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A community member
Aug 9, 2017
So this will be my first fountain pen. I also bought the ohta fountain pen. Will there be much of a difference?
skrooks
89
Aug 13, 2017
As others have noted, the breather hole on the cap may cause the ink to dry out rather quickly. If the nib dries out, you can briefly run it under a stream of water to rehydrate it, then scribble a bit to get ink flowing again. I like pretty much every change they've made to the Parker Urban, but that breather hole is almost a deal breaker for me. I've been meaning to try some lubricated inks such as Monteverde or the Noodler's Eel series to see if it would make much of a difference.
The OHTO pens take standard international short cartridges, but they're too short for most standard international converters. The Parker Urban uses a proprietary cartridge and converter. I'm pretty sure the Parker Urban can also use Lamy cartridges, but not the Lamy converters since the knob is a bit too big to fit in the pen body.
If you're looking for another good starter pen, I highly recommend the following: * Pilot Metropolitan - $15, great nib, proprietary cartridge, comes with a CON-20 squeeze converter, CON-40/50 converter available separately, metal body * Lamy Safari - $29.60, triangular grip (some love it, some hate it), proprietary cartridge, Lamy Z-24/26/28 converter available separately, plastic body * TWSBI Eco - $29, piston filler (no cartridges), relatively high ink capacity (about 2.5x more than standard international short cartridge), clear "demonstrator" plastic body
Bailey2013
188
Oct 11, 2017
skrooksfunny that I have owned all three of your suggested starter pens, but none of them appealed to me. I would add the undervalued Faber Castell Loom, best steel nib at this price range. However, the absolute best steel nib pen is my diplomat excellence,(ordered from MD)
MichiganViking
1
May 10, 2018
skrooksI, like you, have a love affair with exceptional fountain pens. After reading your comments, I wanted to tell you what solid advice you just gave. If I were just starting out, those reviews would have charted out a great beginner's collection. Well done.