Pens and writing!
Inspired by this comment and a need to burn off some steam during dead time in my day, I figured i'd spin off and ask what everyone else likes writing with.
I have atrocious handwriting, but have found i'm more likely to take notes if I actually enjoy what i'm writing with, and then by extension I started looking at smaller pens so I wouldn't mind carrying them on me at all times. After diving down the rabbit hole a bit over the years I've got-
Fountain Pens:
Lamy Vista-
The first one I dived into. Everyone recommended the safari, and the vista looked cooler, so I went with that. It eventually got broken, but I thought it was a great starting point. I haven't gotten any more though simply because I don't love that they use a different cartridge than the vast majority of pens, and didn't want to bother with converters.
TWSBI Eco-
My first piston fountain pen and still one of the best. I love the look, I love how it writes, I love that it's cheap so if I do screwup (like say put it through the wash 4 times over the years.....) it's not a bank breaking expense.
Kaweco liliput in fireblue -
This was my treat for not losing/breaking the Eco for a few years, and because i've got a sling I carry with me and wanted something nice to write with that fit with a notebook (there's a wallet I use for that). Much more expensive than a normal liliput but it's gorgeous and I love it.
NOTE: I linked to the nibsmith because I do think it's the only spot you should buy this pen from. They let you choose some extra options for the nib at the bottom, and for no extra charge, they'll do a "tune & smooth" pass which I've noticed helps with this pens one flaw of sometimes struggling to get it started. Not the end of the world if you're buying it for the normal $55 price and need something small, but extra unacceptable at the price point of the fancier versions.
Other Pens:
Bullet Space Pen -
I've got one in black and one in brass. They fit in the same compartment as the liliput for when I don't want to be using a fancier pen, and of course write very well, in basically any condition, and are extremely cheap for the hobby at $36.
Contrail pocket pen-
Silly expensive, but this one clips onto my wallet, which also has a notebook in it, and thus has become the pen I use the most. Writes well (and since it's a ball point you can easily change the cartridge to whatever you want), looks nice, and is quick to get open so I can take spur of the moment notes. I can use the Liliput/Bullet as well with my setup, but the liliput's screw cap is a little slow/unwieldy for those scenarios, and the bullet clip kept falling off in my pocket.
Stuff I've had my eye on:
Honestly i've found a lot of fountain/fancy pens are quite over the top/large, when I really prefer a more sleek/small look. Still one of these days i'll probably get a Vanishing point fountain pen, because I do think that's really cool, but I haven't seen too much else that's really caught my eye.
That's it for my modest collection. I'm curious to see what others have.
https://imgur.com/a/TflmbNS
Not nearly as bespoke or beautiful as many of the examples I'm sure will grace this post along with your examples OP, but this multicolor Bic has helped me outline my first, and now my second novel.
It's like being back in grade school for me, but without any of the horrible bits that shaped me into the ascerbic ass I've become. When I was writing or drawing with one of these, I was somewhere else. Somewhere far away from bullies, rules, parents, teachers. I was free to create anything. Now that I've gotten to a point in my life where I feel free to create again, and these have been the perfect tool.
A good post I never thought I'd have reason to contribute to, by the way. Thanks for this.
I have a lot of Lamy pens. They're decent daily writers when you don't want them to go walkabout or don't mind them breaking.
Buy I've got a few of Pelikan M800's in Blue, Black and Green because they're amazing.
I've also got a Diplomat fountain pen that I've had for about a decade that writes like a diety itself forged it in a great anvil of gloriousness. What model do I have? Who knows, I bought it whilst drunk on Amazon years ago.
I've got a Hong Dian & a Kaweco as well floating around in my "to clean" pile.
I recently got into fountain pens and have a Lamy AllStar(EF) and a TWSBI eco(M) as well. I am really enjoying not having my writing in boring black or blue. The sheer choice of colours and effects that some inks produce is ridiculous. I have a purple kyo-no-oto ink that looks like i dip my pen into a bottle of malbec wine to write, Its wonderful. Ive actually made it a habit to journal on a daily basis since picking these pens up and its been great fun. Eventually, ill grab a Lamy Studio when i feel like the pens : inks ratio is too low. Or the liliput as the OP mentioned, it was fun to try out.
I also have a really cool personalized Cross gel rollerball pen and a fun Tradio TRJ50 which produces some interesting lines in sketches.
I also have horrible handwriting, but enjoy quality pens. I have a Pilot Metropolitan, which is a great starter fountain pen, which I used extensively for taking notes when I was in college. (Coupled with Mead reinforced paper, which is thick and smooth enough to work well with a fountain pen, and doesn't tear in a binder.)
I exclusively use Japanese pens in general. For non-fountain pens, I like:
Uniball also makes a mechanical pencil I really like: the Kuru Toga, which subtly rotates the graphite as you write, so it keeps its form.
I went all in on TWSBI Ecos. I have a bunch of basic Noodlers ink colors in each and used them in college to take notes. Fortunately I don't use them much so I don't have a pressing need to find a new ink brand.
I like the Eco, it's "good enough" for me.
Ahhh yes...
I only ever tried "54th Massachusetts". I got rid of it because it felt like bad mojo after the drama. I really liked that ink though and would like to find something similar to keep in my rotation.
I basically buy exclusively Pilot Iroshizuku for no reason other than Pilot seems to be very consistent.
I used a Lamy fountain pen for several years in grad school. I enjoyed it but the novelty kind of wore off. What I really enjoy writing with is a simple medium weight felt tip on some decent paper. Clean dark lines with a bit of control over line thickness.
Why's that? They're really not much of a hassle. Cheap to buy, easy to learn to use and opens up a whole world of ink choices. Even starting simple with a Diamine Jet Black. A bottle will last a lot of writing, and I find having that is way less cognitive effort than keeping track of how many cartridges you need on hand.
Oh I use bottled ink, I just wanted to get a pen that had an actual piston (hence the eco) rather than convert one that doesn’t
I’m pretty bad about doing things casually. So, when I decided to improve my handwriting a few years ago I went pretty far down the rabbit hole.
I got a set of Spencerian cursive copybooks. These books are from the 1800’s and my partner already had a dip pen and ink from college, so I got an array of pointed pen nibs and used those instead of whatever swag pens I had around the house. I started working through the books for 15-30 minutes each night. My handwriting did improve a little, but I am not a natural so even when I’m going slow it’s not incredibly nice.
In the mean time, I tried a lot of fountain pens and hated them all. I even went to the Mountblac shop in Vegas and they let me try some sample pens. But I had grown used to these springy soft nibs which separate when you press and so beautiful letter shading. Modern fountain pens are made of different metals, they just don’t get springy like that. I took apart some cheap Noodlers and fixed in dip nibs, but they leak. Eventually I got a very low end antique fountain pen, which I adore but is incredibly picky about ink. It doesn’t leak.
In the end, dip pens are my favorite but not really something I can bring to work to jot down notes in a meeting. Can you imagine the mess? I have some beautiful inks and find it really satisfying to just sit down and work on trying to make my m’s and n’s not run together.
Pentel EnerGel XM BL77.
Why? I went to JetPens, looked up The Best Gel Pens, clicked on the section for "Left Handers", and picked their choice.
(Granted, I don't have the same pains with pens that most lefties do - my writing mechanism seems to avoid that, for whatever reason. I've never particularly cared about the handedness of pens.)
Don't regret it. For me, it's a Pilot G2-07 with MUCH better ink. It comes out faster, more consistently, dries quicker on the page, but never inside the actual ink catridge. As a pen noob, this might just be me having bad luck with the Pilot's, but nonetheless, very happy with my choice.
Southpaw's represent! I use the same pen, and discovered it the same way you did. I ended up finding them on sale a few months ago when I ran out/misplaced them, and picked up enough to probably last me 5 years.
my current favorite is the Arteza Rollerball.
I don't want to splurge on truly fancy pens (fountain or otherwise) because I don't really write enough to make it worthwhile, and I'd be worried about losing or breaking a fancy pen.
these are a nice middle ground - the best rollerball pens I've tried, and at $20 for a 20-pack it allows me to scatter them around the house so that I have a pen everywhere I might want to write something down. also having a one standardized type of pen everywhere appeals to the engineer in me.
I don't wanna send you down a terrifying fountain pen rabbit hole buuuut my favourite fountain pen cost AU$10 ;)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001158477265.html
My current daily is a Kaweco Sport in iguana blue.
The small form factor means I can pocket it easily and take it anywhere.
And I love the aluminum body weight and feel.