Fountain Pen confessions

[ppmiranda]

First post and a confession: I'm using an ink color I don't like everyday in order to empty it's bottle so I don't have to use it ever again.

I may be cheap, but I can't simply throw it away and I don't gift something I don't personally like. That's the only way to get rid of it I could think of.

[bluesea]

Daydreaming about Christmas-gifting myself a matte black Vanishing Point.

[View from the Loft]

I may be cheap, but I can't simply throw it away and I don't gift something I don't personally like. That's the only way to get rid of it I could think of.

Welcome.

Ah, but that's the beauty of FPs and ink. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not perfect for someone else (who may be looking for that ink already).

There are some excellent guilt free ways of passing on ink you don't like.

1) putting a 5ml sample of it in a starter set (we regularly make up starter sets for those that have tried our children's pens at school/college/uni - even teachers)
2) trading ink samples or offering them as PIF (pay it forward) on here
3) swapping bottles at FP gatherings or posting a WTT (want to trade) on here

So go on, give it a go. You can pass that ink on, and find one you enjoy more.

[reprieve]

I may be cheap, but I can't simply throw it away and I don't gift something I don't personally like. That's the only way to get rid of it I could think of.

Welcome.

Ah, but that's the beauty of FPs and ink. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not perfect for someone else (who may be looking for that ink already).

There are some excellent guilt free ways of passing on ink you don't like.

1) putting a 5ml sample of it in a starter set (we regularly make up starter sets for those that have tried our children's pens at school/college/uni - even teachers)
2) trading ink samples or offering them as PIF (pay it forward) on here
3) swapping bottles at FP gatherings or posting a WTT (want to trade) on here

So go on, give it a go. You can pass that ink on, and find one you enjoy more.

This is great advice, and I agree whole-heartedly. Someone else may absolutely love the ink that you hate! Trading samples or swapping bottles is a great idea; you won't waste the ink and you and your trade partner will end up with a color that you actually like to use.

[southpaw52]

Esterbrooks, just keep showing up.

[fkulv]

I started to write with FPs because I cannot stand how inconsistent everyday ballpoints lay down ink. The microscopic gaps in ink drive me crazy. They are usually not even that noticeable, but, I can see them... lurking... waiting... You know what I'm talking about.

[Dreck]

I may be cheap, but I can't simply throw it away and I don't gift something I don't personally like. That's the only way to get rid of it I could think of.

Welcome.

Ah, but that's the beauty of FPs and ink. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not perfect for someone else (who may be looking for that ink already).

There are some excellent guilt free ways of passing on ink you don't like.

1) putting a 5ml sample of it in a starter set (we regularly make up starter sets for those that have tried our children's pens at school/college/uni - even teachers)
2) trading ink samples or offering them as PIF (pay it forward) on here
3) swapping bottles at FP gatherings or posting a WTT (want to trade) on here

So go on, give it a go. You can pass that ink on, and find one you enjoy more.

This is great advice, and I agree whole-heartedly. Someone else may absolutely love the ink that you hate! Trading samples or swapping bottles is a great idea; you won't waste the ink and you and your trade partner will end up with a color that you actually like to use.

I heartily concur. I've engaged in a couple trades and there was much rejoicing all the way around. You'd be surprised at the range of favorite inks around here. Chances are that whatever you have and hate is something that someone else loves and wants.

[Chrissy]

First post and a confession: I'm using an ink color I don't like everyday in order to empty it's bottle so I don't have to use it ever again.

I may be cheap, but I can't simply throw it away and I don't gift something I don't personally like. That's the only way to get rid of it I could think of.

Life is far too short to use up an ink that you don't like by using it every day so that you never have to use it again. I agree with the advice you've been given. Someone else would probably love to write with this ink, and would probably be prepared to swap samples with you. Then you might find inks that you do like, and maybe you would at least enjoy trying them out.

Honestly, it's really not a case of not gifting something that you don't personally like. It's a case of finding an ink that you do like for yourself.

[Jon Szanto]

I can't lie, this hits home...

[DASEFnib]

Esterbrooks, just keep showing up.

....And....I just bought a new 32-pen storage case....Gotta fill it now....
Those empty spaces ......might.....ummmm....hurt someone if they fell in...
YEAH! THAT'S IT!!
More Esties!! YESTERDAY!!

Always try to get the dibs....on fountain pens with EF nibs!!

[ppmiranda]

I may be cheap, but I can't simply throw it away and I don't gift something I don't personally like. That's the only way to get rid of it I could think of.

Welcome.

Ah, but that's the beauty of FPs and ink. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's not perfect for someone else (who may be looking for that ink already).

There are some excellent guilt free ways of passing on ink you don't like.

1) putting a 5ml sample of it in a starter set (we regularly make up starter sets for those that have tried our children's pens at school/college/uni - even teachers)
2) trading ink samples or offering them as PIF (pay it forward) on here
3) swapping bottles at FP gatherings or posting a WTT (want to trade) on here

So go on, give it a go. You can pass that ink on, and find one you enjoy more.

Hey, thanks for the great advice! Never considered trading this ink in particular because it's a Graf von Faber-Castell royal blue, which is regular blue (to me). That been said, your are right. Let's see if someone else enjoys it more than I did.

[VertOlive]

I can't lie, this hits home...

Epic. Iconic. Spot on.

[Crazyorange]

I can't lie, this hits home...

The only problem with this.....when a new pen arrives.

[ethernautrix]

I can't lie, this hits home...

This used to be me. Hehehe -- not that I forgot about all my other favorite pens, even when I was caught in this vicious, lovely, delightful cycle.

I use all of my Best Pens Ever -- and the ones I'm not using currently will come back into rotation, and so it goes. I'm seldom tempted by new pens, although it happens. But I remember, I have "THESE" and the temptation takes its place behind a bunch of priorities, "for now."

[ethernautrix]

Confession: I really, really, really like the pens I have, and I really, really, really enjoy writing (and sometimes drawing) with them.

(I had another confession earlier, but my Internet connection is LIKE IN THE COMMUNIST TIMES* (I complain, not really knowing, but seriously, bandwidth feels rationed), and I forgot.)




*My Internet connection in Poland is nothing like the one I could take for granted in California.

[Chuasam]

I keep trying to get my friends into fountain pens so I can offload unwanted ink on them.

[Chuasam]

I can't lie, this hits home...

I'm exactly like this with ink.

[Inxoy]

I keep trying to get my friends into fountain pens so I can offload unwanted ink on them.

Same objective but for a different reason for me. Every time I find a new pen or get a sweet deal I get excited and want to share with someone and then I remember that I have no friends with pens

[penwash]

I keep trying to get my friends into fountain pens so I can offload unwanted ink on them.

Same objective but for a different reason for me. Every time I find a new pen or get a sweet deal I get excited and want to share with someone and then I remember that I have no friends with pens

Where in Texas are you?
If you said Dallas-Ft. Worth, I'm going to throw a pen at you.

http://dallaspenshow.com/how-to-join.htm

[Inxoy]

I keep trying to get my friends into fountain pens so I can offload unwanted ink on them.

Same objective but for a different reason for me. Every time I find a new pen or get a sweet deal I get excited and want to share with someone and then I remember that I have no friends with pens

Where in Texas are you?
If you said Dallas-Ft. Worth, I'm going to throw a pen at you.

http://dallaspenshow.com/how-to-join.htm

I'm just north of Fort Worth, in Roanoke. Thanks for the link, didn't know it was there!