FP101: Fountain Pens for Lefties

www.GouletPens.com I started a Fountain Pen 101 Series more than three years ago, and ever since then at GouletPens.com we've been getting asked about doing one especially for left-handed fountain pen users. It's a great idea...but I'm definitely not a lefty! Well, we've talked to a lot of lefties and put together the best information we could (with some left-handed chicken-scratch to demonstrate). Enjoy! Shop at GouletPens Store: http://www.GouletPens.com Read GouletPens blog: http://www.blog.gouletpens.com Like GouletPens on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGouletPenCompany Follow GouletPens on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GouletPens Follow GouletPens on Instagram: http://instagram.com/gouletpens Follow GouletPens on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/gouletpens/

Comments

1. I am left handed but my pen only works well for my right hand but my writing with my right hand is horrible
2. By the way, Brian, I am a hook-handed lefty, and my Konrad flex nib is one of my favorite pens. I think the reason for this is that it depends on the angle that the feed hits the paper relative to which way I "push" the pen. I don't push the pen in parallel with the feed, so I don't get the same problem that you're showing. Another thing is that I have practiced "flexing" the nib on the upstroke rather than the down stroke. So my writing has a particularly different look than most flex nib writing. It's actually kind of cool :)
3. I am using this video to get my left-handed brother into fountain pens but finally learning the origins of 'southpaw' made this video totally worth watching. Great job as always.
4. I'm left-handed but I have trained myself to use my right hand when I use fountain pens. This is a decision I made after watching this video. I realized that I just did not want to be limited in the kinds of pens and inks I could use. It's been only about two months and I can already write comfortably and neatly with my right hand. The only thing that's taken longer to get good at is writing fast but I'm slowly getting better even with that. Try your other hand. It takes some time to adjust, but not as much time as you might think.
5. I'm overwriter and have 0 complains with smearing since i use Medium lamy 2000 and i avoid this. But im very obses with writing as smooth as i can. The problem is i want pens which have a little springy nib. So , do you think i should go to underwriting? I want to max the pull and min. the push. so i can write with springy nibs. I have a m1000 and its not the best experience since is very easy to open the tines writing... :/ SORRY for my bad english!
6. I'm an over-writer and I turn the paper the other way from the video. I do drag my hand but it doesn't come in contact till about the 5th line behind. by which point its completely dry.
7. Right handed, came here for information on fast drying inks and paper for quick note takers and found that informative section really useful also I hadn't realised you had a fast drying ink sample kit or considered using the notepaper sample pack so thanks for the suggestion! Also even as a right handed I still found all the information on how people write really interesting and makes me reconsider how I write a bit more and exactly how your position and angle of the pen can affect your writing (newbie to fountain pens so still not used to analysing my writing style), so thanks for the info. :)
   
   On another note you mentioned one of the fast drying inks being water proof, so I was wondering if there are any fast drying ink that are permanent and how do I figure out what inks are permanent? Coming from ball point pens I'm used to always assuming my ink is permanent however so far when I look at fountain pen ink it seems to aim more towards the non permanent ink unless stated otherwise point of view at least to my understanding of things. Also I was wondering how permanent are non permanent inks? I ran across a comment once about inks fading after a few months or after being left in the sun light, would that be something that happens with all regular fountain pen inks and if so how do you protect against this? Also I've been wondering how water proof should you expect a non water proof ink to be? Is regular sweat like a sweaty arm be an issue (hot climate over here) or just when you want to protect from the possible rain shower or spilled water? Sorry, wandering a lot off topic but basically how does fountain pen ink behave differently from the now common ball point pen ink and possible issues and differences a newbie to the fountain pen world should be aware off?
8. At first I thought you had a lined post it note taped to your shirt
9. For papers, Fabriano Eco-Qua absolutely drinks ink without any real feathering or bleed.
10. I've trained myself to write under-hand and honestly I rarely smear. While I typically use fine nibs, I have no problem with mediums or any ink I've used so far, even on ink-resistant paper. Though maybe it's due to my obsession with Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo, a fantastic ink with fantastic dry time!
    To any side/over writing lefties out there, I heavily recommend the Pilot Metropolitan!
11. So I am new to the fountain pen hobby, and I am left handed, but that's not the worst of it... I am definitely a side writer, but I write with two fingers attempting the tip of the pen instead of one, thus making my hand very cramped and closed as I write. I have tried writing with only one finger at the pen's tip, but my hand writing looks very sloppy... as a junior in high school, neat hand writing is kind of a necessity. Also, I recently purchased a pilot varsity pen for roughly $5 at a local craft store. I know it is a cheap pen, but it is the only thing I have right now. I am also not looking to get seriously invested in fountain pens either. I do not have that much money. Any advice helps...
12. I'm a rightie side writer ;)
13. Brian on my part I also left and I have some care when choosing a pen, for example, the grip should be plastic so that I will not fall, on my way to pick up the pen, in addition to be careful with my hands not to run ink, the left must adapt to a world of rights, hahahaha, between brands of pens that use is Pilot (Metropolitan love), Parker, of which I have an old Jotter, very soft in his writing and Cross do not have problems because the grip of them are all made of plastic, with treatment inks use fast drying, including Pelikan 4001, Cross, Schneider and Parker Quink, are the ones that work best with me, and paper obviously Rhodia XD, Greetings the Goulet family from Chile
14. as a lefty side writter, I can say that lamy ink has a good time of dry because the ink has never swapped me in my hand (sorry if something words have no sense, because I don't speak english, I'm from Mexico :v)
15. I mostly am an underwriter AND an overwriter. Kinda just depends on what I'm doing.
    I'll try to focus more on underhanded writing from here on out. I am just getting into fountain pens.
16. I'm lefty hook writing style and I actually turn my paper over to the left. so I'm almost completely on the other side of my letters. I was shocked when I found out lefties turn it to the right side. I tried it and I absolutely hate it. but the flow of a fountain pen is actually fairly well
17. I'm an underwriter. I honestly don't have a problem with fountain pens at all - no need for special nibs, though Medium is fine. I use mostly Pilot Iroshizuku and Noodler's Inks. I do rotate my pad 45 degrees when using calligraphic hands and dip pens. The paper sampler is well worthwhile; a nice, smooth paper helps a lot, so it's worth finding one you really like. I love flex nibs: News to me they are problematic for Lefties! Perhaps I'm an exception, but I actually prefer a Zebra G in any pen. Again - all about preference and what works!
18. I'm hook handed and I tend to hold my pen a little further away from the grip so my pen is held at a better angle.
19. im a lefty, i turn the paper counter clockwise. its true, it gets a little scratchy with a fine nib.
20. A fountaing pen I tried out that really impressed me is the STABILO EASYbirdy. There are both left and right handed version, with a rollerball version to. I was really impressed with comfortable it was to use. The ink is also non smudge. I include a link to both the manufacturer (https://www.stabilo.com/uk/product/1995/writing/stabilo-easybirdy) and a description of the pen from WDG website (http://ifworlddesignguide.com/entry/147208-stabilo-easybirdy). The pens are supposedly for children (7+) to learn how to hold a pen, but I’ve found this pen to be excellent. The nib can be fitted at three different angles to provide the best individual hand posture, which are 0, -1 or -2. I found for myself that the -1 pen works the best for me.