Pens

At any given point in the day I have a pile of pens scattered around my desk. I have some in little Ball jars, painted ceramics, old tea tins, all kinds of containers. I will never run out of ink, but I do have some strong opinions about which pens I actually like writing with best.

If I could only have 1 type of pen for the rest of my life it would be the Pilot Precise V5 RT. The capped ones are good too (and are easier to find in more colors) but the shape and weight of the RT is nicer. You can get a large pack of black ink ones for cheap, and they last a long time.

For something slightly fancier I like the Zebra SARASA Grand. It’s made of aluminum so it has some heft and substance, and looks and feels like a much more expensive pen. For years I used a Zebra F-701, which I’d say is too scratchy of a writer these days, but it also has some weight and a nice industrial feel.

Fountain Pens

If you like pens enough, eventually you’ll stumble into the world of fountain pens and start a small (or large) collection. The main reasons you might be interested in fountain pens are:

• You can get really specific about line width and ink flow. This might involve buying multiple of the same pen with different nibs, however.
• You can use any kind of ink. It’s much cheaper to find a purple rollerball pen, for sure, but if you want a specific purple, once you get to buying ink in a bottle you can choose from hundreds.
• Relatedly, fountain pens can be refilled and if you get a good one, will probably outlast you by a hundred years.

Personally I have:

• A Pilot Kaküno with a medium nib. These are fairly cheap, and if you don’t mind the shape, a great way to get into fountain pens.
• Two TWSBI Eco pens, one with an extra fine nib and one with a 1.1 stub nib. The Eco’s are “good enough” as far as form factor goes, but they have nice nibs, are reasonably priced, and have a very cool design where the body of the pen is a piston filler, and is clear, so it holds an enormous amount of ink and you can see it.
• A Kaweco Student with a fine nib. Of the pens I have so far this is the most pleasing one to hold and looks the nicest.

Places to buy pens

These are just the stores I have actually been to or bought something online from:

• Bob Slate Stationer. IRL store, lots of fountain pen options. Been in Harvard Square forevvvvver.
• Goods for the Study. In NYC. I went to the UWS location, they had an amazing assortment of non-fountain pens in little jars in a lot of colors and widths I hadn’t seen before.
• JetPens. Reliable source for almost anything with a comprehensive inventory.
• Tokyo Pen Shop. Lots of fun / novelty items.
• The Paper Mouse. Ok I haven’t actually gotten anything from here yet but it’s local everyone seems to love it.