What are your favorite cheap fountain pens?

[Tony Rex]

Platinum Rivière PTR-200
3x Platinum black carts
$2 USD each at Daiso

[erpe]

the cheapest pen I consider "good" is a Hero 7022, the favorite cheap pen is a bit more Kaigelu 316 which is a bit more expensive than the KaWeCo sport which is my favorite (for compactness) for on the road. None of my pens is more than $120 so for some, my entire collection could be considered cheapish.

[johnus]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1404395352.112976.jpg

Over all favorite has to be the Jinhao 599. Know it may be controversial, but for $2.50, shipped halfway around the world in a week or less, it's a nice writing pen.

[essp9]

Im also going to say Safari.
I have a couple of Lamy Pens, its nice to be using essentially the same nib on my run-around and home pens.

Stef

[I like mango pudding]

Platinum Rivière PTR-200
3x Platinum black carts
$2 USD each at Daiso

I have the Riviere white model, and it's a good writer, but only after stubbing it to a 1.5mm We don't have the other models shown in your pic. I'd love to get those too just to see how they perform.

[bec11mort]

Not really a cheap pen, but my Lamy Safari is my go-to when I think there's a chance I might lose or damage a pen. Other than that my Kaweco Sport is probably my favorite sub-$30 pen.

[inkyletters]

Platinum Rivière PTR-200
3x Platinum black carts
$2 USD each at Daiso

Where is this daiso you speak of? Something tells me it isn't conus....

[I like mango pudding]

Daiso is a Japanese format dollar store. In Japan these compete with the 100yen stores, which is essentiall 1 dollar (or thereabouts). Most items at Daiso, however; are $2.00 but their product line is much better and many items come from Japan, not China. Daiso also carries items more than $2.00, some up to $20 or more, but the vast majority of their items are $2.00. Daiso is in North America and is usually the size of a mid sized department store. Here in Vancouver, we have a two-floor Daiso of approximately 50,000 square feet.

[inkyletters]

Daiso is a Japanese format dollar store. In Japan these compete with the 100yen stores, which is essentiall 1 dollar (or thereabouts). Most items at Daiso, however; are $2.00 but their product line is much better and many items come from Japan, not China. Daiso also carries items more than $2.00, some up to $20 or more, but the vast majority of their items are $2.00. Daiso is in North America and is usually the size of a mid sized department store. Here in Vancouver, we have a two-floor Daiso of approximately 50,000 square feet.

I am so absolutely jealous. I need to go to Canada so I can buy the store out of FPs. Or Japan. I'm not picky about what fp loving country I visit, just the knowledge I will need another suitcase to tote back my ink, paper, and pens I will accquire.

[Sailor Kenshin]

You can find Daiso items on fleabay and Amazon. But it's not the same as seeing and HOLDING them!

[RayCornett]

Cheap to me for a good FP is $50 or less.
My favorite of the cheapest of the cheaps are the big 3 in the Jinhao world. The x750, x450, and the 159 MB 149 clone. I also love my Baoer 701. I am more likely to take these out of the house than the others.

[AtomicLeo]

For me under $10 is cheap, comparable to a nice rollerball like the Retro 51 or Parker Jotter.

Hero 616 Jumbo or Doctor size. It's identical to the Parker51 size and if you get one with a decent or good nib, writes incredibly well. I threw one in a purchase of a Pilot Metal Falcon. Haven't used the Falcon in years, but the Hero 616 has been a daily writer at work ever since.

Preppy Platinum. Surprisingly soft nib and a great eye dropper that doesn't burp when the ink level drops.

Any Jinhao pen. I own a couple and they are great writers, although the caps do tend to spin in place, but for less than $10 they are hard to beat.

[AtomicLeo]

Over all favorite has to be the Jinhao 599. Know it may be controversial, but for $2.50, shipped halfway around the world in a week or less, it's a nice writing pen.

Is that a hooded nib?

[ardgedee]

Daiso is a Japanese format dollar store. In Japan these compete with the 100yen stores, which is essentiall 1 dollar (or thereabouts). Most items at Daiso, however; are $2.00 but their product line is much better and many items come from Japan, not China. Daiso also carries items more than $2.00, some up to $20 or more, but the vast majority of their items are $2.00. Daiso is in North America and is usually the size of a mid sized department store. Here in Vancouver, we have a two-floor Daiso of approximately 50,000 square feet.

There are a few Daiso shops in the US, all on the west coast. There also is (or was, when I last visited 4 years ago) a Daiso look-alike in Vancouver's Chinatown that was about as good.

There's also this Daiso online shop that sells within the US, although quantities for nearly everything are in bulk. Minimum quantities of 10 for notebooks or pens, for example. The Daiso notebook I got in Seoul a couple years ago proved to be fountain pen-friendly AND featured a pleasant sentiment expressed in not-quite-accurate English on the cover. Pretty nice for approx. US$1.30. (Daisos are all over Seoul; we ended up expatriating a ridiculous quantity of clothes washing bags because Daiso's were better quality and cheaper than we could do in the States).

[johnus]

To AtomicLeo: Is that a hooded nib?
Yes it is. On eBay some of the 599 are sold as 2014. Confusing because some show the hooded nib and some don't. I find the looks of the Hooded 599 to be preferable to the unhooded.

[BikerBabe]

Pelikan Pelikano. I got a good bunch of them at a flea market for like 2 USD a pen, and I love their flex nibs and overall feel.

[chiaroscuro]

— Wingsung 3203 with calligraphy (Zoom) nib, but the medium nib is nice too
— Pilot Metropolitan

[jacksterp]

Pilot 78G - simply can't beat this pen for the price.

[Austin_Malone]

Gosh! I love bargain pens. I've been using them almost exclusively for less than a year now.
Pilot Metropolitan is great
Jinhao 159, the other's caps loosen over time
Hero 616 Jumbo or Doctor the regular is crap.
Lamy Safari/Al-Star although many will not consider this cheap (Remember Visconti Homo Sapiens)
Noodler's Ahab, don't care what people say, it is a flex pen, the tines flex
Wearever Pacemaker, a very soft nib got it for $7.50, actually flex. Vintage but a goody.

[Sailor Kenshin]

These days 'pacemaker' means something different, lol.