Pen snobbery

[Crossbow]

I'm sure I'm going to offend the pen gods, but while I love fountain pens, I've found that keeping them writing - and cleaning the nibs - is enough of a pain that I seriously considered going back to ball points or gels, neither of which I like for long hand writing.

Then I found Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens.

I like the ink, and the smoothness of the writing, and I never have to clean a nib again.

Just got a set of Varsity pens. Very sweet. Makes for a good replacement for my Itoya Blade disposable (no longer made, and almost out of ink).

I've never had a problem cleaning the nib/feed on my pens. I use an ear bulb syringe to flush the ink, and it's great. One or two flushes, and it's clean.

Goulet Pens does a great series of videos on care and maintenance. Worth a look.




(BTW, Stormraven, the Varsity pens can be refilled if you want...)

[Stormraven]

I used an ear bulb too, but it never seemed to be very good. Maybe it was the pens I was using. Sheaffer.

But I love the Pilot Varsities, so unless I find a much better option, I think I'll stick with those.

I did not know that they could - and can't see how, but it's cool

[Crossbow]

I used an ear bulb too, but it never seemed to be very good. Maybe it was the pens I was using. Sheaffer.

Could be that the fit on the Sheaffer wasn't good. It doesn't necessaritly work with all brands without some fiddling.

But I love the Pilot Varsities, so unless I find a much better option, I think I'll stick with those.

I did not know that they could - and can't see how, but it's cool

I'm enjoying them more and more. My only complaint is that the caps come off too easy. As for refilling them, here's an article on how to do it: http://peninkcillin.blogspot.com/201...t-varsity.html

I've also found some Chinese non-disposables on eBay that are actually cheaper than the Varsity pens, and are getting very high reviews on the fountain pen blogs. Those might be worth looking at.