Hi everyone. My name is Garrett and I love fountain pens.
My journey to fountain pen wisdom began less than a year ago, when I volunteered to become a notary public for work. Being the weirdo that I am, I decided--since they seemed to carry some weight--that I wanted my notary signatures to be done with a nice pen (that's normal, right?).
I'd always been picky about pens, and almost never wrote with a ballpoint. Years earlier, I'd been acquainted with a graphic designer who carried a fountain pen, and I'd had passing interest in them ever since, even to the point of owning a (terrible) Cross fountain pen which hardly wrote, and a (more terrible) Waterford which I got because I thought it looked cool. Between those two pens, I had an idea that fountain pens looked cool and classy and were completely and utterly useless for actual writing.
My hobby would have ended there had my search for a nicer pen not led me to the Staples website, where I noticed a sale on Pilot writing instruments. Scrolling through the options, I discovered I could purchase a black Pilot Metropolitan for only $9, and I decided to give fountain pens another shot, envisioning how cool I would look notarizing documents. I ordered it, along with some blue-black cartridges for extra flair.
The pen arrived, and to my everlasting astonishment, the thing actually wrote. Even more importantly, it wrote really well (I'll write a more in-depth Metro review later). I was absolutely blown away by how smoothly and effortlessly the nib spread ink across the page. I'd never before had a writing experience actually worth calling an experience. I was in love.
Much like a lovestruck teenager, I began stalking fountain pens on the internet. Unsurprisingly, I began to feel a strange need to have more of them. I became completely hooked (or obsessed, as my wife kindly puts it).
And so began my journey from ignorance to fountain pen enlightenment. Someday I'll get there, and I decided to record my progress here on NibWise. I hope you enjoy.
