Demonstrators

Previously, I wrote of my disappointment with Levenger's Decathlon Fountain Pen, which I returned because it did not live up to the "firm handshake" metaphor in the catalogue description. However, I read so many favorable reviews of the Levenger True Writer series, that I wanted to give them another try - and besides I have been very pleased with most other Levenger items. Correspondingly, I was becoming very intrigued by the idea of demonstrators and nearly bought a Pelikan or Sailor demonstrator but both were too pricey. Levenger put their colorful demonstrators with matching bottles of ink on sale, as if they read my mind and wanted to clinch my decision. It worked. I recently received a Lamy Vista demonstrator with a 1.1 Italic nib, which is filled with Waterman brown ink and so apart from the modern look and feel of the fountain pen, the result is something wonderfully antique in appearance. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed using so much ink and having that much color present while you write. I am usually just a black and white thinker and writer. The experience with the Lamy demonstrator compelled me to buy the red bold nib demonstrator from Levenger and I could not be more pleased. At a fourth of the price, the Fireball is much more satisfying than the Decathlon and the intensity of the red ink is as bold as the nib. Since the Levenger nibs are interchangeable, I am ordering a green and blue demonstrator from Levenger with a fine and medium nib to complete the set and add more colors and nib combinations. By the way the broad nib True Writer writes amazingly smoothly. That was such a success that I sent in one of my Pelikan 215 fine point nibs to ChartPak to be exchanged for a broad nib. Pelikans also simply unscrew and are interchangeable with one another. Plus ChartPak will exchange them for free!