#FPQuestion of the day:
What was the worst experience you ever had with pens, ink, writing, or stationery? How would you advise people to avoid having a similar experience? #FountainPen
@penfount I've mentioned it a couple of times on here, but don't place a terribly imbalanced cardboard box full of glass ink bottles precariously on a shelf so that it almost instantly falls off & smashes on the ground, horribly staining the carpet (& probably the floorboards, too). Then when you use a carpet cleaner on it, don't accidentally spill the inky waste water on the wool hallway carpet because it will NEVER EVER COME OUT!!!
@penfount Knocked over an bottle of Shin-kai onto wooden floor at a flat that I was renting at the time. Was too eager to start writing that I didn’t cap. Eventually I had to pay to replace the floorboards.
This was when I was first getting into FPs and didn’t know any better. Don’t be like me—always cap your ink bottle immediately after filling!
@penfount I have a long (>30 year) love/hate relationship with Parker Vectors. When they work, I really like how they write, feel, etc. They are also ubiquitous and affordable.
But they have so many problems.
They dry up super fast so there is a lot of wasted ink, or it is empty when you need it. They can be fragile, I've broken a few over the years, usually the caps but sometimes the body. I've had a couple leak mishaps that ruined some clothes but thankfully that was much more rare.
@paradoxmo Platinum Plaisir probably, about $20 or so USD. Excellent seal, light metal body, decent nib (and can swap nib+sections with Preppy). Only downside (for me) is that it doesn't have an italic or stub option. The Prefounte ($11) is in between Preppy ($6) and Plaisir and may be OK but I haven't tried it.
Preppys are good and inexpensive, too, but they can feel a little frail in the hand at times compared to the Plaisir.
All three have slip-and-seal so no worries about drying out.
@paradoxmo I really like Kakunos but they dry out fast. Pilot Lightive (Also $20) is OK but I've had some drying issues with it as well but it may be something I did.
Honorable mentions to pretty much any Hongdian or Jinhao, plenty of good options but uneven QC. Some dry out, others don't, same models even.
@jimp the seal on the Lightive has been great for me. I’m using Sailor Seiboku in it currently, has never failed to start up. Before I had a Birmingham dye ink in there for 2 years using once every few weeks, and never had a problem.
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