Hi All;

I was reading through the pop survey in June of 2004.

Huh. I haven't posted one of those surveys in a long time. That's okay. You
took up the slack for this month.

What caught my
attention was the number of pens and the exact ink each had in it for
peoples pen rotation. Do pen people keep logs of pens with which ink
and on what type of paper, or unlike me do pen people just have good
memories?

Thank you
Don

The short answer is, "yes."

The long answer:

Certain of my pens always have a particular ink in them, Noodler's
waterproof, for journals, letters, writing checks, addressing envelopes,
etc.:

second Namiki Falcon - Legal Lapis
blue Pilot Ecrino - Swisher Aquamarine Blue
first Namiki Falcon - Noodler's Black
Royal Blue Pilot Prera - Noodler's Baystate Blue (recent acquisitions)
red Pilot Ecrino - Swisher Hellbender Red
Soft Blue Pilot Prera - Noodler's Britannia's Blue Waves (recent
acquisitions)
black Pilot Ecrino - Noodler's Iraqi Indigo
demonstrator Sailor (whatever-the-number-is) - Verdun Green

They're in a zippered pen case, so it's easy to open and type them up as I
look down the line.

My carry pen, a fine Namiki Vanishing Point, gets Legal Lapis or a
turquoise, formerly Pelikan, it'll be BBW now that I have it, depending on
which I prefer at the time of refilling. (Blue-black and turquoise have
consistantly been my favorite colors since 7th or 8th grade.)

I expect to get the Slate Gray Pilot Prera for Noodler's bulletproof
Burgundy. I had Burgundy in my Ruby Red Parker Sonnet, but my Sonnets do
better with Quink and Skrip and Waterman than with Noodler's, so I'm
changing.

I have green Quink in my green Sonnet and blue Skrip in my blue Sonnet. When
the Sheaffer's gone, it'll be blue Quink. I used to have Waterman's Purple
in my black Sonnet, but that got rinsed out before I went traveling and I've
yet to refill it.

Noodler's Quick Lime is in the Lime Green Prera (recent acquisitions).

Waterman's Havana belongs in the Pelikan.

After I get the orange I want, I expect to put it in the Ivory
Prera...unless somebody comes out with an orange pen I can't resist.

So, for me, it's mostly habit and from color-coding for simplicity.

From my answer in '04, I retired the Phileases (top-heavy) and swapped two
sections with Kulturs because the Phileas nibs are smoother (inks for those
are Sheaffer's Turquoise and Purple). I got more Sonnets (see above), one
replaced a Phileas. The medium Falcons are mostly retired. I prefer fine
nibs, but the medium Falcons write so nicely. The Lamy Safari is
uncomfortable so I use it only for short notations to use up the other black
inks I have. When they're gone, I'll retire the Safari and stick with
Noodler's Black.

The Cores are still great and I bought the one I was missing back then.
However, I rinsed them out before I started traveling and have refilled only
one of them with Pelikan Turquoise since I returned. I taped a sheet of
loose-leaf binder notebook paper to the inside of the ink cupboard door with
a list of which ink went into which Core. They're basically color-coded, but
since the Cores are two-toned, I decided it would be easier to get back into
the groove if I kept a list. Without looking at it:

Balium (red/orange) - Noodler's Widow Maker
Tanakor (black/white) - Pelikan turquoise
Rexor (dk blue/lt blue) - whatever standard blue cartridges I have
Technor (black/blue) - blue-black (Parker/Pelikan/Sheaffer/Noodler's
Midnight)
Titanium (black/gray) - Noodler's Black (I like Noodler's Black.)
Eternium (gray/orange) - ? - I s'pose I can put one of my new oranges in it
Lysium (aqua/gray) - ? Pelikan green ? shrug
Coridium - (black/black) - Noodler's Saquaro Wine

Other inks that I don't like as well got pushed to the back of the cabinet.
There's no log or list and no memory of them. One of these days, I'll pull
a bottle forward and fill a Core from it. It's the least I can do for the
unfortunate colors although I did give a bottle or two away, once, to
someone who had a new pen and no ink. It was a mercy giving for me and the
ink, as well as for the recipient.

As for paper, it's a lot simpler. My social stationery is Crane's, mostly
white, some gray, some ecru. Ink company or color doesn't matter - it's all
good - although I prefer burgundy ink on gray and ecru paper and brown ink
on ecru. For personal business letters, I have white Neenah which is good
with both fp ink (black or blue-black) and inkjet printer.

Drafts for my writing projects (using all the non-waterproof inks) are
written on loose-leaf notebook paper such as Mead's, or white or yellow
Ampads, and the back of used inkjet printer paper when I've edited the
front.

Notes done away from home are written in Ampads, steno pads, mini legal
pads, or pocket-sized spiral notebooks or whatever I'm carrying at the time
including paper sacks from a store because I didn't take a notepad with me
figuring I was only going shopping. (But, these are done with my carry pen,
see above. My carry pen used to be a Fisher and still is if I don't want to
take my VP, such as when traveling.)

My journals (personal, tea, wine) are refills from Oberon Design - I never
did get a cover, but I like their journal refills. Finally, there's my
Day-Timer. Since I use Noodler's waterproof inks in Japanese fine-nibbed
pens, I've never had a problem. Before Noodler's, I used Fishers and fine
Pentel gel pens for the journals and still use Fishers with the Day-Timer as
well as Noodler's Black in my fine Falcon.

That's it. It's easy to remember because they each have a particular
purpose. Sometimes, I'll write social correspondence using a non-waterproof
ink just because I want that particular color, but then I address the
envelope using a waterproof ink - usually black.

Maybe my answer is, "It depends."

Thanks for response, looks like I have a ways to go. In two years 40
pens and six inks. But if you take enough steps you eventually get
there.

Don