My Favorite Pens Under $50!

[@LSWUK]

Hi Mike. I'm very impressed with the Wing Sung 698. The material quality feels great as well as being a smooth writer. A superb pen at just $20

[@catchacoolbreeze]

Best format of "top" picks I have seen. Love to hear about the pens that almost made the cut and your other categories. Fun!

[@inkdependence]

Wow, thanks! I appreciate it.

[@AnshShah1]

I understand no knockoffs but Penbbs makes original designs like the 456 which are high quality pens. Don't understand any reason to exclude it other than blind ignorance.

[@inkdependence]

I'm glad they're getting some original designs out there, but it's a brand that I stopped paying attention to due to their habit of copying other maker's designs. That sort of thing just isn't for me.

[@inkdependence]

You know what, I'm looking at their lineup right now, and aside from the obvious Namisu Ixion clone, they look pretty alright. I'll make a correction in the description.

[@pntm2006]

I was about to ask what has PenBBS cloned ? Even the 350 is debatable since Namisu is also said to be sourced from Suiyi pens which I think supply the 350 also. I think you have to give the brand a chance, it is on a trailblazing run

[@barbarawhipple6979]

Loved the video-hearing your favorites and why. Yes more videos like this. How about one on your 10 favorite BLUE inks?

[@inkdependence]

Oh man, that would be a hard video to make.

[@stanleysadventres]

Great video! I loved my Pilot Metro and I still use it a lot...

[@inkdependence]

Great! I'm all for people loving their pens.

[@amybrazelton6825]

Great video... totally agree TWSBI Eco is my fav for $50 and under!

[@rdeulen]

Love my Kaweco Perkeo pens Bad Taste and Blue Chambray. Do wish there were more nib choices or they were interchangeable. Also like Kaweco Sport with bold nib. Gave away the Magnum.

[@inkdependence]

You can pull the nibs out of the Perkeo, but it's not quite as easy as unscrewing an nib unit.

[@donhall-aquitania1025]

I love my TWSBI Mini AL with 1.1 mm Stub and feel like my pen search is done. I really enjoyed this video.

[@inkdependence]

That's a good pen. I don't actually have one of the Minis, but I do have a Vac Mini that I like a lot.

[@uaexemarat]

Jinhao doesn't make any original pens? Have you seen all the extreme pens they make?

[@inkdependence]

Oh, I'm sure they make some originals.

[@coffee-vz1nr]

i hate when people disregard knockoffs. like Jinhao makes really good pens. mechanical keyboard had the same shit circlejerk few years ago where gateron/kailh/outemu were looked down upon because they are cherry mx clones. Look at them now each one of these "copycat" brands are making switches miles better than cherry and cheaper too!

[@jamesaritchie1]

@@inkdependence Not "some", they primarily make orioginals, and only make a couple of knockoffs, that shouldn't even be counted as such. If superficial looks qualifies as being a knockoff, then Sailor, Namiki, Visconti, and a number of other high end companies should be ashamed because they make almost identical copies of pens other companies were making decades earlier.

[@jamesaritchie1]

@@coffee-vz1nr Not the same thing at all. True knockoffs are serious problem in many areas, and no problem at all in others. Companies, and individuals, put in an immense amount of time, effort, and money to develop a product, and they deserve to have that product protected from lazy ass, no-talent idiots who always want the lazy way out, even if it means stealing someone else's hard work. When something really is a true knockoff, which is simply a nice way of say theft by counterfeit, I have nothing but contempt for that company, or for individuals who take advantage of such theft. But with the "possible" exception of the Lamy Safari near lookalike, I don't think anything Jinhao makes rises to the level of knockoff. No one, anywhere, is going to mistake a Jinhao for another, more expensive pen, even at a casual glance, unless that person can't tell a Picasso from peanut butter.

[@peggywilliams8229]

I dont6 think he meant knockoffs but look alikes

[@ChrisSaenz13]

Very nice video! I think I'll be giving the Diplomat Magnum a try one of these days!

[@BrianChu]

I haven't tried them, but what about the Retro 51 fountain pens? I see them on the shallot for $44, and from my understanding, they now use Jowo.

[@inkdependence]

Gah! I forgot those, too!

[@simonmichaeltanner]

How about Parkers? I own everything, from a jotter to a Duofold, and have never had a single pen that didn't write beautifully smoothly straight out of the box. Haven't bought anything from the lower end for a while, but if I remember well, they have a couple of models in the sub-50 range

[@inkdependence]

The Jotter FP is under $50, but it must have slipped my mind when prepping for the video.

[@pandabear1447]

I bought a Faber Castell ambition not to long ago. And I absolutely love this pen. If they use the same nib in their loom, it's gonna be a great writing tool and amazing experience. Plus it's cheaper. Would be a good school pen.

[@mad0214]

Great picks. I have two ecos and have a feeling I'm not done. After starting with a jinhao before moving onto a MR and Ksweco Sport, I picked up the Eco as my fourth pen and I loved it. Looks great and I love the nibs. I would gladly have given up the three previous pens to keep the Eco. I didn't like the Go at first bc it would skip but I think it was just a dry ink. I put some blue water ice in it and that broad nib is perfect now. Also just got the magnum two weeks ago when I saw it on sale at PenChalet. I had hesitated bc I wasn't crazy about the design but wow was I wrong about it. It's a steal at $12 and we'll worth it at regular price. The nib is smooth and I like that the body is kind of soft.

[@inkdependence]

Thanks, Michael!

[@karlkunkel]

I agree that the TWSBI Eco is a great pen and very reliable. And the Go is the fastest, easiest filler I have ever used. I would probably add the Noodler’s Konrad and Ahab to the list, though.

[@inkdependence]

Oh man, the Ahab. I have at least three of them, and none of them are in usable order any more.

[@Anegar115]

My Ahabs are doing great. Using those large capacity refillable cartridges is a game changer.

[@Orochi_001]

I enjoy a Metro with a Plumix 1.1 italic nib, but the standard offerings do little for me. The Twsbi Eco is my favorite bargain stub by a large margin. I have a medium Loom on the way, and I’m pretty stoked about it.

[@gadgetstop321]

This was a fun video. I vote for more in this format.

[@robojimtv]

Yes. Do one in the 50-200 range

[@curtism5333]

Nice video. Informative. I’ve never really used any of the super cheap options but have at least one of each of your solid entry level pens. I too agree that the TWSBI Eco is hard to beat. It’s great to hold, the nib is great and it performs reliably. The FC Loom is also great but they’ve lately been getting more and more blingy. I never took to the Lamy Safari/Al Star cap design and in my experience they tend to dry start if left unused for a while.

[@inkdependence]

Yeah, the Lamy design is particular. I like the Gunmetal Loom, but the price jump seems weird to me.

[@sajjadhusain4146]

Enjoyed the video a lot, from start to finish. Never a dull moment with you Mike. Anyway, there’s so much to agree with what I saw and heard here. To sum up my own thoughts, I never did and still don’t like the Pilot MR, or the Lamy Safari/Al-Star. The only TWSBIs I like are the 580 and the Vac 700R. Some of the pens shown here I wouldn’t even want for free. My favourite pen

[@inkdependence]

Thanks! I've got the gunmetal/red Impressa, too, now that I think of it. I totally forgot that it fit in this price range. It's a sharp looking pen, for sure.

[@sajjadhusain4146]

Mike Matteson ..Ha, it really is a ‘sexy’ pen of sorts. Monteverde pens are very hit & miss stuff in my experience. Luckily the Impressa turned out a splendid buy. Love all your vids and reviews; this one’s topic, particularly, is always an intriguing one for newbies and vets alike. So many pens, so little time. 🙂

[@0xss]

Regarding the perkeo I didn’t get a bad nib per se, the feed was bad i guess. The ink used to stop flowing after writing a few sentences. Tried cleaning it thoroughly, used a different converter, cartridge, no avail.

[@pbpickett7210]

Glad to see that the Caran D'Ache 849 made your list. Love the smooth, medium steel nib.

[@AnzanHoshinRoshi]

Thank you, Mike. The TWSBI Go is hilarious but is a seriously good writer. LAMY Vista for me. I'd have some Noodlers in my own under $50 list.

[@inkdependence]

Yeah, I like the Vista, too. Mine is so beat up that I didn't want to put it on film!

[@nicolasbohnenberger7017]

Wish mine was too. My Go with an F nib is seriously dry. The only ink I have I managed to actually get it writing with is Noodler's Black.

[@collecter3456]

The twsbi go looks very nice, I might get it! I do like a lot of things about it, I especially like the milky white color of the plastic, and the chunkiness actually appeals to me, lol. I have been eying the pen since it came out, and you just reminded me of why I need to get it!

[@inkdependence]

Good! I like those things about it, too. It's weird, but I like the weirdness.

[@collecter3456]

Mike Matteson it looks vary comfy to write with. Like I said, I'll have to try them out! Especially their nibs, because I don't own a single twisbi!

[@monarchsfly8]

Hi Mike, I like looking at "Favorites" videos; so if you did more of these that would be great. Will you do a review of the Pilot Prera at some point? Or maybe a video of all of your Orange FPs? You made me consider getting that orange Eco. The Eco's are one of my favs. Ginger

[@AwesTube]

I honestly think the Plasir should have made the cut. It's not really the flashiest but it's one of the most reliable pens I have and it's a very comfortable weight for me.

[@inkdependence]

Yeah, I was torn on that one. It's a fine pen.

[@robojimtv]

Just a note: before the 540, the 530 was also a pen. Great video Mike as usual.

[@inkdependence]

Oh yeah? This might have started as a 530, then. The cap broke so long ago that I'd forgotten which it was. 😅

[@alextaplin7354]

PenBBS have a lot of original designs and so do Jinhao, and a lot of Jinhaos which are inspired by other pens have enough differences to make them their own design. I don't see what is wrong with the copying, they rants going to be taking away customers from other brands because of the huge difference in price and quality between the pen and what it is mimicking. China has really improved in supplying decently good affordable pens. But I guess if you don't like it then they can be on you favorites list.

[@jisa39]

The colour of the Caran d'Ache is it "Orange Fluorescent"?

[@inkdependence]

Yep, that sounds right.

[@jisa39]

@@inkdependence Thanks!

[@opensage01]

Great idea for a video. This kind of video is right up my alley. The only problem I have is that I really enjoy and only want nibs that write with very fine lines, so most western world pens write too thick of lines for me, even in fine nibs. That is way my favorite seem to be Japanese pens because those are all I really like using. I do like some of the Chinese pens, but for me Platinum is the best and Pilot a close second. Once again, great video. Thanks for sharing and cheers.

[@austin6982]

I really love your take on a favorites list! What do you think about doing a list for $50-$150 and $150+?

[@inkdependence]

Thanks! I might just do that.

[@barrylevitt1170]

Hi Mike, You may not be aware of this but the Pilot Metropolitan and the Pilot Prera share the same nib. Excellent format, I would like to see more of these break downs by price.

[@inkdependence]

Thanks! Yep, they totally do. That's one reason I was so surprised to find that I liked the Prera so much. The nibs I had on the MR were one of the things that kept me giving them away instead of keeping them.

[@inkdependence]

Yep, I liked the fine nib, so that's the one I still have. It's really much finer than I prefer, but it writes well. The mediums that I had from them were really bad, so I was surprised when I liked the Prera I have in hand. Interesting about the TWSBI F & EF nibs.

[@barrylevitt1170]

@@inkdependence I have one Metrolitan in a Medium and this nib was go to go out of the box, you must have received some defective ones. That is why I purchase all my steel nib pens from Goulet, they will exchange the pen for you, as you are aware of.

[@inkdependence]

I may have bought some of my early ones from them, but I don't remember. I think that, for a while there, I was a magnet for bad Pilot nibs. Every one that I got was terrible out of the box. Fortunately, I'm able to get those kinds of things fixed (or do it myself), but the Metro just isn't that comfortable to write with for me. I'm glad I could suck all of the bad nibs out of the market for everyone else. ;)

[@barrylevitt1170]

@@inkdependence I totally understand. My bad luck brand is Lamy. I purchased a Safari with a extra fine nib, I ended up going through 6 extra fine nibs that produced a ink line in medium, medium fine and fine but not one produced a extra fine line.. I really like the Safari design so I purchased a Jinhao 599A and put a Franklin Christoph JoWo extra fine nib on it.

[@ArjanD78]

I see an orangy kind of theme going on in your pens... I jumped on the TWSBI GO when they were released. I really like the concept, but I wished then that they came in all clear plastic. And now they do. Bummer

[@inkdependence]

I do like orange!

[@Nicenotherbaltea]

I like my Dollar (medium nib) pen. (£1.95 for two pens). I'm sometimes tempted to use other pens, thinking they must be better but I always end up returning to the Dollar.

[@harleyquiinnnn]

Well, if you tried a vintage pelikan pen once, you'd feel the difference :)

[@basicdose.9872]

Thanks Mike.

[@inkdependence]

You're welcome!

[@ClintEllis]

The MUJI fountain pen is quite nice. It's like $20. Nice minimal design and writes super consistently.

[@inkdependence]

I have one of those Muji pens, and it looks nice, but I kinda hate the way it feels. Gives me constant nails-on-a-chalk-board vibes.

[@TheDjubre]

@@inkdependence Is it Twsbi Eco better buy than Muji?

[@chrislj2890]

Love the Kaweco Perkeo and I recently got my third one, the new Retro Block red, white and blue version from Pen Chalet. I get only medium nibs and they are all smooth and consistent. I would ad the Jinhao X750 as a good choice that is cheap and comes in many finishes. I've never had a bad nib, although they are all mediums. I don't consider this to be a clone any more than all of the Japanese or European cigar shaped pens; it's just a very common style.

[@inkdependence]

I've got a couple of the x750 pens around here somewhere. One of them won't write at all and the other will write in fits and starts, but the paint started chipping off of it almost immediately out of the box. I don't think that one is a direct copy of anything, but I also don't care for it based on my experience.

[@CraftyMom15]

Nice video, enjoyed watching.

[@inkdependence]

Thanks so much!

[@TheMagicalSock]

I’m confused about your comments about PenBBS, Matt. Which of their pens do you consider knockoffs? Other than their super cheap pilot knockoff, I don’t know of any copycat pens they make. They are all original designs. Great video as always.

[@inkdependence]

I think it was the Namisu Ixion clone that they put out a while ago that turned me off of the brand. I don't know the number of that pen, but I wasn't happy about the copy.

[@binuraj9061]

I love the preppy especially the the grip with it's diameter. I wish it had some extra weight to it. Am planning to buy a converter and I wish to know if this would help me with any extra weight... Could you also please suggest few pens that matches this requirement of mine.. I mean preppy's grip diameter with little more weight..

[@tobymulder196]

Nice job, very well done.

[@inkdependence]

Thanks Toby!

[@MrMhornberger]

I love the Preppies, but unfortunately their new EF (02) nibs are less fine than the old ones. Very frustrating!

[@sofiamelo8980]

Mark Hornberger 😔😔😔😔

[@west7049]

I know it's a plastic fountain pen, but for $25 the Pelikan Pelikano is just as much fun or more as the Kaweco Perkeo. IMHO.

[@inkdependence]

I totally forgot about the Pelikano. I think I have one of the futuristic ones around somewhere. I remember that the clip broke off almost immediately, but that's about all I remember about it. :-P

[@west7049]

@@inkdependence Yeah, mine looks like a red mssile from Flash Gordon too. Pity the clip broke off. You'd think a student pen would be tougher.

[@CeruleanCzarina]

😮*gasps* at 'just don't love the Kaweco Sport'

[@inkdependence]

I like it, but I don't LOVE it. I do have several of them, though.

[@romanfedrich6967]

Criterion, criteria correction.

[@inkdependence]

Doh! Thanks.

[@romanfedrich6967]

Crierion + criterion + criterion + criterion = criteria.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Actually, there are two Pilot MR pens, one we can get in the US, and one that's only available in Europe. Favorite pens or not, anyone who thinks you can do better than the Pilot Cosmopolitan/MR for a couple of bucks more knows less about fountain pens than my cat knows about nuclear physics. He is a smart cat, but still. The Cosmopolitan is Pilot's loss leader in the US. Around the world, this pen costs as much as fifty-five dollars, and is considered a major bargain at that price. If you don't love Pilot nibs, even the cheap ones, you're a typical KZbinr who thinks every nib should be as smooth as butter. This is true, if you don't plan to use that pen very often. It's not only false, but true dumbassery, if you want a hardworking pen. Because know nothings have the silly idea that nibs should have zero feedback, this is what most companies sell to please them, and a full eighty percent of nibs, even on the ,most expensive pens, are over polished to the point that hard use will wear the nib out in as little as three years. No problem on a five dollar pen. More of a problem of a five thousand dollar pen. Personal taste certainly plays a large part in the fountain pen world. Frankly, I think most pens under a hundred dollars look and feel like cheap plastic crap that I could get at Walmart for five bucks. Or find at a rummage sale in a box labeled "take one". That orange pen of yours is, to me, as ugly as sin, and looks even cheaper. I just don't like paying more than a couple of dollars for fifty cents worth of plastic, and a nib that cost about two dollars, tops, and, on some of the cheaper under fifty dollar pens, might have cost as little as a quarter. This is personal taste. Nothing more. There are several pens in the two to three hundred dollar range I really like. After that, there isn't much I like under two thousand dollars. Yet I love the Cosmopolitan, and I love some of the Jinhao pens. Put a good nib on the Jinhao 450, 750, 950, or 8802, and they write as well as the most expensive pens I own, and look and feel like very, very expensive pens. They write extremely well, which is what counts most for me, they are, to my eye, beautiful, which also matters, and they feel good in my hand. I write a minimum of 2,500 words per day with a fountain pen, so these things really do matter. I also love the Cosmopolitan/MR. This is my giveaway pen. I've purchased at least three dozen of them. Probably more. I kept a dozen for myself, and gave the rest to anyone interested in learning about fountain pens. Whether you're a fan or not, the Cosmopolitan changed the fountain pen world. It's an extremely good, extremely well made fountain pen that is worth at least three times what it costs in the US. If you don't personally like it, that's fine, but when you say it isn't a good pen for beginners, you have taken four step into the Land of Dumbassery. It's not only a good pen for beginners, it's a good pen for anyone, at any stage, who wants a pen to actually use for years on end. As for Jinhao, only a few are knockoffs. If any really are. In fact, only a couple can be considered knockoffs at all, and even this is doubtful. Most of the best, and prettiest, Jinhao pens are originals. There are only so many ways to make a fountain pen, and even Sailor, Visconti, Namiki, and every other big, well-established fountain pen company make pens that look almost identical to pens that came before them. In fact, they not only look identical, they even have the same filling systems. If you call Jinhao pens knockoffs, then you're forced to call a fair number of pens costing thousands of dollars true counterfeits because they are far closer in every ways to pens other companies made decades earlier, or even currently, than Jinhao pens are to anything out there. What, they don't count as knockoffs because they cost five thousand dollars? The simple FACT is that Jinhao not only makes some of the best pens under fifty dollars, they also make some of the best pens under a hundred and fifty dollars. Even with a bad nib, it would cost as much as a hundred and fifty dollars to manufacture some of the Jinhao pens in the west, and more than fifty dollars for several other models. You might want to do some research and see how many people think Jinhao pens are worth putting gold nibs on. Particularly the ones with ceramic bodies, but also the 450 and 750. People compare the Jinhao 450 and 750 with the Pilot Cosmopolitan, but this isn't right. The Cosmopolitan is pilot's loss leader, and is sold in the US at a heavy loss, primarily because they needed a pen to draw in the barbarians. The Pilot MR as sold in Europe is a far better comparison. There, it's a fifty dollar pen that takes international cartridges/converters, just like the Jinhao that actually came first. Jinhao pens do suffer from lack of quality control, primarily with their nibs, but I've had some truly horrible nibs come on pens that cost as much as fifteen hundred dollars. But the Jinhao is worth doing some nib work on, and it's worth putting a new nib on, whether it's an eighteen dollar Goulet nib, or a hundred and thirty dollar gold nib, depending on the particular pen, your needs, and your budget. We all have our favorites, but when you dismiss a company as being knockoff pens when you don't have a clue what pens that company actually makes, where the designs come from, or even what qualifies as a knockoff, you stepped over the line. And when you say a pen like the Cosmopolitan/MR isn't something you would recommend to beginners because YOU don't like the nib, or because YOU don't like the stepdown, you aren't being very bright, and have allowed personal bias to replace common sense and objectivity.