When Do You Know You Have Had Enough?

[peroride]

I am not an addictive person.

 

I own 11 fountain pens.

 

Does a Pilot Kakuno count?

 

I think I covered the major countries: Japan, Germany, Italy

 

When is enough?

 

Is it a number?

 

Is it a gut feeling (like when your spouse reminds you in the love handles)

 

Is it a limit on brand/model acquisition?

 

My collection ranges from stinky Ahab to brightly sweet Aurora 88

 

I don't intend to sell my pens and all bought with hard earned dough.

 

I'd say there's no irresponsible spending and yet some start a pause because they cost more than a laptop.

 

Yet every time I think this is the last, very last, final, ultimate, "one", some thing else pops up.

 

Are you sated yet?

Edited January 16, 2019 by peroride

[pajaro]

You will know when you have had enough. You won't want to buy any more pens. You won't want to do a lot of maintenance. You might still enjoy using just a few of your pens, and it might be just a few core pens. That's about where I am. Can't even summon up the energy to sell the unwanted scores of pens.

[Karmachanic]

Our desires are endless. One can learn to be satisfied with "sufficient." 11 for instance.

[TheDutchGuy]

Depends if you're a writer or a collector or both. Collectors are pretty much never done. I'm a writer. I have about 20 pens, of which 2/3rd is in rotation and inked up. That's enough. I'm at the point that if I find something really special, something else will probably have to go.

[Honeybadgers]

I just look at most new models and think "what does this do or offer that I don't already own?"

 

To that result, almost everything with a bog-standard JoWo, bock, schmidt nib just doesn't get picked up. I don't see any personal value in growing my collection with pens that write the same and use cartridge/converters. It needs to be some novel material, filling system, nib, or be outrageously pretty.

 

It also happens when I look at a few things in my collection and realize I just don't like them much and want to sell them.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Lomi]

I'm agree with previous posts, and i doubt there is a stop point unless you say yourself that you are totally satisfied with what you already have, but like with every hobby/passion which involves collecting or experiencing something new your collection of products will grow but so will do a knowledge too, somewhere on the way of your journey you will understand what do you love to have and in what you are totally not interested, you just start to intuitively know it when you see a new product because you already tried them so much that it's going to be clear where your interest lies and how vast it is. In case of pens it can be overall shape of the FP, year of manufactory, country of origin, nib size, material from which it made of, color and pattern of the pen, cap design, even fancy stuff like unusual breathing hole on the nib or rollstopper design, not to mention preference in how the nib feels and it's ability to flex, maybe even stuff like: "is this pen custom made or not?" "what filling system it use?" and many many more. You can understand it pretty fast and start to collect only things that are of perfect match for you or it can take you alot of years after which you will say to yourself that you tried enough of stuff and there no more need to buy more. As long as it fun for you keep enjoying it and don't restrict yourself.
For me it's about the feeling which i get when i see the pen, it's overall design and uniqueness, all other factors just lay on top of that.
sorry if my english is a little bit wonky, hard to formulate a thought and write a lot of useful info with it.

[Bo Bo Olson]

11....I can remember when I thought 10-15 would be enough.

I got at least 15 Pelikans now.

Have 70-85 or so pens.......most ok. A few still need repair....but that is a given when one reaches far enough into vintage pens.

All but 5-6 are old used...and relatively cheap pens....some were cheap, from back when I was in the Pen of the Week in the Mail Club.

Pen of the Month is no better.

Pen of the Quarter = keepers.

 

If one alternates between stub and CI, from EEF (CI can't see that width in Stub) to BB there are some 45 nibs one could have, from nail, semi-nail, regular flex, semi-flex *German stubbed" non German non stubbed...like a rare '50's Sheaffer, maxi-semi-flex, and Superflex; first stage Easy Full Flex to Wet Noodle....

I have some 35 of them....so 35 would be where I would say is enough.

 

One should chase the nib....in that is what dances on the good to better paper.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[chalkdust]

12 pens is probably your answer. The algorithm is easy. Let n = current number of pens. Let e = enough pens.

 

e >= n + 1

 

When I question the purpose of my bunch of pens, I simply go look at my wife's bunch of shoes.

 

Enjoy your pens as you like. I have yet to try nibs bigger than medium. I look forward to that. I have recently become aware of what people are talking about with good paper. That is fun. There remain several years of learning and enjoying left for me in this pen adventure.

 

By the way, I counted my pens this week and I am at 12. But I think I did not count the Noodler's Charlie pens or the FPR Muft pens, since those were "free."

[JakobS]

With the one and only pen purchase of the year completed, I am done.

 

I was generally done before than, but had yet to have everything I enjoyed: the filling system, specific nib grind, pen material, ink capacity, and pen size, all in one pen. The pen was a 23 month wait to be made, but it satisfied all the above, so I am happy with the pens I have. They are a collection of tools for writing. I have more pens than one needs to be satisfied with using them as a writing tool, enough variety that I can accomplish different handwriting needs, and only one pen out of the bunch that was a dud from the early days of using fountain pens, in an otherwise collection of durable, and reliable pens.

Edited January 16, 2019 by JakobS

[MyPenAndI]

I'm told they announce that you have acquired enough pens at your funeral.

I'm still trying to find out who "they" are.

[senzen]

Inks have set my pen limit; having a pen that to me is just about perfect also gave me a point of comparison. There are still a couple I drool over just for their design, but I also appreciate a cheap pen that makes a specific ink look good, when others could not. I have friends who are half amused half worried because of my 26 pens, but they just bought their fourth piano ...

[sirgilbert357]

  On 1/16/2019 at 5:12 AM, pajaro said:

You will know when you have had enough. You won't want to buy any more pens. You won't want to do a lot of maintenance. You might still enjoy using just a few of your pens, and it might be just a few core pens. That's about where I am. Can't even summon up the energy to sell the unwanted scores of pens.

 

 

Pajaro, you just let me know what you don't want and I'll PayPal you the money for shipping and you can send a few my way. LOL.

 

Only half joking...

[SpecTP]

when you look at your budget review and realize you've spent more on pens than anything else..

[sirgilbert357]

  On 1/16/2019 at 4:40 PM, pseudo88 said:

Inks have set my pen limit; having a pen that to me is just about perfect also gave me a point of comparison. There are still a couple I drool over just for their design, but I also appreciate a cheap pen that makes a specific ink look good, when others could not. I have friends who are half amused half worried because of my 26 pens, but they just bought their fourth piano ...

 

Pianos take up WAY more real estate than a pen!! Think of all the pens you could fit INSIDE a piano!! Tell them that next time they give you grief over your pens, LOL!

[sombrueil]

double post

Edited January 16, 2019 by sombrueil

[sombrueil]

It depends on what turns your crank the most. Is it finding the perfect writing instrument/s for your hand and style and usage? Is it having a complete array of something? Is it learning how to repair a variety of pens?

 

In any case if you are just starting out it usually takes some experimentation to answer the above broad questions, and then more experimentation to dissect those down for yourself.

It's a process!

[sombrueil]

a rare triple post!

Edited January 16, 2019 by sombrueil

[pajaro]

Sometimes you can reach the end of enthusiasm for a collection of anything, and you move on. This does not mean you should dispose of the collection. You might keep it around to go back to and enjoy, however briefly, before moving on again to something else.

[Bo Bo Olson]

  On 1/16/2019 at 1:39 PM, chalkdust said:

 

Enjoy your pens as you like. I have yet to try nibs bigger than medium. I look forward to that. I have recently become aware of what people are talking about with good paper. That is fun. There remain several years of learning and enjoying left for me in this pen adventure.

 

 

You need a western M really for laid or linen effect paper....an old vintage B....1/2 a width narrower than modern.....does nicely there...sort of a M-B or B-M.

I do find modern MB and Pelikan to be fatter than once....including the wider M&B nibs.

 

You can get a free template and print wider lines than the 'collage' used for F&EF for a M or even wider for a B....so the e is not closed. That helps when stretching one's script to wider nibs.

 

Some get into fountain pens with an M and go narrow, as narrow as possible. Or wide. Those who started with the economical Japanese pens, started narrow and often went narrower. So think Japanese M=western F or Japanese B=western M to be wide.

There are western B, BB....vintage German semi-flex in OB or OBB.

 

B is a size with pizazz.

 

And I've learned to like M....breaking a prejudice picked up on the com. It is smoother than an F, and not really wide.

 

Using MB Toffee a brown shading ink, back when I was newer.

I like shading inks.

 

F was light with dark trails.

M was 50-50 in shading , breaking my anti-M prejudice I picked up here on the com.

B was dark with light trails.

 

You see I don't buy a pen with the thought of having to sell it....and I've bought a couple Pelikan 200/215's lately in M, and am quite happy with them. M is a good width for shading, besides being a slight tad smoother than an F.

I think an M would be better than an F for glitter or sheen inks also.

 

Do look in Ink Reviews and check out old and new Sandy1's ink reviews. Over a time she changed the good to better papers she has used....so there are some 6 or 7 better papers that can be had if one googles.

I've been telling my self to do that....for ages.

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi Peroride,

 

It's quite simple... when you look at pens... and you don't want to buy any... you've got enough.

 

Be well... and yes... the Kukuno counts!

 

I could have given you a pass on a dip pen,... but when it carries its own ink supply... my hands are tied.

 

Enjoy your pens.

 

 

- Anthony