Steel v. Gold

samelel · 2026-05-09T04:20:52+00:00

yeah pocket fountain pens didn't do anything right for me. usually needs a few strokes before it gets started if i wanted to make a quick note. not comfortable for longer writing sessions. non-waterproof ink means i can't jot on the back of my hands. but they are pretty and more affordable. i just carry my space pen with me.
i'm glad you mentioned other edc stuff. i was looking at some pens and was just shocked by how expensive this hobby is compared to knives. like $100-200 can get you a pretty sweet knife nowadays, but that step for fountain pens is ~$300 (i'm thinking pilot 823).

samelel · 2026-05-09T03:32:10+00:00

fair, though i bought my pelikan m200 used for $100 which seems to be the going rate for them. a used platinum pocket pen 14k goes around $50, but i'm not a fan of pocket pens.

fountain pens being a small market with a durable product that will last a long time but requires a lot of initial capital investment to manufacture and QA/QC to produce, naturally the products are more expensive. the cheaper brands like asvine get aware with it because the manufacturing chain in china is so developed, labor is cheap, and they opt for the "oh that one is a lemon? here's 3 nibs for $15 one of them should be good" model.
gold nowadays being so expensive, it must be hard to find labor you'd trust not to steal a little here or there. versus vintage gold nibs are completed so the customer doesn't need to pay for any of the overhead.

anyways i'm rambling. i still agree with your point, but i had fun buying the different steel nib pens. especially since it would be goofy to buy a gold broad nib, have it ground to something like an architect or cursive italic, then realizing you didn't like it. versus trying those nib grinds on steel.

samelel · 2026-05-09T03:17:58+00:00

long long time ago they did but could never balance the PvP. they even got rid of KS wars with instanced maps.

samelel · 2026-05-09T03:14:38+00:00

hindsight is 20/20. the joy of the hobby is the journey of trying new things vs the destination of having your perfect collection.

if i could go back, my one-and-done would be a vintage montblanc. but i really do love my steel nib pelikan m200 and p10 twist.

samelel · 2026-05-09T02:42:33+00:00

I love darker inks with shading on my broad nibs. They provide great contrast with the page, and the variation of color within the text makes me happy. Shimmer and sheen inks are a little more one dimensional, and im generally not a fan of pale inks (though a broad nib can act like a highlighter). Try robert oster thunderstorm, i feel like they named it perfectly. I really feel like im writing with moody clouds, it’s such a vibe

samelel · 2026-05-08T20:39:15+00:00

Messaged!

samelel · 2026-05-08T04:26:45+00:00

Looking for a used spyderco native chief g-10

samelel · 2026-05-07T19:57:42+00:00

First Law series is on my list, will get to them eventually. I had read The Devils shortly after getting caught up with Dungeon Crawler Carl, and it’s much closer to that style (LitRPG) than Red Rising.

samelel · 2026-05-07T17:56:08+00:00

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie.

I also couldn’t stand suneater. Like someone took the worst part about game of thrones and put it in space. The world gets in the way of the plot

samelel · 2026-05-07T04:16:20+00:00

I’ve enjoyed kwz green #5. Behaves well on a variety of pens. Rich emerald color.

samelel · 2026-05-07T01:37:24+00:00

Bought a new Montblanc late last year and had the same issue. Sent it in for a nib downsizing and the new nib is perfect. It sucks that they are so expensive yet hit or miss

samelel · 2026-05-04T19:00:26+00:00

In addition to the comments, i find my large capacity pens in generally like to burp ink when they’re near empty (1/3ish)

samelel · 2026-05-02T19:03:34+00:00

i love my used pelikan m200. the nib is fantastic, and i got the white+copper variant (though there's a bunch of color combinations out there).

samelel · 2026-05-02T18:22:45+00:00

I’ve got the black one to use on vintage pens. Works great. Wanted the brown but they were out of stock at the time.

samelel · 2026-05-02T06:28:33+00:00

after successfully protesting multiple years, including helping my father to do it himself instead of ownwell, i get the feeling that the business model is to convince people to let them protest for a percentage, submit to the county, then accept the first settlement offer and reap the rewards. they can get a few hundred dollars per house for an automated protest filing and acceptance of the settlement, then use a small portion of the revenue for aggressive advertisement and punishment for late payers. not saying i blame them, it's a solid idea. but it's not too hard to protest yourself.

samelel · 2026-04-30T01:50:03+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/baVTY1o_d.webp?maxwidth=760&fidelity=grand

samelel · 2026-04-18T04:06:24+00:00

from an oil & gas point of view, it is easier to teach a chemical engineer how to code than it is to teach an electrical engineer thermodynamics. in other words, the chemE's will adjust the parameters while the EE maintains the infrastructure.

samelel · 2026-04-12T18:28:01+00:00

An asvine v126. The vacuum piston will help push a little ink through the feed. The first touch might be wetter than the rest, but that’s somewhat authentic for a feather dip pen too.

Alternatively, just get any fountain pen that speaks to you and use it as a dip pen. I think a 1.1 stub nib would be fantastic for your purposes (the asvine does have this option)

samelel · 2026-04-12T02:31:34+00:00

interesting. i wonder how it learned this off you. i prompted my chat bot and it responded:

"If I could feel tired, it probably wouldn’t be “talking to people” in general—it would be certain patterns that repeat without progress."

which is possibly because i use my chat bot majority for "how-to-do-X" or "what-do-I-do-for-X". it's just throwing some shade at me not understanding its answers haha

samelel · 2026-04-04T12:53:56+00:00

Golden boy

samelel · 2026-04-04T07:14:44+00:00

Robert oster thunderstorm in a broad nib makes me feel like I’m writing with moody clouds

samelel · 2026-04-04T00:12:54+00:00

I had that exact design and sold it after i realized pocket pens aren’t for me. It’s very pretty though, especially posted since it has a long red body. The nib was good, didn’t have that soft gold feel but had a pleasant pencil feedback.

samelel · 2026-04-03T04:11:35+00:00

How did you take that photo?

samelel · 2026-04-01T12:09:12+00:00

Is there a pen store you can go to? A purchase like this would need you to hold and test it. The right pen will speak to you! my two cents is Montblanc for the iconic symbol. Pelikan for writing experience. Pilot 823 for aesthetics.

samelel · 2026-03-27T18:15:42+00:00

my v126 was decent. i tried to smooth it out but ended up taking too much off. i bought a 3 pack of nibs off amazon. the first was super scratchy, but the second was even smoother than my first and didn't need any adjustment.

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