remembering my big brother when we were kids. He's the one who taught me how fun it was (and pretty!) to melt crayons on the radiator, and I learned from example not to play with matches. Especially not in the kitchen garbage. We might have jumped off the roof of our building with towels tied around our shoulders, or maybe that was a dream.

 

Haha... big brother Batman and little sister Robin. I highly recommend having an older brother.

 

My brothers were good for me, as well, although a bit older so mostly they taught me to appreciate good music and to, um, appreciate certain herbal concoctions. (It WAS the 70s)

 

How else are you going to figure out how something works if you don't take it apart first?

 

Sean

 

Amen to that!

[Bibliophage]

How else are you going to figure out how something works if you don't take it apart first?

 

Sean

I plead the fifth as to why I have all of these dead and shorted electronics around my workbench, with a screwdriver to hand.

[A Smug Dill]

Finally, I'm a little surprised that you keep buying Himalayas when the internals of FPR's Triveni and/or Triveni Jr. would seem to fit your needs so much better.

 

 

Well, to be fair, I only placed two orders with Fountain Pens Revolution that came to six Himalaya pens in total. I didn't know how much I'd trust pens (and in-house nibs) of Indian manufacture at the time of the order, but I've heard good things about FPR's flex nibs, and (as an obligatory tie-in to the topic) I thought the acrylic was pretty, so I selected the:

• * entry-level model for which the Flex nib was available;
• * which is a cartridge/converter-filled pen (as I generally prefer those to piston-fillers, eye-droppers, and any other "large capacity" pens with other filling mechanisms); and
• * I haven't tried a pen with either an ebonite feed or an ebonite body (without being covered in urushi, etc.),

so I ordered three acrylic- and one ebonite-barrelled models, each with three different nibs and matching feeds. Kevin was the perfect gentlemen with whom to deal commercially, and as you pointed out, his company's customer service is great. I just didn't like the product all that much at the end of the day, in spite of the pretty acrylics.

 

When the Himalaya v1 that took #6 nibs came later, I decided to give it another go and ordered two more (with one Flex and one Ultra Flex, as well as "spare" EF nibs), both with ebonite bodies, in the name of discovery and on the basis of getting great customer service from Kevin previously. I honestly can't tell you whether that was a mistake, even subjectively, because while it "sounded like a good idea at the time", I haven't been keen enough to ink them up and write with them since. All I did was test the caps' seal by filling them with water and standing them on their tips in a test tube rack (with a paper towel beneath them); and the results gave me little confidence that they're better than the first batch in that regard.

 

FPR pens aren't pens I'd give my ten- and seven-year-old "nieces" to play with, or that I'd feel good leaving their mother (who's a close family friend) to deal with, either on a lark or after careful consideration. I've just acquired Prefounte pens for them, and a selection of Pelikan, Aurora, Lamy and Sailor pens from which their mother can choose for herself as gifts, but I'd be more than happy to offer the girls my Moonman pens if they so prefer on account of the pretty acrylic bodies, knowing that they're reliable and relatively fuss-free to maintain.

[ethernautrix]

My brothers were good for me, as well, although a bit older so mostly they taught me to appreciate good music and to, um, appreciate certain herbal concoctions. (It WAS the 70s)

Oh yeah! My brother assisted in my musical knowledge, and, as he told me a couple of weeks ago, I helped him, by playing one of our mother's Andre Segovia albums super loud during an argument (cos that's the other thing, we were always fighting, even as recently as last month, hahaha). He'd heard the album before, but never at that volume, and apparently that's when the music hit him.

 

And even though he isn't interested in being a mindless zombie (he said, in similar words), he did buy me some sweet hybrid edibles while I was in California (where it's legal!). And since I couldn't bring them to Poland, well, being responsible, I had to use 'em or lose 'em. Haaaaa...!

 

So, a toast to big brothers!

[KCat]

Oh yeah! My brother assisted in my musical knowledge, and, as he told me a couple of weeks ago, I helped him, by playing one of our mother's Andre Segovia albums super loud during an argument (cos that's the other thing, we were always fighting, even as recently as last month, hahaha). He'd heard the album before, but never at that volume, and apparently that's when the music hit him.

 

And even though he isn't interested in being a mindless zombie (he said, in similar words), he did buy me some sweet hybrid edibles while I was in California (where it's legal!). And since I couldn't bring them to Poland, well, being responsible, I had to use 'em or lose 'em. Haaaaa...!

 

So, a toast to big brothers!

 

Cheers!

[ClaireSteinman]

LAMY abc

 

https://www.lamyshop.com/fuellhalter-lamy-abc.html

 

--- my 7 y/o son ist just learning upright-cursive with it. Yeah, upright-cursive is a thing, at least in some parts of Continental Europe

 

I actually became a huge fan of the ABCs when they came in to Dromgoole's. At first I thought they were silly because they were for kids, but they're a joy to write with a beautifully constructed! I probably convinced 6 or 7 people to buy one because I liked it so much.

[amberleadavis]

 

I actually became a huge fan of the ABCs when they came in to Dromgoole's. At first I thought they were silly because they were for kids, but they're a joy to write with a beautifully constructed! I probably convinced 6 or 7 people to buy one because I liked it so much.

 

That is good to know. Thank you.

[Honeybadgers]

Man this thread got derailed in a weirdly wholesome way.

[adamselene]

What weight and girth are right for her?

 

And does she have a set of Prismacolor pencils yet?