My first pen was the LAMY Safari, which I purchased as part of the starter pack from the Goldspot website. Two years later, I got my second LAMY fountain pen as a Christmas gift from my wife, the Al-Star.
My first fountain pen was a Parker 51, given to me by my parents when I was 11. That was 65 years ago, after I passed an entrance exam to attend what was then considered an elite school. I used that pen throughout my academic years, and it still writes perfectly to this day. It’s the third pen from the right in this photo: https://shorturl.at/0r1xm.
Although I drifted away from fountain pens during the early years of my career, I rediscovered the tactile pleasure of pen on paper in the early 1990s. That spark reignited my passion, and I began collecting pens—a collection that has since grown to around 60. A few of my favorites appear in the photo as well.
Oh, sorry - didn’t mean for that to post. So this is part 2, I guess. After a year or so I got to the point that I liked the shady, sort of washed-out looking blue ink they all seemed to write with. (Initially, I thought, who would choose to write with ink like this? Ha.) But I knew nothing about fountain pens. I bought a cheap plastic Sheaffer at the grocery store in the office supplies aisle. It came with a couple of cartridges. I put one in and it didn’t write. Soon, it was leaking. By the time I had ink on my hands, my clothes, my bed and my carpet, I threw it out. And that was it for me and fountain pens for years.
Until I went with a friend to a big independent office supplies store with a friend in Atlanta. (They closed just a few years ago - didn’t keep up with online stuff and lost out.) this store, Artlite, had an entire counter dedicated to fountain pens. Ohhhhhh. This is what they mean! I bought my first and never looked back. Never did find that washed-out looking blue ink, but I’ve never been happier with all the inks I do have. And all the pens, of course.
I had a failed start with fountain pens about three years ago. I ordered a kakuno F off of amazon, and I found it very inconsistent and unreliable. Looking back, it was probably because the cartridge started running low, but there was still some juice left in the tank so I didn't connect the dots. Around the end of 2024 I obtained a CON-70, some cross blue-black ink, and pulled the old kakuno from its drawer. That worked better for me but I still found it would randomly skip, blob out, dry out, etc. Eventually I got ahold of a floss to clean it with, and after stuffing silicone grease into every nook and cranny it's now the most reliable pen I own.
I have a similar story once I finally decided to pick up the Preppy EF. It never worked well until I took the risk of modifying it, forcing the tines open with a floss, and widening the channel with an x-acto knife. Even now I find that the nib tends to clog more easily than my kakuno, and I find it more challenging to clean.
I love fountain pens now. I like how smoothly they write, that I can treasure my pens instead of treating them as disposable, and mixing inks together so I can have something different every 1-3 weeks in my journal. But I wonder if there are pens out there that are more reliable out-of-the-box for a beginner, even if they aren't as cheap as a preppy or kakuno. Not everyone wants to get ahold of a bunch of equipment just to get the pen to write dependably. Maybe a pilot metropolitan or parallel?
My first was a Pilot Kakuno. I still use it, of course-it's a great pen! My second one, on the other hand, was a Nahvalur Original, med steel nib. Looks super cool - the nib just sucks. I don't know if there is something wrong with it - but it skips no matter what ink I put in it.
My first gold nib was a Sailor PGS 14k MF nib. The pen is small, but that nib blew my mind. Bliss.
Currently, I am awaiting the arrival of my Sailor 1911 21k, M nib. I nearly opted for a Pilot or a Platinum since I love both steel nibs. I need more time though to sift through the different nib #s and sizes.
My first fountain pen was a Waterman Laureate, a gift from a friend for being in his bridal party ages ago. I didn’t actually use it until years later, when my wife gave me a Waterman Expert II in “Smart Brown” with a medium nib. It is a wonderfully wet writer, which I prefer because I do all my first drafts in cursive. I then went back to the Laureate and found it to be a nice writer, too. I own over 150 fountain pens today from various makers (Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Montblanc, Lamy, Aurora, Visconti, TWSBI, etc.) and I love them all, though I am partial to Waterman because I prefer a heavier and larger pen in the “firehose” ink flow category. I suppose in my case, I never forgot my first.
My first fountain pen experience was awful. This was way back, like late 1980s or early 90s. Like you, I was a pen and paper snob, and loved rollerballs and gel pens. I had small, neat handwriting back then, so I craved a fine point with a good, strong, solid, dark line. Around that time, though, I was a member of International Pen Friends, and had pen pals in various countries. And most of them wrote to me with fountain pens.
After watching The Colour of Ink (documentary), I treated myself to my first fountain pen this past Christmas: a Lamy Safari Fountain Pen in bright yellow with the refillable cartridge. I fell in love with it immediately and a few months later bought another Lamy with a slightly finer tip. Then I was pleasantly surprised to find a great stationery store in town that sells all sorts of wonderful inks. I’m currently loving on a beautiful dark greenish-black bottle from Tom’s Studio that I think is named Ivy. And it makes writing so much more pleasurable and seemingly more important. :)
My first pen was the LAMY Safari, which I purchased as part of the starter pack from the Goldspot website. Two years later, I got my second LAMY fountain pen as a Christmas gift from my wife, the Al-Star.
My first fountain pen was a Parker 51, given to me by my parents when I was 11. That was 65 years ago, after I passed an entrance exam to attend what was then considered an elite school. I used that pen throughout my academic years, and it still writes perfectly to this day. It’s the third pen from the right in this photo: https://shorturl.at/0r1xm.
Although I drifted away from fountain pens during the early years of my career, I rediscovered the tactile pleasure of pen on paper in the early 1990s. That spark reignited my passion, and I began collecting pens—a collection that has since grown to around 60. A few of my favorites appear in the photo as well.
More of my pen narratives and pics: @stoicalgeezer.bsky.social
Oh, sorry - didn’t mean for that to post. So this is part 2, I guess. After a year or so I got to the point that I liked the shady, sort of washed-out looking blue ink they all seemed to write with. (Initially, I thought, who would choose to write with ink like this? Ha.) But I knew nothing about fountain pens. I bought a cheap plastic Sheaffer at the grocery store in the office supplies aisle. It came with a couple of cartridges. I put one in and it didn’t write. Soon, it was leaking. By the time I had ink on my hands, my clothes, my bed and my carpet, I threw it out. And that was it for me and fountain pens for years.
Until I went with a friend to a big independent office supplies store with a friend in Atlanta. (They closed just a few years ago - didn’t keep up with online stuff and lost out.) this store, Artlite, had an entire counter dedicated to fountain pens. Ohhhhhh. This is what they mean! I bought my first and never looked back. Never did find that washed-out looking blue ink, but I’ve never been happier with all the inks I do have. And all the pens, of course.
I had a failed start with fountain pens about three years ago. I ordered a kakuno F off of amazon, and I found it very inconsistent and unreliable. Looking back, it was probably because the cartridge started running low, but there was still some juice left in the tank so I didn't connect the dots. Around the end of 2024 I obtained a CON-70, some cross blue-black ink, and pulled the old kakuno from its drawer. That worked better for me but I still found it would randomly skip, blob out, dry out, etc. Eventually I got ahold of a floss to clean it with, and after stuffing silicone grease into every nook and cranny it's now the most reliable pen I own.
I have a similar story once I finally decided to pick up the Preppy EF. It never worked well until I took the risk of modifying it, forcing the tines open with a floss, and widening the channel with an x-acto knife. Even now I find that the nib tends to clog more easily than my kakuno, and I find it more challenging to clean.
I love fountain pens now. I like how smoothly they write, that I can treasure my pens instead of treating them as disposable, and mixing inks together so I can have something different every 1-3 weeks in my journal. But I wonder if there are pens out there that are more reliable out-of-the-box for a beginner, even if they aren't as cheap as a preppy or kakuno. Not everyone wants to get ahold of a bunch of equipment just to get the pen to write dependably. Maybe a pilot metropolitan or parallel?
My first was a Pilot Kakuno. I still use it, of course-it's a great pen! My second one, on the other hand, was a Nahvalur Original, med steel nib. Looks super cool - the nib just sucks. I don't know if there is something wrong with it - but it skips no matter what ink I put in it.
My first gold nib was a Sailor PGS 14k MF nib. The pen is small, but that nib blew my mind. Bliss.
Currently, I am awaiting the arrival of my Sailor 1911 21k, M nib. I nearly opted for a Pilot or a Platinum since I love both steel nibs. I need more time though to sift through the different nib #s and sizes.
My first fountain pen was a Waterman Laureate, a gift from a friend for being in his bridal party ages ago. I didn’t actually use it until years later, when my wife gave me a Waterman Expert II in “Smart Brown” with a medium nib. It is a wonderfully wet writer, which I prefer because I do all my first drafts in cursive. I then went back to the Laureate and found it to be a nice writer, too. I own over 150 fountain pens today from various makers (Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Montblanc, Lamy, Aurora, Visconti, TWSBI, etc.) and I love them all, though I am partial to Waterman because I prefer a heavier and larger pen in the “firehose” ink flow category. I suppose in my case, I never forgot my first.
My first fountain pen experience was awful. This was way back, like late 1980s or early 90s. Like you, I was a pen and paper snob, and loved rollerballs and gel pens. I had small, neat handwriting back then, so I craved a fine point with a good, strong, solid, dark line. Around that time, though, I was a member of International Pen Friends, and had pen pals in various countries. And most of them wrote to me with fountain pens.
After watching The Colour of Ink (documentary), I treated myself to my first fountain pen this past Christmas: a Lamy Safari Fountain Pen in bright yellow with the refillable cartridge. I fell in love with it immediately and a few months later bought another Lamy with a slightly finer tip. Then I was pleasantly surprised to find a great stationery store in town that sells all sorts of wonderful inks. I’m currently loving on a beautiful dark greenish-black bottle from Tom’s Studio that I think is named Ivy. And it makes writing so much more pleasurable and seemingly more important. :)