Fountain Pens

Fountain pens are extremely fun to write with. I’ve collected and used a few over the years. I also like to carry them with my for everyday writing. If you feel writing on paper with a ball point pen is a chore, you should definitely give fountain pens a try.

I currently have 4 of them with me:

They are in order:

• Pilot Metropolitan
  This is a relatively new acquisition after hearing a lot about it on fountain pen forums. It was released in 2012 and I’m still getting used to its feel.
• Hero 332
  I used this one back in school when I didn’t know it’s name. After a bit of searching, I found out it’s a clone of the vintage Parker 51. The ink filing mechanism on this one is interesting: it has a rubber bladder that you squeeze and release to fill it with ink. Parker called it the aerometric filling system
• Lamy Al-Star
  Probably the oldest in the collection. It is an aluminum version of the Lamy Safari. This was a big step up from the Parker clones I was used to.
• Schneider iD
  This one is HUGE! But so comfy to write with! This is also one of the relatively newer fountain pen designs released in 2009(?).

Finally, let’s look at some writing samples (in my horrible, but hopefully improving handwriting) not in any particular order:

This one is on recycled printing paper

This one below on a writing pad (from Staples?)

The writing pad loves to absorb ink so much that the ink bleeds to the back of the page, and often the next page. Writing on it extremely satisfying though. Unfortunately, the printing paper has too much friction and is not as fun (only a pencil or ball point would work for it).

Any other fountain pens I should try out? I saw a few with retractable nibs and I wonder if they’re nice to write with (albeit expensive).