What affordable pen would you recommend for person enjoying Lamy Safari with a fine (F) nib and Pelican 6001 inks for two years? I am looking for something to become my secondary workhorse pen, to stay at home or to have it to always stay ready for travel :)
I like F and EF nibs, because those make it a little bit easier to find proper paper for in comfortable formfactor. I'd also appreciate ink reccomendation as well :)
@alexcleac
Platinum Plaisir or the Preppy are good starters. An inexpensive set of Wing Sung is what got me into #fountainpens.
For ink, I like to recommend Waterman Serenity Blue or Quink Blue Black. Both can be found by the bottle or in international style cartridges. Outside of the USA I've seen other inexpensive inks to start the journey. If thinking about exploring ink colors try buying samples from an online retailer before getting a bottle of color you don't enjoy.
@alexcleac traditional choice would be something like a Pilot Metropolitan - runs a lil fine as it's Japanese so you'd probably be better with a medium.
Left field choice if you're ready to give a go with bottled ink a TWSBI Eco is a solid choice. Lots of capacity, easy to clean and really shows off your ink choices!
@alexcleac Pilot Kakuno https://a.co/d/cwpd9v2 is my #1 recommendation for Lamy Safari alternative. I personally have tried Lamy Safaris multiple times and found them unsatisfactory.
@alexcleac I would wholeheartedly recommend a TWSBI ECO, because they are gorgeous, write beautifully, seal well, have a large ink capacity with a piston filler, can be easily disassembled for cleaning, come in a wide range of nibs, and are inexpensive.
Pelikan inks are great, but so are many others. I'm really into Teranishi Guitar Brand Taisho Roman, right now, but ink is such a wide category, that I'd hesitate to make too many suggestions without knowing what you might be looking for.
@alexcleac@penfount given your budget, I’d consider trying to find a used Platinum 3776 in Fine. They can go for around $100 if used and non-special edition
@alexcleac The Faber-Castell Hexo is an underrated, affordable #fountainpen. It looks modern and is well made. I find it a pleasant writer.
As for inks; that's a matter of taste, of course. But Diamine and J. Herbin are usually good quality and well behaved inks.
@alexcleac OK. Good. Here are some reasonable options:
Pilot Lightive F (or Explorer if you can't find Lightive; almost same pen). ~25 USD. Light, good nib, good ink capacity if you use the CON-70.
Moonman (Majohn) A1 or A2. ~30 USD. Retractable with a "EF" (really more like F) nib.
Sailor Procolor -- only comes in F. ~50-60 USD. This nib has some feedback, it may take some getting used to, but a lot of people love this pen (including me). Pen is a bit short, probably use it posted.
@alexcleac Yup. I bought mine at Appelboom (The Netherlands store, not the US Store).
Is more expensive than a Safari (I paid €80 pen + converter), and you also need to by the converter (Z27) if you want o use bottled ink.
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