Medical supplies all fountain pen addicts can’t live without

Yes. You read that right. Medical supplies (and lab instruments) that Fountain Pen addicts can’t live without.

The fountain pen hobby is so wonderful and weird. Just like any hobby, there are a lot of small tools and paraphernalia that come with it. I get a lot of strange looks and questions from my friends whenever they see the most random things on my desk.

If you’re just getting in the hobby, then you’re in for a treat. If you’re a fellow fountain pen addict, then you probably already own these. Here are a few common medical supplies that almost all fountain pen addicts own and use regularly.

Bulb Syringe

Commonly used for: Clearing a baby’s stuffy nose

How fountain pen people use it…

• Clean cartridge-converter pens. Fountain pens need to be cleaned once in a while. And just like cleaning anything, it takes a bit of time and effort. The bulb syringe makes it easier for fountain pen users to clean their pens because of how much water the bulb syringe can flush through the pen (compared to using the fountain pen’s converter alone).
• We’re also likely to have at least one in each room.

Blunt Needle Syringe

Commonly used for: “Preparing and dispensing medications to patients usually through an IV device rather than injected directly into the patient.” [Information from Vitality Medical.]

How fountain pen people use it

• †To clean ink cartridges and converters. The quickest way to clean these is to use a syringe to expel water into the cartridge* or converter. By pushing in water into the cartridge or converter, you cna

*Cartridges are meant to be thrown out but they can be reused as long as you have cleaned it.

• To refill cartridges and stubborn converters.

• To make ink splatters and fountain pen ink art. If you want that ink splatter effect (just like the ones at Goulet Pens), then a syringe will be your best friend.

Plastic Pasteur Pipette

Commonly used for: transferring small quantities of liquid

Fountain people use it for…

• Quickly cleaning their pens (again). Sometimes, the bulb syringe isn’t just enough. The syringe can be too wide for some pens so we result to using a similar tool – the pipette. It draws a lot of water and can easily clean the section (the part with the grip) or the barrel (the body) of the pen.

• Creating fountain pen ink art and ink drops!

• Finally, transferring inks from bottle to sample vials (to share with their friends!)

Tip: If you have a Pilot Parallel pen, you can use the pipette that comes with it to clean your fountain pens (old models didn’t have the pipette but had the squeeze converter for cleaning instead)

Plastic Vials

Commonly used for: Storing small amounts of liquids for medical or scientific purposes.

Fountain people use it for…

• Ink sampling. We love our inks. There are so many to choose from that sometimes, we cannot commit to a single bottle of ink. Luckily, fountain pen retailers sell ink samples so that we can try it all.
• Sharing our inks with friends. Fountain pen lovers also love to “enable” their friends. Sharing some ink samples is a great way to help them as they are dipping their toes in the fountain pen hobby.

We’re not insane, I promise.

Test Tube Rack

Commonly used for: Holding test tubes upright.

Fountain people use it for:

• Storing hundreds of ink vials. Need I say more?
• Also, keeping our ink samples in one place and prevent any spills.

And that’s it! 5 strange yet useful things that you would most likely find in a fountain pen person’s home.