Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35561

It isn't easy to find fountain pens and ink around here in NJ; I have finally tracked some down (in the local staples), although their inks are somehat limited and they only have a couple of fountain pens, plus a brand of disposable fountain pens.

When I was at school, we weren't allowed to use any pens other than fountain pens but it appears that very few people use them anymore; they are still, however, much easier to find in the UK than they are here in NJ.

I am a disciple of Parker pens. Their ink ('Quink') is pretty much the best, I think, and the Parker cartridges have the handy 'ink reserve' feature, where you can release the last ink by tapping the cartridge. Better than that, of course, is to use ink from the bottle, which is what I normally do. I always used to write in blue (Quink washable blue) but I have converted, over the years, to black ink (with a spare pen with red ink, for marking my students' work).

Am I the only person who still uses a fountain pen?

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: LfuckinA
Posts: 3350

Yes, you are.

That said, I have two fountain pens. One Parker, the other I dunno. It was a gift from an ex. She was thoughtful enough to give me some bottles of ink, as well. I don't use them, though. I'm using felt-tip pens all the time these days.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35561

Why don't people like to use fountain pens? Better handwriting (in my case, at least), less pain from a lot of writing (this was a particular advantage when I used to mark 'A' level exams), pretty cheap to use (a good pen lasts a long time). Fountain pens = win.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: south afrika
Posts: 16485

because we are not filthy commies, we want disposable crap that we can throw away and buy a new one every week, keeps the economy going ya'know

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 24302

Actually, I use a quill. However, Smug, you might try that handy little thing called the Internet.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35561

Yeah, I'd found websites, just amazed that places like Target didn't sell them.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 24302

Why would they? Only PhD's use them anymore and any PhD worth his doctorate wouldn't shop at Target. Everyone knows that.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: south afrika
Posts: 16485

erm...we are talking about smug right? you do realize that smug pays 2 bit crack whores to pee on him

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35561

Like I'd pay.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: south afrika
Posts: 16485

his PhD alone is enough for the crack whores to start pissing

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Insatiation
Posts: 8980

Jeeze, next thing you know slide rules will disappear.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35561

Calculators are better than slide rules, though. Biros, etc, aren't better than fountain pens.

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Registered: Mar 2004
Location: USA
Posts: 24302

Let's hope not. Those rules are the only thing that keep the kids from going down the slide three at a time.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: LfuckinA
Posts: 3350

Oh, yes, I also have a quill. The ex didn't give it to me, but she did point it out to me so that I could buy it.

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Registered: Jan 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 13002

quote:

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Originally posted by Smug Git
Am I the only person who still uses a fountain pen?

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: ........
Posts: 14954

you and Oxsan

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Registered: Nov 2004
Location: Detroit
Posts: 665

my dad uses "peacock blue" for his fountain pen. England's win on the world ended when they removed the fountain pen and the strap/cane from public schools. We should learn from this.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 3102

I used to use fountain pens when I was at school, but I just couldn't be arsed with them after a while. They weren't hard to write with, just finickety, and I didn't lie having t change the cartridges all the time.

There's someone at uni who uses a proper fountain pen that he refills from a bottle of ink. I guess that's the way it should be done.

I'm more of a Pilot Hi-Tecpoint pen gal meself.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: ........
Posts: 14954

Keyboard for me.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
Posts: 25591

Fountain pens suck. You gotta like write at an angle and shit and not upside down on the pen tip or you'll spill the ink on your paper. Life's too short.
Pentel makes a good marker pen that's real easy on the hand and writes smoother than any fountain pen I tried.
I mean fountain pens are like chopsticks.
You look good eating chineese food with chopsticks but using a fucking fork is a whole lot easier.

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Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Lat: 43° 42' 0 N, Long: 79° 34' 0 W
Posts: 2820

Bic Mechanical Pencil.

Erase your mistakes with ease.
Don't hate the profs who can't decide on a good example.
When drawing sentence trees as much as I do, pencil is the ONLY way to go.

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location: b0ulder
Posts: 5126

Sentence trees?

Why hasn't anyone brought up the fact that fountain pens explode? I can imagine a bunch of 14 year olds wandering the school halls with huge ink blots on their shirts, pants pockets and backpacks. Fountain pens are too dangerous and messy to use.

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: Hilbert Space
Posts: 35561

I never had a fountain pen explode, after 25 years of using them.

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Registered: Feb 2004
Location: in colorado somewhere!
Posts: 25591

I used to tear my paper up with those things. I need a ball bearing to guide my ink.

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Registered: Sep 2001
Location: ........
Posts: 14954

quote:

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Originally posted by Smug Git
I never had a fountain pen explode, after 25 years of using them.

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