My Fountain Pens, their pros & cons, and whether it's worth it or not.

(This is mostly intended for Indonesians who are thinking about getting fountain pens but don't know which one to get or how to start.)





Fountain pen sizing:

EF (Extra Fine, ~0.3), F (Fine, 0.5), M (Medium, 0.7), B (Broad, 1.0)

Note: Japanese brands have finer pens, so it is recommended to size up. For example: If you usually write with a 0.5 and think of getting a Pilot Kakuno, try getting a M size nib to be closer to that 0.5 (Unless you WANT a finer pen.) Also, beware that some EF pens MAY feel scratchy, you should avoid that if you want a smooth writing experience.





1. Pilot Kakuno

My Backstory (Skip if you want)

This was my first fountain pen I ever had. I got in Singapore, December 2024, in a Japanese Store. I first didn't know how it worked so I bought a platinum preppy cartridge as well, thinking it was the same thing. Looking back, it was king of stupid, but that's okay! I got a hang of it pretty quickly and I couldn't believe how good this pen was. It was the start of my journey.



My Opinion (Important)

It's often framed as a "Cheap", "Beginner-friendly" fountain pen because to the west, it's cheap and it includes cartridges and instructions on how to use it. Yes, it is beginner-friendly. But is it cheap to Indonesians? No. The usual pricing you'd find on Shopee is around Rp.120,000k+ without any discounts. To an average Indonesian, It's quite expensive.

But what about the quality and writing? Well, since these are also marketed for kids, they included holes on the cap for safety reasons. But the holes create another problem: drying out. If you don't use this for 2 weeks or more, the ink inside the pen will dry out and you won't be able to use it till you clean it by either soaking or flushing it out. But in some cases, this drying out problem can also be solved by dipping it in some water and it'll write again. I'm not sure how this works but it works.



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2. Jinhao Shark Pens

My Opinion (Important)

First of all, this is a WONDERFUL brand with WONDERFUL pens. Not only are most of these brand's pens affordable, they are also incredibly high quality for their price. In my opinion, this is the best starting fountain pen. Priced at around Rp.~20,000k , the writing quality is incredibly good for this. Again, this is a great, cheap, fountain pen that blows my mind at how great it is. But, if you usually write with a 0.7 pen, you would be more comfortable with a size M pen (sizing depends on the brand), which would be fairly hard to find for Jinhao pens.



Pros: Cheap, Great writing quality, and easily access.

Cons: Looks cheap, doesn't include a cartridge (it includes a converter tho), and requires a bottle of ink.



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3. Kaweco Sport

My Backstory (Skip if you want)

My first Kaweco sport, (Pronounced Ka-ve-co) is a Navy blue one with a gold-coloured nib. I got it for Rp.300,000+k