[leftnose]

Quote:

 I've kinda gotten the feeling this is the case.....although I'd like to try a 18k gold nib or something someday...thats about the only upgrade that seems like it might make a difference. 
 

Not necessarily.  A good steel nib is better than a bad gold nib.  If you like the Safari and want to try a gold nib, you can get a gold nibbed Studio which has the same basic design as the Safari nib.  Should be under $100. 

 

[SolidSnake3]

I just picked up my first nicer pen a few weeks ago, a Lamy Safari and so far love it. Have the extra fine nib which I'm a huge fan of seeing as how I'm left handed and that is the only one I tried in which the ink dried fast enough for me to not make a mess of it. 
 
Anyhow, I'm going to be picking up a few nicer pens and pencils in the near future and was wondering if you guys had any suggestions on a nice pencil/pen holder? Right now I'm using an old pint glass which looks pretty cool however the bottom is pretty hard and I'm afraid of damaging any of the tips on some of the nicer mechanical pencils I might be getting *Rotring 600*
 

 

[XTTX]

My main pen is a Waterman Phileas Demonstrator with a medium nib. I really need a fine-nibbed pen though. I had a blue carbonesque vanishing point w/ a fine nib, but I ended up selling because I wasn't using it much, and I needed the money for my other hobby, audio

. Current ink is J. Herbin - Vert Olive. I've also got an assortment of other cheaper pens. By the way, does anyone here do any calligraphy?

 

[ccbass]

Any recommendations on a good ball point pen? 
 
I'm a college student, so a nice fountain pen is useless to me, especially since theft is a possibility. 
 
I write fast, and terribly small, basically crappy at best.  I need a fast pen that can keep up.  Something like Bic pens don't work because the super thick ink takes too much work for me to write.  I've been using Uniball Signo pens, however I find the ink to be a little bit too loose, and I'm not getting enough space between letters.  Fine to ultra fine tips are probably best.
 
Help?
 
Nothing ultra fancy that will scream, STEAL ME, please.

 

[scootermafia]

I like fancy pens too.  It's one of those pride of ownership things like having a Rolex, a nice wallet, etc.  It feels good to look at it, handle it, and write with it.

 

[cyberspyder]

Lamy Safari gets my vote, cheap, amazing value fountain pen.
 
Quote:

Any recommendations on a good ball point pen? 
 
I'm a college student, so a nice fountain pen is useless to me, especially since theft is a possibility. 
 
I write fast, and terribly small, basically crappy at best.  I need a fast pen that can keep up.  Something like Bic pens don't work because the super thick ink takes too much work for me to write.  I've been using Uniball Signo pens, however I find the ink to be a little bit too loose, and I'm not getting enough space between letters.  Fine to ultra fine tips are probably best.
 
Help?
 
Nothing ultra fancy that will scream, STEAL ME, please.

 

[erratik]

Check out the sharbo X series, perfect for students

 

[revolink24]

Quote:

Lamy Safari gets my vote, cheap, amazing value fountain pen.
 

I second this. The Safari is my daily pen, and I own both the EF Fountain and rollerball variants.

 

[SolidSnake3]

Have EF Lamy Safari as well and love it. Really just a rock solid fountain pen that I don't feel nervous about using every single day. An amazing value for $30 or so. 

 

[ccbass]

Ink?
 
I write damn fast, and I need the ink to dry at a decent pace, no smearing.  Any suggestions?
 
I'm still reluctant to using a FP in college though.

 

[SolidSnake3]

Quote:

Ink?
 
I write damn fast, and I need the ink to dry at a decent pace, no smearing.  Any suggestions?
 
I'm still reluctant to using a FP in college though.

The ink that came in my Lamy Safari dries as fast as I need it to. I am left handed so I need ink that dries almost instantly and so far I have not had any problems with the preloaded Lamy ink. Never had an issue with smearing or anything like that. Also, I'm a college kid and although I don't use my Lamy for note taking in class, I am looking at some disposable fountain pen's which I would use for daily classes.
 
It takes a bit of getting used to but once you do the feel and writing style of a fountain pen is just unmatched.

 

[ccbass]

I've used a FP before, but I found it to be really runny.  It was red, had interchangeable cartridges, and leaked ink from the tip.  It was great when it worked.....
 
http://www.isellpens.com/lamy.html
 
Which one?
 
I kind of like the Black Studio with an xfine nib?

 

[SolidSnake3]

If your concerned with too much ink flow than the extra fine nib is definitely the way to go. I would really recommend trying out a fountain pen again before you drop $60 on one just in case it still isn't for you. I recommend the Lamy Safari because it's cheap *$30ish*, built rock solid and isn't flashy in any way. The Studio looks pretty nice as well although I have never tried the pen so I can't comment on it any more than that.

 

[cyberspyder]

I've found that my Fine nibs still wrote too thick for my liking and with Lamy nibs, it's really the luck of the draw, sometimes the fine would write like an extra-fine and sometimes a medium. I just got another Safari in EF to complement my other two.
 
Quote:

If your concerned with too much ink flow than the extra fine nib is definitely the way to go. I would really recommend trying out a fountain pen again before you drop $60 on one just in case it still isn't for you. I recommend the Lamy Safari because it's cheap *$30ish*, built rock solid and isn't flashy in any way. The Studio looks pretty nice as well although I have never tried the pen so I can't comment on it any more than that.

 

[SolidSnake3]

Quote:

I've found that my Fine nibs still wrote too thick for my liking and with Lamy nibs, it's really the luck of the draw, sometimes the fine would write like an extra-fine and sometimes a medium. I just got another Safari in EF to complement my other two.
 

Found the same thing when I demo'ed the Lamy Safari at a shop near my house. The fine seemed to write too think for me especially since I'm left handed. The Extra Fine however was just about perfect. I would still like even a smaller nib however the Extra Fine is as good as I'm going to get for quite a while I think.