Pilot Varsity?

[Brilliant Bill]

Is the Pilot Varsity "disposable" fountain pen simply not worth talking about?

We seem to have endless discussions about expensive, "collectible" pens, but no one ever mentions one of the best performing and reliable pens in the world. You can get a Varsity for two or three dollars. You can handle it as carelessly as you like. If you lose it, petty cash gets you a replacement tout de suite --- last I checked they are available at Staples and other big box stationers. It performs flawlessly. The one pictured here was in a box of old pens for at least three years; when I uncapped it, immediately it began writing. I've never used one long enough to run it out of ink, and I hear they pretty much last forever. Functionally, I don't see a downside. I guess if you're looking for style points in a business meeting, it may not get you there, but that's not my world anymore (and likely most of us aren't there either). You don't have a lot of choice on nib size (the one pictured here is medium). Not much in the way of line variation, and you don't get to choose your own ink -- although they do come in many colors. Bottom line, if you need to put some ink on paper, this is as good a general tool as you'll find.
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[iosepus]

And you can refill it!

P1030522-blog-6-5-WM.jpg

I think we should upgrade it and call it Pilot Prince of Wales:



Cheers,

BT

[Sailor Kenshin]

Love 'em. I have them all over, even refilled a couple.

[Yazeh]

I refill them regularly with my favorite permanent inks. I had one that was 15 years old and wrote like a charm. I lost it and replaced with a batch of others.

[Brilliant Bill]

Truly, the unsung foot soldiers of the fountain pen world.

[Doggy Daddy]

I purchased a new Montblanc 149 by mail. It wrote so poorly I sent it back to Hamburg & considered including a Varsity to show them how a fountain pen is supposed to work. Brand new or after living in a drawer for years, they always write smoothly. First time, every time. Sometimes I wonder why I ever bought anything else.

[Brilliant Bill]

Did you know Peter Frank?

[manoeuver]

if nothing else, an example of how stripped down and simple a FP can be and still boast above-average performance. I'm sure most folks here have some lying around, I do.

[calamus]

I always have one or two lying around within quick-grab distance for jotting down shopping lists and the like. Been using them for years with never a hard start or skip. The turquoise Varsity ink is very pretty, and Pilot doesn't sell it in bottles or cartridges, only in Varsities. I generally use them until they run out of ink. I have refilled them on occasion, but for me, anyway, the refills never worked as well as the originals, so I've stopped refilling them.

For cheap pens I also like Dollar demonstrators, which now cost $2, and which are pretty awesome, except one time I had one burp when it was almost empty. They hold a lot of ink, they're made refillable, and it's fun to watch the ink slosh around inside of it.