I have used fountain pens on and off for 20 years. A few years ago, I discovered the fountain pen community on Reddit and immediately needed to buy a few must-have pens. I got to try a Lamy Safari, a Kaweco Sport, a TWSBI Eco, a Pilot Metropolitan, a Pilot Custom 74, a Lamy 2000, and a few Chinese knock-offs. For a long time now, I have thought that the Amber Pilot Custom 823 was the perfect pen. But going from a Lamy Safari to a Pilot Custom 823 is more than a 10x jump in price. At some point, everyone will reach diminishing returns and that line will be different for everyone.

I recently decided that the TWSBI Eco is the perfect trade-off of price and performance. This was triggered by the purchase of a Lamy 2000. The 2000 is an excellent pen but it’s not several hundred dollars excellent. The Lamy Safari is great for the $35 it costs: I like the look and feel of the Lego plastic but it dries out too fast and the nib is meh. The TWSBI Eco has a much nicer nib, doesn’t dry out ever, and it’s only $50. It looks cool with all the ink sloshing around inside and it feels nice in the hand. The Lamy 2000 is nicer but only maybe 20% nicer? I sold it because I couldn’t justify the cost.

The TWSBI Eco is a great deal in my book. I haven’t had any cracking issues or anything. It starts perfectly every time. It looks great. I think it’s the perfect every day pen that doesn’t break the bank. It would be my top recommendation to anyone who wants to try a fountain pen and I would happily buy another one if I were to lose it.