State of the collection: a thought, and which pens to save in a natural disaster

And how I realized I have more pens than I need while trying to evacuate like the headless chicken that I am

Here is a thought experiment: you hear in the news that a life threatening event is happening and you are potentially in danger; you have two days to pack whatever you think is necessary and get out of your home, not knowing what you’ll find when you return. What do you bring? Your ID, your passport, your paperwork, your meds (yes I remembered them this time), your cat, your cat’s documents, cash, your underwear? Or do you go into panic mode and pack a suitcase full of pens alongside one change of clothes?

The latter is who I am as a person.

As someone who’s been through a bombing, albeit as a child, this whole thing with hurricane Milton brought me back to fearing losing the roof over my head (I may have a slight trigger there). I definitely lost all cognitive skills as I am also dramatic as heck, of course, and went into survival mode. Survival mode for a pen person is… save your pens? I guess? After researching my area and checking the building code, however, I realized I was too far from the coast and on too high of ground to have to worry about the storm surge, so the idea of drowning was chucked. However, as I had lost power during Helene two weeks prior, I decided to temporarily move my wife, cat, and mother (hi mom, sorry about this rubbish weather) to my mother-in-law’s. It didn’t help when it comes to loss of power, but at least we were… powerless¹… for a shorter amount of time.

The reason I’m writing this post is the fact my brain went full headless chicken mode when Milton was announced, so after packing my passport and wallet, I went for my pens. And that’s where I realized that a) I need a whole side of a carryon just for them, b) there isn’t enough room for them all, and c) there are levels of importance for them. I used to believe I loved them all equally, but that didn’t seem to be the case when I left about 15 at home, mostly old and cheap ones (mostly…), even ones that I used to use daily when I lived abroad. And that, my friends and both of you dear readers, is what saddened me. How did I become so callous with my collection?

The truth is, there is probably a point at which all of us realize that there is a limit of what we can handle or reasonably use. I have 162 pens as of right now, and I could stand to trim my collection.

Before that happens, though, let me show you what I packed. And let me explain how I packed. The ten pens I liked most — or that I thought I liked most because they were newest and most treasured and I was also a headless chicken — went in my backpack, alongside underwear, chargers, tablet, and money. The rest went in the carryon with a few board games (because we can’t be bored during a natural disaster).

Note that this doesn’t mean these ten pens are my favorite, but that I just got them or they have super sentimental value… or that they look like bananas.

The pens that were to be discarded last if I were to somehow be in grave danger.

Top to bottom we have Pilot VP Raden Stripes, Pilot Custom 823 with a SFM nib (inked with Prickly Pear), Drewnem Pisane Bananas and Coffee, Sailor PG Angel’s Delight (also inked with Prickly Pear), Mayfair Pens Goldberry, Pilot VP banana-looking LE, Darailz Pens Naomi, F3 Pens Signature, Franklin-Christoph model 02 (that really needs fixing as it’s cloudy again), and Zodiac Pen Co Pisces. The thing is, some of these were already in that pen case, and some I shoved in while manically running around the house. I couldn’t even remember which pens I owned, to tell the truth. Because now that I am calm, I know there were many, many more that I would’ve been devastated to have lost. Like my Gemini by Zodiac Pen Co that I couldn’t find at first and then stuffed in my 40 pen case.

I will be putting another Galen Leather 40 pen case on my Christmas wish list, that’s for certain.

So, there are tiers of my insanity; there were ten pens on my person, at least 130 in my suitcase, and the rest remained home. That means that I would potentially be willing to cull the collection so severely people would ask me to remove the fountain pen from my own logo and replace it with a Bic. This is all to say that there is in fact a limit of what one can reasonably use or reasonably save in the case of a zombie apocalypse or, you know, a hurricane. Note: over-saturation breeds exhaustion, and exhaustion means I am not enjoying what I have.

The pens that were left at home were, for example, a couple of Jinhaos, several Majohns and a Lanbitou, but also, oddly enough, a Sheaffer with a gold nib (because, again, headless chicken mode), a Muji aluminum fountain pen (I could cry), a Platinum Curidas, and I cannot believe this but also a Karas Kustoms Fountain K. I brought all the rest of my Fountain Ks but that one, and I don’t have an explanation why that one remained.

However, once we had power and returned home, I couldn’t help but smile while looking at all the pens strewn about on the bed. I had a moment of pure bliss and joy just looking at them. All of them. I breathed a sigh of relief seeing all of them safely nestled in overflowing pen display cases.

As of writing of this post, I have no intention to get rid of any of my pens, be they $1 or $500 (not that I have any with that price tag, or rather, I have never paid that much for any of my pens). I have over 15 PENBBS pens, even more Pilots, TWSBI pens, Sailors (too many, one may say and be wrong as you can never have too many Sailors), an odd Franklin Christoph and a Leonardo, and as of last year, an increasing amount of small makers’ pens. None of which I would not cry to lose.

The conclusion I have drawn — and you may disagree — is that my subconscious is potentially working against me and wanting me to switch to other means of stress relief like going to the gym, which is arguably less expensive and probably better for my body than pen collecting. Thus, I should get rid of my subconscious and just continue working on this blog while enjoying my pens.

I also may have bought another Karas Kustoms to kill the guilt I feel about leaving one behind.

Side note, I write this lightheartedly but I was definitely not feeling that way during the whole ordeal. I was one of the lucky ones to only suffer minor damage in the hurricanes; my heart goes out to those who weren’t as fortunate. This blog is here as an escape from stress — for me — and for you, dear reader, and as such, I go back to barely being funny when online and stay morose offline.

That being said, how many pens do you think is reasonable to save in a storm?

1. I am so sorry for that pun.