The Pilot Kakuno recommendations are very good, and I think the TWSBI Eco is a great starter if you have a bit more budget. If you just want to dip a toe in, then the Preppy is a great way to do that.
Kaweco sport or perkeo, pilot kakuno, twsbi eco, lamy al-star or safari. Many great, inexpensive pens to start with. They are all different sizes and types as well to help you figure out what you like.
Piolet Varsity, it's a cheap ready-to-go fountain pen that writes very smoothly. If you want to try the hobby to "see how it fits" then it's the pen I would recommend.
thirding the preppy! plus it comes in a few colors :) the slightly expensive preppys would be the ones with designs based on traditional jp elements but are still like, pretty affordable. also the sealing mechanism makes sure your pen won't dry out.
It really depends on availability, budget and personal preference.
Beginner: Pilot Kakuno, Platinum Preppy, Lamy Safari.
A little more complicated: Twsbi Eco, Nahvalur Original, Pelikan Souverain 200, Lamy Studio.
Nice but a little pro: Pilot cap less, Platinum 3776, Sailor Pro Gear, Lamy 2000 …
Also hopping upon the Platinum Preppy bandwagon. While the feed bit itself is not so great to clean, it's rather inexpensive if fountain pens don't turn out for you. Holds up amongst one of my regulars though, because of the nib and sealing mechanism in the cap. Fantastic pen for beginners onwards.
got this as a first for re-entry(used them in school 60 years ago) and it is indeed a stellar introduction. very smooth, no tempermental angles, easy to carry. and i'm a lefty.
only caveat is the limited color range of their cartridges🤷🏼♀️
Yea, though you can wash out the cartridges and syringe fill them to reuse them with desired ink. Or get the proprietary Platinum brand converter for it... but that costs more than twice that of the Preppy itself so, I don't usually recommend that to folks unless they really love their Preppy haha
You can get ink happy with samples or bottles, but a cartridge is a great way to no-muss no-fuss try it out.
Not all papers are made the same. Some will feather/bleed and look like crap, so if yer gonna enjoy the writing, it’s worth grabbing a moderate notebook/paper that is smoother.
Comments
Beginner: Pilot Kakuno, Platinum Preppy, Lamy Safari.
A little more complicated: Twsbi Eco, Nahvalur Original, Pelikan Souverain 200, Lamy Studio.
Nice but a little pro: Pilot cap less, Platinum 3776, Sailor Pro Gear, Lamy 2000 …
The dream pens: Visconti Homo Sapiens, Montblanc 149, Platinum or Pilot urushi pens, Pilot Custom 843, Pelikan Souverain 800 or 1000.
Of course, this isn’t a comprehensive list.
only caveat is the limited color range of their cartridges🤷🏼♀️
still a good pen.
Know you can get nice writing pens inexpensively-you don’t HAVE to invest.
I hear good things about the preppy’s. I have a Lamy Al-Star that I love, the safari is par, and the pilot metros are also decent low cost pens.
Your post said fountain pen, so it showed up on a feed.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nkahctfdi6bxk72umytfwghw/feed/aaad2q353alqm
Not all papers are made the same. Some will feather/bleed and look like crap, so if yer gonna enjoy the writing, it’s worth grabbing a moderate notebook/paper that is smoother.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nkahctfdi6bxk72umytfwghw/feed/aaad2q353alqm