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Comment by rtpg | Hacker News Reader

For lefties out there: Lamy has a lefty-based nib. If you're curious picking up a Safari might be life changing. It's so much smoother than a ballpoint. I accept smudging as a way of life though

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Mentioning it just in case. There's blotting paper you can buy to dry the ink after writing. YMMV.

Source: grew up somewhere where children write with fountain pens at school. I don't remember smudging being a huge issue but it has been a while as well.

It's always interesting seeing Lamys being sold as the high end writing experience in one country and the standard pen for kids in another. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Both are equically true I guess :)

This is about smudging as a leftie, because your hand is trailing the pen if you write a LtR language like English. If you blotted every word or character before moving on you’d be there a while.

Also try a fast drying ink, limits your ink choices a lot but they can’t smear.

IIRC works via a reaction with cellulose in the paper or something.

I spent 5 years of high school writing in a fountain pen as a leftie. For me, with good ink and good paper, it smudges LESS than a ballpen: the ballpen ink is thicker and takes a while to dry, so it doesn't quite smudge, but still leaves a slow-forming ink stain on the side of your hand. Fountain pen ink dries quickly and does not. However, different lefties write in different ways: I write from the bottom-ish.

You don't smudge if you learn the right writing position for lefties. Unfortunately most teachers are too ignorant to teach it in school. I've also written the wrong way until my mid 20s and my Hand was hurting badly after some time. Learning the right writing position was annoying for a few weeks but after that I'm writing more than ever and happily

I just mentioned Lamy below as well. It's a great pen.

It's harder when writing in a notebook and not on a desk or table, but try adjusting the angle of the paper so your arm is perpendicular to the line.

i’m a leftie, Rhodia notebooks eliminated my smudging

I like nibs with some level of width variation, whether stub, italic, or flex, and that sooo doesn't go well with left hand writing.

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