Decisions, decisions....

[fountainpenkid]

Hi all! I hope everybody had a great 4th of July (if you live here in the US)!

I am stuck. I have a mere 5 pens (2 on the way though), and I am stuck! From doing quite a bit of pen swaping, trading, I have found these things:
1. I like Vacumatics, but only DJs. The later ones just seem cheap to me.
2. I love the Vintage Aurora 88. Great nib possibilities, great filler, beautiful, at a great price.
3. Vacumatic filling systems are not meant to be used as much as I used them (every day...). They should stay at home.
4. The Parker Dufold Jr. is too small, but the design is still nice, and they can be had for a great price
5. The famous P"51" does not mix with me...in terms of design. The barrel has too much curve in the middle, making it look too curvacious for it's sleek profile. The Aurora 88 on the other hand is a MOMA worthy design (IMHO). Nobody else has a problem with this, but something about it gets on my nerves. I also don't like the slip cap as much as the Aurora 88's butter smooth one. (I am not trying to bash the 51. It is an iconic user of a pen! I personally find much more of a connection with the A88 though.)
6. The m400 is an incredible pen that will never leave my collection again!

So. I am stuck with 3 pens that I don't think I want. The Debuante Vac (SJ), the P51 14k Cap Vacumatic, and the Duofold Jr. The only question is, what pen(s) to get next? I'll say this outright. I am not getting a steel nibbed pen. (My TWSBI mini fund is complete). I will PROBABLY avoid a c/c pen too, but I might warm up to them. I am currently considering a Lamy 2k, another A88 (?--in better condition--mine is a beater), a vintage Pelikan 400 (nn), a Waterman Carene... you get the idea. Any advice on how to make a decision? Any bad experienes, or pens that I should consider?


Thanks!


Will

[writingrav]

You can hardly go wrong with the Pelikan or the Aurora, but for the money the Lamy 2k is a very sweet pen. I love mine.

[peterpen53]

Hi all! I hope everybody had a great 4th of July (if you live here in the US)!

And what if we don't live in the US? I had an absolutely wonderful 4th of July!

So. I am stuck with 3 pens that I don't think I want. The Debuante Vac (SJ), the P51 14k Cap Vacumatic, and the Duofold Jr. The only question is, what pen(s) to get next? I'll say this outright. I am not getting a steel nibbed pen. (My TWSBI mini fund is complete). I will PROBABLY avoid a c/c pen too, but I might warm up to them. I am currently considering a Lamy 2k, another A88 (?--in better condition--mine is a beater), a vintage Pelikan 400 (nn), a Waterman Carene... you get the idea. Any advice on how to make a decision? Any bad experienes, or pens that I should consider?


Thanks!


Will

You do know a Carene is a c/c pen, don't you? Also in my experience their nibs are quite stiff. Judging from the pens you prefer you might not like that. Otherwise a good pen.
I don't have one myself (yet), but +1 on the Lamy 2000. You get quite a lot of pen for your money, it's a piston filler and a design icon and I hear very good things about their nibs. On top, their (double) broads appear to have a straight cut, so they are close to a stub which is always a bonus for me.
If you like vintage Pelikans, you should maybe have a look at second-tier vintage Montblancs, let's say from the late 50s to early 70s. My 121 is from that era, piston filler, reasonable price (certainly not more expensive than a good Pel 400nn), very nice soft nib, in short a killer pen. Can't put it down. And in view of my other pens that's saying something.

This probably does not help you, but that's much of the fun, right?

Cheers,
Peter

[fountainpenkid]

And what if we don't live in the US? I had an absolutely wonderful 4th of July!



You do know a Carene is a c/c pen, don't you? Also in my experience their nibs are quite stiff. Judging from the pens you prefer you might not like that. Otherwise a good pen.
I don't have one myself (yet), but +1 on the Lamy 2000. You get quite a lot of pen for your money, it's a piston filler and a design icon and I hear very good things about their nibs. On top, their (double) broads appear to have a straight cut, so they are close to a stub which is always a bonus for me.
If you like vintage Pelikans, you should maybe have a look at second-tier vintage Montblancs, let's say from the late 50s to early 70s. My 121 is from that era, piston filler, reasonable price (certainly not more expensive than a good Pel 400nn), very nice soft nib, in short a killer pen. Can't put it down. And in view of my other pens that's saying something.

This probably does not help you, but that's much of the fun, right?

Cheers,
Peter

Thanks for the advice! I do know th Carene is a c/c pen, but something about the design intrigues me. I'm a sailor and boat lover, so the speedboat stern is very cool. Yeah, you might be right about the nib. I really think the 2k is at the top of my list right now.

[dannzeman]

The Lamy 2000 is an amazing pen and I always recommend it. If you don't like it you won't have a problem selling it.

My wife has a Carene and while I never cared much for them in pictures, it's actually a really great pen.

With both of those pens, there's not much give to nibs. They're pretty much nails, at least in my experience.

You could always go after something vintage with some flex. Greg Minuskin has killer prices on vintage flex.

[fountainpenkid]

yeah..but they are all no name lever fillers...not my style. I'd go with a 400 if I wanted flex.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Hi all! I hope everybody had a great 4th of July (if you live here in the US)!

I am stuck. I have a mere 5 pens (2 on the way though), and I am stuck! From doing quite a bit of pen swaping, trading, I have found these things:
1. I like Vacumatics, but only DJs. The later ones just seem cheap to me.
2. I love the Vintage Aurora 88. Great nib possibilities, great filler, beautiful, at a great price.
3. Vacumatic filling systems are not meant to be used as much as I used them (every day...). They should stay at home.
4. The Parker Dufold Jr. is too small, but the design is still nice, and they can be had for a great price
5. The famous P"51" does not mix with me...in terms of design. The barrel has too much curve in the middle, making it look too curvacious for it's sleek profile. The Aurora 88 on the other hand is a MOMA worthy design (IMHO). Nobody else has a problem with this, but something about it gets on my nerves. I also don't like the slip cap as much as the Aurora 88's butter smooth one. (I am not trying to bash the 51. It is an iconic user of a pen! I personally find much more of a connection with the A88 though.)
6. The m400 is an incredible pen that will never leave my collection again!

So. I am stuck with 3 pens that I don't think I want. The Debuante Vac (SJ), the P51 14k Cap Vacumatic, and the Duofold Jr. The only question is, what pen(s) to get next? I'll say this outright. I am not getting a steel nibbed pen. (My TWSBI mini fund is complete). I will PROBABLY avoid a c/c pen too, but I might warm up to them. I am currently considering a Lamy 2k, another A88 (?--in better condition--mine is a beater), a vintage Pelikan 400 (nn), a Waterman Carene... you get the idea. Any advice on how to make a decision? Any bad experienes, or pens that I should consider?


Thanks!


Will

I did have a great Fourth---twice! Thanks, how about you?

Why say 'stuck,' though? Couldn't you sell those pens that aren't for you and put that money toward new ones that are?

Pen likes and dislikes being pretty subjective, that's the only advice I can give. I used to not like the Safari; turns out I got a bad one.

[jor412]

I don't have a Lamy 2000 so I can't say much other than that my friends who do have it love it. I have 2 Carenes and they're among my favorite pens. They're smooth, wet writers with a nice balance in the hand and comfortable heft. In the case of both my Laureat and the 2 Carenes, the medium nibs write on the broad side of medium. The nib design itself looks pretty slick and I think the assembly can be taken apart if you encounter problems. I've seen pics of this though I haven't done enough reading on it. Maybe someone with more experience with these pens can confirm this. The Carene needs to be wiped and some ink drops let back into the bottle after filling, otherwise it'll burp ink.

[fountainpenkid]

I don't have a Lamy 2000 so I can't say much other than that my friends who do have it love it. I have 2 Carenes and they're among my favorite pens. They're smooth, wet writers with a nice balance in the hand and comfortable heft. In the case of both my Laureat and the 2 Carenes, the medium nibs write on the broad side of medium. The nib design itself looks pretty slick and I think the assembly can be taken apart if you encounter problems. I've seen pics of this though I haven't done enough reading on it. Maybe someone with more experience with these pens can confirm this. The Carene needs to be wiped and some ink drops let back into the bottle after filling, otherwise it'll burp ink.

REally? So you lose even more ink capacity from the cartridge converter? If you really have to let ink drops back out, I don't think this is the pen for me. Have other people had the same experience?

[jor412]

The converter goes a long way, so it doesn't bother me much, especially since I like changing inks and pens often.

I think others have had a similar experience. Too much ink gets sucked into the section, hence the burping. When my pen burped, I did a search for it and found the solution. Sorry my solution above was incomplete. The rest of it was that after letting 5 or 6 drops back in the bottle, hold the pen inverted and twist the converter back as if filling. The ink that's in the section will return to the converter.

The other solution was to fill the converter, attach it to the section, then prime the nib. So you can still get a full converter of ink.

[peterpen53]

REally? So you lose even more ink capacity from the cartridge converter? If you really have to let ink drops back out, I don't think this is the pen for me. Have other people had the same experience?

Letting a few drops go back is recommended for any pen except vac-fillers of any kind, but including piston fillers.

[manoeuver]

let your next pen just happen. zen pen.

[fountainpenkid]

i think is will
lamy 2k