If you could only have one pen

[Piano Player]

My Pelikan M-600 (old style). Keeps taking the abuse I give it, and keeps writing with that wet medium line.

[saturation]

Pilot Vanishing Point. Its 100% consistent in smoothness & ink flow than more expensive pens I have*, and writes on virtually most paper I encounter. It has never soiled my fingers with ink [other than during a messy filling], and in fast work days, the speed of retracting the nib keeps the nib safe. The extra motion needed to cap a classic fountain pen has, on occassion, led to interesting marks on co-workers, and near fatal falls. My workday requires me to fill the VP converter with ink 1-2x daily.

 

Medium VP nib is ~ fine nib for most pens. Broad VP nib is ~ medium for most pens.

 

The nibs are quickly interchangeable, and I have Medium for heavy work days, and Broad, for days when most of my work is signing my name.

 

 

*Parker 75, vintage 1970s

Parker Sonnet 1980s vintage

Mont Blanc Meisterstuck

Parker 75. 1980s vintage

Edited January 31, 2006 by saturation

[Slush99]

My Core, but what would I do without all the ink colors?

[JimStrutton]

No question for me either - My sterling/cedar blue 51 Vac with a very smooth, wet medium nib.  I'd choose an Aero for longevity, but I just can't seem to find one with a nib like this.

 

Can I keep the pencil too?

 

http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8120/img13383tc.jpg

Ryan,

 

No you can't keep the pencil, send it to me instead

 

If you want that sort of nib in an Aero "51", you need to look out for an English Medium, big wet and almost a US Broad.

 

I love the Vacs, but if it came down to just one it would have to be an Aero.

 

Jim

 

PS I have your pens cousin, except it has a GF cap and I changed the X Fine nib for an English Medium, we are talking Vac heaven

[jmk]

I couldn't keep just one - but it would be hard not to start with my Montblanc 145 with a fine nib... : )

[klemenv]

Don't care about the pen, but it would have Duofold Centenial #98 fine italic cursive nib.

[southpaw]

Don't like the idea, but if forced, any one of these three would do:

Omas 360, large size, fine nib

Omas Paragon, large size, medium nib

Stipula Etruria Grande, old style nitrate material, 0.9 mm italic/stub

All piston fillers that hold a ton of ink and with wonderfully smooth nibs.

[sbarnett]

My Namiki Yukari Seahorse with med nib. While I have pens the write as well or even a little better, I can get lost contemplating the beauty and workmanship of this pen, and it does write completely reliably and smoothly.

 

Steve

[Matt]

My Pelikan M605 with a fine nib. Always a reliable good writer that is very comfortable in the hand. And it's a nice looking pen as well. Currently it is inked with PR Midnight Blues.

 

Matt C.

[JRodriguez]

This is a tough question that I've often considered. My answer varies between three pens, usually depending on which has seen the most use recently - my Pelikan 800 w/ fine nib, my fine/medium 51 vac, and a screwy fine nib Waterman Carene I lucked into that doesn't write like any other Carene I've ever tried. If I had to start from today onward, it would have to be the Pelikan 800 - great all around writer, a little pizazz to it, and a nice load of ink. It's a painful painful decision though!

[DRP]

Sheaffer Targa. Regular size (as opposed to slim model). Medium nib.

 

If one has to compromise on a single pen, this is a nice compromise which meets my needs.

 

The nib is gold. Hard to beat for an overall writer. Smooth. Very smooth. Ink flows nicely regardless of brand or color.

 

Gold offers just enough flexibility to ensure a touch of splash but without going overboard. A little flexibility but not too much for day-to-day use.

 

As to the nib being medium, that's a compromise but if I had only a single choice, this would be it. Although I thoroughly enjoy a pen with a stub nib, it's not so practical for the broad range of uses. A medium nib is.

 

My Sheaffer Targa allows me either a converter with pretty good capacity or a cartridge. I might prefer just a bit larger capacity in the converter but the converter supplied with the Targa has a capacity better than some others.

 

Once again, if I only had a single pen to choose and could not switch converters with some other pen, this is the compromise I would take.

 

I don't use cartridges often but occasionally can't get to a bottle for a refill. On those rare occasions, it's nice to be able to grab a cartridge, especially if I have no other choice but to flick a Bic.

 

Pen size and weight is also a nice balance. There are times I like a little wider or heavier pen and times I prefer a lighter and/or thinner pen. My Sheaffer Targa represents the compromise that I can always go back to.

 

This is a great pen. Exceptionally well made. Durable yet tastefully designed. I have a gold pen with simple through straightforward lines.

 

The cap closes with a satisfying click and this signals a solid airtight seal. Ink doesn't dry out, even after the pen has sat a couple of days.

 

This was, in fact, my only fountain pen for a great many years. I got into collecting more pens a couple of years ago when I wondered what would happen if my Sheaffer Targa were ever lost or damaged. I started looking around and found lots of other pens I would like -- in addition to my Sheaffer Targa.

 

This pen has been with me for over twenty years. It shows a few nicks, dents, and the wear one would expect from a pen with this heavy use. Yet, it remains my favorite and one which I always keep inked, even if I use another pen for a day or two (I often carry two pens now and the Targa is typically one of them).

 

I carry it with me for business and just to the hardware store to buy supplies. When I write a check, I like my Sheaffer Targa available to write a check. I don't consider a legal document to be really legal if written with a ballpoint Bic. I am unable to count the number of times a store clerk has commented favorably on my pen.

 

Like Sheaffer (or at least the Sheaffer that made the pen two decades ago), I am a midwesterner. I like value and quality. A gold pen with a gold nib adds an understated elegance that we midwesterners like but typically don't flaunt. I don't wear flashy clothes. A gold Sheaffer Targa is about the only thing that stands out. Unmistakable quality.

 

It makes the point quite satisfactorily.

 

David

[nmb]

Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point with a medium nib. Smooth as all get out and unbeatable convenience. Small converter or propietary cartridges are a minus, but that's life.

 

If we're not limited to pens that we currently own, it'd be a DaniTrio Raw Ebonite Densho with a flexy fine. If I had to only have one pen, that would be it. I'm not exactly sure how I'd get it, but bank robbery is not rocket science.

[TheNobleSavage]

Oh my, what a delima!!! This is going to be a very tough question!!! I would have to say either my DaniTrio Densho with Flexy Medium Nib

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/TheNobleSavage/Dani%20Trio%20Mikado/neatstuff.jpg

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/TheNobleSavage/Dani%20Trio%20Mikado/thenib.jpg

 

 

or my Bexley Prometheus with the stub nib!!! Both hold a lot of ink and they both write like a dream!! Sorry, I just cannot pick just one!!!

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/TheNobleSavage/Bexley%20Prometheus/uncapped2small.jpg

 

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a71/TheNobleSavage/Bexley%20Prometheus/overall1.jpg

 

TNS

Edited February 1, 2006 by The Noble Savage

[handlebar]

I sure like that Bexley!!! Beautiful pen!!!

 

handlebar

[DrPJM1]

Great choices all!

[TheNobleSavage]

I sure like that Bexley!!! Beautiful pen!!!

 

handlebar

Why Thank you Handlebar!!

 

This is one of the crown jewels of my collection and one of the best Sumgai deals I have ever encountered. As you can see this is an older picture with a medium nib. In the last month or so, I decided to send it back to Bexley for a stub. This turned out to be the best decision!! Since the nibs on the Prometheus is 2 times the size of the standard Bexley nib the Stub performed flawless. This has the broadest downstroke I have seen in any factory stub nib. The side stroke is very thin. The nib is very smooth writing and the line variation is quite nice too. One of these days I am going to have to scan in some hand writing samples.

 

I guess Bexley quit making the Prometheus last year, too bad because it is a mammoth of a pen and a true oversize pen for bexley. This is about the same size as a Montblanc 149 and it writes much better than my 149. I think another issue with the prometheus was the price. Bexley is not known for making inexpensive pens and this one is no exception. If you had the choice of a 149, Pelikan M1000 and a Prometheus most people would choose the 149 and the M1000 due to their track record, while the Prometheus was only made for 1 year maybe 2 at the most. Very expensive pens to make from a manufacturers point of view according to Howard Levy.

[Johnny Appleseed]

Ouch - what a decision.

 

However, in my case it would have to be a Sheaffer Vac-filler in green stripe, triumph nib, 1250 size. (Note that I don't have mine restored yet, but I am working on it.) Ultimate choice would be with a .6mm stub/ XF 2-sided nib, but I haven't got that - though it's also in the works .

 

But I would be torn between that and a Waterman 13 with XF-flex nib that has almost the perfect degree of flex.

 

A compromise pen, which I don't actually have, would be a big green-striped Balance vac-filler with a semi-flex to flex nib - perhaps a Waterman #5.

 

I know for pure utility I should choose my Vacumatic 51, or my Snorkel Clipper.

 

In some ways, I feel like I should dump the rest of my collection and just use the Snorkel anyway. Part of my attraction to fountain pens is their environmental benefits - no disposable refills and cartridges, ink from recycleable glass bottles, etc. The snorkel is probably the most environmentally efficient writing instrument ever invented (with the exception of the dip pen perhaps) since it writes more with less ink than any other pen. Also along the environmental lines is to live as simply as possible, using no more than I need - thus only one, or maybe 2 pens (as a backup), vintage so that I am re-using something old rather than buying something new.

 

However, aesthetics also comes into play, so I'd have to choose my green-striped celluloid. And I will keep my accumul-ection. Since most of it consists of pens I have restored myself, I can argue that I am doing my part to re-use the old and unused. OK, so it might be better if I got 60 other people to re-use these old pens, but . . .

 

John

Edited February 2, 2006 by Johnny Appleseed

[KendallJ]

No question for me either - My sterling/cedar blue 51 Vac with a very smooth, wet medium nib. I'd choose an Aero for longevity, but I just can't seem to find one with a nib like this.

 

Can I keep the pencil too?

 

http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8120/img13383tc.jpg

What about your TD Ryan... ?

 

For me, that's easy. OK its not that easy.

 

Snorkel! Specifically, my Mandarin Valiant with juicy Med 2T triumph nib. Yes, Ryan it's sweeter than your TD!

[Escribiente]

I wont be able to work with one pen, though, I had for many years. If I could narrow down to only three pens, they would be:

• Nakaya Tamenuri Red with a Fine nib fine tuned by John Mottishaw.
  
• Pelikan M805 with a Fine nib.
  
• Omas Arco with a Medium Stub nib by John Mottishaw.
  

[Shangas]

I know. It’s a traumatic question. Here are the criteria:

 

1. It has to be a pen that you like to write with, not just look at.

 

2. Sentimental value does not apply in this survey. I’m only interested in the one pen you like to use best based on its form.

 

3. Specify the nib

 

For the record, I know that there is no one best pen- and that certain pens are better for certain things. But humor me! You only get one pen for letter or journal writing for the rest of your life. What would yours be?

 

Ahem, and no qualifiers. For example- if Pelikan made the m425 the length of an 800, keeping the 400 diameter, and a 0.5mm stub, that would be my ideal pen. But it doesn’t count, as the 425 is too short for me unspotted, and too heavy with the cap.

 

What would you choose?

 

-Ryan

 

1. Montblanc Meisterstuck fountain pen. I've wanted one for YEARS. I finally have it, and if I had just one pen, that would be it. I would write with it every chance I got.

 

2. See above. Also, the Meisterstuck, I've found, writes very smoothly, which is great for someone like me, I write fast.

 

3. Fine or extra-fine. I write FAST, and fat, bulky, thick lines are no good for that. Fine or extra fine ONLY. If not that, then Meduim, but that's as thick as I'd get. Nothing above medium. Absolutely not.