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PQRS7

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not necessarily looking for anything high-end, but should write well, be well designed / constructed nicely, and look good too. I'm looking to buy a whole bunch, and I don't have anything specific in mind. I like variety, so I suppose I'd buy different things to satisfy each of my demands.

I need pens for writing notes (ball point?), writing letters (fountain?), and for sketches and drawings. Pencils too. I also need things like ink, paper, erasers, correction tape, etc.

I have a very strong preferance for products made in Germany and Japan. But if I found something from another country worth considering, I would.

I write very small, so fine tipped ball points write nicely for me. I really liked the Pilot Hi-Tec C, but want something smoother and made with better materials. Maybe some pro drafting pens would work? I don't know too much about them, but I like what I've seen from Lamy and Rotring.

I also like products which demonstrate good design or innovation. I remember using a mechanical pencil which held onto the peice of lead at the tip, so you could even use a lead 3mm long, and it would work fine. I really enjoy products with these clever gimmicks. I realize that it would take an effort to find them, but I'm not in any rush.

I have a habit of spinning my pens a lot. I drop them on the table frequently, and sometimes even on the floor. I'd rather not buy anything too expensive, as it will dent and scratch quickly.

It's difficult to explain exactly what I'm looking for, so I hope my descriptions have got the point across.

which products have you had good experiences with, and would recommend?

where can I buy this stuff? so far, the best places I found were Chinese import stores which sold Japanese 'lifestyle products'. they don't really sell these sort of things at business depot type of stores.

suggestions, comments, questions? please discuss.

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Lamy has two rollerball pens that are both nice looking and nice to write with: the Lamy Swift (http://www.lamyusa.com/swift.html) and the Lamy Tipo (http://www.lamyusa.com/tipoaluminium.html), both of which are available in more colors than are shown on this website.

They both use Lamy's famous M66 refill, which writes incredibly smoothly. The tipo is more expensive because of its design - the clip retracts when you're using the pen so that you can't attach it to something (like your shirt) without disengaging the writing tip. Even if you end up finding that the tip is too thick for you, it's worth a try to see the difference between a ball point pen and a rollerball, which used to be referred to as a poor man's fountain pen.

A lot of asian grocery stores carry very fine tipped pens and pencils, but they're not exactly the high-end kind.

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i like to use Rotrings to draw wiht.

you end up with really clean lines and you can get reallyreally thin lines if you buy say a .18 pen.

they aren't the prettiest things...nor are the the best for sketching because the tip will probably break, but if you're into more solid line drawing then give it a go.

they look like this:

31472X.jpg

they're designed for technical drawing

also, LAMY pens are nice to write with, as are Watermans.

and Mont Blanc have some nice heavy pens.

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  • 3 weeks later...
LAMY is a very good german brand

I like lamy, but they're so expensive. Japanese brands are alot cheaper, but I don't know what to look for.

cross ion. won the red dot award a few years ago.

I have one, but it's only good as 'a pen for when you need it', not 'a pen for writing'.

Where would be the best place to buy this kind of stuff (w/o arm/leg prices, of course).

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I like lamy, but they're so expensive. Japanese brands are alot cheaper, but I don't know what to look for.

I have one, but it's only good as 'a pen for when you need it', not 'a pen for writing'.

Where would be the best place to buy this kind of stuff (w/o arm/leg prices, of course).

I agree with the ion. It's a great pen for just shoving in your pocket, but if you write a lot of freehand, it's not too friendly

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I don;t know if you've seen this site? which is basically like selfedge for japanese pens? http://www.jetpens.com/ Anyway i would second the lamy recommendation, they really are excellent and beautifully designed pens. I los my lamy safari unfortunately, but i am going to replace it with a few fine tipped lamy rollerballs.

Thanks for the recommendation. I just placed an order. Now to find a Lamy site ...

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It's been a lot of years, but I lusted after and finally got Koh-i-noor Rapidomatic pencils & Koh-i-noor Rapidograph pens for drafting, engineering, and design.

I was always into pens & pencils...started out with Alvin, Pentel, Uniball, and Mars Staedtler. But Koh-i-noor still ranks the best.

A nicely sharpened Dixon Ticonderoga #2 is still a treat.

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I don;t know if you've seen this site? which is basically like selfedge for japanese pens? http://www.jetpens.com/ Anyway i would second the lamy recommendation, they really are excellent and beautifully designed pens. I los my lamy safari unfortunately, but i am going to replace it with a few fine tipped lamy rollerballs.

i love you for the link. i like collecting pens and writing with pens that are 'fun' to write with. i also draw, and i've been using ink more than pencil lately, so i always try and find some nice pens.

*edit* will rep when i can.

*edit#2* while googling lamy for what the hype is about, i stumbled onto this site:

http://www.dalyspenshop.com/store2005/category.asp

there's a sale :)

but still, $50 for a pen seems kind of much... at least it's refillable:o

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  • 1 month later...

thats a cool trick larry, I've seen the video for that before.

I've moved on now to using the lamy swift with the M66 carts, the quality is incredible thanks for the recommendation, it slides across the paper incredibly well, its almost tooo smooth, can feel like your writing on ice on occasion.

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