Montblanc 149 Fountain Pen
- Thread starter iamn8
- Start date
- Status
I have owned dozens of them...leaky, fiddly, smeary, too thick for comfort like trying to write with a banana. I can see lots of point in owning one, just as I might see the point in owning any archaic example of bygone technology, for the sake of nostalgic collectibility. I can't see any point in using one though. Unless you're James Bond and the pen shoots exploding rockets. Even then, it worked for Sean Connery in 1983 but if Daniel Craig pulled out a fountain pen today, Fatima Blush would know it was a gag and shoot him on the spot.
Shutterbug, I get your disdain for fountain pens, but I use one EVERYDAY and I've never encountered any of the problems you've detailed. I'm left handed and the ones I own, Pelikan, TWSBI, Kaweco and four grades of Lamy (including the Lamy 2000) and several Parkers from the 40's and 50's, haven't given me any grief. I take my pens into burned out buildings, court and everywhere in between. Hardly nostalgic collectibles, but if that's the case, so what.
I love how smooth they write, the difference styles of ink and types of nibs.
I'm just a left handed guy who has been done in more from gel pens, roller balls and pencils.
But here's the bigger point. If you don't like fountain pens, don't use one. Easy peasy.
This is like tobacco and pipes....we're all different.
I love how smooth they write, the difference styles of ink and types of nibs.
I'm just a left handed guy who has been done in more from gel pens, roller balls and pencils.
But here's the bigger point. If you don't like fountain pens, don't use one. Easy peasy.
This is like tobacco and pipes....we're all different.
I don't own one (I'm a Visconti fan) but I've a friend who absolutely loves his Mont Blanc. I'd say - definitely go for it!
For the record, I'm not an expert, but I LOVE stationery and pens... :D
For the record, I'm not an expert, but I LOVE stationery and pens... :D
I used a fountain pen for a few years until it "grew legs" at a previous job and I never saw it again. I favor good old fashioned wooden pencils these days. Just like the feel. Though I do miss my fountain pen sometimes. I liked how the fine point I usually used wrote - sharp & smooth at the same time.
That's why you keep thirteen of them and forty inks in your desk like a TOTALLY sane person.
If my TWSBI walked away, though, no one would be getting out of there alive until it was found.
Oh please. Making an impression is at the root of every purchase of luxury goods. Either you were impressed by an item or you specifically bought something to make an impact on someone else. So what? A good portion of the threads on this board are based around informing others about recent purchases. There's no shame in it.
If I was buying it to impress, I would say so. Here, I believe we share things to find those of a like mind and share experiences, not to "show off" per say or to impress anyone. If you're buying stuff to impress people in a virtual community.... you have issues.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've never had company into my home. Family twice, but zero socializing without exception. It isn't healthy, but demonstrates what I've said. No showing off here.
I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've never had company into my home. Family twice, but zero socializing without exception. It isn't healthy, but demonstrates what I've said. No showing off here.
Nate I've bought 2 Mount Blancs, one for my last Boss, PHD , College poor and the best human being I've ever run across, I wanted him to be proud in the office culture, the other I bought for my Daughtet when she started on her PHD. I've used all kinds of roller balls, whatever on hand for my reports and really am unaware of the niceties of the pens and collecting world. I will say this a good tool is worth it in any field. My field for a while was Firearms, now it's Medimusel creaking joints, and being cranky. I'm on your side Nate.
@shutterbug:
1. You have the wrong size pen. The finger length to penis size thing is not correct. Pick a pen that fits your hand. If you like slim, anything else will be horrible.
2. The pen itself. You haven't specified brands/models, but some are leakier than others.
And most importantly:
3. Fountain pens write at a 45 degree angle. If you try to write up-and-down with one, it will be a disaster.
Also, obviously, specific pens can have glitches and this can lead to leaking.
Hope you find one you like!
The suggestion of Lamy is not bad... inexpensive and reliable. The Pelicanos are similar. Good luck.
Bear with me if you will... there are a number of issues here.
1. You have the wrong size pen. The finger length to penis size thing is not correct. Pick a pen that fits your hand. If you like slim, anything else will be horrible.
2. The pen itself. You haven't specified brands/models, but some are leakier than others.
And most importantly:
3. Fountain pens write at a 45 degree angle. If you try to write up-and-down with one, it will be a disaster.
Also, obviously, specific pens can have glitches and this can lead to leaking.
Hope you find one you like!
The suggestion of Lamy is not bad... inexpensive and reliable. The Pelicanos are similar. Good luck.
I have had a 149 for over 30 years. It does not get a lot of use, but I really like it. I think you made a great buy/choice.
Nate, if you want to really love your pen, send it to a Nibmeister.
If you want to test if the pen is working really well, try writing on paper while you hold the paper by one corner in the air. I'm not saying that anyone can write like that, but if you can't get dots and scribbles with minimal pressure then the pen isn't tuned for optimal performance.
I'm fortunate enough to have the tools (and foolish ambition) to tune a nib myself, so almost every pen I use has been adjusted and smoothed to my liking.
The worst thing about the fountain pen industry is that this level of tuning isn't done on any factory pens anymore, there are a few retailers who will adjust nibs before shipping but as far as I know even the best Japanese nibs usually aren't given that level of attention (e.g. Nakaya supposedly still uses mostly off the shelf Platinum nibs).
Some nibs write really well out of the box, but the point is it's totally random whether a given nib will turn out good or not, regardless of price range.
If you want to test if the pen is working really well, try writing on paper while you hold the paper by one corner in the air. I'm not saying that anyone can write like that, but if you can't get dots and scribbles with minimal pressure then the pen isn't tuned for optimal performance.
I'm fortunate enough to have the tools (and foolish ambition) to tune a nib myself, so almost every pen I use has been adjusted and smoothed to my liking.
The worst thing about the fountain pen industry is that this level of tuning isn't done on any factory pens anymore, there are a few retailers who will adjust nibs before shipping but as far as I know even the best Japanese nibs usually aren't given that level of attention (e.g. Nakaya supposedly still uses mostly off the shelf Platinum nibs).
Some nibs write really well out of the box, but the point is it's totally random whether a given nib will turn out good or not, regardless of price range.
When I was in college, a couple of years before I learned about Fountain Pens unfortunately, I bought dozens of ball point pens searching for "something" that could write all day without fail. Occasionally I would find "one" good pen, but even then after it ran out of ink I either couldn't find the same model again or buying the same thing twice didn't have the same results.
In my last year I snapped every Ball Point Pen in half and switched entirely to felt markers. They wear out fast, but you can be absolutely positive they will write when they're fresh.
I would actually daydream about how to make a "Next Generation Felt Pen", something with a "metal sponge that doesn't wear out" I thought...
Turns out people invented virtually the same thing hundreds of years ago. A device that uses capillary action to pull liquid ink out of a reservoir and onto the paper, all in one neat chain of events, going from the Body to the Feed and to the Nib, and then deposited in a flow of liquid straight onto the page.
Nice, thick, juicy black lines. Like what you get for a few moments when you pull the tip off a Ballpoint pen, only this is designed to do that all the time and can keep going for page after page until you're out of ink.
And then you get to refill it! With a few Gallons of ink at your side you could write perpetually for your entire life with just one pen!
Right now TWSBI is my favorite brand of pen. They're designed for user serviceability and the "580AL" specifically is their best model (in my opinion). Their older designs had some issues with cracking on the grip section (very rarely the barrel), but anything with the Aluminum gip has been very solid for me.
And of course Noodler's for my black ink. It dries a little slow but it's the best long term recording medium there is. Digital information is shockingly fragile and high maintenance, without sunlight or water damage most paper should last at least a century, and if you get high alkaline paper it could go for hundreds fo years.
- Status