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Anyone tried Pilot Varsity disposables?

Hi,
As a school student I am constantly writing. I was wondering if anyone has tried the Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens? They aren't cheap at over two bucks a pen, however better than taking a $30 pen to school....

I currently use rollerballs, and they do work well, however I have heard Fountain Pens glide rather easily, and as we all know, anything to mitigate the hand cramps of writing an essay is something good.

Cheers
 
I like them.

They 'can' be refilled. I've seen videos on YouTube.

I don't know about helping with hand cramps, but it would be an inexpensive test drive.

They write well and are not a huge investment.

I've only ever tried the medium NIB and felt they lay down too heavy a line for my taste.
 
I just bought one this week to try out. I like it a lot. I normally write with a Cross Century ball point, and I find the fountain pen to be a nice change. It is a larger diameter than the Century, so that might help with your cramps. If you're using a small diameter pen. The line is thicker than the Cross I'm used to.
 
I'm using them right now for all my daily writing at the office and my evening journal entries. I normally use a Waterman Phileas ballpoint and have for years, but this forum got me thinking more and more about making the jump to a fountain pen. Based on my research here and other websites, I figured the Pilot Varsity was a nice, inexpensive way to try a fountain pen. So far, I'm liking it.

Cheers.
 
At a comparable price is the Platinum preppy. It takes cartridges or can be converted to an eyedropper filler with a little grease and an O ring. Check out Goulet Pen Co.

I find that the Pilot Varsity and the preppy have pretty much the same characteristics. Both seem to be a good buy and a fine entry level pen.
 
I like the Pilot Plumix much better. It has an italic nib and only costs about $6.00, so still cheap enough to not worry about at school. I tweaked the nib on mine to write a fair bit wetter, smoothed it out and rotated the nib/feed. it has a triangular grip which can make it difficult, but the nib/feed is just pressed in and can be twisted with a firm grip to adjust nib angle. plus it can be converted to an eye dropper for huge ink capacity! The nib/feed will fit the 78G as well for when you upgrade.

-Xander
 
I used the earlier incarnation of this for years. They're fine. Maybe a little scratchy. A cheap, refillable option that's fun to use would be a Pelikano Jr. I gave a couple to my high-school age daughter and she loves them.
 
I think the Preppy in either the .3 or .5 is superior in every way to the Varsity. I think the nib on the Preppy is much better and like the fact that they can be refilled (cartrige, converter or eye-dropper).
 
The Varsities are a bit "wet" for my taste with much of the day-to-day paper out there. But, they're a good, cheap option. And yes, they can be refilled if you don't mind inky fingers.
 
For what it's worth, I just did refill a Varsity for the first time. I'd gotten the assorted colors 7 pack, and decided that I wouldn't be using the pink one very often. So, based on a description that I'd read, I grasped the nib/feed assembly with my Leatherman pliers (padded with some paper towel) and pulled it out with a slow twisting motion, being as gentle as I could. Washed out the body of the pen and the nib, then filled it with some Noodler's Forest Green, and pushed the feed back in, again using the pliers. It took some shaking and tapping to get it started, but now it seems to be working fine. They weren't actually meant to do this, so I don't know how many repetitions it will take before I break something or it wears out, but with other pens around, I wouldn't be using this one that often anyway.
 
I hear ya, I got the multi colour one as well, and decided that will be my "Home Pen."

I may just have to try refilling them. Probably eventually I will splurge for a decent pen for around the house, that I can refill(probably keeping with the disposables for school.) Then again maybe Ill go dip pen :p. Although I might be the clutz who would drink from the inkwell when grabbing for my cup of tea...
 
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