Platinum Preppy vs Pilot Falcon

Again, though, not going for pretty or sexy. I just want a decent writer that won't break the bank if it has to be replaced. The price of the converter was more than the pen, but because it allows me to use whatever ink I want I have no complaints about that. My total cost for pen and converter was less than $15

I expected a pen of this price to be made with quality material and to write beautifully. This pen did neither. This pen is made out of plastic, thick plastic but plastic nonetheless. I have never had a fountain pen write so scratchy before in my life

Due to an incident in class where the ink exploded over my hand, I've been wary to bring it with me back to the lecture hall. I've read also that Noodler's Black writes dry (in my limited experience, this is the case) paired with the Lamy Safari. I use the Safari mostly for penning long writings in my notebook, but since I do it infrequently, I find myself needing to change out the ink in the Safari since it's dried out since last use. Platinum's slip and seal mechanism is a useful tool since it keeps away ink evaporation

.i think it might be the ink type or the rotary mechanism not providing consistent ink feed to the nib :( looses a star on the review for that till i find a solution (might try refilling the empty plastic cartridges manually with a needle)

Otherwise, go back to ballpoint, but know that you really didn’t engage with fountain pen in the way that’s intended.

All that said, among the most reliable modern soft nibs (i.e., have some flexibility when you write, although not up to dip nib standards) are Pilot’s Falcon (FA) nibs, soft fines, and soft extra fines. The Pilot Falcon with a SEF nib might be a decent balance for you between everyday usability for general writing and expressive line variation

Personally I find the low weight makes me prone to twist it in my fingers a bit, which is bad when it comes to a precise fountain pen with a small sweet-spot.

The weight is fairly light as might be expected for a resin body. The Con-50 converter for bottled ink works well.