How many pens do you keep inked up at one time?

[halffriedchicken]

How many pens on average do you keep inked up at one time?

 

Generally I have 7 or 8 inked up and rotate throughout the day because I like the variety. My writing looks a bit chaotic but for me I enjoy the writing experience more than reading things over. 

[silverlifter]

Two at work. Three that travel with me (two in a case to and from work, and a pocket pen wherever I go). Two on my desk at home and one in my garage.

[Muncle]

I have two bookkeeping pens at work. Those stay inked up throughout the semester.

 

The pens that come back and forth with me vary in number and inks. I try to keep it to no more than four, otherwise cleaning and maintenance gets too difficult.

[sirgilbert357]

Always at least two - one that lives at work and one that stays home or goes with me as I move about my day.

 

Currently six, if I count the "work pen", which I sometimes forget about.

 

I got some new inks, so I have more pens inked than usual. Normal / average is three to four.

 

 

[TheDutchGuy]

About 10, all in use. Once we get back to working from the office, the number will drop to 4 or 5.

[Paul-in-SF]

I have a Pilot Kakuno that is always inked and by a notepad for jotting things. I have a Kaweco Elegance with M nib always inked with permanent black ink for envelopes. Then I have the pens I use in rotation. I have a separate drawer with 12 slots for inked pens. Each pen is used for one day in rotation with the other inked pens until it runs out, when it is cleaned and returned to its regular drawer. New pens also go in there for one inking and daily use rotation. I don't always have exactly twelve pens in there, I may tend to wait until there are 2 or 3 empty spaces before pulling a different pen out to be inked up. Or it may already be full when a new pen arrives and gets inked up. Right now I have 12 pens in the drawer plus the one I'm using today, which will go on until one of them runs out of ink. I have another new pen on the way, so I hope one or two of them runs out soon. 

 

This arrangement is why the ability of a pen's nib to not dry out in a span of two weeks is important to my evaluation of the usefulness of a pen. 

[Checklist]

One to three, usually two.  I keep one at home for writing letters and checks and take another to work with me.  If one of the two runs out of ink, I may get down to one, or I may fill a third in anticipation.  If I ink up more than that, they won't get used enough and dry out.

[PAKMAN]

Two usually but 4 right now.

[inkstainedruth]

Sometimes I've had as many as a dozen inked up at one time -- but that gets unwieldy, so that's when the rule of "flush and clean at least two before inking anything else" comes into play.  

My problem is that I have too many ink samples and keep wanting to try more.  And then I want to put pens I haven't used for a while into rotation....  And then it all spirals out of control on me again....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[bunnspecial]

I try to limit it to 3...generally something fine nibbed with a permanent ink, something broader with an interesting blue, and something in an "off" color(generally red or green) for markup.

 

That almost never holds, though, and I'll either want to try a new pen and/or a new ink and before I know it I have 10 inked.

[Arkanabar]

First, the F Pelikan M205 Aqua loaded with Iro Ku-Jaku.  Both of these were gifts from my wife, and I keep this handy for all the billets-doux I write to my wife. 

 

Something wet which can be knocked completely down, to use up the Bad Black Moccasin, which is my bête noire ink, currently a blue swirl ebonite Jaipur V2 with a 1mm stub.  And right now, a fine Darjeeling orange with black caps to write down some stuff I want to be water resistant, in a small journal that has really narrow ruling.  That's one I usually don't have inked up.

 

My Jinhao 51A, kept full of MB Mystery Black, kept clipped to the outside of a scrub pocket for jotting quick notes.  I've never had this, or the Hero 616 that was its predecessor, drop out of its cap by itself.  One handed capping is something to teach yourself before you do this.

 

And barring a penitential season, I have something filled with colored ink.  Currently, that's a Pilot Prera Iro-Ai CM stub filled with Noodler's Blue.

[sgphototn]

I have 8 inked now. Three fine nibs scattered about for making notes in books, and five pens on the desk. A broad italic, a 1.1 Pelikan Stub (soon to retire the M1000 from active duty when the ink runs out), a 1.9 Franklin- Christoph Music nib (one of the best nibs I own), a 1.1 Jowo, and a YOL broad (the best nib I own).

 

 

[langere]

Three pens.  I used to have a box of twelve pens sitting in the alcove, from which I would take one when one of the pens used up its ink.  Because of the pandemic and my excessive pen buying, I now have thirty-odd newly purchased pens willy-nilly in the box from which I take one when another one gets put away.  At some point I hope to get back to the pens I already purchased and enjoy them again, but I first have to get to the batch of pens I have not used yet.  Most are new pens, but there are a number of vintage ones (especially Wahl-Eversharps) that are in the box.

 

You can always see what pens I have inked up in my "Signature" box below.

 

Erick

[A Smug Dill]

• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/347333-how-many-pens-do-you-have-inked-at-one-time/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/338077-how-many-pens-do-you-have-inked-at-any-one-time/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/294697-how-many-pens-always-inked/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346871-permanently-inked-pens/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346231-got-10-pens-inked-and-i-want-to-ink-more/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/359174-highest-reasonable-number-of-inked-pens-at-a-time/

 

[antarmukhee]

Just one

[Bo Bo Olson]

Want to keep it at 7, but got a new ink so it's 8.

 

I use to often make a mistake and go over to the ink section; saying  'Oh, I have that ink,' and often had 17 inked.

 

In I want to use up more of my 80 inks, if I have 7 or less, I can use more ink.

[Linger]

16 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/347333-how-many-pens-do-you-have-inked-at-one-time/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/338077-how-many-pens-do-you-have-inked-at-any-one-time/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/294697-how-many-pens-always-inked/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346871-permanently-inked-pens/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346231-got-10-pens-inked-and-i-want-to-ink-more/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/359174-highest-reasonable-number-of-inked-pens-at-a-time/

 

Here I was thinking “surely this can’t be the first time someone asked this question?”. Thx ASD. My reply is “too many” by the way.

[Bristol24]

This question has been asked numerous time but it is so significant to our hobby/obsession/addiction that it deserves revisiting on a regular basis.  Thank you for asking.

 

I try very earnestly to keep the number at or fewer than 4.  It is too easy for me to lose track and then I pay the price with a pen that needs more than just flushing.  I find this to be more critical when using certain inks.

 

Cliff

 

[mizgeorge]

14 minutes ago, Linger said:

Here I was thinking “surely this can’t be the first time someone asked this question?”. Thx ASD. My reply is “too many” by the way.

Ditto
but also not enough...

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Seldom fewer than two or more than 6.  But I'm not counting a number of Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens that I have lying around and haven't counted.  Those Varsities never seem to dry up, no matter how infrequently I use them.  Although they're meant to be throw-aways, I've experimented with refilling them, but don't do that any more.

 

Apart from those, I currently have four "portable" fountain pens inked, and also a cheap Platinum desk pen in a stand.  That desk pen is just one way of having red ink available when I want it.  Three of the other four have some shade of blue, while the fourth has violet.

 

And yes, there are many other threads on this, but it doesn't bother me, at least, when someone opens up another one.

Edited June 25, 2021 by ISW_Kaputnik
Re-phrasing