Why Do You Use A Fountain Pen?

[overwriter]

Tradition, improved penmanship, and the man I admired most in the world, my grandfather, used a fountain pen. But the kicker is when I graduated from college and started in business in the mid 80's sales invoices were handwritten in many companies. Press hard you are making 8 copies! By the late 90's I had issues with my elbow and wrist and although I no longer wrote up invoices I could not stop pressing hard with a death grip on the pen. My physiotherapist suggested trying a fountain pen. So I went and bought some cheap Parker at Office Depot. It worked. The rest is history.

[tinto]

I marked "to improve penmanship", but also because I write a lot at work, and fountain pens are a way to enjoy my job more. Time has showed my a couple of good reasons beside those: ink variety and the lack of a tired hand.

[patlaw]

My love of fountain pens started when I was in elementary school. Like most people, my first one was probably a $1 Sheaffer. Why do I like the way a fountain pen writes? That's a hard question to answer. Why do I like squash (the vegetable)? Because of computers, I write MUCH less than I did years ago. It's at the point that I can't keep ink in all of my pens. They dry out between uses, and they're a royal pain to clean and bring back to life.

 

Once roller ball gel pens became popular, I cooled off on fountain pens, but I eventually came back. Now I struggle with them not becoming an obsession. Based on some of the posts by other members here, it looks like I have a long way to go before I'm overly obsessive!

[Arkanabar]

I've always loved office supply stores. I had a decent array of 0.5mm mechanical pencils through high school -- various Pentels, Nijis (now sold as Zebra), and Staedtler-Mars drafting and other pencils. I had a rainbow of felt-tip pens, too. But then I went to university, where I had to write a lot more, and a lot faster, than in high school.

That's when I concluded I wanted something smoother than a pencil. Regular ballpoints weren't smooth enough. Pilot Precise V5 rollerballs weren't smooth enough either. (I had to have fine points. My writing has always been rather cramped and narrow.) So I went into The Art Attack (alas, sadly now defunct) and asked what they could recommend. That was an Osmiroid calligraphy pen with a ball-tip replacement nib. It did the job! It was the smoothest pen I'd ever used, fairly skating across the cheap filler paper I used at the time. Then I got a Sheaffer school pen and an A&W Sizzle Stix.

So the first reason was for ease of writing--to speed it up, rather than slow it down. But the only bottled ink I had was Quink Blue-Black, and I didn't like its color. The Art Attack sold me a rainbow set of Dr. P. H. Martin's Vibrant Water Colors which became my preference for a fair while. (The TA who ran my Chemistry lab missed the pretty colors when the blue-black went into rotation, can you believe that?) So the second reason was for more ink colors.

I believe I bought another Sheaffer, perhaps a Targa, after dropping out, but all of my fountain pens were mislaid or discarded not much later. In truth, I miss the cheap school pens I got at Kmart more than the fancy Sheaffer (which had some sort of pastel lacquer finish, that I deliberately scraped off with a knife).

Some six to ten years later, a Levenger catalog arrived in a box of bike parts from Nashbar. I was enthralled by the luscious photography. I was reminded of that smoothness that only fountain pens had, and I wanted it back. I bought a blue Waterman Phileas (it looked so pretty!) and a charcoal Lamy Safari (Steve Leveen ran one over with his Volvo and only scratched it!) from them. The Phileas didn't have enough ink capacity, and the Safari's triangular grip made it a pen I've disliked ever since, exacerbated by the rhino-hide finish on the charcoal model. I also bought a matte black "stealth" Pilot VP from them, and never really liked it either -- too heavy, I think. So I started looking for something I'd like better, and eventually found a discounted Pelikan M200 on clearance at a local Colorado Pen Co. outlet, and a local advertising agency whose owner sold various pens and inks on the side -- I got my M400 from him.

At any rate, these days, I still appreciate the smoothness and ease of writing with a fountain pen. I like having a variety of of ink colors to use (six or so are adequate). I enjoy the individualism of using fountain pens, instead of ubiquitous disposables. I like how pretty they are. It's an everyday luxury, something I can briefly pause and appreciate at virtually any time.

I've taken up calligraphy in a rather desultory way, in the hopes of improving my rather execrable handwriting, and my stubs are some of my favorite pens. And the arm writing and light pressure required helps me to write more comfortably. If I were really serious about calligraphy, I'd probably load up my 3.8mm Pilot Parallel and use up a lot of paper, just because its size would force me to use arm writing and make clear the flaws in my technique.

And finally, I've learned that using a pen and paper helps retention. The first class to which I brought my laptop for notes was Anatomy & Physiology I. And for the first time, my retention was *terrible*. I returned to using my pen, and I was back to my previous level of retention, which was "I took notes in class, I don't need to study."

And by the way, I have flipped burgers at McDonald's since coming here.

[tragique]

I write a lot at work and in college, and get bad hand cramps with pencils and ballpoint pens. I initially got interested in fountain pens as a remedy to that, but stayed for the endless choices of nib sizes, ink colors, filling methods, etc.

 

I also got into vintage fountain pens, and fell in love with using pens that are sometimes a century old, yet still work perfectly. It feels like using a piece of history.

[Bluey]

Fountain pens enable me to enjoy writing. I think that's the most important reason. They spur me on to keep on journalling even when the only exciting event in a particular day is forgetting to put the bins out.

[pajaro]

I write down what medications I take and the date and time. It would not do to overdose.

 

A good fountain works with little effort, as long as it doesn't dry out between uses.

[mitto]

Simply because I like using fountain pens. I virtually grew with fountain pens everywhere around me in the house.

Edited September 11, 2017 by mitto

[ahall]

Fountain pens enable me to enjoy writing. I think that's the most important reason. They spur me on to keep on journalling even when the only exciting event in a particular day is forgetting to put the bins out.

⬆ This, exactly.

 

I enjoy the feeling of writing with a smooth fountain pen skating along the paper on a trace of ink it's laying down. I'm not an ink nut, but I'm coming to enjoy the subtleties of shading and different color combinations. Also, I'm a historically-minded fellow, so using a 75 year-old pen is a treat.

[Driften]

Fountain pens enable me to enjoy writing. I think that's the most important reason. They spur me on to keep on journalling even when the only exciting event in a particular day is forgetting to put the bins out.

 

 

I totally agree. I started keeping a journal as another excuse to use my pens and it helps me process my day and leave it when going to bed.

[calvin_0]

For me it's simply utility, I'm tired of having a dead ballpoint pen when I needed it... to my surprise to these age people still uses fountain pen.. so I grab one.. now i'll never have a dead pen... (unless i forgot to refill it)

 

Plus now I have a pen that is mine..

[mallymal1]

I'm not a skilled penman,

 

but I really enjoy hand writing,

 

and for me,

 

the fountain pen

 

is the premium tool for the job.

 

[Waltz For Zizi]

Looks like I'm one of the few with light writing pressure. My sister which uses only ballpoints, developed a little bump on her middle finger for holding the pen so tigt. I'm not like that, I have skinny fingers so I'm more gentle, that's one reason.

Another reason is that I like to look at the ink drying on paper as I write. It's so soothing, just like I like watching the leaves rattling in the wind.

To be cool? No way. I personaly know no one using fountain pens, so most people think I'm insane for owning so many (20), which is a small number compared to most of us.

P.S. and also I hate the idea if discarding a useful thing (eg. Ballpoints), when it runs out of "juice". What can I say, I'm a romantic.

Edited September 12, 2017 by Waltz For Zizi

[Tom Kellie]

[Astronymus]

To improve penmanship and be easy on my wrists. In general I always preffered a fountain pen. A few years back I had severe tendinitis on both hands due to an accident to the left and overstraining the right at work (right-handed). Since then writing longer text with a ballpoint isn't really a pleasure. High qualitiy ballpoints are okayish but the fountain pen makes it possible to just write forever.

[gmathio]

I like the feeling of the pen on the paper, the ink that dries while I write and most of all because when I write with my fountain pens, I always try to improve my writing !

[WarrenB]

I'm tired of donating money to Bic/PaperMate.

And all the Bic/Papermate coattail-riders. Tired of reaching into a whole mug of pens (like, an extra-wide novelty mug) and finding one or two that work, and that don't leave greasy, smudgy blobs on the paper. Maybe I could put in 'weak pressure' too, but it's less wrist power and more my fingers seizing up around those things.

 

The variety of ink colours.

When I looked around at FPs, I was hooked by the flowing look of the ink (and the hands and pens laying it down) and especially shading effects. It's like writing with juicy, pooling watercolour paints. I'm also fond of the idea of customising and matching ink to pen, according to personality, dress, mood, so on.

 

To improve penmanship.

My handwriting was never fantastic and it's gone downhill for years. I like the idea of writing being made a pleasurable experience, and with that, a little slowing down and extra care resulting in something that can be actually read.

 

It makes me look cool/posh/cultured.

I need at least one thing that can do that for me.

[Karmachanic]

Other.

 

It slows one down.

 

One becomes more contemplative and careful when commiting ink flowing from a nib onto paper. Especially when letter writing. There is something both special and ephemeral that arise from the union of the the mind, the heart, the hand, the pen and the ink, and the care in which is placed upon the paper. That magic is then transfered to the recipient of said missive. A gift. A treasure. Especially in this modern age which is so very good at distancing us from each other. Go to a café, for instance, and look at all the vacuous faces staring at a handheld device. Completely disconnected from their surroundings and the people around them. No thanks!

 

That and it directly connects one with the tradition of letters and thought throughout history in a way that scribbling away with a ballpoint completely misses.

 

And yes Posh used to be an acronym for Port Out Starboard Home, as that is how one booked ones cabin. Posh people don't use the term. Marks one as being hoi polloi. One uses "smart."

[sansenri]

there are many good reasons for using a fountain pen

and one has just entered my head

if a fellow can't use one when living

how the hell will he write when he's dead

[sansenri]

seriously though

I learned to write with a fountain pen

I have used other writing tools when necessary

but have always cherished using a fountain pen when possible

the big difference is the fountain pen feels the paper, most other writing tools do not (the pencil does, and that is one of the reasons why I do like a mechanical pencil in lack of a fountain pen)