Hello, I'm Phil.
I'm a high school student who was converted to fountain pens a couple summers ago. It all started when we visited a Mont Blanc store in Maui. Seeing the "Rolls Royces" of fountain pens (diamond-studded pens and all) truly inspired me. I then bought my first pen, a Waterman Phileas, in a subsequent trip to Chicago. Since then I've accumulated more fountain pens. In order of recency, my other pens are a second Waterman, an older Parker pen, and three Lamy fountain pens. When one of those won't suffice, I turn to a Fischer Bullet space pen.
My favorite pen recently has become the Lamy Safari/Al-Star pens. Their pragmatism makes them ideal for me, because I wouldn't have a conniption if I lost one. The idea of bringing a gold-nibbed, black enamel bodied fountain pen in to High School seems highly impractical for me. My Lamy makes note-taking interesting and fun. I use mainly a fine nibbed Lamy Al-Star purchased in Vienna for my note taking, but, when at my desk at home, I usually reach for a medium nibbed pen.
Just today I placed an order for a converter for my Lamy, along with a bottle of Noodler's Baystate Blue ink. I normally use blue Lamy ink cartridges, but I've been chewing through too many cartridges for them to be practical any more. I chose this ink because it seems both pragmatic (sensing a pattern?) and aesthetically pleasing, especially when taking notes for hours on end. Any thoughts on the ink? The ink is one of the few non-neutral pH inks that Noodlers sells, as it is alkaline. Is this really a problem? I am assuming that it won't really affect my steel-nibbed Lamy, but should I refrain from using it in older or nicer pens because of this basicity? I also have a bottle of Waterman ink that I bought with my first pen, but it is highly disappointing and I rarely use it.
I love Moleskine notebooks, and more recently have began using HP's 8.5x11 32lb laser paper.
I am a Mac user- I am addicted to my Macbook.
I am a very eclectic person. In addition to collecting fountain pens, I collect pocket knives, and love my Surefire flashlight. I am an avid techy, and an avid outdoorsman. I listen to many different types of music, ranging from Rostropovich to Juanes to Green Day.

I hope that this serves as a good intro for me, and I look forward to contributing to this board.
Thanks!

P.S. Check out my blog ------> intellectualbrouhaha.blogspot.com

Evening Phil -

Welcome!

You seem to be acquiring pens to mark your travels. I like that idea. Every time you uncap your Lamy you'll remember your time in Vienna.

Whether your alkaline Noodler's is safe depends on just how alkaline - how high the pH. If the ink is pH 12 or 13, then it will eat your pen, eat the paper, eat the desk, and tunnel down to your basement. (Chlorox is around 11.4) If the ink is pH 8, I wouldn't worry too much.

One of my favorite nibmeisters is a fan of Waterman ink and Diamine ink. He feels they cause the fewest problems. I use Aurora black more than any other ink - nice deep saturated black color, and it seems to flow well in my pens.

What's next for you after high school?

So again, welcome. Have fun.

Welcome to FPN! Great intro! I've been dying to try the Baystate Blue, people seem to love it or hate it. As to the pH of inks, some makers have been selling inks that would pass for sulfuric acid for ages. Anything near neutral is better than a lot of other choices out there!

Welcome to the forum, and great introduction!

Welcome to FPN, Phil,and it is good tohave you here. Plus, I like the great intro you wrote.
Thereis a lot of great info onthis forum. And there are a few more people here who are high school students , so you are in good company.

Welcome Phil, an interesting introductory post...and a hell of a blog title too

Hello Phil, and welcome to FPN!

Just beware that if you do go through a cartridge in mid-class, you may also go through a converter in mid-class as it holds maybe about the same as a short cartridge (and maybe less than a long cartridge) and might be less convenient to refill mid-class if you don't have a second filled pen ready to change across.

However, if you normally refill at home then a converter will be fine.

Regards, Myles.

Welcome to FPN.

Thank you everybody for your welcoming attitudes!



I don't normally run out mid class- I meant that it's becoming irrational to buy packs of cartridges every so often for a price that's about equal to that of a bottle of ink. The cartridges seem kind of wasteful to me, and I would like the control of using different inks.

On that note,

Hello and welcome to FPN.

Welcome to FPN, Philip.

Quick Update:
I am returning to my original topic to commemorate my 100th post. Yay!

Hello Phil, and welcome to the FPN Forums!