Fountain pens have always intrigued me. Mostly because of the aesthetic, but also with how they work and all that. But I had never used one because I thought they were kinda pricey. Well, now I get to try one! A few weeks ago, I went to Office Depot and purchased one. I ended up grabbing a Pilot Metropolitan in Retro Pop Red.
Looking at the pen (and doing a quick Google search), it says it is made in Japan. It's my first fountain pen, but even so I can tell that it is a quality product for the price (around 30 dollars.) It has heft to it, whick I really like. This pen comes equipped with a snap cap, and it's super satifying. It's fidget-toy levels of nice. The paint and finish is nice as well. The actual writing part of the pen is great! My pen came with a Fine nib, so it makes a nice thin line. Fountain pens use capillary action, and this makes it to where you don't have to press down on the pen to write. It glides across the paper. Cramped hands no longer! Needless to say, it blows ballpoint pens out of the water. I will still keep normal pens in my school bag, but this pen will be my daily driver. There are two negatives, both of them not being the pen's fault. First of all, learning to write with one takes a little getting used to. The letter "h" was giving me a little trouble at first. Secondly, I am scared of losing the pen. It's the nicest and most expensive wrtiting utensil that I've got. I gotta make sure to keep it nice as well.
Since I first started writing my Metropolitan, I've realized that fountain pens are more ink-hungry than ballpoints. So I ordered a Pilot Con-B cartridge-converter, and some Noodler's Lexington Gray ink. The ink came with a free pen. Might write about that sometime!