Kaweco Sport Fountain Pen
I have always loved fountain pens. Ever since getting my first fountain pen at middle school in UK, as part of our required italics handwriting classes, I have enjoyed the process of using a fountain pen and the way it forces me to slow down, and be more deliberate in what and how I write.
Over the years I have had an on and off love affair with fountain pens. I've owned several good quality fountain pens such as a Lamy Safari, a Namiki Vanishing Point, and even a Cartier Diabolo. But I eventually fell prey to the simplicity and convenience of gel roller ball pens, the Pilot G2 being my favorite. I have been using an Everyman Grafton pen (takes a standard G2 ink refill) everyday for over the last six years.
Over twenty years ago I stumbled upon Noodler's Bulletproof Black ink, as part of a research project into anti-forgery technologies and specifically readily available forgery-proof pens and inks. Sidenote: Frank Abagnale singles out the Uni-ball 207 as his favorite gel ink pen to deter the act of check washing. Stumbling upon an affordable and incredible cool ink brand like Noodler's reinvigorated my love of using a fountain pen.
A Return to Analog Writing
Recently I have been moving toward a more regimented practice of journaling and analog writing - writing in a paper dot-grid notebook on a daily basis. I use a combination of Bullet Journaling (BuJo) and my own methodolgy that I have evolved over the years. There's no real name for it, but it's a blend of methods that works well for me on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. I may write more about my journaling method at a later date - once I can better understand and explain the structure to others.
Compact Fountain Pens
As part of coming back to a manual, analog, writing practice I wanted to start using a fountain pen again instead of a gel rollerball. However, I needed a fountain pen that I could carry in my pocket every day. I also wanted it to be inexpensive, so that if I broke it or lost it I wouldn't be too concerned.
Many of the compact fountain pens that I looked at were really expensive, or at least more than I wanted to spend. After watching far too many YouTube videos about fountain pens, I settled upon a lesser known German brand that has been around since 1883 - Kaweco. They have numerous pens of all types and sizes in their line up, but are especially well known for their Kaweco Sport line of fountain pens. These are extremely compact, smaller than a Pilot G2 mini, and incredibly affordable - just $20.00!
Don't let the (low) price fool you, the Kaweco Sport is a superbly made fountain pen - yet another example of superb German engineering. It does not come with a pocket clip as standard, but they can be purchased if needed. I usually remove the plastic pocket clip from a G2 mini anyway (I don't need a clip on a pen going in my pocket) so it wasn't an issue for me that the Kaweco Sport didn't have one. I did purchase a piston ink reservoir adapter so that I could use Noodler's ink instead of the Kaweco cartridges, but this was a personal preference. For many years I used a small surgical syringe to draw ink out of the bottle and fill empty ink cartridges - it's really easy and works flawlessly.
I've been using and carrying my Kaweco Sport fountain pen for a couple of months now and really enjoy it. It's a very pleasing, compact writing instrument that works well and is a pleasure to use. If you're looking for a pocket fountain pen, definitely check out the Kaweco Sport line.