20 Best Fountain Pens For Beginners (2023 Updated)

This should have been an excellent product. However, this pen has one FATAL issue for me! The triangular grip is a ******, ignorant and ridiculous design. Holding the pen instantly causes pains, discomfort, fatigues and actually pains in my fingers and hands.

This design assumes everyone’s hands are exactly the same, holding pen exactly the same way. No Lamy, that is not true. Come on, German engineering meant to be the best in the world but this one is failure in my view.

All it need is a small redesign in the grip section, this pen will be perfect, jumps from 2 stars to 5 stars. But the pen writes so well, the fine grip I have is so smooth with just the right amount feedback, the sound of the pen circulating around the paper is so satisfactory and relax.

However, I did temporarily fixed the problem by putting Blu Tack on the flat grip part and sticky tape around it so the grip section is not triangular and it does not cause fatigues and pains on my fingers and hand anymore.

The pen itself is nice to hold and write with. The unique grip shape isn’t hard to hold even with a lateral tripod grip. My only problem is with the nib size. Lamy nib sizes are pretty inconsistent, and my other Lamy, a Studio, has an EF tip as well.

Yet, when I compared them side-by-side, there was a massive difference in thickness. This one had a much broader, wetter line. For me, it was too broad to be usable in my Hobonichi Techo. I swapped out the nibs between my pens and I can use this one for planning now, but Lamy nibs can be a real gamble.

The utilitarian sort of look is nice and it’s a good pen for EDC as a planner and journaler. I don’t have to worry about scratches as much as other materials or colors.

Standard Lamy excellence, as expected. I already had a black Lamy Safari when I ordered this (the Safari and Vista are one in the same, aside from color). So I knew what I was getting. This time though I went for the extra fine.

The Safari I had before was a medium nib, which was great, if a bit scratchy on copy paper. I prefer thinner lines though, so I went with the extra fine when it came time to buy the Vista While I still prefer my Pilot Metro in terms of writing feel, the Vista/Safari is still a great workhorse pen, and writes like a dream on good paper (I use Rhodia, personally).

Not to mention I think it looks a bit better than the metro, but that’s just my opinion of course, I just prefer the industrial design, and you just can’t say no to that clip ;). The translucency of the Vista is drop dead gorgeous, it really needs to be seen to be believed, it’s a beautiful pen.

I recommend going with extra fine nib. Especially if you’re coming from a Japanese pen (Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, etc. ). The extra fine I’ve found seems to be the same size if a bit bigger than the fine nib on my Pilot Metro.

It’s not really an issue as long as you know that going in, as I did. I’ll also note that this pen is great for art, it’s what I primarily use fountain pens for, and this nib is great as it doesn’t have a lot of flex to the nib, so you know exactly what the line is going to look like every time.

You can’t go wrong with this pen, it’s been a staple of the fountain pen community for decades for a reason, you get a lot of pen for 30 bucks. I hope this review helps you make an informed decision! And if you do buy it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!.

While I’m brand-new to fountain pens, I must say I REALLY enjoy writing with this Pilot Varsity. The nib writes smoothly on Rhodia paper, and on cheap paper there is very little resistance. no scratching at all.

The pen is comfortable to hold. The ink doesn’t glob, skip, or dry out when not in use with the cap on. I accidentally left it uncapped for about an hour, and it only took one tiny stroke to get the ink flowing, again.

The ink doesn’t collect on the nib. I don’t know how it handles tossed around in a bag, I store it flat or upright. There is a viewing window so you can see your ink level. You have to hold it up to the light to see it.

I do wish it were easier to see, though. The ink is not water resistant, so keep that in mind if you are sketching, or addressing envelopes. The only nib size is medium, but I discovered that I can turn the pen upside-down to get a fine line, so that’s versatile.

I actually like this pen a bit better than the Platinum Preppy. The Pilot Varsity is more slim, less bulky, lighter weight. However, the Varsity is not refillable. Great pen!.

I love the colors, they’re so rich! Red, blue, green, pink, purple, blue, turquoise and black. One of the things that really impressed me, though, is that every pen worked right out the package. Often with new pens, I have to go through a “break-in” period- scribbling on a piece of paper until the ink finally begins to flow, and then the scratchy lines until the nib begins to write smoothly.

Not so with these pens. The Pilot Varsity feels good in the hand, has a sharp appearance and lasts an impressive amount of time for a disposable pen. Quite impressive for pens that cost less than $3.

00 a piece! Highly recommend.

I bought these pens from another site for a cheaper price as a backup when my normal fountain pens run out of ink, and to use to write on correction tape. When they arrived, a few days later, I decided to test them on copier paper (I don’t have any fountain pen friendly paper).

There was feathering, which was to be expected; some showthrough and a bit a bleedthrough; but not enough to make it impossible to write on the other side. Dry time on copier paper was nearly instant (good since I’m a lefty).

On correction tape, it wrote nearly perfectly with only a bit of tearing of the tape, taking ~10 seconds to dry. What really was the problem was the skipping. It skipped in a manner like those liquid rollerball pens I got at some dollar store.

When I tried to write any letter with a curve or has a horizontal line, no ink would draw out, despite me writing with no pressure. Tried another pen from the pack, and it still had the issue with skipping.

This happened to almost all of the pens in the pack. I would try to fix it, but the nib does not have a hole to show the nib-feed alignment, and the tines look aligned Save your money and buy anything in the 15$-30$ instead.

I have 2 other fountain pens in the ~15$ range and they write fine without skipping. This might be just a defective product but it’s not what I got from what other reviewers said.

I found these Speedball calligraphy fountain pens after working with the Pilot Parallel pens for some time. The Pilot Parallels are great for calligraphy, but the smallest size nib they offer is 1. 5mm, and the ink flows quite freely from them, making it difficult to produce smaller calligraphic letters.

The Speedball pen nibs come in 1. 1mm, 1. 5mm, and 1. 9mm and I’ve found that the ink flow is less heavy than the Pilot Parallel pens, so it’s easier to produce those tiny letters, while still retaining the line variation necessary for great looking calligraphy.

The pen body itself is nothing fancy, just sturdy plastic. It also features a small window so you can see when you’re running low on ink. The cap is secure, and posts on the back of the pen nicely while writing or drawing.

The only thing I don’t love about these pens is that the interior of the pen body is made to only fit the short standard international fountain pen cartridges. There are little plastic bumps inside the pen body shaft which prevent any longer cartridges from fitting.

These bumps actually hold the cartridge in place inside the pen when it’s assembled, so be careful when disassembling the pen because the cartridge might fall out from the nib and spill ink. It would be nice to be able to fit a longer cartridge in there, but it’s easy enough to change to a new cartridge, or refill the old one from an ink bottle with a flat syringe.

Overall, these pens are a quality and completely affordable writing or drawing instrument.

I am a beginner to calligraphy so I don’t have much to compare to in terms of quality. It was pretty easy to use but I probably should have gone with a finer tipped nib that the straight edge. I’ve seemed to use quite a bit of ink already but it comes with two cartridges.

Guess it all depends on what you’re looking to do.

Smooth. Broad line. Smooth. Plenty of visual interest in my writing. Smooth. Works first time every time. And smooth. Did I mention how smooth it is? This is a wonderful pen. I use it frequently to write in my journal and, while 1.

5 mm is a mite wide for that application, it is so nice that that doesn’t much matter. I think a 1. 1 mm pen would have been a better journal pen, but given the price I can afford to get all three sizes.

It takes a standard short international cartridge, which means they are available at office supply stores too.

I thought this was going to be a great writing pen. Maybe I didn’t understand what I was buying? The blue is a lot lighter than a regular blue ink pen. There were no real directions and I couldn’t get it to work.

I then found better directions on the Ooly website. It does write well, just wasn’t what I expected that is solely the reason for average rating.

I was excited when I purchased this pen at Kohl’s, but I got very disappointed when I started using it. The ink takes too long to come back out if you stop writing for a minute, if I have to answer my phone and stop using it, I have to scratch a piece of paper several times before the ink comes out.

not what I expected.

I received a black pen as a gift for Christmas and was so impressed with it I ordered it in all of the colors! Love this pen! Smoothest I’ve ever used!

So excited, unboxing this marvel, the Nib gorgeous not quite the splendor of MB 149 but a Butte. Inked and to my dismay major skipping issues. Flushed the piston with cold water and reinked with Waterman Inspired Blue.

and Boo Hoo. I have a skipping M1000. Have been in contact with Pen Boutique, who wanted a writing sample which I furnished. Have not heard back from them but I’m sure I will. Just a total let down. you know that feeling after you unbox such a fine piece and it fails you.

If it were to write, it would be a beautiful pen.

I bought this fountain pen after saving for long time but it was totally worth it. This is my first Pelikan and I have decided to go big and it was the best decision I have made. This pen glides on paper with smoothness.

Plus it has little bit of flex that gives some line variation too. And the customer service of iguanasells was amazing. The agent answer promptly on WhatsApp which is mind blowing. Also the price was so great that I can’t find comparable.

They shipped on Tuesday and it arrived here on Friday in 4 days.

I have been admiring the e95s for 4-5 years. When I finally graduated with my bachelor’s degrees, I thought this pen would be the perfect way to commemorate the occasion, especially because this would be my first gold nib pen.

When it arrived, it looked amazing, but when I inked it up and started writing with it, that is where my troubles began. The F nib was very scratchy, which was very surprising to me. I am well acquainted with F nibs, having used them before, but my other steel F nibs were smoother than this.

Furthermore, the inlaid nib, though a gorgeous design, is very irritating if you have the tendency to hold the pen very close to the nib. The ink seeps onto your fingers and it becomes very messy, inking up the rest of the pen body in the process as well.

I have been tempted to give this pen away and sell it on numerous occasions, but in the end I decided to keep it simply because it is my first gold nib pen. If you have a tendency to hold your pen very close to the nib, I would recommend trying out another gold nib pen.

I would also recommend asking for the pen nib to be tested before it is shipped out.

This is my very first gold-nib fountain pen; it is unquestionably the smoothest writing pen I have ever experienced. It is a pure joy with which to write(Aurora blue/black on Clairfontaine). I love the overall design of this black/gold-trimmed pen with its imbedded nib.

The contours of the grip-section that are formed around the nib are especially beautiful. It transforms from about 4. 5 inches/118. 5mm capped to about 5. 8 inches/147. 5mm posted. Nib to end of barrel section is only 4 inches; so,I have to post it to be able to write with it; (as it was intended to be used).

Whether by design or not the finish of the black cap is a teeny bit different than the barrel section. Just an observation; doesn’t bother me. The cap is less shiny than the rest of the pen. Very happy with my purchase; would replace it if I lost it! I love to carry it in my shirt pocket;so easy to carry; the clip is well-polished and simply beautiful.

It’s just a great pen that I feel lucky to own. Hoping Pilot will bring back the M90;I sure cannot afford to buy a vintage one. M90 is my “grail” pen.

One of the joys and frustrations of fountain pens is the wide differences in performance of nibs between brands. I have many European pens, and have only just gotten into Japanese pens. This is my first Pilot, and it is quite different from Sailor, which is very different from Pelikan etc.

This is a pen review, so I’ll just say I like the unique design features of the E95S. It’s good value for money. I’m wary of the CON40, which doesn’t seem to get much love, but we’ll see. But what I really appreciate is being able to walk into a brick and mortar store, try this pen in multiple nibs and walk out with my choice, not having to guess on-line and wait to get delivery to find I didn’t get quite what I expected.

It costs money for stores to have stock to create this experience. If you value this, buy from your local pen store.

This is undoubtedly the best pen I have ever used. Works first time every time, never dries out on me and writes beautifully. A good solid pen with a well balanced weight.

Night vision glasses, The worst quality ever!Waist money, lenses r the cheapest plastic,eyes hurting, long term damage to eyes.DO NOT BUY!

Easy to use and practical. The soft cushion allows you to wind smaller watches too, which is great for my wife who has small wrists

Although a little pricey, this set comes with three nibs and 8 ink cartridges in 6 colors. I am really enjoying the set. Experimenting with the different size nibs helps me get a feel for which I will use the most.

This makes it great for beginners, who can use this knowledge to move on to buy the nib they like the most multiple times if they feel the need for use in a variety of ways, either with a cartridge or a dipping ink.

Good value. Great to 3 nibs in one package plus color ink refills. The plastic pen seems like it could use more weight for better control. However this is an intro set and will get you inspired! I use this set for sketching, doodling, and even signing documents and checks! Hard to go wrong at this price.

this is my first fountain pen that wasn’t a hand-me-down. i use it for art and the lines are very smooth and satisfying, which helps me a lot with my free-hand line art. it’s very easy to use and a noticeable improvement over my older pens.

I received a matte black Lamy Studio with a medium nib as a gift from my wife. I like a solid pen with some weight to it and this is just about perfect. The construction is very precise, everything fits flawlessly.

It posts well and weight and balance are right on. The medium nib is fantastically smooth. I’ve since swapped it to a 1. 1 stub which is just as nice. My main criticism for this pen – and the reason I deducted a star – is the grip section, and not for what you think.

I happen to like the chrome finish. I don’t think it is any more slippery than a very smooth resin or polycarbonate grip on other pens. What bothers me is the tapered shape. The way I hold pens, this causes things to feel constantly misaligned and uncomfortable.

This is certainly built like a “workhorse” pen but I find that I get a cramped hand very quickly and cannot use for anything other than short notes. I understand the design here, it was to eliminate the “step” from the grip section & barrel as well as to have a smooth design while capped.

I am an architect and have spent decades drawing & writing with drafting instruments that have thinner barrels and tend to grip a bit higher up, so for me this fatter tapered section isn’t my favorite.

I do currently have it inked and use it with hopes of finding a comfort zone, but I usually give up and rinse it out and grab another FP instead. Sadly I don’t think the 2000 would work for me either since they seem similarly shaped.

If you have calibrated your grip to drafting and technical instruments and are sensitive to grip size & shape this may not work for you and you may want to avoid it. However if the fatter tapered grip doesn’t bother you, then this is absolutely a 5-star pen just get one!!!.

The pen arrived really quickly (2 weeks, even though I don’t live in the U. S. ). The texture of the body feels amazing, the weight of the pen uncaped is great (caped feels a little heavy). Although at times it feels like the cap might scratch the body when uncaping, it hasn’t happend to me and I believe someone really needs to be rough on the pen for the paint to peel off.

The grip section was my main concern, because I haven’t had a FP with a metal section and the main criticism on this pen is exactly that. Still, although I find it slippery due to my sweaty hands (the pen rolls, making the top of the nib to point sideways), it’s comfortable and it has a nice weight to it.

I do think I need to get used to the metal section and maybe I need to use it uncaped. In relation to the nib (F), I cleaned the pen before using it and when I filled the converter, I did it without attaching the section to it, so it took a while to start writing.

At first I thought I had a defective nib, because it relly took about 7 minutes for the ink to start flowing, but after I applied a little pressure to write, the ink started flowing and it was one of the smoothest writing experiences I’ve had, especially with a Fine nib.

I used the Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku ink (that I also bought from Goulet). Overall, the pen is great. The tines on the nib might be to close and I think that’s also why the pen took a while to start writing, but nothing that brass sheet won’t fix.

The grip section might be slippery if you have sweaty hands, but I think one can get used to it. I will try this as my EDC and if I like it a lot, I will consider buying a gold nib for it. Lastly, I really want to thank the Goulet team (specially Adrianne and Rachel) for helping me to pick a pen and for having such an amazing service.

Also, I’d like to apologize if at any moment I made it seem like I was calling Adrianne inexpert, because that wasn’t at all my intention and I think I just expressed what I wanted in a really awkward manner.

Anyway, I really appreciate everything the Goulet company does and what it stands for.

The Platinum Prefounte pen has a more sophisticated look to the Preppy as the pen color extends the whole of the pen rather than being just at the top and bottom. It also has a nice metal clip versus a plastic one on the Preppy.

The nib appears to feel and write the same as the Preppy. However, the Prefounte is not as comfortable to me. I write with my middle finger and index finger a bit higher vs traditionally on the nib section.

So for me that lands me right on the thread of the Prefounte pen. This is true also for the Preppy, but the Prefounte has a more pronounced thread that I can feel – and it is uncomfortable (but not as uncomfortable as a Metropolitan which has sharp metal edges-this is a less sharp plastic feel).

Too bad for me, because the writing is still as smooth and reliable as the Preppy pen. If you write on the section, however, this won’t be a problem for you. My husband, who writes with his fingers on the nib section says it feels the same and he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two if he had his eyes closed.

Overall, the Prefounte is a great deal for getting something a little more sophisticated looking than the Preppy without breaking the bank.

TranslateShow in original languageIch habe mir diesen Tintenroller gekauft, weil im Haushalt noch ungenutzte Tintenpatronen aus einem Schulfüller (defekt) herumliegen. *** Der Tintenroller schreibt sehr gut, flüssig und sauber.

*** Wenn man die Kappe mal über Nacht vergisst aufzusetzen, schreibt er trotzdem weiter. *** handelsübliche Tintenpatronen für Schulfüller (z. B. Pelikan Königsblau) sind nutzbar Diese Bewertung erfolgt 2 Jahre nach dem Kauf.

Der Tintenroller schreibt immer noch einwandfrei. Und: Es ist erstaunlich, wie weit man mit einer Tintenpatrone kommt! Ich würde mir jederzeit einen zweiten Stift dieser Art kaufen, denn den ersten benutze ich inzwischen auf Arbeit für kleinere Notizen.

TranslateShow in original languageDas Design hat mir gleich gefallen und war mir in ähnlicher Art schon von anderen Schneiderstiften bekannt. Der Füller liegt sehr, sehr gut in der Hand, die Griffmulden sind optimal und für Leute, die gerne beim Schreiben nach unten rutschen (wobei das Material rutschhemmend, aber trotzdem sehr angenehm anzufassen ist), eine schöne “Bremse” über der Feder, damit es keine bunten Finger gibt 😉 sehr komfortabel beim Schreiben.

Es wäre schön, wenn es das Modell mit einer Feder auch in etwas geringerer Strichstärke gäbe. Ansonsten gibt es verschiedene Farben zur Auswahl, das Preis-Leistungsverhältnis ist, noch dazu für ein Produkt “Made in Germany”, sehr gut.

TranslateShow in original languageIch habe lange gesucht und ihn endlich gefunden. DEN Tintenroller, der schreibt wie ein Fller, mit nachfllbaren Tintenpatronen (Standardpatronen und keine super teuren extratollen Spezialpatronen) und mit dem Unterschreiben einfach Spass macht.

Auch nach zig Unterschriften, vielen Notizen und drei neuen Patronen (weil die alten leer waren) schreibt er immer noch, wie am ersten Tag. Er liegt sehr gut in der Hand und macht auch optisch etwas her.

Ich habe ihn auch bereits schon einmal verschenkt – und er kam richtig gut an.

First of all, shoutout to Jetpens. They really are the best. In this age of knock-offs and bootlegs, Jetpens is the only place I have 100% confidence in. I was watching a Cartoonist Kayfabe interview with one of my heroes, Sergio Aragonés.

He talked about doing his inking with a fountain pen because it was so quick and easy, and he held up the Pilot fountain pen that he was currently using on his work. I’m not 100% sure it was the Prera, but it was a Pilot, and with all the good things I’ve heard about the Prera, I decided to pull the trigger.

I’ve had good luck with Metropolitans, but wondered if the bump up in price would be worth it when buying the Prera. This thing is incredible. The ASMR of the nib scratching across my zara zara paper (also on Jetpens) makes drawing that much more fun.

The click of the cap when you pop it back on is so satisfying. The nib is like a Super Saiyan version of the metropolitan. I love it. Also, this Ivory color is so unique and pretty. With so many pens just being a flat black, it makes it easy to find this thing on my desk.

Mr. Sergio Aragonés also held up a bottle of Platinum Carbon Ink and said it was the best, you can get this on Jetpens as well. This has become the pen that I keep clipped to the cover of my sketchbook.

Thank you, Jetpens!.

I still do love this pen. I’ve had issues with the grip size of the Preras — I’m not sure if it’s a little small, or what — but I recall at the end of Fall 2021 semester, I had issues with what felt like RSI from having to take so many notes in front of the computer.

The Preras (I have two of them — the other one is a Calligraphy Medium nib) did trouble this. Thankfully, after some rest, it’s better. I’m learning how to use a correct tripod grip (I have an idiosyncratic way of holding pens and pencils, by choking up to the nib with three fingertips), which may make it easier in the long run to have marathon writing sprints.

Although the Preras will eventually dry out if unused, the cushion on the cap and the fact that I can check my ink level using the CON-40 converter, is nice. I also appreciate the fact that the CON-40s hold a moderate amount of ink, meaning that I don’t have to wait months to clean out my pens (and then be unsure of how to do it), as is the case with my TWSBI ECOs.

Short story: it’s easy to maintain these, and that makes me more confident that they’ll continue working for the long haul.

I am very fond of this pen. I frequently use fountain pens for sketching. I wanted a snap cap with a fine point that would not give me headaches with bleeding or leaking. The cap is not magnetic but it snaps well and has a tight fit.

The nib writes well and consistently. I have the fine point and it is very fine, but not scratchy. There is no flexibility to the nib so line variation is absent. As other people have pointed out, it is small and extremely light.

I’d give this pen 5 stars if it wasn’t for the price. It does seem priced too high in my opinion for what seems like a lower end, introductory fountain pen. The fact that its cartridges and convertor are proprietary make it less accommodating as well.

If it were not for the cost of the pen and the convertor I could see myself having a few of these or recommending them to others looking to get into fountain pens.

Always enjoyed writing with my LAMY Safaris, and the Vista adds a notch up with its see-through body showing your ink level. The LAMY’s 3-point hold is comfortable and easy to grip even during longer sessions of writing.

It is also easy to reposition your grip when you need to.

The Sonos Sub looks very cool. The sound is great. I have 2 Sonos 5’s which have a rich sound and broad dynamic range anyway, but the addition of the sub makes a huge difference; a fatter, beefier sound that you feel in you guts when the base gets going.

This pen offers a smooth writing experience, no skips or stalls and starts first time every time (even after leaving the cap off for a few minutes). The light weight and ergonomic design means I experience no hand fatigue using this pen.

It’s my favourite writing instrument by a mile, and outperforms some much more expensive fountain pens. The only complaint is that the medium nib gives what I would call a medium broad line, but it is the only size Officeworks stocks.

If they ever stock one with the fine nib I will be buying that as well.

I have been writing with a fountain pen since I left school and I am now 51. I am a very script writer and the fountain pen just enhances my writing beautifully. This set is bright, funky and has a great collection of ink.

A lot of the sets look a bit old fashioned but the bright colours used in this set really brings it bang up to date. Well done SHEAFFER, keep it up and let’s see more colourful sets. Delighted and not too expensive.

Thank you SHEAFFER.

Wonderful…I used this set with the green ink to address all of my Christmas cards. Beautiful outcome. Thanks.

This is a wonderful set!! It comes with an instruction manual with letters of different calligraphy fonts. It is wonderful for a beginner. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, I am going to do it this summer for a fun summer project.

The shipping was very fast, I ordered it Monday and received it Wednesday! I would recommend this product to a friend.

I was so happy to find this pen!! I’d been wanting it for such a long time but could find no other retailers than the ones on eBay. The pen is of course as beautiful as you can imagine, and if you’re looking at it, then I’m sure you know this.

If you’ve been wanting it, don’t hesitate. Plus, great customer service!.

Because of my Parkinson’s Disease I need a heavier body. I would like the pen better if the weight helped me control the tremors.

Before I made the purchase I’ve notice that most of the reviews are saying the customer service is awesome. And based on my experience I would say that is true! The customer service were always there to reply your question and solve any problem you have.

Very nice and good experience. Buy from them!.

So far all three of these are very smooth and bold. The ink color seems dark and consistent. I did note some ghosting and a tiny bit of strike-through on thin paper, and faint ghosting on thicker paper.

Only able to smear ink if rubbed right away, unable to smear after 2 seconds.

I just put this little pen down, having grabbed it, right there. I can keep it conveniently located in my jeans, or left out on the table as I rise. It’s light, cheap so I needn’t worry about destruction, it’s smooth enough, surprisingly so, completely dependable, writes full, even lines, no skipping.

It letters out and slides away effortlessly, i appreciate its simple dependability.

The Pilot Varsity fountain pens are my favorite pens. They make your handwriting look like simple calligraphy. The feel is very smooth as it glides on the paper. They do not drag on the paper, nor do they leak or stutter on any paper I’ve used.

This three pack contains black, blue, and purple – and they are all rich, deep colors. I’ve been using these pens for many years, and absolutely love them!.

Perfect for artists and casual journalists alike – have not found a better or more reasonably priced fountain pen out there. Love the convenience of being able to hold an extra cartridge inside of the body of the pen so I’m never in a place of running out of ink.

Prefer it to all of the fancy fountain pens I own – definitely an everyday carry. Make sure to take out all ink cartridges out of ink and wash thoroughly before taking on an airplane, though. I’ve learned the hard way.

Muji I have to have a whinge straight away. The diminutive Muji came in a small, flexible, transparent plastic box, not much bigger than the pen. The way the box is constructed has the pen hanging by the clip from a piece of plastic on the inside of the box.

The clip fits between the box and the piece of plastic and it would appear that, whilst in transit, the painted clip has rubbed against the inside of the box and marked it along its entire length. I’m not overly bothered because I don’t like the pen very much, it feels like a replica of the Ohto Tasche and a cheap one at that.

The irony is that the Ohto Tasche can be had for less money and is superior in every way I can imagine. Capped Uncapped Posted Weight Muji 99mm 85mm 145mm 11g Ohto 99mm 85mm 145mm 11g Do you notice any similarities? It’s not just the weights and measures, they look remarkably similar, as can be seen in the photographs.

The clip on the Muji looks very similar to the one on the Tasche except that the Muji’s clip is painted steel whereas the one on the Ohto, along with the other external accoutrements, is chrome plated steel.

The other difference, of course, is the aforementioned marks. The Muji, coincidentally, has an o ring at the end of the pen, which holds the long, posted cap in place, as does the Tasche. The biggest visual difference is the colour; silver for the Muji instead of a deep, lustrous blue for the Ohto (other colours are available).

The Muji, along wiith the Ohto, will only accept a short international cartridge. There is nowhere near enough room for even a short converter as the ‘barrel’ is tiny. It is, of course, possible to refill cartridges with your favourite ink using a syringe but, frankly my dear, I can’t be bothered.

The nib is a fine medium and quite smooth, once the elusive sweet spot has been located. There is a degree if scratchiness, which, amongst enthusiasts, is euphemistically referred to as ‘feedback’ which, allegedly, prevents ultra smooth nibs from sliding around like cars driving on hard packed snow.

Every nib has it’s idiosyncrasies, that doesn’t make them bad, just different. The ink flow is quite good. It produces a consistent medium dry line, without hop, skip or jump and it manages to start straight away.

Despite being a medium dry fine medium, it will manage a signature without missing, even though my signature (along with many others) is scribbled with a flourish. The nib on the Tasche is equally fine but is not scratchy, as long as the pen is positioned correctly.

Conclusion The Ohto Tasche is a superior product in every conceivable way and costs less. It is better looking, better constructed, better finished, better packaged and a better writer (slightly, this one is a close run thing).

I don’t know which came first and, therefore, I am unsure which is the imposter. The aluminium on both feels thin and vulnerable to damage (purely a perception at the moment) and I won’t be putting either on my general rotation.

However, I am proud to be the owner of the Ohto and slightly embarrassed by the Muji. It will remain in my collection as an example of how bad pens can be. Oh, just one more thing. I don’t know whether Muji is the brand or the model name.

However, unlike Michaelangelo, Seal or Adele, I don’t think it is talented or popular enough to deserve a one word moniker. A note of thanks. I would like to thank my long-standing assistant Damian (holding the blue Ohto Tasche) and his new girlfriend Thelma (holding the Muji), who did a sterling job when she posed on her own with the boxed Muji.

It was her first photo shoot. She crept into the final photograph to read my test scribble. She is a clever hippo.

This is my first fountain pen, and it’s wonderful. I looked up online how to care for it, and it’s really easy to clean. I cleaned it after switching to a different ink with a cartridge converter instead of the disposable ink cartridge the pen came with.

The pen doesn’t stutter anymore with quality ink combined with the nib. Great product!.

This pen’s overall quality is quite good. I feel it is durable enough to handle most normal everyday usage. The matte finish is great as well as micro scratches on the finish is not an issue. The thing I’m disappointed about with this pen is the nib.

I have a Lamy pen with a 14k gold Lamy nib and it is my favorite pen in terms of the way it writes. The steel Lamy nibs however, are a different story. I bought this Savannah colorway together with the Aquamarine colorway, both in fine nibs.

The Aquamarine’s nib is great. It is smooth and wet. In contrast, the Savannah’s nib is quite scratchy and very dry. It was so scratchy in fact that I could feel the nib tearing fibers from the paper as I write.

Not very pleasant to use at all. Goulet Pens was great and they sent me a replacement nib. The replacement nib was much better than the one that came with the pen but it was still quite dry and no where near as smooth as the Aquamarine nib.

Still no where near the writing experience that I get from the Aquamarine color way. I really wish Lamy paid more attention to the quality control of their steel nibs. The Aquamarine Safari that I have shows just how good the Lamy steel nibs can be if they just took their time with it.

I already had three Safaris and purchased the bronze Al-Star because i liked the look of the finish. I liked it enough to order a second one in Azure a week later. I have been using and loving fountain pens for forty years and think that Lamy and TWISBI are the absolute best deals in the fountain pen world.

They write every time. No skips or slow starts. Very attractive. Very easy to clean. I especially like that both brands offer easily replaceable inexpensive nibs. I purchased 1. 1 and 1. 5 mm stub nibs for my Lamys which are the smoothest writing, and have the most character of any stubs I have used.

The medium is my workhorse, but I also have a broad which is almost like a Sharpie. I love the Lamy grip section and appreciate the snap cap which uncaps fast and lets me hold the pen a bit higher on the barrel without feeling threads.

When writing, the pen just feels like part of me. I generally do not post my pens, but these post securely and don’t feel back-weighted. I have been writing with with my Lamys for a few months and can say that there is nothing I don’t love about these pens.

Buy one — or two or three! You will want more than one. They are inexpensive enough to collect and stay married. And, by-the-way — buy them from Goulet pens. I can’t think of a better vendor.

So, let me get this review started with the info that I grew up in Germany at a time when pretty cursive writing in grade school could make or break your grade for “gut” (a B) to “sehr gut” (an A) and back in the day, Lamy pens were the gold standard to teach kids how to write.

Quite some time has passed since then and my Lamy, which I used to take notes, sign cards etc. , broke after about 2 decades of use. (Yes, they are THAT indestructible and hardy! My old Lamy survived natural disasters, and 3 international moves, I kid you not! ) I went on for a while without it – still had my “fancier” fountain pens, but not my trusty daily friend – and by chance I ended up at Goulet and I have a new trusty friend (and a re-awakened enthusiasm for fountain pens).

So yes, Lamy fountain pens are the workhorses of fountain pens. Some of my collogues deem me “old fashioned” or “weird” for scribbling around with a fountain pen, but I don’t care. I like the handling of them, in messier settings than a clean desk (like writing a bill/receipt to a client in an outdoors setting while it pours), the sturdy “package” (survives everyday work outdoors), while still giving the feeling of writing with a “nicer” pen and the typical “fountain pen feeling” (I know you know what I mean) while writing.

If you are looking for a forgiving everyday/ on the road fountain pen, long lasting, but also with replaceable parts, then THIS is THE fountain pen for you!.

Pen arrived safe and sound. Upon opening I found an all metal pen with a beautiful Anthracite color finish. It is very smooth and polished to the touch. Running your finger nail against the surface you won’t get hung up where the cap meets the body, everthing is carefully machined and fits well.

The cap is a snap cap and has some resistance in opening and closing, which I like. It is either open or closed! With the cap off you will notice a shiny chrome like finger grip. I thought it too smooth to be comfortable but after writing with it I find easy to grasp and easy to write with, even for long periods of time.

Use a converter and it fuels the pen fluidly with a no mess fill and easy ink color changes. I have a fine nib and it glides across my Clairfontane paper and makes writing effortless. I have a more expensive Pelikan that is not as smooth as the Pura.

I never post, but this one will not post. Based on the design, function, and price, I give it five stars! My first task was to write a letter to a far away friend, Pura made it easy to do. jed.

This pen is all aluminum with a stainless steel nib, making it a very sturdy pen and able to withstand the rough handling of daily use. It is light enough to carry two of these in your top pocket and not be aware of their weight.

The cap snaps on and will post while writting. The clip is sprung, allowing for easy removal or inserting into a pocket without effort. The Pura P40 users standard size ink cartridges or Pelikan make a converter for filling from an ink bottle.

It is an absolute joy to write with, the nib glides without any blead and doesn’t dry out. This by no means could be considered an expensive fountain pen at $110 to $150 it represents very good value.

Other Pelikan pens are made of precious materials with gold nibs and are around the $1,000 mark. So for an everyday knock about pen used as a workhorse, you can’t go past the Pelikan Pura P40 range. I have some beautiful pens from Pelikan, but as my every day pen that I take everywhere I reach for my Pelikan Pura fountain pen and Pura rollerball pen as my workhorse.

After all Pelikan make some very nice pens and this year celebrate 180 years of making pens. So they must be doing something right.

Great! It’s so smooth in writing and color style is very nice.