Monday, January 27, 2014

Daily doubts

(Warning: pen geekery ahead)

20140127 pencast

I did turn up a Pilot Knight that I'd forgotten about, and realize that a Parker Latitude has gone missing. Hmmm. Also, various Sheaffer calligraphy pens dating from the time when my ambitions outweighed my skills or patience, an all-too-frequent happenstance these days. I realize that I've tended towards pens that use the "standard" (international-end) cartridges, since I have a couple of converters around that fit and will let me use bottled ink. The pens that have their own proprietary systems -- Parker, Pilot, Sheaffer -- tend to get kicked into the back of the drawer once their supplied cartridge goes dry.

So, I know for certain that I'll be getting some blunt-tipped syringes to allow me to refill old cartridges, and/or pick up brand-specific converters to let me press these orphans into use. But that's the only amount of certainty I have right now. At the moment, I'm waffling mightily among the Lamy 2000 and the Namiki Vanishing Point, though the VP may win between these two, based purely on the descriptions of feel. The other one in the running is a Pelikan M200 or 205, because oooooh, piston-fill and oooooh, swappable nibs and so on. You can't beat the ease of refilling a piston-fill pen, with no mucking around with cartridges or converters or syringes or any of that.

6 comments:

teeritz said...

Pelikan. If you're leaning towards getting a 'nice' pen, then that's the way to go, IMHO. Cheap enough to make it affordable, expensive enough to make you take care of it.

Anonymous said...

I always hated those calligraphy pens. They discriminate against us sinister left-handers.

Elizabeth H. said...

The Pelikan M215 somehow strikes me as another that might be up your alley. I've never handled one, but it would counter the slightly disconcerting lightness of the M200.

Just to add to the confusion.

teeritz said...

Ah yes, I forgot about the differences between the 200s and 215s. My 200 is one of my favourites, but it would indeed be nicer if it were a heavier pen.

TonysVision said...

It's hard to beat the Lamy Safari as both a daily user and a pleasant writer. I have about four, both fine and medium nibs, and for ink flow and smoothness they match my Pelicans. Go for the converter, of course, so you can use that delicious Diamine Ancient Copper. Get the lime green one - it will make you happy.

Piotr Trumpiel said...

I'm here with Tony - Lamy Safari is great as a daily pen. Smooth and easy to write with, inexpensive - so you can have a few of them.