Fountain pen usage.

[swee'pea99]

I use Parker fountain pens - cheapos, but they're lovely and smooth. Doesn't improve my appalling handwriting unfortunately, but it does make the experience more enjoyable.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I've used good fountain pens almost exclusively since the age of 18, initially a nice stainless Parker but the gold nib no longer works, followed by a Shaeffer which was brill, one I lost , bought another almost identical.... and lost that too

For the last 10 years I've used a Mont Blanc, not the massive Meisterstuck but the slightly smaller traveller (Guaranteed not to leak on aeroplanes) and I love it, it goes with me everywhere I expect to have to write anything.
I'd buy another Shaefer as well just like the ones I lost as they were so nice and weighty to write with.

I'm also with Speicher on soft leaded propelling pencils, I favour thicker leads as I'm a bit heavy handed. A pencil is always my second choice weapon.

A real clear Bic medium is just about workable. All others are pretty crap.

Mrs FF has just started with her first fountain pen, and my eldest daughter is a 100% convert and has been for some years, many of her classmates also use fountain pens as do a few people at work. They're far from dead!

 

[Campfire]

I love fountain pens & have some old ones, a Schaeffer which has a rod which dips into the ink like an antenna, a Swan and a Conway Stewart. I also have a tiny Mont Blanc which although lovely is a bit thick to write with. My best writing pen is a silver one from Smiths which I think is their own make which has a lovely fine nib and I use it with violet ink.

If I were using a roller ball, I like those in a grey case which are very fine and likewise the old Bic biros which had a yellow case which write very finely too.

I'd like to get a Rotring pen but I've no idea where I can buy one where I live.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Very interesting. And when you look at how many people spent time and effort trying to protect it, it shows that the fountain pen was found wanting.

However, the biro and all the other 'disposable' pens, like so much else that was invented for convenience, have a lot to answer for, environmentally. The fountain pen (or other refillable ink pens) make a lot more ecological sense that throwing away the entire writing implement (or even just the cartridges)...

 

[Fab Foodie]

likewise the old Bic biros which had a yellow case which write very finely too.

They're my most hated ball pens.... nasty nasty

 

[Auntie Helen]

Used my fountain pen for my 1.5 hour German exam a couple of weeks ago. The reason I chose that pen (usually write with a biro) is that, despite the leaks, the fact I don't have to press on the paper to write, that the pen just glides along it, means I won't get such tired hands writing for so long. In the Good Old Days before computer keyboards my fine motor muscles were attuned to handwriting; how it's hard work and leaves me with achy hands. Thus the delights of the fountain pen - I may have had blue fingers afterwards, but at least my hands weren't totally tired!

 

[gavintc]

It has to be a fountain pen. I currently use a Waterman as my favourite, but I have always used a fountain pen. I am left handed and do not find the problem others claim to have. If you keep a decent amount of pen showing after your fingers - it will not smudge.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Used my fountain pen for my 1.5 hour German exam a couple of weeks ago. The reason I chose that pen (usually write with a biro) is that, despite the leaks, the fact I don't have to press on the paper to write, that the pen just glides along it, means I won't get such tired hands writing for so long.

That's what I found at 18, I did all my notes and A-Levels, my degree etc all with a fountain pen for the reasons you suggest, just soooo much easier to write with. Using a ball-pen now for any time is like a work-out!

 

[slowmotion]

I'd like to get a Rotring pen but I've no idea where I can buy one where I live.

Lots of on-line stores do them if you don't have a local shop. Here's one for example...

http://www.artifolk.co.uk/catalog/graphic_and_technical_drawing.htm?gclid=CLXosovdqaACFReZ2AodsU8BZw

 

[John the Monkey]

I'm also with Speicher on soft leaded propelling pencils, I favour thicker leads as I'm a bit heavy handed. A pencil is always my second choice weapon.

I love these "Shorty" clutch pencils for that kind of thing;

http://www.bureaudirect.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=249

(other suppliers may be available).

I'm a lefty too, and not had the problems with smudging my writing while using fountain pens, fwiw.

 

[chap]

Used my fountain pen for my 1.5 hour German exam a couple of weeks ago. The reason I chose that pen (usually write with a biro) is that, despite the leaks, the fact I don't have to press on the paper to write, that the pen just glides along it, means I won't get such tired hands writing for so long. In the Good Old Days before computer keyboards my fine motor muscles were attuned to handwriting; how it's hard work and leaves me with achy hands. Thus the delights of the fountain pen - I may have had blue fingers afterwards, but at least my hands weren't totally tired!

Precisely, my only regret is not using them earlier. I still wince at the memory of the Hand Cramp of 2001 when I took my final Geography exam, only to find that I had an answer for every question.

I went through 2 pens (cheap), and had to resort to pencil. I still believe that that desk must have the overlay scorched replies to the exam.

 

[slowmotion]

The very best pens I used were Pentel Ceranomatics, a draughting pen with a ceramic tip. 0.35 mm tips were great, and just slid over the paper. Unlike Rotring, Pentel had really good ink cartridges that never clogged the nib. Alas, they disappeared a long time ago, and I am reduced to Pilot RollerBalls.
Use a Biro? Never, never, never. Quite horrible. I won't even make a list with one.

By the way, has anybody noticed the appalling quality of pencils these days?

 

[John the Monkey]

The very best pens I used were Pentel Ceranomatics, a draughting pen with a ceramic tip. 0.35 mm tips were great, and just slid over the paper.

I used to like Staedtler's draughting pens (the Marsmatic, I think) - I used them quite a bit for inking sketches etc

I like the fluidity of something like the Rotring art pen more for that kind of thing now though.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I love these "Shorty" clutch pencils for that kind of thing;

http://www.bureaudirect.co.uk/products.asp?recnumber=249

I like the look of the 'Shorty' - I use a Rotring pencil normally, do I just want one of these or can it be justified for practical reasons?

 

[tyred]

However, the biro and all the other 'disposable' pens, like so much else that was invented for convenience, have a lot to answer for, environmentally. The fountain pen (or other refillable ink pens) make a lot more ecological sense that throwing away the entire writing implement (or even just the cartridges)...

Absolutely and I hate the throwaway society in which we live. I own and use many things that are old and built to last and generally don't do disposable but the biro is the one thing that has come along that (IMO) is vastly superior than anything that went before.