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Comment by klyrs | Hacker News Reader

Fountain pens are like fixed-gear bikes. Some people enjoy a difficult interface that punishes them for making mistakes. Other people hate that.

To me, "enjoy the finer things in life" means "buy the $20/lb coffee when it's on sale for $15" and not "splash $500 on a pen the size of a sausage that will be ruined if you don't write for a week, and tear the paper you're writing on if you do."

NB: the above may be slightly exaggerated for effect; standard sausages are a few cm longer. If you're offended that I've used the pen wrong, know that I've also used Bic pens wrong: they make terrible pry-bars and get ink everywhere. It was just the once in middle school, I swear.

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Get a $3 Pilot Varsity, and use it however you want. It works slightly better if you keep the flat metal part on the top, but I've used one in every orientation.

No special way to use it, disposable, and cheap if you don't like it. Addicting if you do.

Nah, I'm the black sheep in my family with regards to fountain pens. I've entertained their insistence that I'd love The One if I ever found it, and tried everything from the Varsity to the $500 sausage. I found them all lacking.

Fair enough. Mind sharing your fountain pen wishlist?

I've loved Pilots; the G7 when I'm dashy, the V5 when I'm neat, and anybody's gel rollers when I want a pretty ink. Oh, and don't forget fineline markers!

My brother tells me "oh you'll love the Varsity, it's the ballpoint of nib pens!" But, you see, it isn't. Ballpoint pens do an excellent job of being ballpoint pens, and the Varsity does not.

The Pilot Varsity is very good value.

I bought a fancy TWSBI with different inks only to discover that my favorite ink was the Pilot Varsity blue. So now I just use the Varsity.

Where can you get a single pack for $3?

https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Varsity-Disposable-Fountain-Pe...

And they're $3.20, sorry...

EDIT: Amazon also offers them, but at a markup ($5). I've also seen them in Staples' pen isle.

The tradeoff is that it rewards you for doing the right thing- less hand strain, prettier ink, more lightfastness if you pick the right inks.

On the result, it's really about more choices of pretty ink.

Lightfastness isn't an issue with standard black ink, and hand strain is a solved issue on the disposable side (you still need to find the right maker and right shape for your style, just like for anything ergonomic)

The pressure required for a fountain pen is much less than that of a ballpoint pen. Your nib just glides over the paper and ink comes out. That's what makes fountain pens more ergonomic than other pens.

You should really try the pilot g7. It's like using a brush. I'll grant that bic pens take some pressure, but that just isn't true of all ballpoint pens.

The G7 was my favorite prior to discovering the Varsity.

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