I use fountain pens when I can because I like the feel of writing with them and, to a limited extent the, I enjoy the ritual of caring for the instruments. It

I use fountain pens when I can because I like the feel of writing with them and, to a limited extent the, I enjoy the ritual of caring for the instruments. It has long bothered me that I cannot simply buy pen ink without the background information presented in this article. Because of the issue of inks damaging my pens, I've become increasingly unwilling to experiment with new brands of ink or trying sensational colors. I now limit myself strictly to inks sold by pen manufacturers (specifically, Pelikan, Waterman, and Parker), which don't pose the problems discussed in this article.