Nib | left handed | does a left-handed nib make any difference?

What do I have in common with Leonardo Da Vinci, Marilyn Monroe, Jack The Ripper and .... Chewbacca?

No, we don't all share the same star sign.  No, we don't all have to shave our legs with a chainsaw (although two of us might).

We are all left-handers.

One of the concerns I had before buying my first fountain pen was whether I was actually going to be able to write with it. Would my hand trail through the ink, leaving a smudgy illegible mess on the paper?

Some lefties write with a 'hook' that would make a pirate proud.  Here's CNN footage of a famous 'hooker'.  No, not the one with Hugh Grant.




Will a left-handed NIB be the very thing to rescue my new inky habit from the rocks of illegibility?

I've already got THREE Lamy pens - An Al-Star in gorgeous Pacific, a Safari in Petrol and a see-through Vista so I decided to be sensible and order a left-handed nib and simply swap one out on my existing pens.

How very sensible of me!

I bought the left-handed nib from Bureau Direct and selected the 'black' option to help me identify it amongst my ever-growing collection of pens.

Hmmmmm - never changed a nib before.

How hard can it be?  *remembers saying this before some cataclysmic gaffes*

I guess that you SHOULD empty your pen and prepare properly, but I simply grabbed the sides of the existing steel nib on my Lamy and pulled with hardly any effort and the nib slipped right off.  I placed the black LH nib on the feed and pushed back into place and lo! it slid on smoothly.

Using my little Rhodia journal, I wrote a sentence with the Lamy with the LH nib and one with another Lamy with a Fine nib.  Was there any difference? I think that it was marginally less scratchy-feeling on the paper, but only because I was really concentrating on the experience.  The Lamy with the ordinary F nib also wrote like a dream.

If I was to do it blind-fold, I probably wouldn't be able to tell you which pen I was writing with, from the difference the nib made.

Why yes, I've got a cardboard Tom Hiddleston. You've no idea how useful he is :D 

So, does a leftie need a left-handed nib?

Dear leftie brethern and sistern, no, you don't need to buy a left-handed nib in your fountain pen, BUT if you were buying a Lamy as a present for a friend whom you know is left-handed, it is a really thoughtful option to order your gift with a left-handed nib.

Be the friend that CARES that little bit extra :D

*** EDIT *** We are now three months down the line and I've been using my Lamy with the left-handed nib more and more.  It DOES make a difference having a lh nib when you are using your pen a great deal.  I'll be buying more for my other Lamy pens!