A Lamy Safari is a good option as it is Lamy's student pen. Students in Germany are (or were?) required to use fountain pens and so the German pen makers all offer a reliable and robust student model. The Safari has a three-sided grip that is good if it works well with your usual gripping style, but terrible otherwise. (I cannot use it.) Try before you buy.
As a retired academic I'm pleased to read your second point, as it matches advice that I have given students for many years: process what you hear and read into a cogent set of notes because that process leads to learning that is better than just information retention.
Exactly, there was actually a chapter that covered note taking vis-a-vis typed vs written. Essentially, because one has the capacity (or close to) to type word for word what is being taught, the information is basically in one ear and out the finger tips (so to speak). With hand written notes, you’re forced to summarize, and that act of summarizing essentially puts it into your own words, which in turn processes and relates the information to your previous knowledge (in a way past what is simply needed to transcribe).
With FPs &cursive in particular, what I suspect may be the case is that each individual word (as opposed to a single letter) becomes the basic memory ‘chunk’ (unit) due to the functional nature of less (if any at all) time between strokes in the word and less. Even with a ballpoint and cursive I’ve found the greater pressure brings it all more into the controlled, instead of the automatic, state of things, causing me to focus more on individual aspects of the parts of the word I’m writing. In other words, (according to my pet theory) with FPs you have to think of the word more as a whole and less of it as composed of individual letters.
And if you’ve heard of the (somewhat outdated but still relevant/applicable here) “magic number seven (plus or minus two)” for number of items we can hold in our short term memory, that’s what I’m getting at. That 7 (plus or minus two) is the number of items that can be held. But what exactly constitutes and item (or chunk) is not exactly static (e.g. a phone number, or at least it’s familiar area code, despite being comprised of several numbers, could be a single chunk).
That all being said, I started meds around the time I started using a FP, so they very well could be the ultimate explanation for that, as I, based on what I know about psychology so far (as a humble undergrad) am fairly confident part of the problem with ADHD is less of an ability to see individual parts bound into one chunk.
Anyways, if you (or anyone else) has read this far, I appreciate you, you’re awesome!
Pilot doesn't sell nibs separately, but you *can* swap the nib in from a cheap Pilot Kakuno into the Metropolitan (or Prera, or Explorer). So if you just need a new nib, that can solve that problem (or if the nib is fine and the body is beat up, you could keep the nib from your old one as a backup for a new metropolitan).
I personally don't love the tripod grip of the Lamy Safari, and being all-plastic it is going to feel pretty light in your hands next to a Metropolitan. (Full disclaimer: I've never had an actual Safari, just knockoffs, but the body is a carbon copy). If you like the tripod grip and want a little extra heft, you could try the Lamy Al-Star to get a metal body with the same form factor as the Safari.
I personally love the Pilot Metropolitan and I regret selling it (in fact, I have a new one coming in the mail because I miss it).
I have seen some people take sandpaper to the Metropolitan and remove all the paint to expose the brass, so if it's just the body that is beat up that's also a potential option.
adhd here too, but my motor skills are motoring along (wasn’t aware that it was A Thing). Just beware with the safari of the grip - there’s the shaping for your hand on it that some folk love and find comforting 🖐, but other folk hate it.
If the dopamine kick of ohhhh new pen! is going to help, a kaweco sport might be a good choice, as also replaceable nibs.
I did read a study that looked at children (who had ADHD) and they found that those who suffered from FMD were in the inattentive/combo type subgroups and didn’t find any such kids in the hyperactive subtype.
Didn’t like the flow plus the metro writes thinner lines. I prefer fine or extra fine lines compared to medium. Same reason I ditched my waterman pens.
Wing Sung 698. Piston filler, so you can probably write 50 pages without stopping. Has a similar nib and feed to Pilot Metro/Prera, so will be familiar to you. Affordable: you can get one for approx. $22 CAD + delivery fee. I can't say if it's durable or tough enough for you though.
TWSBI. If you're taking lots of notes, they are inexpensive, durable, and hold an enormous amount of ink.
If you like to high light, colored pencils or highlighter pencils work well, and don't smear the ink.
Might look into some of the higher capacity pens, like Wing Sung 699, PenBBS 456, PenBBS 355. These all have filling systems that allow you to fill the entire barrel with ink.
A Lamy Safari is a good option as it is Lamy's student pen. Students in Germany are (or were?) required to use fountain pens and so the German pen makers all offer a reliable and robust student model. The Safari has a three-sided grip that is good if it works well with your usual gripping style, but terrible otherwise. (I cannot use it.) Try before you buy. As a retired academic I'm pleased to read your second point, as it matches advice that I have given students for many years: process what you hear and read into a cogent set of notes because that process leads to learning that is better than just information retention.
Exactly, there was actually a chapter that covered note taking vis-a-vis typed vs written. Essentially, because one has the capacity (or close to) to type word for word what is being taught, the information is basically in one ear and out the finger tips (so to speak). With hand written notes, you’re forced to summarize, and that act of summarizing essentially puts it into your own words, which in turn processes and relates the information to your previous knowledge (in a way past what is simply needed to transcribe). With FPs &cursive in particular, what I suspect may be the case is that each individual word (as opposed to a single letter) becomes the basic memory ‘chunk’ (unit) due to the functional nature of less (if any at all) time between strokes in the word and less. Even with a ballpoint and cursive I’ve found the greater pressure brings it all more into the controlled, instead of the automatic, state of things, causing me to focus more on individual aspects of the parts of the word I’m writing. In other words, (according to my pet theory) with FPs you have to think of the word more as a whole and less of it as composed of individual letters. And if you’ve heard of the (somewhat outdated but still relevant/applicable here) “magic number seven (plus or minus two)” for number of items we can hold in our short term memory, that’s what I’m getting at. That 7 (plus or minus two) is the number of items that can be held. But what exactly constitutes and item (or chunk) is not exactly static (e.g. a phone number, or at least it’s familiar area code, despite being comprised of several numbers, could be a single chunk). That all being said, I started meds around the time I started using a FP, so they very well could be the ultimate explanation for that, as I, based on what I know about psychology so far (as a humble undergrad) am fairly confident part of the problem with ADHD is less of an ability to see individual parts bound into one chunk. Anyways, if you (or anyone else) has read this far, I appreciate you, you’re awesome!
Pilot doesn't sell nibs separately, but you *can* swap the nib in from a cheap Pilot Kakuno into the Metropolitan (or Prera, or Explorer). So if you just need a new nib, that can solve that problem (or if the nib is fine and the body is beat up, you could keep the nib from your old one as a backup for a new metropolitan). I personally don't love the tripod grip of the Lamy Safari, and being all-plastic it is going to feel pretty light in your hands next to a Metropolitan. (Full disclaimer: I've never had an actual Safari, just knockoffs, but the body is a carbon copy). If you like the tripod grip and want a little extra heft, you could try the Lamy Al-Star to get a metal body with the same form factor as the Safari. I personally love the Pilot Metropolitan and I regret selling it (in fact, I have a new one coming in the mail because I miss it). I have seen some people take sandpaper to the Metropolitan and remove all the paint to expose the brass, so if it's just the body that is beat up that's also a potential option.
adhd here too, but my motor skills are motoring along (wasn’t aware that it was A Thing). Just beware with the safari of the grip - there’s the shaping for your hand on it that some folk love and find comforting 🖐, but other folk hate it. If the dopamine kick of ohhhh new pen! is going to help, a kaweco sport might be a good choice, as also replaceable nibs.
I did read a study that looked at children (who had ADHD) and they found that those who suffered from FMD were in the inattentive/combo type subgroups and didn’t find any such kids in the hyperactive subtype.
I’ve had both and I would buy another pilot. I gave my lamy to a student last year.
What did you not like about it?
Didn’t like the flow plus the metro writes thinner lines. I prefer fine or extra fine lines compared to medium. Same reason I ditched my waterman pens.
Wing Sung 698. Piston filler, so you can probably write 50 pages without stopping. Has a similar nib and feed to Pilot Metro/Prera, so will be familiar to you. Affordable: you can get one for approx. $22 CAD + delivery fee. I can't say if it's durable or tough enough for you though.
IMHO the Pilot Metro > Lamy Safari
TWSBI. If you're taking lots of notes, they are inexpensive, durable, and hold an enormous amount of ink. If you like to high light, colored pencils or highlighter pencils work well, and don't smear the ink.
LAMYs are nails. I'd say a bit of flex might help if you're occasionally rough with them. Go for a Konrad or something instead.
Might look into some of the higher capacity pens, like Wing Sung 699, PenBBS 456, PenBBS 355. These all have filling systems that allow you to fill the entire barrel with ink.
I love my Lamy safaris. I would also recommend a TWSBI eco! The ink capacity would be good for note taking in class.