Why I Love Cheap Fountain Pens, and Why You Should Give One a Try

Every school child used cheap fountain pens at school 60 years ago. Something like a Shaeffer School Pen.

I suggest that every person should get a cheap fountain pen.

Nice fountain pens aren't for everyone. Nice fountain pens aren't even for most people. I have several cheap fountain pens, a couple of $20 fountain pens, and one very nice fountain pen that I got as part of the inventory when I bought a friend's fountain pen business. I'm not in the fountain pen business anymore. I sold out all my inventory and did not replenish. I found that my favorite fountain pens are the cheap ones. They're the ones that I enjoy using all the time and carry with me most of the time. 

What makes them fun? 

I don't worry about them. I haven't broken any of them. If I did, it wouldn't be a big problem. I can carry them with me all the time because of this. They are easy to slide into my my notebook cover.

They write smoothly. They are even some of my smoothest pens, and they make writing in cursive a joy rather than a pain. I hated writing in cursive as a kid and gave it up in high school. They made us copy in cursive a paragraph about not cheating when I took the SAT. That was so hard because I couldn't remember how to make some of the letters. I discovered in the last couple of years that fountain pens make writing in cursive smooth, easy, and fun. When I try it with a ballpoint pen, it is slow, hard, and painful. I discovered that some people think that the ballpoint pen is what killed cursive, not typewriters and computers. It's a persuasive point.

It makes me happy to carry a pen with a special color of ink. When I write birthday cards or anniversary cards, the ink elevates the notes just a little bit. I hope it feels that people got a letter from Hogwarts.


Cheap fountain pens that I recommend:

  • My favorite is the Pilot Kakuno (pictured above).
  • I also have the Pelican Junior.
  • I don't have the Noodlers Ink Charlie pen or any of the cheap Platinum pens-but they would fit the bill as a cheap fountain pens under $10.

I suggest that you get an ink in your favorite color, possibly with a cool story attached. Noodler's Ink has several that I love. The names and stories behind the inks are really fun.

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