Salivating

I yielded to my pen addiction, yet again, by ordering a Pelikan ink roller from Pendemonium and a Kaweco Sport Classic ink roller from Swisher Pens. Nathan Tardif, the inventor of Noodler's inks, figured out how to retrofit the Kaweco Sport ink rollers into eyedropper pens and it was one of these that I ordered.

These purchases are justified because fountain pens aren't always practical; two of my more expensive fountain pens dripped ink from the altitude and temperature changes of my last road trip to the extent that I was afraid that they were permanently damaged. Fortunately, they're not, but I wasn't able to use them during that time and my creativity feels constrained by the black ink of my Parker Reflex rollerball.

As colorful as they are, I don't like to use gel pens because they don't write as easily as fountain pens or rollerballs which use liquid ink. Over time, they're also more expensive than using bottled fountain pen ink and, being disposable, aren't earth-friendly.

Another reason for these purchases is the difficulty I had locating the .5mm Uni-Ball Vision rollerball. The 8-pack I found was the only one left and that was only because it had dropped from its peg to hide amongst the ballpoints boxed for bulk purchasing while it was waiting for me to come along and buy it.

With the ink rollers, I can use the fountain pen ink I already have. The pens use the short standard international cartridges made by several companies such as Pelikan, but I like to refill cartridges by using the syringe from my inkjet printer's refill kit because cartridges cost more than bottled ink and don't provide as many colors. To fill the Kaweco barrel with ink, all I'll have to do is uncap and squeeze the Nalgene drop dispensing bottle to which I transferred my bottled ink for traveling. The Kaweco is more practical, but writes slightly broader than the Pelikan's .5mm line. Since .7mm pens and pencils drive me nuts, it's anybody's guess as to how I'll like the .6mm line of the Kaweco.

I also ordered a glass dip pen. There is no justification for this; I simply wanted it. Glass pens are attractive and are good for testing ink. I don't test ink, but I've wanted one ever since I saw my first glass pen over 10 years ago, anyway. They are that attractive. Maybe I'll be able to use it for those seldom-used bottles of ink pushed to the back of my cabinet shelf because I don't like the colors well enough to keep a pen loaded with them. Maybe it will be only eye candy.

I'm mentally salivating in anticipation.