Awhile back, Lawdog sang the praises of Pilot's "Varsity" inexpensive, disposable fountain pens. Being a fountain-pen person and of an inquiring mind, I promptly ordered a set and have been using them since.
He's right. While you're not going throw away your Mont Blanc or even a Conklin[1] in favor of one, they are very smooth and have yet to leak ink onto the section[2] where you hold 'em. I liked the old Berol Fontaine disposables, but they did tend to get just a little inky. The nib on the Varsity suits my hand better, too.
If you prefer real pens or even think you might, these are worth trying. $2.00 vs. $200.00? Oh, yeah!
I'll be over there, making legible (for once!) notes on The (dadratted and uncooperative) Widget in a wide variety of colors, with circles and arrows and itty-bitty drawings on each page. Who knows, it might even mean something.
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1. Mark Twain's favorite brand -- among other virtues, the "half-moon" filler lever of their top-line classics prevents them from rolling off the desk.
2. "Section:" actual name of that part, by the way.
Ooooh...me like....
ReplyDeleteThey are pretty cool, I've got three, one for each ongoing journal.
ReplyDeleteafter reading LD's blog, I went out and bought a 3-pack of those pens - I like them very much! I especially like that they come in purple!
ReplyDeleteI'm very intrigued by the idea- I've always been pleased by fountain pens when I've used them for drawing- but, uh, my handwriting looks like an epileptic spider monkey's. Years of teacher's efforts at teaching me reasonable penmanship blasted by motormouth college professors and my obsession with really complete notes.
ReplyDeleteLogically, I should just retrain the skill, but something in me rebels at sitting down and carefully sketching out the alphabet on ruled schoolpaper again...
I too bought a set at Staples. Likey very much.
ReplyDeleteNow all I have to do is learn to write well, and worthwhile. I have the journal and the pen, so I am .09% of the way there.
Went school supply shopping with The Boy today and almost bought a 3-pack. They only had multi-color packs, though - black, blue and purple. I only use black ink, so it would have been a waste.
ReplyDeleteWell, me, I ordered the one of every color pack and have been sing them all. Black, blue and purple have the best fineline ink, which may be why those are the easiest to find.
ReplyDeleteLabrat, I can do calligraphy with a flat nib but my causual handwriting is either a version of chnercy cursive that looks like Arabic or a radio op's block-letter scrawl!
In any form and at any speed, I'm more legible with a fountain pen or a draftsman's capillary pen (as in the classic Koh-I-Noor and Staedtler-Mars types) than anything else, and the capillary jobs are just too fragile.
A fountain person as well! sorry Tam! Roberta, will you marry me? Kidding! (And also still on the rebound!) I didn't know how many quality people were into the same little perversions that I enjoyed. A fountain pen is just pure joy to work with once you get it right. I still struggle with the Schaeffer Calligraphy set. anyone remember the No Nonsense pens in Ball, Fountain, and Felt-Tipped?
ReplyDeleteYet another fountain pen fan here. Though I admit to not having them out being used for a while. I did indulge myself with a Montblanc some years back. And other than Pelican, Parker, Waterman, and Shaeffer, I don't recall what others are in the admittedly small collection.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I was a pretty good calligrapher back in my school years. The art dept. teacher was completely flummoxed by how bad my handwriting was in comparison. My handwriting is still attrocious, and I haven't used a C2 nib (or anything resembling it) for many many years. I just looked in the drawer, and there are 4 ink pots. Higgins India ink, and blues by Shaeffer, Parker, and Montblanc. Plus a Farber nib holder. Somewhere, I have crowquill.
My handwriting is (err, would be) doubtless more legible using a fountain pen, because I found I just take more care with it than with a ballpoint.
Oh, and thanks to you, I just remembered to dig out the lead pointer that I need (well, not really) to take to the office. Hmm, I guess I should look for leads as well.
My handwriting is a spiky hybrid of print and script. I stuck to print because I knew my handwriting would become completely illegible to anyone but me within a few years, but when you're writing fast...
ReplyDeleteI'll probably pick some up to try next time I'm within remote spitting distance of an office supply store... so next time I go to Santa Fe.