7 Fountain Pens Under $45 That You HAVE to See!

Drew shares his TOP 7 favorite fountain pens under $45 in this video, and puts some very popular pens head-to-head which ends up with a few hot takes!

LINKS TO PRODUCTS FEATURED:

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction
00:20 Kaweco Sport vs Perkeo
01:25 TWSBI SWIPE
02:25 Platinum Preppy vs Plaisir
03:02 LAMY AL-Star vs Safari
04:01 Pilot Kakuno
04:40 Pilot Explorer vs Metro
05:25 TWSBI Eco
06:23 Request for debate

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[Nickabod]

"All these pens cost less than a trip to Target to <air quotes> look around." Why you gotta call me out like that Drew?!? Geez!

[aravindvinayakan]

The Twsbi Eco is such a killer pen. Knowing all that I know how, if I had to start from scratch the Eco would hands down be my first pen.

[hannahmalcolm]

The video editing and zooming in on this video is so great, so much fun! I'm loving these videos from Drew.

[joanwerthman]

I think it’s terrific that you mention pens from the previous list that can compete with these more expensive options. I suggest when you’re done with each category, you make a video listing the repeating “stars” up from one section to the next. Those will be your ultimate top picks for each price range.

[loveisall]

Great part about these, for the newbies, is that no one need spend more money than this to get a great long-term friend and writing experience. I still have $1 Sheaffer fp's from the sixties that are still working like when I wrote with them in grade school back then. I prefer the Lamy Safari plastic to the metal version, and we are all blessed with our choices in TWSBI with those superb Jowo nibs.

[glldvmi]

100% agreed Drew. Drew needs a Late Night Show.

[laurielyon]

Drew…..you have to be one of the best..if not THE BEST presenter on any channel. You’re entertaining and informative. Clearly, you have a background in drama, right?

[slowfootlabeef]

The TWSBI swipe spring converter is also great for flushing the pen after use insuring a clean pen for your next ink!

[anguswhite]

My absolute favourite Pilot is the 78g EF from the Italian collection: for £15 you get that lovely, consistent EF nib; you get silver trim, you get the wonderful con40(know others hate this convertor but it holds loads of ink if you’re writing w EF nib) and love the blue/grey and olive green barrels - Kaweco & TWSBI make great pens but they write too broad for those of us w small handwriting:)

[larryterry]

Thanks, Drew. I’m a journalist, and my TWSBI ECO (RG, bold nib) is my daily-use pen. I can’t praise this pen enough.

[ZolaneG]

Love that Goulet Pen videos are always fun and informative! Thank you for all the time and effort put into each one!

[mikeerler]

Well, Drew nailed two of my favorites. I have 3 Twsbi Exo pens, and 3 Platinum Preppy pens. I was astonished with how smooth the Preppy fountain pens write, and there is always one inked in my daily use rotation.

[mannagrynet]

I got my Kaweco Sport and Perkeo at the same time and I love them both! The Perkeo in Jungle Green is a perfect (like truly perfect) color match for my sage leuchtturm notebook, which makes it extra fun to use. My personal favourite twsbi is the GO, it's so fast to clean compared to my other pens, and really comfortable to write with.

[Perktube]

Can you do a list of all pens that have air tight caps?

[QuirkyQuillify]

Love this kind of lists and Drew's shirt is always the highlight!
I bought my first Preppy about 10 years ago, I liked it well enough, but didn't feel the need to get into the hobby. I kept the ink in my preppy for two to three years and it never dried out. Then about two years ago, I decided to dive into the fountain pen world and got myself some Kakuno's in various nib sizes. They all wrote perfectly out of the box. I decided to move onto a Lamy Safari. My Lamy fine nib was very disappointing. It was scratchy, and had a ink flow issue. This scared me off buying pens for ten months. The bad Lamy quality control almost ruined my taste for fountain pens. Fortunately, I got myself a TWSBI Eco recently and absolutely loved it. Now I have more than sixteen pens in my growing collection.

[pamelahermano]

My favorite pen ever is a $150 Cdn Pilot Custom Heritage 92. So smooth and so fun to write with. Since I’ve found my “perfect pen” I don’t need anything more expensive than this. The Pilot Prera is my “go-to” cheaper pen alternative.

[abstractbybrian]

I’ve had both - Safari & Al-Star.
Kept my Safari
Got rid of my Al-Star
The aluminum looked to shiny
tinny.
Way to smooth
Couldn’t get a good grip.

The Safari
It had to be the black one
Satin matte like finish!
Textured for better grip.

Now after all that
I’ve been using the TWSBI Eco
1.1 italic nib
Diamine Red Dragon
So far it’s my go to

[bradle]

I love the Diplomat Magnum and it's so underrated. Shoutout to the Kaweco Sport, didn't expect to like it as much as I did and now it's my workhorse. Saving up for the carbon fiber version.

[MummyBrown]

Lamy AL-Star > Lami Safari, both as regular writers and as my art pens. I love them both, but I like the extra weight of the AL-Star. Another favorite is the EF Kaküno to replace my disposable 3mm fineliners in my art kit. I also use Noodler's Ahab and my Fude Duke pens for more dynamic sketches. I'm awaiting a special Jinhao X750 fitted with a G Zebra Flex Nib to round out my art collection.
I've taken more to expanding my collection in the way of art pens. I only recently purchased the TWSBI Eco with the Stub 1.1 nib as a regular writer and I'm IN LOVE. I'm already use to piston upkeep from owning my piston Noodler's so, as a result, I might give some shimmer inks a try for the first time ever. I haven't been this stoked to write in a long time! I might get another Eco or possibly the Swipe in the same Stub nib just to have on deck for another color, but we shall see what time tells.

[Jezee]

Love the Preppy, I've always had one in my arsenal and the nib is surprisingly one of my favourites to use.