Why fountain pens?
The short answer as to why I use fountain pens is: comfort. It’s a better writing experience. If you’re prone to pain, as I am, it helps to keep discomfort at bay a little longer which in turn helps increase the writing mileage. Plus, the ink flows smoother than with other pens and only a very light touch is required. This cuts down on tension and cramps.
To the surprise of many people I encounter—yes, they still exist. They are still manufactured, and many are even affordable (on the flip side, there are also many that are NOT). I use a disposable Zebra fountain pen at my day job, and that thing writes beautifully.
The first fountain pen I ever used was a Sheaffer calligraphy pen my sister had given me as a gift. In 2006, not long after I had first developed RSI pain, I discovered that that pen was more comfortable to use than anything else I owned. So, despite the impracticality of having all of my college notes and exams written in a sort of quasi-calligraphy style, that was the pen I used for survival. Needless to say, I developed quite a reputation throughout the English department for my unique handwriting. Eventually I moved on to gel pens as my hands tolerated them better.
There it is! The Sheaffer that started it all, complete with one of my essay exams from one of those legendary "little blue books" that at least USED to be used in colleges. I hesitate to ask... do they still exist today? Am I that old? Sheaffer still makes a similar calligraphy pen, but it's not quite the same as what I have.
My interest in fountain pens was rekindled in 2017 when my pain started to grow harder to manage and the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome began to surface for the first time. I was half desperate for relief and half nostalgic for my college days—digging deeper into fountain pens would satisfy both longings. I asked my sister for a fountain pen that year for my birthday and got a grey houndstooth Pilot Metropolitan—the very pen I had been secretly drooling over. (She’s so clever.)
By 2018, I desired to explore more pens and see how they felt and performed. This was largely fueled by the foolish notion I had that if I could find the most comfortable pen in the world, I’d be able to write pain-free, as much as I wanted. It took time to accept that my worst problem was my behavior, not the tools I was using. Talk about being daft. But—the right tools can be helpful and the pen hunt was still fun.
So, I got into fountain pens for practical purposes. I never expected it to explode into such a hobby. I never thought I’d come to recognize pens the way my dad could identify the years and models of cars. Okay, maybe I’m not that intense, but it feels close sometimes.
To answer the three questions people tend to ask the most…
Don’t they leak all over the place? They can. But not usually. I actually like getting ink on my fingers, but it doesn’t happen often [enough]. Extreme temperatures can make them grouchy; I don’t blame them. However, I’ve had worse catastrophes with exploding ballpoints and malfunctioning G2 gel pens.
Why not just use gel pens? I used to use them all the time, but they simply don’t cut it anymore, not for longer writing sessions. Gel pens still require more pressure to write with than a fountain pen.
And don’t you have to clean them? Yes, but I don’t mind maintaining something that I know will last for many years if used with care (unlike digital technology, which is designed to DIE no matter what you do). For me, cleaning fountain pens is a calming ritual—and it’s so much easier than washing a car.
So, are you interested in trying a fountain pen? Bewildered by where to start? There’s only an endless number of pens and inks to choose from, after all.
If you only want to shed a couple dollars for one, Zebra makes a disposable fountain pen (I mentioned it earlier) that I think writes very smoothly and comes in a variety of colors. I like it better than the Pilot Varsity or Platinum Preppy that many others recommend.
If you’re daring to go beyond that, I suggest doing your research and seeing what best suits your personal needs. Many people recommend the LAMY Safari for beginners (I hate it) or the Pilot Metropolitan (which I think is very nice). I personally think the Jinhao 82 or Jinhao 51A (with the open nib—not the hooded nib) are nice options because they are cheaper, very comfortable, write well, accept international cartridges, and come with a converter that you do not need to purchase separately. It's also easy to swap nibs to upgrade your writing experience.
Fountain pens, in short, are a nice and relaxing departure from the demanding speedy world of digital things. They encourage you to slow down, think, and take the time to enjoy life a little. I highly recommend them!
