You can get a Pilot Metropolitan from Amazon for about $14, and there are other fountain pens that are a little cheaper. It’s not like you need to spend $120 to start trying.

I started maybe two years ago with a set of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens that I bought from Amazon for $9 or so. I liked the feeling so when one of them started to run low on ink I decided to buy a ‘real’ (non-disposable) fountain pen.

That was when I found the Metropolitan. If I’d known I could’ve bought a pen for so little I would’ve bought that instead of the disposable ones to start.

They’re so much smoother to write with and don’t require anywhere near as much pressure as a ball point pen. I’ve started thinking about improving my cursive because of playing with fountain pens.

If you do any writing at all, give it a try. I use mine at work for taking notes in meetings.