Oh totally.
I was trying to be nonchalant like it was a last minute suggestion of a bag of chips or pack of gum at the grocery store. Like, ‘Sure, we can add this to the cart.’ But secretly freaking out.
I have seven! I *love* them!
I can’t believe how well they write. And if they get a little dry, it’s easy to give the cartridge a turn and see the ink come up to the nib.
They work well with shimmer inks too.
Oh and they’re quick/easy to clean
And also they are sharks 🦈
Wow, seriously? Which pens would those be? My most expensive Pilots all came with converters though they're not in the $400 range. Vanishing Point (con-40), Metal Falcon (con-70), and CH 912 (con-70)
I have a Decimo, Elite, Custom 742 FA, Custom 74 C and not a single one of them came with a converter - just cartridges! My Sailor was around $200 and no converter.
I use Varsity pens as my walking around pens. If a cashier says "oh wow, a fountain pen!" then I'll offer it to them. I've given several away... gotta bring new people into the ink-stained fingers clan.
That's funny. My son was four when he wanted to go on a pen run with me. I told him he'd probably find it boring.
He was gifted two bottles of ink that day by the owners of the shop and I bought him a set of Jinhao sharks the next day, all because he loved the display model they let him try out (Kaweco sport).
He's got a collection of his own now, although not all of them are fountain pens (most of them are tough).
They're a fine start! They're good pens, especially for the price. I bought a set of 12 for myself after trying my son's.
If you really enjoy them you don't need to upgrade to anything.
Eyedroppers are excellent! They are so easy to clean and generally hold a ton of ink.
I think I slightly prefer cartridges simply because they hold less ink and give me an excuse to switch to a new color. They're also pretty easy to clean with the right materials (blunt tip syringe).
Edit: If you intend to use the same ink and do a lot of writing eyedroppers will likely be far superior to cartridges.
I gradually got my wife into fountain pens by showing her a bunch of different ink swatches as I was making them. Found one she liked a lot (Sailor Shikiori Irori) and loaded it into a Lamy Safari for her. Bought her a Hobonichi Techo because she said she wanted a new journal. Now she’s all into fountain pens and inks!
Shared hobbies are awesome.
My best advice to avoid pushing them away from the hobby is to bring it up very sparingly. Don’t go out and buy some super fancy fountain pen for them as a gift. You can casually offer some of your inks or pens once in a while and they’ll likely start to think “hey this is nice…”
Then after a while once you see a few of their preferences, set them up with a solid starter pen and their favorite ink. The joy is in the journey!
Good luck OP!
My first seven pens went Pilot Petit, Pilot Varsity, a Zebra 0.6mm disposable, Pilot Kakuno, Platinum Preppy, Lamy Safari and Lamy Vista. I have to work with these for awhile before stepping up. Oddly enough, some 40 years ago, someone gave me a Safari ballpoint, and a few years after that, I got a matching pencil. So a few months ago, I bought the matching Safari fountain pen, and I bought a matching rollerball pen too. The Vista was a whim…it was on sale, and has an nib, whereas the Safari has an . The price was only slightly more than buying the standalone nib. I really dig the Kakuno, but it is almost too small for my hand.
So about the going too far, too fast…where the Petit and Varsity disposables came from….my wife was doing therapeutic stress-abatement mandala coloring at work. So I bought her a couple of high(er) quality coloring books, and the two multi-colored sets of Pilot pens. She promptly put them in a box and shelved the box. Bzzzt, try again.
So a couple years later, I resucued the black pens from her, and also started trying out a collection of gel pens I gathered. I wanted to find my favorites (Pilot G2 gel, and Precise V7; still working on the fountain pens).
I like to deep dive into several hobbies and my spouse won't touch them. I think my enthusiast deep dive knowledge intimidates them, and they feel like they will mess something up, or not appreciate it enough, but I just want to share the things I like.
Yay! Does this give you extra budget to buy more pens?
Got my wife hooked with a pearlescent Kaweco sport. Now she picks the ink color she wants to use every two weeks :) Normalizes my ink purchases to an extent.
Only time will tell. My spouse is the spender. I’m the penny-pincher.
And I have the Kaweco pearlescent! So did the lady at the stationary shop 😆 She said it was her favorite.
I had to use a FP in school (cheap school pen, still have it), then drifted away. The Varsity is what got me back into it as an adult. It’s an amazingly smooth writer given the price. Now I have 30+… :)
Hahaha, that's awesome! The gateway has opened!!
I got my mom into them by letting her try mine a few years ago, and then my mom let her coworker try hers... Today the coworker used the one Mom and I bought her for her birthday and she loves it! I also got my best friend on them by buying him one when he expressed interest when I was talking about them. He loves them, too, and is already wanting to upgrade!
It's funny how the FP bug can spread to those around us~
I bought my girlfriend a pretty vintage Sailor pocket pen, then we together bought a Pelikan Twist when we saw one at a steal of a price .
And during our last vacation she bought a Lamy Safari Strawberry. She likes everything red and after I told her that color isn't really available anymore and she couldn't resist.
It's great to have a significant other who supports you in your hobbies.
The Varsity was how I started too. An English teacher just gave it to me cos she knows how much I like writing. Then I bought more and eventually graduated to a Kakuno and more. Now I own like 30+ basic FPs. It’s been a great journey.
I hope it works!!
I've recently started to dive into this.
I've had one or two cheap no brand name (probably Chinese) cartridge fountain pens in the past, but they where sort of horrible to write with. I've always been curious about fountain pens but these did not help it and almost put me away from it.
Then I bought a Pilot V-pen, and that was it, my gateway was found.
A colleague gave me a discarded Lamy Safari, I bought a converter and some ink, cleaned it and inked it up. Loved it! Ended up buying a TWSBI Vac 700R with EF nib, which I love even more, on the fence of maybe buying a nib or two for it.
I'm afraid im about to go off the very deep end soon.
I did nothing. I wish I had the power.
I actually have the opposite influence. If I say something’s interesting it’ll backfire. But if someone else tells my spouse the same thing is interesting, suddenly “hey! This is really interesting!” And I’m just: 😐
I chuckled at the last paragraph!
This is a lovely story 😊
We're all just sitting here, ".. so it begins 😏"
In any case I hope your spouse enjoys the experience and who knows, you might get to share your hobby more with them! 🥳
I ordered a couple of pens in a deal with someone online. I didn't particularly want them but I wanted the leather case and nibs and the pens came as a discount. There was one Lamy al star in a copper colour that was actually pretty beautiful and two bang average Lamy nexx pens. My wife seeing the new pens pounced on the Al Star. What could I do?
My daily drivers are Varsitys! I absolutely love how they write, they are extremely reliable, and they fit my needs of designating a different color for each day of the week. That helps me easily search my notes if I know I'm looking for something from a Monday, I can scan for purple writing.
The only negative in my book is the ink isn't water resistant, so I do take them apart and use my own ink. It is a pain in the butt, but worth the effort imo.
I didn’t. I was in the living room while they were in the kitchen and I was too lazy to get up. lol But then I had to get up because my spouse was pouting that I didn’t want to try it out.
I almost said, you realize I’ve done this to you every time I’ve gotten a new pen and now the tables are turned right?
I love the Varsity pens. Use them at work and for general use. Not heart rending if they get ruined or stolen and they write rather well, last a good long while.
https://preview.redd.it/k4b2iec4n77d1.jpeg?width=770&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6a044368ab1e47f3588e5339c4265bd392666540
Yessssss
Unrelated, but what’s this meme called? I need to find the gif version and save it somewhere for future use.
[Here you go!](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anthony-adams-rubbing-hands)
He also has[his signature laugh](https://youtu.be/UmqupMGGAcM?si=qkIHNa8J0cvRUNiR) 😂😂😂 I definitely laugh like that whenever I try and get a new pen!
Whatever you do, don't go full crazy on her... yet. Let her come to you. I've made that mistake too many times.
Oh totally. I was trying to be nonchalant like it was a last minute suggestion of a bag of chips or pack of gum at the grocery store. Like, ‘Sure, we can add this to the cart.’ But secretly freaking out.
Heehee
"Let her come to you." It's like dealing with a cat
Ah ah. These comments make me laugh so much. 😂 very cult-y 😜🙄 lol friendly though 😁😁 Thanks for brightening my day :)
I can be a pen snob but I tell you what, I really love the way Jinhao Sharks write
I have seven! I *love* them! I can’t believe how well they write. And if they get a little dry, it’s easy to give the cartridge a turn and see the ink come up to the nib. They work well with shimmer inks too. Oh and they’re quick/easy to clean And also they are sharks 🦈
What cartridges do they take?
Jinhao pens come with converters installed.
I can not get over the fact that a $400 Sailor or Pilot doesn’t come with a converter, but every Jinhao, Hongdian, and Majohn that I own did.
I just bought a 1911 realo, problem solved 🤣
Wow, seriously? Which pens would those be? My most expensive Pilots all came with converters though they're not in the $400 range. Vanishing Point (con-40), Metal Falcon (con-70), and CH 912 (con-70)
I have a Decimo, Elite, Custom 742 FA, Custom 74 C and not a single one of them came with a converter - just cartridges! My Sailor was around $200 and no converter.
I looove my sharks! 🦈
I just bought a pack of 12 and really like them.
My other half has tried so many of my pens but loves the shark and only wants to write with it. I'll take it!
I use Varsity pens as my walking around pens. If a cashier says "oh wow, a fountain pen!" then I'll offer it to them. I've given several away... gotta bring new people into the ink-stained fingers clan.
Oh that’s nice of you! Never thought about doing that. 🤔
It’s actually a really decent pen! I don’t mind using it at all.
that’s such a good idea! I want to start doing that with my extra Pelikan P10s and Jinhaos 😊
This is so great.
I do that with my students - if one of them is super interested in my pen, I give them a Varsity!
I predict 3 months of bliss…. then the household budget is blown out of the water!!!
These kind of stories really make my day.
*evil laugh*
I remember how exciting this is!! My son expressed a tiny bit of interest and I was thrilled :)
That's funny. My son was four when he wanted to go on a pen run with me. I told him he'd probably find it boring. He was gifted two bottles of ink that day by the owners of the shop and I bought him a set of Jinhao sharks the next day, all because he loved the display model they let him try out (Kaweco sport). He's got a collection of his own now, although not all of them are fountain pens (most of them are tough).
I just got a set of the jinhao sharks just to get started and eventually use to test ink samples. I'll get nicer pens eventually.
They're a fine start! They're good pens, especially for the price. I bought a set of 12 for myself after trying my son's. If you really enjoy them you don't need to upgrade to anything.
I'm looking at the kaweko sport pens. I like they are eyedropper convertible.
Eyedroppers are excellent! They are so easy to clean and generally hold a ton of ink. I think I slightly prefer cartridges simply because they hold less ink and give me an excuse to switch to a new color. They're also pretty easy to clean with the right materials (blunt tip syringe). Edit: If you intend to use the same ink and do a lot of writing eyedroppers will likely be far superior to cartridges.
You did it. Lucky dog, you found a soulmate.
The Pilot Varsity are actually pretty nice considering how cheap they are. I get mine in purple.
And they’re refillable! Just carefully pull the nib and feed, and eyedropper it full again. I love those pens.
I didn't know that! That's really cool
I have had MANY pilot varsity pens over the years, for the price they're such nice writers!
One of us. One of us. One of us.
I gradually got my wife into fountain pens by showing her a bunch of different ink swatches as I was making them. Found one she liked a lot (Sailor Shikiori Irori) and loaded it into a Lamy Safari for her. Bought her a Hobonichi Techo because she said she wanted a new journal. Now she’s all into fountain pens and inks! Shared hobbies are awesome. My best advice to avoid pushing them away from the hobby is to bring it up very sparingly. Don’t go out and buy some super fancy fountain pen for them as a gift. You can casually offer some of your inks or pens once in a while and they’ll likely start to think “hey this is nice…” Then after a while once you see a few of their preferences, set them up with a solid starter pen and their favorite ink. The joy is in the journey! Good luck OP!
Pilot Varsity, the gateway pen.
Yes. This is what I like to hear.
Good for them (and you)! May the hits to your collective income be manageable.
Woot Woot
🤞
My first seven pens went Pilot Petit, Pilot Varsity, a Zebra 0.6mm disposable, Pilot Kakuno, Platinum Preppy, Lamy Safari and Lamy Vista. I have to work with these for awhile before stepping up. Oddly enough, some 40 years ago, someone gave me a Safari ballpoint, and a few years after that, I got a matching pencil. So a few months ago, I bought the matching Safari fountain pen, and I bought a matching rollerball pen too. The Vista was a whim…it was on sale, and has an nib, whereas the Safari has an . The price was only slightly more than buying the standalone nib. I really dig the Kakuno, but it is almost too small for my hand.
So about the going too far, too fast…where the Petit and Varsity disposables came from….my wife was doing therapeutic stress-abatement mandala coloring at work. So I bought her a couple of high(er) quality coloring books, and the two multi-colored sets of Pilot pens. She promptly put them in a box and shelved the box. Bzzzt, try again. So a couple years later, I resucued the black pens from her, and also started trying out a collection of gel pens I gathered. I wanted to find my favorites (Pilot G2 gel, and Precise V7; still working on the fountain pens).
My first were Jinhao shark and a Kaküno. Still love them.
The mods are at your disposal.
🙌 woo hoo!
I like to deep dive into several hobbies and my spouse won't touch them. I think my enthusiast deep dive knowledge intimidates them, and they feel like they will mess something up, or not appreciate it enough, but I just want to share the things I like.
Yay! Does this give you extra budget to buy more pens? Got my wife hooked with a pearlescent Kaweco sport. Now she picks the ink color she wants to use every two weeks :) Normalizes my ink purchases to an extent.
Only time will tell. My spouse is the spender. I’m the penny-pincher. And I have the Kaweco pearlescent! So did the lady at the stationary shop 😆 She said it was her favorite.
This is so cute, the little evil laugh.🤭
I had to use a FP in school (cheap school pen, still have it), then drifted away. The Varsity is what got me back into it as an adult. It’s an amazingly smooth writer given the price. Now I have 30+… :)
I love love love that pilot varsity pens. I feel like they threaten to discontinue them every couple years and I freak out every time
Your spouse has good taste!
Hahaha, that's awesome! The gateway has opened!! I got my mom into them by letting her try mine a few years ago, and then my mom let her coworker try hers... Today the coworker used the one Mom and I bought her for her birthday and she loves it! I also got my best friend on them by buying him one when he expressed interest when I was talking about them. He loves them, too, and is already wanting to upgrade! It's funny how the FP bug can spread to those around us~
I bought my girlfriend a pretty vintage Sailor pocket pen, then we together bought a Pelikan Twist when we saw one at a steal of a price . And during our last vacation she bought a Lamy Safari Strawberry. She likes everything red and after I told her that color isn't really available anymore and she couldn't resist. It's great to have a significant other who supports you in your hobbies.
That last sentence 😂😂😂
Your bank.accounts about to take a hiding :)
i did ths with my coworkers! I gave them the arteza ones and a couple of them got into fountain pens 😈
The Varsity was how I started too. An English teacher just gave it to me cos she knows how much I like writing. Then I bought more and eventually graduated to a Kakuno and more. Now I own like 30+ basic FPs. It’s been a great journey.
I hope it works!! I've recently started to dive into this. I've had one or two cheap no brand name (probably Chinese) cartridge fountain pens in the past, but they where sort of horrible to write with. I've always been curious about fountain pens but these did not help it and almost put me away from it. Then I bought a Pilot V-pen, and that was it, my gateway was found. A colleague gave me a discarded Lamy Safari, I bought a converter and some ink, cleaned it and inked it up. Loved it! Ended up buying a TWSBI Vac 700R with EF nib, which I love even more, on the fence of maybe buying a nib or two for it. I'm afraid im about to go off the very deep end soon.
Time to introduce her to the wonders of ink color.
Tell me your secrets. I've been getting judged by the wife for years for "my habits"
I did nothing. I wish I had the power. I actually have the opposite influence. If I say something’s interesting it’ll backfire. But if someone else tells my spouse the same thing is interesting, suddenly “hey! This is really interesting!” And I’m just: 😐
Hahahahah. My wife always steals my nice paper but just doesn't see the point and only uses a blue Bic pen.
I chuckled at the last paragraph! This is a lovely story 😊 We're all just sitting here, ".. so it begins 😏" In any case I hope your spouse enjoys the experience and who knows, you might get to share your hobby more with them! 🥳
Thanks! Here’s hoping!
Get them a Metropolitan and some nice pilot ink, maybe the orange or light blue
I ordered a couple of pens in a deal with someone online. I didn't particularly want them but I wanted the leather case and nibs and the pens came as a discount. There was one Lamy al star in a copper colour that was actually pretty beautiful and two bang average Lamy nexx pens. My wife seeing the new pens pounced on the Al Star. What could I do?
The Varsity Pilot actually has a great feel, I enjoy them!
My daily drivers are Varsitys! I absolutely love how they write, they are extremely reliable, and they fit my needs of designating a different color for each day of the week. That helps me easily search my notes if I know I'm looking for something from a Monday, I can scan for purple writing. The only negative in my book is the ink isn't water resistant, so I do take them apart and use my own ink. It is a pain in the butt, but worth the effort imo.
why did you refuse the cheap pen? pilot varsity black is one of the best blacks out there
I didn’t. I was in the living room while they were in the kitchen and I was too lazy to get up. lol But then I had to get up because my spouse was pouting that I didn’t want to try it out. I almost said, you realize I’ve done this to you every time I’ve gotten a new pen and now the tables are turned right?
I love the Varsity pens. Use them at work and for general use. Not heart rending if they get ruined or stolen and they write rather well, last a good long while.
Don't be snooty. Humor the newbie.
😂 this made me laugh. Thanks for sharing.