The Pen is Mightier Than...

Anyone else here live for a great pen? What other brands do you guys like? Fountain, ballpoint, or rollerball? Cartridge or old-fashioned ink pot? Nib size and slant?

I've got a small collection going so far, ranging from a Cross, to Acme limited editions of the Simpsons (the "Homer Lichtenstein" and the "Homerain"), to 3 Montblanc's (ballpoint and fountain Meisterstuck, and a Starwalker fountain- but I might sell/trade the Starwalker).

For the all important paper- nothing beats a Moleskine or Cranes.

I received a Parker ballpoint as a high school graduation gift and later bought a Waterman rollerball. I enjoy both of them but the ballpoint is my favorite.

Pelikan 800 FP - the best FP I've used.

My daily user is a Pelikan M200. Light as a feather, you can write all day with it without fatigue. As collectible treasures, I love the old Sheaffer snorkels. Esterbrook made some very pretty and quite useable pens, too, and they are very inexpensive for a vintage pen.

I have a Waterman Laureat, a Nimiki retractable fountain pen, and a Rotring fountain pen. I also have a couple of old ones I haven't tried to identify. I enjoy all of them. I have a few old dip pens, too, but I never think to use them.

I've always wanted a Montblanc after the first time I used one, although I can't afford one at the moment. Maybe when I get my doctorate someone will buy me one as a gift.

Personally, I've always loved the style, feel, and appearance of fountain pens. Unfortunately as a left hander, they just don't work for me... the ink is always smudged my the side of my hand as I write. I've tried all the inks available, I even tried to learn how to write backwards from right to left. Obviously, neither of those options worked out to well.....

I usually have a '70s Pelikan 120 or an early '60s Parker 51 in my pocket, but today was my grandfather's maroon Sheaffer Snorkel Statesman. Sometimes a '40s Sheaffer Crest vac-fill. Fountain pens seem to multiply here, though . . .

I have a thing for multipens. I Just retired my Rotring Quattro in favor of the Cross Tech3, my favorite to date.

I love the looks of Picasso pens. I also have hero, pelicans and Lamy, with Lamy being my favorite brand. I have tried Montblanc and Parker but it is so easy for a $15 Haolilai to outperform them that I do not care for them anymore. They even look better heck the cheap disposable pilot FPs outperform them. I have been wanting to try Waterman, but since I am forced to use crappy paper at work and school, I stopped spending a lot of money on pens. One day I will start collecting them again. I also love the like the looks of cross pens, but IMO they are a bit overpriced and the stiles I have tried are rather uncomfortable and I tiring.

Pelikan M200

The ones I made.

Lamy 2000 fountain pen (introduced in 1966!). Nice and understated. Oh, and I do have a Moleskine notebook too of course.

I am on my third 2000. First one I lost one drunken night (in a taxi probably) years ago. The second one broke. Something in the ink filler mechanism. Since they supposedly have a lifetime warranty I figured I would test that out.

I contacted the place I bought it from (who no longer had a store but sell online) and they said sure, bring it in. They said they'd send it to the local distributor here in New Zealand. Apparently they were stumped so they sent it back to Lamy in Germany. They promptly sent me a new one! I think all up it cost me $5 for postage (locally) somewhere along the line.

Great pen, great service. I use it every day and it's always in my pocket.

Simon

Pelikan M1000 Medium Nib (my expensive elegant writer). Lamy Safari (one I could use everyday for any purpose). Fisher AG7 Spacepen (everyday ballpoint used at work).


==Tom

I have a very good Parker 51 that is a family heirloom that I decided to squirel away rather than risk damaging or loosing it. I was using a Remington as a daily user, then picked up a couple of Pilot Varsity's through Work. Just this past weekend I picked up a real beater of a Wearever that is a cosmetic mess, but it works well and has an extra fine tip which bleeds less than the others I have. I also picked up an old dip pen I'm playing with.

I swear by the Pilot G2, but mhdagley is going to make me a nice pen that uses G2 ink.

For regular old work pens I REALLY like the Pilot P-700. SUPER smooth liquid ink pen. The P-500 is a bit scratchy, but the P-700 is a pleasure.

My current daily writer is a Pelikan M200 (which I heard about here). Love it, though the fine nib seems to write a bit broader than I really want. Also use a Waterman Phileas and Expert II for grading papers. Also have a Parker Sonnet, though I don't really know why.

I have had my eye on an M400 but am not sure about what makes it worth more than twice the price of an M200. Is it the material of the pen itself? Or canny marketing?

I have 5 Montblancs, 2 Waterman, 2 Pelikan, 2 Lamy, 3 Kaweco and several Chinese pens. Some of these are fountain pens, roller balls and ballpoints.

and I apologize but every time I read the title for this thread I think of celebrity jeopardy. Suck it Trabek

I do enjoy a good pilot pen. In fact, my favorite is is BeGreen Hi-Tecpoint in 0.5mm for taking notes and such. But for when I'm writing, it's gotta be a fountain pen. Saves your hands a lot of grief as well. I used to have callouses on my fingers from pressing hard, but since I've made the switch to fountains, they've gone away.

Now that I've thought about it, I am going to trade/sell my Starwalker. I just don't write with it as much as the Meisterstuck.