Why Should I Write With A Fountain Pen?how About You?

[kcoen52]

I was away from my desk the other day and I needed to quickly jot down a few words. I asked a coworker to borrow a pen and she handed me a ballpoint. I tried to write and there were no marks on the paper. I almost handed it back as non-working, when I realized, "Oh yeah, you have to press hard with one of these"

 

My hands would rebel if I had to press that hard for taking notes all the time.

 

I did something very similar to that during one of my final exams last semester. I ran out of ink in my pen (silly me forgot to fill it before the exam) so I went to grab my pilot G2 gel pen I leave in my backpack as a back up. Even though this pen shouldn't require an extensive amount of pressure I had difficulties writing with it...

[James125]

I have arthritis in my hands. I had to write a paragraph with a ballpoint the other day. I had hand cramps before I was done. My fountain pens don't do this to me!

 

I have a teacher at school that has BAD arthritis too. She heard me talking about how smooth my fountain pens were with another teacher so she asked to borrow mine.... Shes able to lighten up on her pain meds using it. Her job requires a lot of writing and with ballpoints (even some of the best!) she would be in pain by noon. With my fountain pen (which was the new BIC disposable)she doesn't hurt much at all!! She ended up buying a pack of colored Varsity pens by Pilot.

 

I believe her, and stories like spitfire are a "How Fountain Pens Saved My Life" tale! :ltcapd:

[James125]

I also have a teacher who used my fountain pen to write something real quick. The next day she came to me and said "Thanks a lot! I used your pen and now I can't use my best rollerball!!"

[IWantThat]

My pens have souls

 

They lie, dormant, waiting silent for my touch to awaken them....

 

They then dance and sing and whisper as wraiths and fairies,

 

Calming and soothing me.

 

They are play friends during quiet hours, rays of sunshine on dark days.

 

+1

 

...and they are as individual as jewelry. The pens we choose suit us, unlike generic ballpoints, which have no personality at all.

[RodneyOK]

A fountain pen makes writing more enjoyable to me. It just "feels" good to express my thoughts through a smooth flowing, wet writing FP. The ink choices are also a great benefit.

[ajoe]

Some people paint just for the pleasure of putting paint on canvas. I write with fountain pens because it feels good, even if I have nothing special to say.

[nickapos]

Speaking from the usability perspective, I use FPs because:

 

They do not need pressure

They provide constant quality over time in writing. If you use the same pen and the same ink (e.g quink black) for a long period you get the same results. If you use a ballpoint and different refills it is common that the quality of the line varies.

The fp text is smooth and bright. You get text that you can photocopy or fax without worrying about line replication. It has happened more than once in the past that a fax couldn't replicate the inconsistency of my ball point.

If you find the fountain pen that suits you best, you can go on using it for years without any problems. I do not think that you can do the same with a ballpoint. Usually the ballpoints break down after some time, or the refill is discontinued or something. How many ballpoints have been inherited from father to son and how many fountain pens?

You can use any ink combination you like, change inks whenever you like.

 

Just my 2 cents

 

(I could write a lot more about style of the pens, but I chose to be entirely practical)

Edited February 25, 2012 by nickapos

[CountryDoc]

I enjoy fountain pens partly for their smoothness. Perhaps more important, at least to me, is the aesthetic experience; admiring the beauty of a well-crafted pen, especially a vintage model. A $20 Casio will tell time very accurately, but I much prefer looking at my 110 year old Elgin pocket watch, which still keeps very good time

[pavoni]

I am with RodneyOK and ajoe. It is hard to explain the satisfaction I obtain from writing with one of my fountain pens. To me, all of my pens are special and as such, I actively seek, and gain, a particular type of benefit that perhaps only another fountain pen user might fully appreciate.

 

I exploit any opportunity to hand-write a letter. When writing, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many pages I reject, I find myself never settling for a product that doesn’t, in the first instance, convey my message as intended and, in the second instance, look pleasing to my eye.

 

As a touch-typist of many years, I recognise I could easily despatch many more letters than I could ever hand-write just one letter and its envelope. However, other than the selfish reward of 'convenience', I would not get the same degree of satisfaction I achieve through using one of my treasured pens. Besides, for correspondence of a personal nature, I find the uniformity of a mechanically produced letter severely lacking.

 

As a matter of personal pride, I am more likely to reach for one of my fountain pens than a typewritter or ballpoint.

 

Pavoni.

Edited February 25, 2012 by pavoni

[Mr5x5]

ergonomics among other reasons

[max dog]

Writing with a fountain pen gives me pleasure. I like the feel of the nib on paper and the wet and brilliant line it leaves. Turns the mundane chore of writing into something enjoyable, special.

 

A fountain pen is very personal. They allow your handwriting to be more expressive than is possible with ballpoint or rollerbal, and some say a fountain pen adapts to your unique way of writing, your pressures, etc. With shading and line variation, my signatures sure look nicer when written with a fountain pen than a ballpoint.

 

They are beautiful and elegant, a throw back to a time when things were made with more character, patience and beauty. Nothing better to express this than by picture.

 

 

Edited February 27, 2012 by max dog

[JefferyS]

^{Disability. I need a nib that doesn't require pressure due to myasthenia gravis. But I would use them without the disability, I think.}

[Justy]

I have a calendar on the fridge that I add all the appointments for the family onto, and any other notes that are relevant for the month. I will get 1/2 way done with a ballpoint and the ink stops because it doesn't like being sideways while writing. Even with a cheap fountain pen I can keep writing sideways, pen held horizontal, for as long as I need to and not worry about having to 'shake down' the ink to keep writing, the ink is just there ready to go onto the paper. Also, I can use whatever colour I want; the Ink Drop samples are great for adding variety to my calendar.

[alexander_k]

My main reason is that from an early age I have found the alternatives (ballpoint pens in particular) extremely disappointing. Despite recent advances, these alternatives remain unattractive to me, also because mass production means that the majority is poorly designed and quality control can be variable. After all, a one-dollar pen that fails simply goes into the waste basket with few complaints but we expect and demand that a fifty-dollar workhorse pen never misbehaves.

[georges zaslavsky]

I started to write with fps when I was six, they allow faster writing, solving matters faster by using your brain and by making drawings or specific calculations, like mechanical watches they are a heirloom, often fountain pens collector are watches, guns and cars collectors, so many good reasons to collect fps

Edited March 2, 2012 by georges zaslavsky

[ex-bugonaut]

I found myself in the hospital this pre-Thanksgiving Sunday afternoon, attending my mother-in-law who recently had a stroke. I decided to write a couple of Thanksgiving cards to close relatives, and discovered that the hospital gift shop had no Thanksgiving Day cards (!). So I created my own Thanksgiving day notes with my M200, Clairefontaine paper, and vintage Waterman blue black ink (now apparently a.k.a. mysterious blue). It was a pleasant and calming experience to write these, address the envelopes, and mail them. Just something extra about the experience of doing this with a fountain pen that is hard to explain.

[Chi Town]

Why should you? WOW! is that a loaded question or what? I find that almost tough to answer yet the answer should be so easy to do......

So, I'll cut thru to the chase; In the simplest of terms? It is the smoothest form of writing imaginable, to me! Even smoother that those Liquid Gel Rollerball pens.....2) You get to use ANY COLOR that pleases your imagination or your little heart. 3) You may even, if you have multiple pens, get to write with different size nibs in one letter! 4) You, again if you have multiple pens, get to write with a variety of pens in one letter.....These are just 4 things that quickly come to my mind, now how much better can life be???? I, personally, am just in aww of my Fountain pens and could spend a part of a day just staring at them and their design's........

[Cryptos]

Do I need an excuse to use a fountain pen?

 

http://edcforums.com/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/nah_disagree.gif

 

I don't think so.

[siopaopei]

I write with fountain pens because they're beautiful. They're beautifully engineered too. It lays down ink in ways that ballpoint and rollerball pens can't. I love that FPs can produce shading, line variations, etcetera. Writing with a good FP on good paper with beautiful ink makes the writing experience that much more enjoyable. Aesthetics, I admit, is a primary consideration for me. On a more practical note, I think it's more environment friendly to own pens that one can refill with ink rather than get disposable pens. It's also a lot easier on the hands. I write a lot (like, a LOT) and since I started using FPs, I've not had cramps on my hand and arm yet.