Best fountain pen for £20 or less

[Thekormachameleon]

I want to buy a friend a small cheer up gift.
She's a keen keeper of a journal and I know she loves pens - can anyone recommend a decent fountain pen for £20 or less, ideally a pretty one 😊

www.cultpens.com/i/q/OH10181/ohto-tasche-fountain-pen-ff-10t

www.cultpens.com/i/q/LM71335/lamy-safari-candy-2020-special-edition-fountain-pen-violet

They sometimes have nice ones on the tk maxx website which come in a fancy box. Nina ricci etc

What a wonderful cheer up present! I'd recommend the Kaweco sport - I have about five of them now because they're addictive, and they come in so many colours!

Most of them are under £20 - www.cultpens.com/s?q=Kaweco+sport+fountain+pen

My most recent is the iridescent one and it's gorgeous - www.cultpens.com/i/q/KW94240/kaweco-collection-fountain-pen-iridescent-pearl

I always go for a double broad nib, but the broad and medium are also very nice to write with. They take standard international cartridges :)

Thanks for all the links

Any thoughts on the lamy safari ?
Or the waterman allure ?

Lamy safari is also lovely to write with but only takes lamy cartridges, or bottled ink in a converter. Not a bad thing necessarily, and they are more normal sized pens and come in pretty colours!

Waterman allure I've never used so no help there 🤣

Slightly over budget but these TWSBI eco pens are lovely]

Lamy Safari pens write really well, have a good shaped grip section and are quite chunky. They also have a replaceable nib for in case it gets broken.

I have just bought this though www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09PFR1MHS?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title and it's lovely.

Place marking

I love pens, I have Lammy, Noodler and crosses but my all time favorite is a new comer, Preppy.

They come in various colours and you can get in in those colours

They are about £5 so with £20 I'd get two and some spare in cartridges. I was actually shocked how nice they are to write with, I only bought one because I wanted purple ink and a purple pen.

www.whsmith.co.uk/search/?q=preppy&cgid=&category=All

www.cultpens.com/i/q/PT10726/platinum-preppy-fountain-pen-03-fine

Place marking!

I’d also recommend cult pens. In fact if you put in fps, select low to high, there’s some bangers under 20. Schneider is ultra cheap, but lovely to write with, then you can get her some diamine cartridges in fun colours. The kaweco sport is nice, but the fine nib is very fine, as is the Preppy.
But be warned, we don’t call it Crack Pens in our house for nothing!

Cult pens are great aren't they ? I love Kaweco Sport too and you can get a nice tin with it. You can get some of their models personalised too.

I love Cult Pens. I sometimes look at the really expensive £150+ pens and wonder if anyone actually orders them without trying the nib, though. So much comes down to that writing 'feel', and it can vary from pen to pen: I've got a handful of Kaweco Perkeos and one of the Fine nibs is perfect - perfect! - and the rest run a bit dry. Ditto with one Medium nib. There are some pen rental sites where you can roadtest the more expensive brands, but the registration seems a bit complicated and it's put me off!

All my favourites are here! Lamy Safari, Kaweco Sport and Preppy all great. I use the Preppy pens for multiple colours, as they are so cheap.

I have two Wordsworth & Black. They're slightly over your budget as they're £23.95 but they feel a bit weighty like the fountain pens I used to have at school. I've tried cheap ones in the past but they felt plastic-y and too light (not saying the ones pp have recommended are like this!)

Wordsworth & Black Fountain Pen Set, Medium Nib, Includes 6 Ink Cartridges and Ink Refill Converter, Gift Case, Journaling, Calligraphy, Smooth Writing Pens [Silver Chrome], Perfect for Men and Women amzn.eu/9wOmgOS

This one is on my wishlist,and like the Wordsworth, comes in lots of colours. The only drawback with this one is it takes Chinese standard cartridges not the usual short international standard ones (the Wordsworth takes the international ones, the kind you can buy in bulk for cheap at any pound shop etc)

Matte Black Forest Fountain Pen Medium Nib Classic Design with Converter and Metal Box Set by Hongdian amzn.eu/1v1n6p3

I didn't realise the Lamy pens were plastic when I commented previously. Your friend may not have a preference or maybe prefer the lightness of plastic ones. I much prefer the feel of metal pens though.

I've just bought this www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353161560288 for £6.99 and was surprised at how good it is for the money. It has a siphon filler, so you also need ink (not a problem in this house). It has a nice weight, and the grip isn't too wide.

Cross pens are very high quality.

@Athenajm80 Lamy also do metal pens - I like their Studio range ball pens. They feel wonderful to write with but are a bit more expensive, unless you can find one on ebay.