Tuesday, February 3, 2009

The Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen


When I hear the words "disposable" and "fountain pen" I grab my wallet and without having a second thought, pay up... you can count me in. Lady's and Gentlemen, the Pilot Varsity Fountain Pen.

I don't think this was my first fountain pen I ever owned, but it was up there early on the list and I probably have burned through 100 of these since then. All colors, all styles and I have refilled these before. The usual process: yank the nib, rinse, syringe ink in and pop the nib back. I hate to throw them away if the ink is flowing and the nib is still solid.

You can tell this one gets thrown around. It's beat up and has seen a ton of paper and use. Cheaper is not always better, but in this case, cheaper means a dependable pen that you can loan to someone to use if needed and not fear having your nibs pointing east and west from some heavy handed Bic user.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the Varsity as well. I recently took a friend to Artlite in Atlanta (my new pen paradise) to browse around. Strictly a roller ball girl, I talked her into demo-ing nice vanishing point fountain. She was convinced her handwriting wasn't pretty enough to use such a fancy pen. She was intimidated by the fact that it was a fountain pen, not the $100+ price tag. So, I talked her into getting a $3 Varsity as her fountain pen "training wheels" and won her over. The Varsity is always a safe bet - I never pass them up!

Rosemary said...

Have you gotten a Varsity lately? The one you photoed is the older style - the newer ones have an even BETTER nib. I like to refil with a different color ink - no rinsing - and watch the color slowly change as I fill up the page. Bliss!

I've not tried the Pilot "V" - which I hear is a fine nib. I've only tried the varsity, which is rather wide (the new ones. The one in the photo has a finer nib, but the newest ones are DA BOMB!)

From a fellow Varsity lover,
Rosemary

Sharon Delman said...

I love the Pilot Varsity fountain pens! I had no idea that you could refill them . . . I clearly need to challenge conventions a bit more. Thanks for your insights and a reminder about a great pen!

OfficeSupplyGeek said...

Nice review, the Pilot Varsity is the reason I decided to buy my first non-disposable fountain pen. I figured that if it only cost $3 and it wrote that nicely, the investment in a higher end fountain pen must certainly be worth it.

Anonymous said...

having someone sending me one. I appreciate you telling us how to refill them as that is just what I intend to do when it runs dry!

Unknown said...

I love the Varsity pens! I am extremely picky with my pens. I am a lefty and have a number of high end specialty fountain pens. I do not like to loan them. I never loan a pen without keeping the cap. Having a Varsity in my pocket all the time is a security blanket. I can feel ok loaning it for a signature or taking to stores to check things off as I buy them or just scribbling around the house, without worry of losing or damaging my expensive pens that I use in my office.

Space and Clarity said...

Have you noticed how Pilot Varsities are instant starters? I wonder how Pilot gets this behaviour with a $3 pen when its hard to reproduce with several more expensive ones. I've let my Varsity stand for over a week and have had no trouble with getting it to start instantly. They're super smooth pens, btw. I can't help feeling more expensive pens are difficult to justify when a $3 pen simply performs so much better.

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