I think there are two good options for your first fountain pen. Either the Lamy Safari or the Pilot Metropolitan.

The issue here is that neither of them are the perfect option. It kind of depends if you want more color or nib options and are willing to deal with the Lamy Safari grip section or if you are not and are willing to deal with much less color options and fewer nib options.

I think the Pilot Metropolitan is the better bet.

I have one of the “bullet” space pens, that I got to check out if it worked as a pocket pen for me.

The short version is that it didn’t.

I think it is a great pen, and if you need something very small or something that will work anywhere, this is it.

But it didn’t really work out for me for a number of reasons.

1. I lost like 5 clips in a month
   
2. I prefer the P8126 refill to the space pen one; or a god gel ink pen.
   
3. It wasn’t the worlds most comfortable pen to write with for me.

So I ended up going back to the Pilot Metropolitan and later changing to the Ystudio brass portable pen.

It’s a cool product though.

I’m not sure if I recommend it. Except for very particular use cases.

Golden Bear is a great inexpensive pencil, sold exclusively by Pencils.com. I ordered a pack of 144 of them at one point. So I guess it is safe to assume that I love them.

The 144 pack costs like $35 so it is very inexpensive. I’m going to order another one of them at some point.

It comes in a great blue and a great orange color. It is a harder pencil. And it also comes in a jumbo version.

If you come from a Blackwing to this, it isn’t really the same kind of thing. Blackwing is much nicer, this is a regular #2 pencil, so much harder than the Blackwings.

But if you look for a really good pencil that is much better than what you’ll find in most stores this is it.

When I’m going to write a lot with pencil and don’t want to sharpen a lot, this is my go to.

This pencil is a no brainer recommendation for anyone. It’s great and inexpensive.

It is important to clean your fountain pens. It isn’t difficult or hard.

Note: there are some weird “only use sterile water” thingy in most fountain pen warranties. I have never followed this, but YMMW.

The way I clean my fountain pens is that a few times a year when I have written a pen dry I find a few glasses of room tempered water and get started.

For a piston filler I just move the piston up and down a bunch of times, until the water coming out of the pen is the same color as clean water.

The actual process of getting there is a little bit more to it than that. But I usually start with one glass and and do the first round to get out most of the ink.

Then I move over to a second glass and repeat the process a while more. When the water coming out of the pen is identical to the water in the glass I do a final fill and kind of rotate the pen for a while before emptying it. Sometimes it gets out some of the ink around the piston.

Then I do a symbolic rinsing in the third glass, but at this point it is typically more or less 100% clean.

For cartridge converter pens I take out the converter and find my syringes. Fill up the bulb and press water through the nib section two or three times.

And then I do the same with a ink syringe with the converter 4 or 5 times.

After all of that I find some tissue paper and put the nib to it to soak up as much water as possible, before I refill them.

It can be very difficult to shop for ink online, because there are so many things that might impact how a type of ink looks and feels.

I have never paid for a bottle of ink myself that I did not like. But I have received a few for review at my former stationery site that I didn’t like.

Not getting into this here.

I usually start with ink brands, and I try to read reviews of them and to figure out the general feel and properties of the brand as a whole.

What I look for in a ink is great colors and a well lubricated ink that flows well. Like my favourite Pilot Iroshizuku.

I usually start by reading at least 5 different reviews from different sites. If I’m still interested at this point I move into colors.

I usually just go to where I buy most of my ink, look at their stock and try to find something I like.

When I find something I think looks interesting I start to check out ink reviews of that color. I usually focus on how it looks at this stage.

I try to find reviews on different paper, ideally with something like what I use. Different pens, ideally the kind of pen / nib combinations I use. To get a feeling for how it will look.

Some inks will look very different depending on the nib and wetness of the pen.

This is a place I just keep looking until I feel like I have a strong impression of how it will look.

I try very hard to not pay for inks I’ll hate. But there are times I just wing it and hope for the best. But if you happen to get a ink you really don’t like you’ll probably find someone to trade it with.

Lamy Safari is a very popular beginner fountain pen, when I was considering to get into fountain pens this was kind of the only option.

There was probably others, but this was what everyone suggested. I got a Pilot Metropolitan as my first pen instead, and bought a Safari at a later point.

There is a lot to like about the Lamy Safari. You have a ton of colors available, plus a lot of special editions over the years that you might be able to find.

Much more nib options than the Metropolitan. And I think the Lamy nibs are way better than the Pilot ones.

As an added bonus it is really easy to change them.

I like how goofy it looks, but the Metropolitan has a much more “serious” look that some might prefer.

The reason I have never been able to actually use this or any more inexpensive Lamy pens is because of their grip sections.

Some pen brands do this thing with some of their pens where they shape the grip section to help you “correctly grip the pen” as in the Lamy Safari or they put the clip in the middle of the grip and all kinds of stuff like it.

This can become a problem if you for example are left handed or in any other way are outside of the “normal”.

Not all left handed people have a problem with this pen, but I do. I tried a bunch of times to get into it. But it is just either uncomfortable or very weird for me to use it.

I wish I could recommend this pen, but I have never liked it or been able to use it much. If it only had a better grip section I’d be all over it. Great colors, easy to change nibs and all of that.

My first fountain pen. I still think it is a great pen, but haven’t had one inked up in years, because I have so much other stuff I’d rather use.

When I got into this it was about $10 if I remember correctly.

It is a cartridge converter pen. So it is a great first fountain pen because you can just get a pack of cartridges and get started.

The nib options are limited, all of mine have been the medium nib. And the colors aren’t the best. But I think it is a really good pen.

The one thing I don’t like about this pen is that the point where the grip connects to the pen body is kind of sharp and bothers some people. Wasn’t a problem for me, but it might be a problem for you.

I think this is a no brainer for your first fountain pen or if you want something cheap.

The day I became a pen and paper person, as in more than just using what ever was around or cheap at the store, was when I picked up a Pilot G2 and a Moleskine.

I used to use the 1mm black ones.

After I bought the first, on a Friday. I went back to the same store the Monday after and bought a handful more.

From that day until I got the Retro 51 I always had two of them in my bag. Much more enjoyable to use than the random stuff I used to use, it lasted longer.

It was great.

I never went that into other gel ink pens. That is something I have had on my list for like forever. And probably will do this year.

There are some other gel ink pens that are supposed to be available all over. But I ended up sticking with this one until I no longer used the stuff available everywhere.

Sometimes I buy one when I see it on the shelf, just because. I recommend it for a what it is. But, if you are reading this you’ll probably be better served with something better.

This is the refill you can find in the Retro 51 and a bunch of other pens.

I think it is so popular because of the Retro 51, and have kind of become the goto refill for a lot of pens.

It isn’t for everyone though, I like it a lot and it matches my preferences very well. But it isn’t the best for people who prefer something finer or less wet or more colours.

This might not be what you use a lot. I don’t anymore. But I recommend something that use it to non pen addict people all the time. And most of them are really happy with it.