How many inks do you have?
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In terms of bottles of ink, just three.
Waterman Serenity Blue - I brought this to be my baseline ink for new pens and nibs. The community seemed to view this ink as one of the few that will work in all pens regardless of their temperament so it seemed like a good option when starting out with a new pen for comparison against my others. Then I found out it is highly acidic. I think it eroded the plating along the edge of the slit on my matte black Pilot Vanishing Point and as two of my Sailors have an ion plated finish on the nib I have stopped using it.
Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-Ho - I brought this one simply because I I love the Iroshizuku line and liked the sample of Ina-Ho. They announced they were discontinuing it and I didn’t want to find I couldn’t get it in the future so I brought it - just in case. It is still sealed in its box! 😂
De Atramentis Document Black - I wanted a permanent ink for my bullet journal. I didn’t want my year’s calendar being wiped out by a spilled glass of water and this received good reviews and I liked the sample.
Otherwise I have a bit of a sample obsession. I mush have at least a hundred or more samples. Including the complete line of Iroshizuku inks, most of the De Atramentis Document inks, most of the Faber-Castel inks and large selections of Herbin and Diamine. Too many samples if I’m honest.
I feel my return to using fountain pens was a little over the top and moved faster than I could actually appreciate them. I started back into fountain pens in 2020 so I partially blame the pandemic for being over focused on a new hobby. This over the top progression included ink sample and notepad/paper purchasing. I was jumping from one pen/ink to another without forcing myself to spend the time to really get to know them. Ultimately, on top of other things I kind of burnt out on what felt like unnecessary stress of picking a pen and ink constantly and never feeling happy with it so wanting to swap to one of my others. It all ended up being packed away and I have just been using my Sailor Imperial Black multi-function ball point (the sacrilege of it!!!). Only just now am I getting ready to open the boxes again.
I hope to write a post about my experience at some point as an attempt to warn others about getting sucked in too quickly and missing the enjoyment of the experience of getting to know a new pen. I felt that the old fountain pen community kind of encouraged over consumption. I wish I had taken more time to explore my pens and inks.
Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-Ho
I have this and honestly, I don’t love it. It doesn’t have enough contrast for me. I’m thinking that maybe I should group up some of my least-used inks and do one of those giveaways for those new to the hobby. 🤷♀️
I’ve sold a few pens I didn’t like and usually, as a surprise for the buyer, bundle a couple of my least liked samples in with them to give them something to play with. But, like you, I have considered doing some giveaways or just putting a big bundle of them on eBay. It is quite surprising how much samples can end up being worth. I must have at least $250 (USD) in samples.
I believe I sit at an even 10. But two are Kon Peki, which I love. I’m working my way through them before I get more. Maybe. I’m overall pretty good about using what I have, but I will swap the inks in my pens to see how they write with different inks.
Pelikan Edelstein Moonstone ink works quite well in my Sailor PGS. I like it very much, in fact.
Too many.
I’m not counting and you can’t make me! :D
3 bottles.
That’s specific! Why specifically three?
And now I just bought 3 more on sale 😎
Yay for more ink!
To be clear, I wasn’t trying to get you to buy more stuff. I was curious if you had a reason, like knowing which ink you love.
No worries! More ink was on my list - because I needed some new Lamy converters for me and my wife. So now my list is: Iroshizuko Tsuki-Yo, Diamine Oxblood (current favorite), Diamine Sherwood Green, and on the way: Diamine Eau de Nil, Diamine Autumn Oak (selected by my wife) and Diamine Monboddos Hat (selected by my wife).
Well… Actually, no specific reason 😅 I guess it will be more soon, I just haven’t bought anymore.
I’m up to 144 inks myself according to what I’ve tracked on fountain pen companion, with 90 of them being samples! I’ve only used 92 of the inks total, so have 52 left to try.
I have about a hundred bottles, give or take five. I recently moved houses and they all fit in a 15"x20" plastic box, in two layers.
According to fountainpencompanion, I’m up to 52 - they just barely still fit in a shoebox. I might need a better organization system.
