Let the Fountain Pens Flow | Hacker News Reader

Let the Fountain Pens Flow

nytimes.com

130 pointsCaliforniaKarl114 comments

I started using fountain pens a couple of years ago, and still do for my daily writing.

I write rather a lot; I don't bring my laptop into meetings unless I need to. Combine that with my handwriting being relatively neat, small, and stylized, and I needed something with a sufficiently fine nib, and ink that would flow well through it.

It turned into a fascinating optimization problem, during which I ended up down the rabbit hole of nib sizing (European nibs tend to run wider than Japanese nibs), notebook paper (there are plenty of good notebooks that are fountain-pen friendly, and that Moleskine notebooks are both comparatively expensive and the paper just isn't great), and different types of ink (which brands run "wet" or "dry", etc.)... and all of this is before getting into eyedropper-conversions, nib repair, and all of the other craft-related things one can get into.

I started with (and still have) a Pilot Metropolitan and a Platinum Preppy that still see use, although I've gone over to a Kaweco Special FP and a Pilot Vanishing Point (both with extra-fine nibs) for daily writers.

The current "daily writer" tuples are:

1) Pilot Vanishing Point (extra-fine nib), Pilot black cartridge ink.

2) Kaweco Special FP (extra-fine nib), Faber-Castell Carbon Black ink.

...preferred notebook is the Kokuyo Campus High Grade MIO notebook (A5 paper, 80 sheets, ~$6.50 each).

That all being said, I still use ballpoint pens on airplanes; the Pentel BK77 Superb (fine point, black) works just fine.

This is why I won't let myself get started on fountain pens. I tend to go down the rabbit hole hard when I pick up a new hobby, and fountain pens have always seemed like such an enticing rabbit hole to dive into!

Three months into the hobby I'd probably have two desk drawers full of pen paraphernalia and a credit card bill full of shame! Not that other pen freaks do this. I just know I would.

(and I'm left-handed....)

Sounds like you'd fit in just right with the others at r/fountainpens

Ha, that's the problem, right?

I fit in with obsessive gear geeks a little too well, and can't afford a new time- and money-suck of a hobby.

As somebody who enjoys playing games, managing to avoid the MMO craze entirely was a struggle and an achievement...

As for being left-handed, so am I - and I have found it to be not much of an issue, as (some!) modern inks dry almost instantly. (de Atramentis Fog Grey being a favourite - dries instantly and is highly water resistant to boot.)

I just stopped using fountain pens when my $3 ones broke

The airplane bit is a big blocker for me. I've yet to do a successful dropper converter that didn't explode on a plane for me.

Forum responses are usually vague and along the lines of "try different viscosity ink," which, yeah, but there's tens of brands and thousands of flavors.

-I've flown with fountain pens several times without incident (though I will admit to being slightly nervous!)

I put the success (thus far) down to always filling the pen all the way before flying, and also making sure the nib is pointing upwards at all times.

That being said, there's no denying just about any pen is better suited than a fountain pen for flying.

Edit: pens I've flown with - Lamy Logo and Dialog 3, various Pelikan Souveräns, the occasional Metropolitan.

Edit: Presumably obvious, but still - the reason for filling the pen all up prior to flying is that ink does not expand as air pressure decreases - unlike, well, air. If there is no air in the ink reservoir, outside pressure is more or less irrelevant.

Agreed. To be clear, I'll travel with them... I just won't use them on the plane.

I don't think I've flown with a homemade dropper-converted pen. However, I've flown with (and used on the plane) a fully-filled Moonman M2 (~$25 on Amazon), which is built as an eyedropper pen, and I enjoy writing with it.

You can get nibs tuned and modified, I once had the opportunity to use a VP with a reverse oblique nib, changes everything.

Not quite the same, but I've been getting into technical pens because normal pens don't work as well in my plotter. I've found a lot of different failure modes in all sorts of writing implements so far... Example output: https://twitter.com/joshu/status/1074836822751010816

These are beautiful drawings, congrats!

Ohhhh! What pen is that? I'm actually a big fan of using sharpies in plotters (made some drawings like this: http://blog.blhack.me/show?p=colorBook)

The problem is that they run out of ink very quickly. I've been looking for a more "pro" version of them, and it seems like your pens might be a good place to start!

I started with sharpies originally but they get exhausted very easily.

I am currently using Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph on Bristol Board paper from Strathmore or Canson

If you're looking for a more "pro" version of sharpies, the marker most used by artists seems to be Copic. They're refillable, last quite a while and you can change their nibs.

I grew up in France, where schools don't allow you to use anything else but fountain pens.

They don't teach you how to use one - to me, it's always been the same thing as using a ball pen, except you trade the convenience (you have to change the ink cartridge) for practicality (you can erase the ink with special eraser) while keeping some style (it's still ink, not pencil, kept for drawing).

Getting a new pen felt weird at first, but just like a new pair of shoes, you end up accustomed to it.

So it's interesting to read about fountain pens in America, where people talk about having to "learn" how to write with a fountain pain. It's seen as such a special, luxury or just nerd thing, while in France, it's just something common nobody really pay attention to.

Thanks for posting that. I'd no idea fountain pens were the standard in some countries.

I had the opposite discovery when I went to work in Spain and colleagues ogled my basic Parker pen like I was a prince or something.

It's not a panacea in France though, since people usually buy their kids cheap ones which leave a lasting bad impression. Many people get very defensive about handwriting and that is partly accountable to the terrible fountain pens they had to learn with.

Fountain pens were very common in Spain too not so long ago. I went to school in the 80s and many children had fountain pens. Erasable pens mostly finished with them, and nowadays children learn writing in a very different way (they start writing in caps, and only later they learn cursive).

This also explains why Americans tend to doubt the usefulness of learning cursive writing: it is feels terrible and is quite slow when using ball point pens, but smooth and fast with a fountain pen.

> the usefulness of learning cursive writing

Honest question - What do you see about it as being useful? I was taught to write in cursive when I was younger but I honestly don’t feel like it has ever been all that useful (especially given that most of my communication and writing is done on a computer/smartphone).

It's much faster when you learn it properly and write it with the proper instrument. Ball point pens are awful for cursive, but when writing with a fountain pen you'll almost automatically switch back to cursive.

I've never used a fountain pen, how well do they work for lefties? I sometimes have problems smearing ballpoint ink with my palm, do fountain pens smear more, less, or about the same?

I’m a lefty and fountain pen smearing is an issue. Doubtless there are techniques and inks to optimize for quick drying better than I managed, so I’d encourage you to try and find out for yourself. It depends on how you’re able to position your hand and I’ve only ever managed to write by dragging either all the time or inadvertently when trying to keep my palm raised. It’s a shame because the pens and their output can be quite elegant.

Not really. I also was forced to use a fountain pen in primary school (UK). A strange hold over since only penmanship hipsters use them in real life, and everyone used them to flick ink on everyone's white shirts.

Anyway back to the point, cursive - or "joined up writing" as we call it - is used by most people into adulthood even though nobody uses fountain pens past primary school because it is quicker than printing.

I too went to school at a time when fountain pens were the only permissible writing instrument. Now I use a fountain pen mostly to write my daily journal, and have pampered myself by buying a nice (at least relatively) fountain pen and a couple of bottles of good ink. I love writing with this pen and ink combination. When I hear about fountain pens as a hobby and how the hobbyists like to collect pens and inks, somehow I cannot relate to this at all. For me, now that I have found a fountain pen that I like, my focus is set entirely on the writing and never do I feel the urge to go get another fountain pen. I will think about another fountain pen only if the current one is lost or broken.

Yeah, me too, and my kids are learning to write with fountain pens to this day. Getting familiar with the process of using a fountain pen while very young, demystifies the object. I still love to write with a fountain pen and own plenty.

As a kid it's kind of fun to get your hands dirty with ink, even fighting with cartridges (pressing them like toothpaste tubes and the like).

Recently I designed a blotter and started selling it on Amazon (Europe) this month; it's a completely niche product but it's selling a little nonetheless, meaning there's some demand for it.

> you can erase the ink with special eraser

Err, there exist erasable ball-point pens too, such as Pilot's Frixion line.

I had to use a fountain pen in elementary and middle school in Austria and hate-hate-hated them. Switched to ballpoint pens in high school and finally got rid of the constantly ink stained fingers and dried up and bent tips. It's also when I switched back from writing cursive to printed letters.

I later retried using a fountain pen in university under the assumption that perhaps I've used too much force or I was using low-quality pens, but the result was still the same, minus the bent tip perhaps. Good riddance!

I did my schooling in India where, in those days, they transitioned us from pencils to pens in grade 5. Most notably, we were never allowed to use ballpoint or even felt-tip pens, it always had to be a fountain pen. I have never lost my love of the fountain pen. I bought a Kaweco just a few months ago.

I remember being excited when I went into standard 4 because I could finally use a fountain pen. Then I went abroad for 4 years and when I came back, fountain pens were gone - history.

If you are like me - and yearn for the feel of ink, yet the convenience of a ballpoint..then do try using a rollerball.

The hack here is to use some very specific refills and use it inside your cool Rollerball.

For example I use a Signo 307 refill (which is smear, water and tamper proof and specially designed for anti-document signing fraud) inside my special edition Waterman.

The other super cool Rollerball refill is the Pentel Energel. That's as close to an ink pen experience you'll get.

I used the Uni-Ball Vision Elite rollerball from 7th grade to my first year of college (1 year ago, when I got a fountain pen). The bold point tip (0.8mm) lays down tons of ink, and the ball glides across paper smoothly.

I don't have a very expensive fountain pen, but to me writing feels just as good with the rollerball as it does with the fountain pen. One can feel a difference between the two, but IMO neither is 'better' than the other, and I still enjoy using the rollerball when I have to do so (they are better for extended journeys due to ink capacity, don't leak if you store them up-side-down, have anti-fraud ink, and are airplane safe).

The Vision Elites feel noticeably better to me than the Pilot G2 gel pens which I see many people using.

I have a TWSBI and several Lamys, which are great, but the pen I buy and use in bulk is the Uniball UM-153S rollerball. All the fun of a fountain pen without the hassle of dealing with ink. It's the pen for notes and shopping lists. From my Amazon orders, I seem to buy a 12 box of them at least once a year.

To Mitsubishi Pencil Co (makers of the Uniball): please make a green ink version!

I just saw them in green yesterday (and a host of metallic inks) in a Coop supermarket, also available online: https://www.amazon.de/Uni-Ball-UB-157-Tintenroller-Spitze-St...

Yes I have this set too :-) However it's slightly different from the UM-153S, in particular the nibs are narrower and not quite so nice to write with. (I will admit I'm now being very picky indeed - all of these pens are far superior to biros).

+1 on the Pentel Energels. They are incredibly smooth to write with, cheap and available in just about any conceivable colour.

Gel pens are even nicer IMO. Pilot do very nice ones but the 0.38mm Muji ones are also great and a bit cheaper

You can get a Pilot Metropolitan from Amazon for about $14, and there are other fountain pens that are a little cheaper. It’s not like you need to spend $120 to start trying.

I started maybe two years ago with a set of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens that I bought from Amazon for $9 or so. I liked the feeling so when one of them started to run low on ink I decided to buy a ‘real’ (non-disposable) fountain pen.

That was when I found the Metropolitan. If I’d known I could’ve bought a pen for so little I would’ve bought that instead of the disposable ones to start.

They’re so much smoother to write with and don’t require anywhere near as much pressure as a ball point pen. I’ve started thinking about improving my cursive because of playing with fountain pens.

If you do any writing at all, give it a try. I use mine at work for taking notes in meetings.

I prefer the Metropolitan to the Safari. Sturdy design, and with a non-bladder cartridge, good to go for years.

Also there are Jinhao pens (and other chinese pens like Hero etc) from eBay for 1-2 dollars. I've bought a dozen I liked and have to say that although some of them were rather problematic (leaking ink, non smooth writing), most of them write really good and are very beautiful and looking much more expensive than their real price point.

I like the reviews on https://www.penaddict.com/top-5-pens/ They have sections for different budgets etc. I have no connection to them, my handwriting is terrible. I just like the site :)

Happy Metropolitan user here too. I bought a couple other inexpensive fountain pens to try them out (Lamy Safari, Pilot Prera Iro-Ai), but I came back to the Metropolitan. The weight and writing-smoothness are outstanding considering how cheap it is.

I used to write with a 0.2 Rotring in school in the seventies. It was not designed for this task, and worked poorly (not unrelated to my general lack of dexterity).

However, it had one supreme advantage over others: I kept my tiny 1/8th of hash wrapped in foil, in the tiny devo-like removable butt screw on it. A fatter nib might well gave worked better, but this one was mine...

The aesthetic value of fountain pens is undeniable but for the left-handed amongst us who refuse to twist their writing hand into some bizarre contortion, the fountain pen will never be viable. My personal left-handed recollections of using fountain pens all involve smears of ink on the side of my hands and smudged lettering.

I'm left-handed and there are several techniques for writing left-handed with a fountain pen. They don't all involve twisting your writing hand into "some bizarre contortion".

I collect vintage fountain pens, mostly about a hundred years old with flexible nibs that allow for fancy copperplate calligraphy. These kinds of pens are very delicate and some of them are so sensitive that if you don't know what you're doing you can destroy them pretty easily. With a little bit of work and a little bit of practice I was able to learn to write with them the way they were intended.

If you had an interest in fountain pens, don't let something like this kill it. With a small amount of effort you can find a technique that works for you without being uncomfortable.

> I'm left-handed and there are several techniques for writing left-handed with a fountain pen. They don't all involve twisting your writing hand into "some bizarre contortion".

I'm just curious if you've ever tried the mirror script technique? I remember reading in Isaacson's biography that Da Vinci wrote everything in the mirror script not to code it but because that's how left-handed people were taught to write. I figure that it'd work just as well in modern days, though obviously not if you needed someone else to read it.

I tend to scrawl directly over the path of the text I'm writing. I'm aware of several writing techniques that I could adopt although I have to say that I've never even considered the mirror technique. I'm very surprised that they even bothered teaching an alternative method to left-handers to write during Da Vinci's era as I was always under the impression that, up until fairly recently, the strategy simply was to force people to write with their right hand regardless of their natural inclination.

I was under that impression as well, but Isaacson implied that that's a more modern way, relatively speaking, at least when compared to Renaissance Florence. Which is partially why I was interested in seeing if you had tried it.

I am left handed but I write under the line (also known as an underwriter). This allows me to use fountain pens without smudging.

My daughter is a left handed overwriter and I am working with her to get her to position her paper so she learns to write under the line as much as possible without the hook of the hand. She likes fountain pens but smudges them. I used to overwrite st a young age but switched to underwriting when I got frustrated of having ink on my hand every day.

It doesn’t have to be like this. Look up underwriting - by writing from below the text you can write with a relaxed grip without any fear of smudges.

I learned about this as an adult and felt like such an idiot for going through school without learning the trick. And maybe a little mad at my third grade teacher.

Paper at a 45 degree angle + hand below the line I'm writing be works like a charm.

My introduction to rollerball pens forced me to learn how to do this, otherwise, I was smearing everything I had written. I did some research and found out that curling my hand around the pen was the wrong way to hold it.

I’m left-handed and write with fountain pens without too much trouble. The key is to find the right combination of fast-drying ink and absorbent paper: a combination of Iroshizuku inks and Baron Fig or Field Notes notebooks have been great for me. The smooth, sheen-y “fountain pen friendly” paper like Rhodia and many of the Japanese brands unfortunately do not work as well.

I'm a lefty, and with fast drying ink, a fountain pen doesn't smear. Unlike ballpoint or pencil does when your hand moves across it. The "bizarre contortion" is needed anyway to get the stroke weighting correct, unless you use one of those weird offset nibs, which aren't readily available in quality pens.

Off topic, I once got a B+ on a high school physics test, but the teacher told me he marked me down from an A for having the temerity to use an ink pen.

I was the same, I always did my work in ink and crossed errors out with single lines. Surprised that physics would prefer pencil over ink, most science classes require pen for lab notebooks just to get people in the habit.

Well, high school, and we both were chuckling about it.

I did about half of my high school trig class with a neon orange gel pen. After I handed in one test, the teacher informed me that it was the last she would accept from me in that color. She never marked me down, though!

I'm a lefty and while I avoid writing, a fountain pen with fast drying ink and a BOLD tip is very lefty usable.

The trick to lefty pens is to get BOLD tips!

When you have a thin needle-like tip, as you know, you end up stabbing or scratching the paper. But if the tip is either a big round rolling ball or nib, then it glides across the paper on its roundy edge.

I can definitely recommend the Lamy Safari with a 1.0 bold tip, or any Pilot ballpoint pen with a 1.0 bold tip. (I carry a Pilot Precision 1.0 Bold ballpoint pen with me at all times.)

I've had good luck with Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens as a left hander. Surprisingly not very smudgy.

I am left handed, and have no real problems with writing with a fountain pen at all. Smearing is not an issue, I assume because I hold the pen fairly straight, and don't have my hand curled around in a reversed 'U' shape as I notice some of my left handed compatriots do when writing.

I have FAR more problems with binders, with the rings or clips getting in the way - so much so that in school, I used to write on the BACK of the pages so that the rings were to the right of my hand.

I'm in my mid 30's and have been collecting fountain pens for a few years now. Not a a lot of vintage but I have a few rare limited editions and high end stuff not because of status or collectibility but because I love the materials and look and feel. To be honest, it's the tactility of it. Being all digital all the time makes me miss the closeness to the words when I'm actually writing with a pen and paper. And when you have this wonderful somewhat piece of art of pen and ink to write with it makes writing different - more emotive somehow. There are plenty of pens now that suit any particular style and budget which is great. It's a great hobby to be honest.

I'm about 10 years younger than you, and have always been interested in fountain pens, even before I started becoming more cynical about technology. Any advice on how to start collecting them? Or even just finding good ones to use?

Your best bet is probably the subreddit. It's extraordinarily active.

It all started when I was looking for a more substantial pen in general. I've always written with a Pilot V hi-tecpoint or some other roller ball like that and found the styling lacking and most of all hated the wasteful nature of plastic pens. The idea of refillable fountain pens was great, and the ones being made today are not like the leaky ones of the past.

So just searching around I landed on a pen store like Goulet Pens, STYLO, Wonderpens, Nibs.com etc and the Reddit community. Theres a ton out there. The big challenge though is that you can get sucked in really fast. The entire experience can become more about the pens than the actual writing and using of the pens. Nathan Tardiff (prolific founder of ink making company Doodlers Inks) is religious about this.

I would recommend studying your writing style a little bit first and understanding your main use cases. Do you need a pen for school? Do you write left handed? Do you want something to show off? Do you lose pens often? Do you travel a lot? How do you currently hold your pens? All of these questions will impact the pen(s) you should purchase and use. I use plural because you might need two pens for different colours, or for inks with different properties like an "eternal" ink that will never fade or a "fancy" colour.

For example if you're a student and write a lot for school you may consider the Lamy Safari line or Pilot Metro. They're not terribly expensive and you can get them in different colours and designs. That being said the Safari has a very specific section (the middle part where you hold a pen) that you may or may not like because it forces your hand into a traditional triangle pattern.

If you're looking for a status symbol you can't go wrong with a Montblanc - now there's a caveat here, most reddit forum types hate on Montblancs because they're expensive for what you seemingly get. However, I'll be honest I have numerous pens spanning all sorts of European, American and Japanese brands and the ones that consistently write all the time without hassle are my Montblancs. Not to mention the lifetime of the pen warranty. If you want different and unique and a piece of art, there's that too. I have a bunch Omas pens that are no longer made (Omas went out of business a couple years ago now) and they're like beautiful inspiring pieces of art between your fingers (now difficult to find and purchase and when you do expensive as heck).

There really is something for everyone but be careful it's easy to blow a budget here. The one thing I don't recommend is starting with cheap brands like Jinhao or HERO. You may have a poor experience the first time if these brands are your first and it will certainly colour your experience.

Sorry for the rambling note. Hope this helps and enjoy the journey!

Growing up in Malaysia, we students made the transition from mechanical pencils to using pens in high school. I pretty much hated ballpoint pens due to the increased force needed to make ink stay on paper (lots of fatigue when you write 700 word long essays). I grew up using Pilot G1 and G2 gel pens. I finally caved and bought myself a Pilot Kakuno fountain pen while I was back in the motherland a week ago. I doubt I can move back to ballpoint again, but still keep one in the travel backpack just in case I need it to fill up customs forms in the plane.

I like how chunky and oddly modern the Kakuno is. It even comes in a clear version and is easily converted.

Plus ça change…

In this coldly pixelated age, old-fashioned writing implements make a small but meaningful comeback

I used to be sympathetic but am getting quite tired of this trope. Without having researched it, could it be that this started a few years after the introduction of the iPhone?

[1] H. Wallop. The return of the filofax. The Telegraph, Feb 25 2010.

[2] P. Paul. A paper calendar? it’s 2011. New York Times, Jul 29 2011.

[3] L. Kellaway. Digital diaries are no match for our paper past. Financial Times, Aug 31 2014.

[4] A. Chemin. Handwriting vs typing: Is the pen still mightier than the keyboard? The Guardian, Dec 16 2014.

[5] C. Martin. Moleskine notebooks adapt to the digital world. New York Times, Apr 18 2015.

[6] The Economist. Schumpeter: On the cards. Mar 14 2015.

[7] N. Sovich. The handwritten to-do list makes a comeback. Wall Street Journal, Sep 08 2016.

[8] A. Birrane. Why paper is the real ’killer app’. BBC News, Jan 23 2017.

[9] K. Wong. The case for using a paper planner. New York Times, Jan 4 2018.

[10] ∞

I guess one factor is that the industry is fighting a rearguard battle and paying PR agencies to place this sort of article in popular media[+]. Admittedly, they got me: Before the introduction of the Pencil, I did indeed fall for it and buy a few high-priced "good" pens by the likes of Montblanc and Faber-Castell plus overpriced stationery.

But I'll be damned if it wasn't all this fucking nostalgia that got us into the current mess, even though there are so many good things happening. And it is nostalgia that is holding us back or slowing our speed forward, to a better world than the old, retrograde shit.

So yea, I tossed the pens, effectively. No use for paper anymore. Attachment to old shit, for oldness's sake, has become toxic in my mind in the last few years.

___________________________

[+] Something similar seems to be happening too in watches, after the popularization of smartwatches after 2015. I see a LOT, really a lot, of ads for watches in magazines and newspapers (which I consume mostly in PDF version of the print magazine, so no microtargeting going on there).

This old article blames poor penmanship on ball point pens (rather than keyboards) and considers them a poor replacement for fountain pens.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-ballpoint-pen-kil...

In the UK I think every school child still learns to write with a fountain pen around the age of seven. There's one particular cheap plastic pen that everyone used to have that stationers sold in bulk. I had to do a sort of thesis about a topic I was interested in and hand-write it in a fountain pen to become a 'master scribe' or something like that - I did mine about special effects in film.

The result is you can buy these pens for about £2-4 (depending on the "back to school" offer) from WH Smith.

They're OK for the money.

I can't find many references to this online - either fountain pens, or the 'master scribe' thing.

Certainly it wasn't the case when I went to school in 90s/00s UK - I had a cheap fountain pen, but only because I hated ballpoints and was experimenting with alternatives. I don't remember anybody else in my school having one or talking about them.

In the end I settled on the Uniball Eye as my favourite pen, and have been using it ever since. Glides like a fountain pen, but with less faff about the ink.

It was certainly the case when I went to school (forced to write in fountain pen; born 1990), at least through primary school, and still appears to be the case at some schools (examples: [1], [2]).

(End result: I write in print...)

[1] http://www.stmichaelandstmartin.co.uk/handwriting-1/ [2] http://www.st-nicholas-newromney.kent.sch.uk/handwriting-pol...

Actually, it's probably worth mentioning that I grew up in Scotland. Different school systems, of course.

One of the many, many lies I was told at primary school: "You need to learn to use a fountain pen, because you have to use one at secondary school". Nobody used a fountain pen at secondary school.

Similar to the lie I heard about computers from one particular teacher in high school: "You can't use a mouse, because nobody uses a mouse in the real world!"

This was in 1994 and it hadn't been true for quite some time!

(In her defense, WordPerfect 5.1 was a heck of a lot more productive with keyboard shortcuts, especially if you had the little "cheat sheet" to place atop the function key row on your keyboard, and of course developers and other engineers know the benefits of minimizing the need to remove one's hands from the keyboard as well)

Someone told my friend that they would be forced to use VIM at work as an IT requirement, at university in 2015.

Even if he was only using remote terminals I can't see how this is a sane thing to say to a class of students.

He's infinitely more likely to be forced to use some kind of Eclipse-based monstrosity.

That's hilarious. Knowing how to us vi(m) is a valuable skill (and one I lack sadly) but you only really neeeeeeed to know if if your IT role involves working on random remote systems.

As a software developer that has never been an issue for me. I can think of only one or two times in my whole life I was working on some random server and didn't have pico/nano available. And even then I think I was just able to use sftp to edit it with my local editor of choice.

In my first proper job I did actually have to use a fountain pen to write or sign letters - other pens weren’t allowed.

When I went to school during the same time period fountain pens were more of a fashion accessory. You didn't have to have one, and the school didn't teach you how to use one, but everyone wanted one. We used to like brands like Parker and Sheaffer.

The ones the school provided were those "Berol Handwriting" pens that I've never seen outside of a school.

I have a number of fine Jinhao pens, that I use for all my work related writing.

At around $3,inclusive of postage, they are a bargain.

Their nibs might need some adjusting. They also do a line of Montblanc clones...

I have had a few Lamys but prefer the Jinhaos.

I like the Jinhaos too. At the price, they are extremely cost-effective and they make really versatile sketching tools. Here's a quick drawing for fun:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSrsp2cgq-e/?utm_source=ig_share...

Learning to write with a fountain pen is sort of like playing a violin but on a small scale. Presure, direction, speed, stroke, and technique all play a huge part.

I always carry at least 2 fountain pens with me when travelling - even with the possible hazards of leaking etc. Just find writing with them is so much fun, plus - less fatiguing. Writing with a fountain pen means I don't grip the pen as hard and have to use a lighter touch so as not to damage the tip. That leads to more writing time with less hand cramps and tiredness.

I just got some new Iroshizuku inks [0] for Christmas, and can't wait to try them out.

[0] - https://www.gouletpens.com/collections/pilot-ink?limit=24&of...

I got given a mall voucher eight years ago and decided on a whim to get a Lamy Al-Star with it. I’ve been using it ever since as my daily pen. I keep a paper diary in an a5 notebook using it and have filled almost 10 volumes. In recent years I have de-emphasised verbose writing and started sketching small maps etc in it as well.

Nothing I do is particularly groundbreaking or interesting, but I like the exercise!

When I was learning to draw years ago, I read in a book comparing every kind of pen, that steel nib + ink is incomparably the best for drawing. (Not a fountain pen, just a steel nib stuck into a wood or plastic holder) And indeed it is! Vary the stroke width as you go from super-thin to thick, (or change ink colour to whatever you like at any moment), or change between bendy and stiff nibs, there's nothing like it. Also they're cheap and last for many years.

When I was in high school in the 80s I never used a ball-point, but only Artline, with their weird fibrous tip that didn't last long. Then when Uniballs came along I used nothing else for many years, black and blue. Now I find most ball-points are fine for writing, they mostly have a rollerball feel compared to the ones a few decades ago. But for drawing, steel nibs.

My calligraphy is awful, but I've dipped a toe in fountain pen related items to attempt get into a ritual of writing. It's been fun so far, the usage of fountain pens have improved my chicken scratch for sure. I've got the entry level starter kit of a Pilot Metropolitan and a Bullet Journal.

One brand I found nice is the the Chinese make Jin Hao, which makes all-metal bodied pens, at quite low prices.

> Packed around a table with notepads and test pens, the group, ethnically diverse but mostly men, lacked the slick appearance you expect of customers at a luxury boutique.

Why do we have to know the demographics? How is it pertinent info, and why is it bad that it was mostly men?

> How is it pertinent info

It’s an observation. You colored it with a value judgement. I’ve had many a “huh” moment because of such randomly-scattered details.

The demographics are the least of it. The whole article reeks of a kind of superficiality and condescension: "...who had the handsomeness of a 1950s young dad, thick hair like mink, broad shoulders, a warm handshake."

I do wish that when newspapers describe a trend, they would stop trying to write literature and simply provide the information. If I want more detail with off-topic asides, I'll subscribe to a magazine or read blog posts.

Honest question. How would one write about a trend/subculture/community/etc without... writing about the sorts of people who comprise it and the community itself? As somebody who's always been into pens but never taken the plunge into fountain pens, I found this to be the most interesting part of the article.

Sure, it could have been a simple list of links about places where one can buy pens or whatever. But I already have Google and a Reddit account for that.

If I'm reading an article in the NYT or some other publication, the bare minimum I'd expect would be for them to for them to bring some things to the table that I can't get from thirty seconds of Googling or looking for the most popular relevant subreddit.

I am totally on board with your point. Giving color to the feel of a community is indeed an important part of reporting. And I think in that context, the inclusion of demographics make sense despite OP's displeasure.

What I object to is the characterization of a single individual based on his looks ("Hair like mink"). Not only does it tell the reader nothing useful, it doesn't give any sense of the community being covered. It's just a superficial aside, which if removed from the article would not lessen the reader's understanding.

By all logical measures, what you say about those superficial descriptions is of course correct.

However illogical it may be, though: I enjoy reading them! Though in this case, perhaps the article would have been better served by a picture of this person (who's apparently a big deal in the pen world)

Certainly there is some threshold after which I'd consider those physical descriptions distracting. I'm not sure what that threshold is.

    why is it bad that it was mostly men?

Where did the article say/imply that?

I don't think it's a bad thing, and I don't feel the article said/implied that it was either.

As a keyboard jockey, you’re liable to get RSI, as I did — as such, I’ve been using a fountain pen for nearly 20 years. You use much less pressure when writing, and it’s great using a pen that you don’t have to throw away.

My two Lamy 2000’s have been going strong for many years. But even a cheap Lamy Safari can last just as long.

If you’ve never tried a fountain pen, strongly suggest you do.

Pelikan Souveran and Diamine inks, highly recommended. I don't write as much as I used to, but it's always a pleasure. I also have a Lamy Safari and a Shaeffer Prelude with some different nib sizes and filled with contrasting inks, for variety.

My terrible handwriting is my largest regret. I don't know why it turned out terrible. Maybe I did not pay enough attention how to hold the pen properly in school. I have a feeling I am too tense. Really hard to break that habit.

I really like fountain pens, but I've ruined too much stuff with ink spills. Maybe I'm just clumsy.

Also I burn through legal pads as scrap paper and I imagine I would get bad bleeding on that paper.

If you like fountain pens enough to give them another shot, a couple suggestions:

> but I've ruined too much stuff with ink spills.

Try a pen with replaceable cartridges instead of an ink well. Pilot makes pens like this, and I'm sure other companies do as well.

> Also I burn through legal pads as scrap paper and I imagine I would get bad bleeding on that paper.

Yep, legal pad paper is pretty much the worst thing ever for fountain pens. I won't recommend specific brands because everybody has different tastes on paper, but spend some time on /r/fountainpens and you'll get several dozen options for paper that works great with fountain pen ink.

I'll give it a thought. I'm not tied to legal paper but I do a lot of quick math and scratch work so I would like to have a disposable paper option.

For the veterans. Can anyone make any ink recommendations for inks that don't bleed to the point of completely obscuring the text when the paper is later exposed to a little water?

Noodler’s Ink Bulletproof Black is the ink you’re looking for. It’s the only waterproof fountain pen ink I’m aware of.

Platinum Carbon ink is supposed to be waterproof as well.

Good to know, thank you!

Noodler's X-Feather is really waterproof and prevents feathering so much.

Use an iron gall ink, such as this one : http://www.registrarsink.co.uk/

From what I’ve read, iron gall inks are only suitable for use with gold nibs. They will rapidly corrode steel nibs.

Yes, I was also wondering if there are any other nibs besides gold that can survive this ink. Not sure if I'm ready to shell out that much for a fountain pen.

Two of my favorite inks are waterproof: Noodler’s Baystate Blue is gorgeous and removable only with bleach or very hard scrubbing (filling a pen with it is something of a terrifying ritual); and Noodler’s Warden series Bad Black Moccasin is everything-proof and the smoothest ink I’ve ever used.

Ha! I had not actually considered that an ink that is hard to get out of paper might be hard to get out of your skin as well!

hmm. i noticed this trend about 5 years ago. Glad to see it hasn’t peaked yet, fountain pens are great fun.

My calligraphy hand is trash, though — thankfully that’s mostly irrelevant for the sort of writing i normally do!

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