This is me too, 2 or 3 little used FPs and a bottle of Quink. Reading through this thread has cost me money! After a few days of reading reviews I have ordered a matt black FP Pilot VP. The retractable nib intrigues me and I think it will work better for me than the traditional design. Pairing it with a bottle of Iroshizuku Wild Chestnut ink as a change from blue…
I have justified this as I have to take a course soon involving a lot of notetaking.
The choice has been a real struggle though, my head said Pilot VP for practicality but my heart said Lamy 2000 for sheer understated classic beauty.
Same. I know everyone of this thread (especially @beck) can’t be wrong, so I ordered a matte blue vanishing point, a vector, and a couple of bottles of ink. I’ve had some accomplishments lately, so treating myself.
Oh my goodness we are all at it now! My wife laughs and laughs. She said she knew it would happen despite my stern paperless stance. How can you, she said, without irony, listen to a podcast of now over 300 episodes about pens? But who can resist? Not me for sure.
@HobbyCollector nice point, I was veering towards cartridge, think I had one years and years ago. Since you carry them with you I have a question. Is there any real issue with ‘leaking’? I am a shirt affiicianado too. I have some nice ones that, though I am not a fusspot, I would not like to subject to a real danger from this when I don’t have to as it were. I don’t have ‘best’ clothes really but I don’t get throwaway shirts.
Recommend either TWSBI or Lamy as an entry point, and if you find you love the art of handwriting, move to Sailor (especially if you want an extra fine tip). Those things are fantastic, albeit pricey.
The TWISBI Eco with Bulletproof Black is my go to pen/ink combo at work. I liked how they write better than the Lamy Safari and they are not so expensive that I have to have a minor breakdown if they fall.
I got tired of shirts that fit my neck looking like panchos, and had some shirts made-to-measure at Proper Cloth. They are well worth the money, well made, and will last for years. You can even add things like a 1/2" allowance to the left and/or right cuff for your Apple Watch.
So I’m interested to hear about pen leakage, especially with the Vanishing Point or Vector. What I should do if traveling by air, etc.
We are on the same page @JohnAtl . I really want to know from an aficionado how much of a risk fountain pen leakage really is. I get shirts from http://www.mercerandsons.com: they only do mail order now, you can chat though and get everything you need on the phone, David Mercer is a pleasure to talk to.
They however are roomy by design, they emulate in many ways the old Brooks Brothers cut and style for button downs. They fit nicely though in my opinion. I like a loose fit and ‘billow’. I used to think they were ‘too big’ but the style has grown on me. There is a cohort in the UK of admirers of the old Ivy Style, Preppy even, similar to Japan. That is where I first heard about David Mercer from.
Thanks for the heads up about Proper Cloth though. That 1/2 allowance would in fact be useful. However I do affect an open cuff sometimes, not sure if it works style wise though!
I do think that there is an affinity amongst MPU ‘types’ for certain things that one might not immediately feel makes sense but on some reflection really does. Shirts, Pens and iMacs…
My wife says that. Fountain Pens are a good example: "the two Davids, as she calls Sparks and Stephen, would like them, she says. She misses Katie.
To me the best serious starter fountain pen is probably the $20 Pilot Metropolitan, perhaps closely followed by the Lamy Safari and the $3 disposable Platinum Preppy. I loved the Pilot when I got into fps but the thinness of the section made for uncomfortable writing after a while. (That’s how I learned I needed wider sections for myself.) But I still have that Metropolitan because it’s one of the smoothest nibs I’ve ever owned. These pens are all pretty inexpensive, and the downsides for new fountain pen users are mainly the looks. (Safari owners might disagree.) But they’re great entry points. I’d disagree with TWSBI as a starter pen. I’ve given away many disposable Pilot Varsity and Platinum Preppy pens to people who were curious about fountain pens - I think they’re the easiest entry for people who are curious.
One of the delights of this discourse group, one of the pleasures of the power user community in many ways, is that nobody has tried to make a point about the incogruity or ‘this is for Mac’ or arch ‘aren’t we supposed to be paperless’ on this thread
Myself I see no incongruity as I say in other comments. Paperless and Power User Mac strategies seem to my mind to be perfectly congruous with Fountain Pen and notebook use?
If you’re going to think of it in terms of technology, if anything, after decades of pushing sticks with ballpoints or rollerballs across paper, it was a plesant surprise to discover an older, supplanted technology which works better for me by offering a smoother and less tiring (and extremely customizable) writing experience which involves almost no writing pressure (since ink flows through capillary action).
The main downside is that the bewildering choices of pens, nib sizes, nib designs, nib materials, section widths, lengths, materials, weights, and types and shades of ink which can lead to collector mania and snobbery… or simply a ridiculously expensive hobby when a $25 pen can do 80% of what a $300 pen can do (albeit not as prettily).
Thanks. I am convinced and will take your advice. I liked what you said about the variety of inks too, that sounds like part of the fun.
I hadn’t thought of the possibility of the cartridge leaking, especially since I have no first hand experience obviously, and I see just what you mean.
Not all pens post. Even if a pen does post, it can be detrimental to the balance, or make you worry that you’re going to scratch the body of the pen with the cap. Therefore many people don’t post; for example you can just hold the cap, or put it on the writing surface if it has a clip and won’t roll.
I have flown a lot this year, and for my first trip I left all my fountain pens at home and missed them a lot. For the next trip I carefully wrapped up a few favourites in ziplocs and tissue, carefully kept them upright in a Nock Sinclair in the seat back pocket, and nothing bad happened. Then I realized that I have pens that dry out if not used for a while and other pens that never ever dry out. The ones that don’t dry out have screw caps and O rings, and the ones that do dry out have snap caps. Now I take the screw cap pens that don’t dry out when I fly, and I have not had any issues with them leaking.
If pens do leak, they will most likely leak into the cap, so you will find out when you try to write and get ink on your fingers.
My worst episode of pens leaking on a flight was not with fountain pens, it was with Pilot V5s, which I used to like a lot. Definitely don’t take those on a plane.
You can also try YouTube: Goulet Pens, Penboyroy, SBREBrown, Gourmet Pens, Figboot on Pens and many more.
For podcasts, there’s the Pen Addict which has been running for a long time and now there’s a new one, The Leaky Nib. Beware, you WILL have to go back to episode 1 of the Pen Addict and binge listen the whole lot which will take months. You will be amazed that in episode 1 they don’t even know what a fountain pen is, it’s all about cheap gel pens, by 300 we’re well into Sailors and Nakayas and now there’s a pen that’s so expensive that Brad is having to sell 10 other pens before he’ll even tell us what it is.
. I really want to know from an aficionado how much of a risk fountain pen leakage really is. I get shirts from 
