Jump to content

What Is A Sane Number Of Pens?


islandink

Recommended Posts

Do not ask here, many of us are not at all 'sane' regarding such a subject. I for one, am not. :lticaptd:

Edited by Alex2014
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 143
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Helen350

    6

  • islandink

    6

  • Brian Anderson

    4

  • Oldane

    4

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

 

Ah, I see! Indeed, 30 pens in original boxes take up a lot of space. Many of my pens are old and didn't come with a box when I got them.

 

I only buy brand new modern pens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have more than 500 in my collection, 0ne (1) ballpoint, a companion to my MB149

A sane number is one more than you have at any point in time

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funny that I originally posted I thought 3 - 5 for me would be ideal. My current "I'm gonna buy these" list sits at 5. This is in addition to the 3 I currently own and the 2 I just ordered that should be coming soon...hmmm. Oh, and I have one more that I THINK I'm going to either give away or sell...not sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe someone has said this but my husband just said, "There's no such thing. It's like having too much money," and he doesn't even collect them!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FYI - Sanity is way overrated. Asking how many to a pen person is like asking an artist how many blue colored paints is enough?

 

Truer words were never typed on a keyboard!

 

Oddly enough, there is a period in Japanese history, where the rulers dictated that artists only paint in blue. This resulted in a multitude of shades of blue. (I can't find any references to this, so I may be confused.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Restarted using fountain pens almost one year ago, now I have 10 fountain pen 7 are the same line, just in different color... and I planning to buy a new ones really soon.... Be advised: the person wrote this article is insane.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have 30 inked right now. That seems to be approaching the number I wish to keep as I write with each of them at least once/week to keep the ink flowing. I had more pens but as my tastes got better, I got rid of some of my less-expensive pens by donation to the teacher in Utah. I may continue to rotate my stock of those that are less desirable if I find something that I HAVE to have.

Pat Barnes a.k.a. billz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

The quoted has been the only complete answer to the initial question. This fact is itself quite interesting. Perhaps it shows the impossibility of an answer to the question posed in terms of quantity. Viewed in these terms, I might more or less agree with the quoted numbers, although my personal case introduces variations. But of course the important issue is qualitative. For a simple user, for a hobbiest, for a passionate (this includes a collector, of course), even for an obsessed, the rational ideal (which is also debatable) is, I submit, that each pen acquired should hold some sense, some meaning, some value, some purpose for its owner. I think "disease" or "disorder" starts when pens (or any other object, by the way) are acquired precisely in a quantitative way, just for having "one more", and not for its intrinsic quality (sense, value, meaning, purpose). I can have one or I can have one thousand. If each one of them is cherished, appreciated, valued, for something that it and only it has (and provided, also, that this acquisition does not affect or interfere with other duties or responsibilities in my life), then I move within rational bounds. If I buy pens compulsorily, just for having one more, and this one more pen has for me just the value of being "new" and nothing more, then I should start to think in some way to recover. --- I am sorry for this quite serious answer. Perhaps it is not in the spirit of the initial question, as it is certainly not in the same spirit of most of the answers given (answers which I have really enjoyed). But I could not stop myself. Being a philosopher, this is a sort of professional distortion.

 

Possibly the only complete answer because it is attempting to overanalyze something which is very subjective ? That's not to say it isn't an interesting question (ie when does a hoppy become an obsession) and the responses have been interesting. amusing and thought provoking in equal part. What will also be interesting in due course will be Islandink's own self analysis in the light of all these suggestions .......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Possibly the only complete answer because it is attempting to overanalyze something which is very subjective ? That's not to say it isn't an interesting question (ie when does a hoppy become an obsession) and the responses have been interesting. amusing and thought provoking in equal part. What will also be interesting in due course will be Islandink's own self analysis in the light of all these suggestions .......

 

I agree entirely. What do you think, Islandink?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The answer is quite simple. It is either

a. 42 or

b. I haven't counted them, so can't give a difinitive reply.

 

Just added four more to the total. Oh dear......

Edited by peterg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even after answering this question before in a philosophical manner, I am now in trouble. I've got 8 pens that I am awaiting arrival, and thinking of another Esterbrook. I really felt I had a handle on this. Doctor has certified that I am sane, however, friends & family want a 2nd opinion :wacko:

Edited by Helen350
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dunno, I'll let you know when I get there.

 

Seriously? Continuing to want more pens because, duh, it's a fountain pen, is probably a little obsessive. Wanting a pen for a characteristic? Possibly more practical. From a user point of view, I am in the process of exploring what I truly like in a pen, and in finding out how many I want inked at a time. (I have … um … 9? right now.) From there I plan to try to balance number of pens in use with characteristics I want. Maybe try to thin some out. And, I imagine somewhere along the line I'll discover a type I want to collect, and then I'll end up with a lot of those. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The upper limit for sane is one pen more than you already have.

 

Then why do I have three coming in the mail? One for each of us. Who said that?

post-115801-0-81958600-1416721859.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I gave a flip one-character reply way back in this thread, but now that this thread is turning more philosophical, here is how I operate:

 

I can pick up free ballpoints and never buy a single pen. I choose instead to use fountain pens. That said, I find that if I have too many pens I don't use them and then start wondering why I have them. So, I cull the collection every so often. Right now, I'm getting annoyed by some Platinum Preppies that are inked with samples that someone sent me. They aren't really part of my collection: I regard them as temporary pens: eventually they'll crack and I'll toss them, even if they get refilled several times in the interim. But, they interfere with my use of my regular pens. On the other hand, I am trying out the ink in them. I'd clean them out and move on, but I actually like the samples in them right now so...

 

But, as a number, right now it's 20, but there is no reason for that, just that my pen case has 40 slots. (No, that's not a typo) I like some variety: stub nibs, flex nibs, fine nibs, variety in manufacturers, variety in colors, variety in filling mechanisms, and so on. But, if I have too many pens, some are not being used. If I have too few, I'm missing out on some versatility.

 

I let my pens select themselves. The ones I don't write with get culled from the collection. I don't have a system to ensure that they all get used. I just use what I want. My Jinhao 950 and Lamy ABC are leaving my collection because I never use them.

Proud resident of the least visited state in the nation!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...