Paper / Pen / Ink combo for a lefty?

[bec11mort]

Hi FPGeeks! I'm looking to get a gift set for a friend of a journal, pen, and ink (and spend less than $100). She is a lefty with messy handwriting so I've considered the Lamy left handed nib, but I think the paper and ink are just as if not more important (I think the dry time on my favorite tomoe river paper would be too long for a lefty and ink would be easily smeared). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[manoeuver]

As a lefty I find the left handed nibs irrelevant.

Go with a finer nib and you'll be rocking.

Fast-drying inks I've used and can recommend: the Noodlers Bernanke inks. These are prone to feathering so get a nice coated paper (i.e. Rhodia) to pair with these. Waterman Habana Brown (AKA Absolute brown) dries quickly for me also.

Check out the Write & Co notepads. (http://www.writepads.com/)They have lefty-friendly journals (full disclosure: I had beers with the founder on thursday) and their paper is a tad more absorbent than the coated Europen and Japanese papers.

I'd recommend a Japanese Fine pen. There are some cool finds on Jetpens including the Pilot Prera if you want a pocket-sized pen. Oddly enough there's not a ton in the Pilot line in the $50-80 range.

hope that helps, good luck!

[Silverbreeze]

Lefty nibs help only certain hand positions.
Make sure you get the convertor too :-)
http://www.gouletpens.com/Pilot_Metropolitan_Fountain_Pen_Black_Plain_F_p/pn91111.htm

And
http://www.gouletpens.com/Private_Reserve_Bottled_Ink_s/881.htm?searching=Y&sort=7&cat=881&show=60&page=1&f-Fast-Drying=1303

[Mags]

As a left handed writer I use MontBlanc inks and Caran D'Ache organic brown on Tomoe River and it seems to work if I avoid double broad nibs. The éclat de saphir is also not too bad from J Herbin. I also like 54th Massachusetts from Noodlers but find it a hard starting ink. As for a pen the Franklin Christoph Piper is not too expensive, the Pilot Prera is nice but so is Kaweco pens and there is always the TWSBI stuff.

[Jon Szanto]

Also a left-hander, here, but with just a word about the nib: yes, a fine nib will put less ink down, and therefore (should) dry faster. Just make sure it is a very smooth nib, though! Unlike writing from the right, a left-hander tends to push the pen across the page, both in upward strokes and in the left-right stroke. A fine point nib that catches on the paper or digs in because of roughness can turn one of us off of fountain pens *real* quick.