A good gift for SWMBO?

So I wanted to say something clever as an introduction, but I know nothing about fountain pens so let's just get going. I am trying to determine if a fountain pen would be a good gift for my wife. She has a heart for writing (though not always the time), and has a thing for "fun" pens. She enjoys writing notes, and has tried in the past to keep a journal. She also makes notes on our calendar a lot.

My concerns (besides knowing NOTHING about this stuff...) are that she can be a bit messy. In the sense that she will frequently end up with ink on her hands/fingers. Also, she tends to go in spurts with writing, and I'm not sure if the ink in this style pen (refillable/cartridge stuff, right?) would tend to dry out if it sets too long. I wouldn't be shocked if it becomes my job to refill/replace the ink in the pen, and I'm ok with that. Finally, I mentioned writing on the calendar. Of course it is a "glossy" type page, so is there any ink that will dry quickly, or does the ink tend to dry slower than normal.

Here are a couple of links to pens I know she likes, just for reference. Note that these are all standard "cheap" pens, so try to not bash the options too much.

http://www.staples.com/Paper-Mate-Flair-Felt-Tip-Pens-Medium-Point-Assorted-8-Pack/product_599445?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:599445&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=26-291609435-2 - I think she just likes the colors...

http://www.staples.com/Pilot-Precise-V5-and-V7-Needle-Rollerball-Pens/product_SS205138 - She likes these, but the ink takes a while to dry...

http://www.staples.com/Post-it-Flag-Highlighter-Pen-Assorted-3-Pack/product_736464 - She thinks this is "fun" because of the highlighter and she's a big post-it user.

Those aren't fountain pens, but I hope it gives some input into what she likes to use, and I figure that could be helpful. Maybe not, so I apologize if it's just TMI. Thanks for your input guys.

About how much are you looking to spend on SWMBO, may help us narrow down some great selections for her

Great idea! What I did was order a whole bunch of different inexpensive pens from jetpens, including a couple of fountain pens (Platinum Preppys) and had her sit down with me and a Rhodia notebook and she tried each one out, told me what she liked "I like this blue." "This one is too fine" "This one is scratchy" etc and when she picked what she liked - turned out to be a blue .7mm pilot g2 - I got a nice Waterman pen body and put a g2 refill in it with her specification. She loves it!

Incidentally she didn't appreciate the fountain pens like I do. She didn't want to have to think too much about how she was positioning the pen, etc - she just wanted to pick it up and start writing.

syngent said:

About how much are you looking to spend on SWMBO, may help us narrow down some great selections for her

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Maybe a Noodler's flex pen? Very affordable for a flex nib and something to play with.

From what you described, I don't think a fountain pen is the right idea. You say she is likely to wind up with ink on her fingers, likes to write on shiny surfaces at a 90* angle, and doesn't have time to journal. The gift is for her, not for you. A space pen leaps to my mind.

syngent said:

About how much are you looking to spend on SWMBO, may help us narrow down some great selections for her

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Good point. We don't spend a ton on each other. I was hoping around 50 bucks. Could go a little more if I need to and decide it's really what I want to go for.

peak_oil said:

From what you described, I don't think a fountain pen is the right idea. You say she is likely to wind up with ink on her fingers, likes to write on shiny surfaces at a 90* angle, and doesn't have time to journal. The gift is for her, not for you. A space pen leaps to my mind.

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thanks for the input. I was wondering if ink on your hands was more likely with this style of pen. It probably bugs me more than her, but something I want to consider. For the record, she does take the calendar down to write on it, so no fear of the 90* issue. But I will definitely take that into account.

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I'm just on a fact finding mission right now. If you have some pens to consider, and any input on the differences of using a FP, I'd appreciate it.

http://www.goldspot.com/monteverde_pens/olympia.html

always thought these were kind of neat, if your looking for a ball point that is, Monteverde makes a lot of cool pens lots of different options in the various lines they make

Thanks everyone for the responses. I'm going to do some more research at this point. The bad thing is, I'm thinking it would not be good for her, but that I could enjoy it. Oops.

Check out the Nib Wiki (see my signature line below) for a load of great info. You can get a great fountain pen with a converter for $10. The Pilot 78G is a great starter pen. The money you save can go toward ink samples and good quality paper.

-Andy

Thanks Andrew. I didn't realize there were disposable fountain pens. Seems like a good inexpensive way to see if that's what you're into. Are they pretty decent for deciding if you enjoy using one? Or is the construction so different that they are in no way the same beast?

I've never used one, but it's my understanding that they're similar to refillable fountain pens. It may be worth a shot. The nib may not be terribly nice is all. A 78g is $10 shipped with a converter from sellers on ebay. The medium nibs are very user friendly (smooth), and the fine will be quite fine if that's what she prefers. The broad is more like an italic nib. If your other half hates it, you'll have a very good, inexpensive pen to play with. Otherwise, you could get 2 or 3 disposable pens for $10 plus whatever shipping costs. Personally, I hate anything disposable, but there is a large selection of them here.

I'll stick to my assertion that you're getting a better value with the 78g. Comparing 2 or 3 cheap disposables to one another probably won't be very enlightening. When I say "the 78g is a good pen," I'm saying that money aside, it's a good pen. It writes as well as some $25 to $50 dollar pens I have. It's just not made by hand out of expensive materials, which is part of why the price is so low.

The 78g is also fun to customize (see post #27).

-Andy

Agree on the 78g as better option than disposable ... and for that price, it's "almost disposable", so ... why not?

Bought my mom today a purple pilot metro and some cartridges for her bday. hope she'll enjoy it.