#FPQuestion of the day:
What was your first fountain pen purchase? If you could go back, would you still choose the same pen(s) and/or ink(s)? If not, why, and what would you choose instead? #FountainPens
@penfount Goodness. Now you’re asking. I think the first one I bought myself might have been a Lamy of some description. I would have been completely skint at the time, so it had to have been something I could purchase from the stationery dept of John Lewis as opposed to their pen counter (long gone in Edinburgh sadly). Whatever it was I no longer have it :(
@penfount my first pen purchase was a Rotring 400 in silver. It was a beautiful pen with an excellent broad nib. I miss that pen. If it was still in production, I would buy a new one.
@penfount I think the Parker Jotter was a good first pen for me, as it was easy to get ink for it since Parker was so ubiquitous in newsagents & stationers. Plus, it being able to write reversed gave it some nice utility. My first bottled ink I wouldn't choose again. I got Waterman Intense Black, but there's nothing intense about it. I wanted a black black, and it ain't it, chief. My next inks were Diamine Blaze Orange & Shimmering Seas, and I've never had to use a boring ink since.
@penfount The first fountain pen I ever bought for myself was a translucent purple Sheaffer No-Nonsense with an F nib, from when Sheaffer was brought in by a major Philippine book store chain. I bought it with my first salary from my first job. I still have it. The only thing that's changed about it is that I bought it a new piston converter many years later. It's still got one of the smoothest nibs in my collection. I now have 3 No-Nonsenses (added a translucent grey and a red years later.)
I don’t think I would change my mind, as the reason I even got into fountain pens was because of this pen, which I found in a REWE supermarket. My subsequent purchases were Pilot MR, Pilot Kakuno, and TWSBI Eco, all since given away too.
For inks, my first picks were Lamy Azurite, Pelikan Edelstein Garnet, Herbin Poussière de lune. I still use all these inks and still like them.
@penfount my first purchase was a TWSBI Eco and an assortment of various inks (mostly diamine). I honestly wouldn't change a thing. I've had to retire the eco because it's cracking where the clip meets the cap (totally my fault, it's fine), but as I fill out my collection of "beginner friendly" pens, none of the others really compare well for me.
The TWSBI swipe and go come close, but not quite enough. I'll be getting my first safari this month so we'll see how that compares.
@paradoxmo I'll have to add that to my list. I'm currently using a TWSBI vac700 as my shimmer pen. My pen purchase this month will be financed through returning a pen (Montegrappa Deep Sea) and mostly be trying to get more of a feel of other pens include a safari and al-star. I also want to get an e95s to get a feel for it as I'm looking at getting that for my sister for her college graduation.
@timelordiroh re: Pilot you could also get a vintage Elite pocket, it’s the same design as the E95S and there are a lot of them around for around 50-60
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