Personal moratorium on new pens and pencils

[flatline]

Since I've been stuck in the house for the last year, I've been organizing the drawers and shelves and closets that tend to accumulate things and I've discovered that we have quite a large number of pens and pencils that were spread around the house (not even counting my own personal stash of nicer pens and pencils...). So I've decided to try to use up some of this stash before I allow myself to purchase any more writing utensils.

 

Anyone else in a similar situation?

[ISW_Kaputnik]

You appear not to be applying this to fountain pens, I notice, at least from the choice of sub-forums. 😎

 

I haven't made any resolution as such.  I have, however, been reorganizing and taking stock of a number of things, and when it comes to wood pencils, (including colored ones, charcoal ones, Conte pastels, and various charcoals) mechanical pencil refills, gel and ballpoint refills, and miscellaneous items such as erasers and eraser refills, I have enough of most of them to last my likely life span.  There's no hurry to restock on the things that I might run out of before then.  But drawing pencils in several specific grades are the most likely to run out eventually.

 

I have bought the occasional fountain pen ink, although again, it's not likely that I'll run out of anything for years, at least.  And I won't rule out buying another fountain pen, although I have a ridiculous number of them.  But there's nothing I want just now.

[peroride]

On 3/10/2021 at 7:11 AM, flatline said:

quite a large number of pens and pencils that were spread around the house

I try to confine them to a few cabinets and get paranoid if 1 is amiss.

 

I had a moratorium this year but broke it with a couple of pre-orders: p51 and a Sailor but indeed I am reaching the saturation point-evil spousal glare if I hover over pen shop sites too long. Outta sight, outta mind, outta usage is not good pen practice unless one likes to collect. I'm not a collector. 🙄 Some point, too many pens will fall into disuse and that will end the buying.

[flatline]

1 hour ago, ISW_Kaputnik said:

You appear not to be applying this to fountain pens, I notice, at least from the choice of sub-forums. 😎

 

 

To be honest, it's been a while since I bought a new fountain pen that wasn't a gift for someone else. I built a small collection of fountain pens several years ago and have been content to use those pens ever since.

 

--flatline

[AmandaW]

I occupied myself in the early months of the debacle making a set of slotted pen drawers so I could organise my collection. I decided I don't need to keep them in pen cases when I'm not going anywhere! It was quickly filled... So I made a second set.

 

Since then - with oodles of space to spare - I've added a modest few inhabitants. And inks too. I've been fairly focused on filling gaps and defining interests, as well as using what I have. The hobby has kept me in 'things to look forward to' so there's no moratorium here and won't be: I've been grateful to have the interest.

[awaking]

Haha I did the exact same thing! 

 

My workplace drawer is now full of ballpoints from home (which I use occasionally when I run out of ink or leave the FP at home).

 

I felt bad about it because we had almost a shoebox full so I found a shop that recycles plastic pens and took all the ones that didn't work which was about 70% of them of course.

 

Thats part of what got me back into FP actually

[JakobS]

I haven't bought a new pen or pencil since 2019, and only have been gifted a single box of a dozen Musgrave Harvest pros since then, so I am on a moratorium as well. I have ~170 wooden pencils I need to get through from probably around 40 manufacturers, dozens of mechanical pencils I rarely touch, and three 2mm holders I use just a bit more. I am really satisfied with my fountain pen collection, and have enjoyed and become reacquainted with the pens I have over the past years. Inks are only gotten as gifts or with gift money, so I have slowed down on those as well. I am bent on focusing on the writing aspect of using fountain pens as that was why I started using them in the first place, so am able to ignore much of the new fads and fashions that are popping up recently and over the past few years.

[sgphototn]

30 minutes ago, JakobS said:

I haven't bought a new pen or pencil since 2019, and only have been gifted a single box of a dozen Musgrave Harvest pros since then, so I am on a moratorium as well. I have ~170 wooden pencils I need to get through from probably around 40 manufacturers, dozens of mechanical pencils I rarely touch, and three 2mm holders I use just a bit more. I am really satisfied with my fountain pen collection, and have enjoyed and become reacquainted with the pens I have over the past years. Inks are only gotten as gifts or with gift money, so I have slowed down on those as well. I am bent on focusing on the writing aspect of using fountain pens as that was why I started using them in the first place, so am able to ignore much of the new fads and fashions that are popping up recently and over the past few years.

Well said. It's easy to get caught up in pen-and-ink 'got to haves' and spend money you don't have.

 

While I am open to new purchases in pens (I'm satisfied with my inks), there's nothing I see that makes me think another pen is needed for my contentment.

[flatline]

Since March 2020, here's the progress I've made using up the stash of pens and pencils from around the house.

 

3 Bic cristal pens run completely dry

7 gel pens run completely dry

 

I've removed lead cores from roughly 30 pencil stubs I found around the house, but have not tracked how many of those leads I've used up (probably very few...I spread my pencil use over a dozen lead holders and several wooden pencils at a time).

 

It's slow going. Even the gel pens are lasting longer than I expected.

 

--flatline

[PAKMAN]

I have a junk drawer full of markers, colored pencils, highlighters and wooden pencils. Also three big coffee mugs full of similar such items. Every once in a while I will use one. I try to not buy any more such mug fodder having more that I could ever use. I do occasionally check for dried up pens and markers and super cheap wood pencils that I can throw in file 13. 

[Azkim Rikschum]

On 7/2/2021 at 5:51 PM, flatline said:

It's slow going. Even the gel pens are lasting longer than I expected.

 

--flatline

 

 

There is a video on YT testing a G2 in a real world situation (1.00mm version) and it lasts for 37 pages (A4 notebook).

 

Considering that 0.7 uses less ink than 1.00 maybe it can fill 45/50 pages.

 

[flatline]

Hmmm....at this rate, then, I'll never get to justify purchasing another writing instrument. That's a sobering thought.

 

--flatline

[Azkim Rikschum]

15 hours ago, flatline said:

Hmmm....at this rate, then, I'll never get to justify purchasing another writing instrument. That's a sobering thought.

 

--flatline

 

"office" stationary is not so expensive.

 

[in my opinion] Life is too short to set limits on these things as well.
I understand buying a montblanc every month can be problematic (but it depends on what kind of salary one has, for some it is equivalent to the cost of a bic for me, but you know what I mean)
Better to have a drawer full of pens than to get depressed knowing you can't buy them "as if they were a toy"

 

At the very least, a few that you won't use can be scattered around town.... "forgetting" them on a park bench, in an office, or elsewhere.
Someone else will pick 'em up and use them until dry.

 

 

[flatline]

Oh, I totally agree. As I use up my small stash of quality pencils and pen refills, I'll quietly replace them. But for gel pens and ball point pens, I'll just use up the ones that nobody in the house has any interest in and move on.

 

The pencil bucket has 200+ pencils in it. I've already pulled out the pencils that I have any interest in. The rest will go to school with the kids, get stuck in music folders (and consequently lost), and be strategically placed around the house wherever they might see some use.

 

What I really need to do is sort through all my salvaged pencil lead and figure out what is decent lead and what was good enough not to immediately throw out. And then throw out the later.

 

--flatline

[1nkulus]

In theory, I have had a moratorium for the last 18 months. Practically, it is proving to be unenforceable.  😆 

 

I have tried to sort the collection on a few occasions but keep getting side tracked.

Hence, I now have a moratorium on 'sorting the collection'.  😂

[Frank C]

4 minutes ago, 1nkulus said:

In theory, I have had a moratorium for the last 18 months. Practically, it is proving to be unenforceable.  😆 

 

I have tried to sort the collection on a few occasions but keep getting side tracked.

Hence, I now have a moratorium on 'sorting the collection'.  😂