[Closed] What fountain pen, for a kid?

Sheaffer, Cross or Parker?

Have you checked out www.penisland.com?

I spent most of my youth receiving various Parker Jotter series items from relatives for birthdays / Christmas / passing exams type presents. I always liked them. Now I find the Parker Urban pens really nice to use.

Lamy do some decent pens with slightly less trad designs in the £20-£30 range.

Have a look at the Cult Pens website. Lots to choose from on there

CultPens seconded.

I have a Graf von Faber Castell which I like, and I did buy for herself a nice KaWeCo Sport fountain pen which she likes as well.

Lamy. I love their pens and use them daily. Well made, comfortable to hold and a nice smooth nib.

Just a shame they don't (officially) fit international standard cartridges.

A kid?

Are we talking 8, 18 or a baby goat?

When I was 11-13, I was using Parker fountian pens at school, the ones that took cartridges. Ink wells = mess and wouldn't be welcome at school. Probably not worth spending more than that, even if you wanted to.

I had a really nice Tombow pen - a bit heavier than some, but felt nice in the hand; eventually the snap fit for the lid wore out, .  Pens can be a very personal thing, what with different weights, thicknesses etc.

I wouldn't go Sheaffer as (I think) they don't take international cartridges, which limits colour choice  - I buy multi-colour packs of cartridges and work my way through them

I currently have a Waterman which is supposed to take international cartridges, but they're a really tight fit and I can't get a spare in the barrel (which I could on almost all previous 'international' type pens).  But it feels nice when writing, which is more important

As mentioned by toby above, the Parker Jotter is a good one, or the Vector and can be had for around £10, slightly more for brushed alloy ones.

Lamy also make some nice ones, and the Safari range come in colours ranging from subtle to bright pink, yellow or green which might appeal. I had an Al-Star which is an aluminum version of a Safari but found it a bit top heavy with the cap posted on the top (which I do so I don't loose it) so might not be the best for someone younger as it might put them off using it. You can also buy replacement nibs of differing widths or replace if worn or bent for a couple of quid.

Get a set of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Platinum-Preppy-Rainbow-Fountain-Point/dp/B00IU3US7O/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1543929939&sr=8-11&keywords=preppy+pens

Jinhao pens are great value, loads to choose from under a tenner. Most come with a converter so you can use ink from a bottle.

Lamy have some good value pens too.

Another vote for cult pens. I have a nice pocket pen by cultpens/kaweco which has a nice nib and is quite small. Pocket pens will never be very big so quite suitable for smaller hands. Also think about what ink they will use. I prefer refillable rather than cartridges purely so I can vary the ink colours easier. Certain brands can be quite limiting on this. Also having interchangeable nibs can be an advantage if they like to write or draw with a fountain pen.

Thanks so much for your advice everyone.

The Lamy Safari seems just right, comes in her favourite colour, and even has a left-handed nib option (which I'd forgotten she'd prefer until I saw it). Perfect, got that from Cult Pens along with a large heap of cartridges for her.

From experience of being left handed and having to learn with a fountain pen, don't other with the left handed nib.

[edit] oops, too late!

Lamy.

I went in to a fancy pen shop to get myself a nice pen. Money wasn't an issue, but wanted something that wrote well and handled nicely.

I tried quite a few and walked out with a cheap plastic Lamy. It still looks good 20 years later and still writes nicely.

My kids now have all my "expensive" pens.

Lamy was the correct choice.

A Lamy from Cult Pens.

Visiting their site can get expensive if you are N+1 about having something nice to write with.