Advantages of a fountain pen for scribbling productivity

Question

Inspired by the answer on this question about penmanship, I'm considering again the fountain pen way. I always give it up either 'cause I think it will make a mess and be impractical or just not easy to find in local stores.

• Are there factual aspects that allow your handwriting to be better and less strained with a fountain pen?
• I always have a pen with me at all times in my pocket. Could a fountain pen fill this role? Would it not make a mess?
• What kind of places to go looking for fountain pen supplies?

Answer 1

I can mention my personal experience regarding the second part of the question. A few months ago, I decided to improve my handwriting, using Getty & Dubay's book: Write Now. During this process, I got used to writing everything with a fountain pen. Currently, I always carry a fountain pen on my pocket, and didn't have any problems (leaking,...).

Regarding first part of the question, again just from a personal experience, there definitely is a "feeling of lightness" from writing with a fountain pen (once you get used to it, and consciously practice a strainless hold) compared to a ball-pen. However, I found this depends a lot on the specific pen, and more specifically, pens destinded to people learning how to use one (i.e. for schoolchildren) tend to require more pressure and therefore minimize the gain.

Answer 2

My grandfather absolutely loves his fountain pens and has for years, most of his are old so they leak everywhere. His new fountain pens though don't leak at all, they are almost like ball points, he just caps them and puts them away, no leaking or wiping required. Simple as that.

Answer 3

My personal experience is that there's a great feeling of lightness writing with a fountain pen.

After reading some blogs about fountain pens I bought a LAMY Safary. This pen have a nice clip on the cap that helps carry it arround.

At the beginning the feeling of writing with a pen that does not require pressure on the paper is strange, but as the time passes you will start notice the benefits of writing with one of those and get more comfortable using these pens.

I also recomend this store on UK (they have online sales and ships very quickly): Colnart website - Ebay Store

Answer 4

There are brands of fountain pens - such as my favorite, the Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point - that are designed to go into the pocket nib up. Some don't like this, because they feel it puts the pocket clip in the way of holding the pen, but it does go a long way towards cutting down on leakage.

For finding supplies, you can try stationary stores, either locally owned or a chain like Paradise Pens. Also, if you live near a large college or university, check out the bookstore there, some of them have pretty nice selections of writing supplies (though sometimes buried within the art section).