Fountain pens are great writing tools, pretty and collectable but their main disadvantage is that you need one fountain pen for each ink colour that you might use and you have to be always careful on what sort of ink you are going to use on your pens if you don't want to clog them.
The technical drawing pens now don't last that long and don't offer any kind of variation on the lines that you get from them. And as they are disposable they are not the most environmental friendly option either because they can't be completely recycled.
So personally I prefer dip pens that I use with individual nibs in different shapes.
The main advantage of dip pens is that they don't need any particular maintenance. You don't have to worry if a particular ink will clog the mechanism or erode the nib of your pen. You can use them with any kind of ink with or without shellac, sumi or indian ink, even iron gall ink, or acrylic or other and you can change the colour of the ink instantly by just wiping the ink from the nib. Most of inks are available in small sample bottles so you can hold safely with you a many as you like ( or need) .
The nibs are also available in all kind of shapes, flexible or square, pointy etc they are very affordable and they don't occupy that much space in your sketching bag. I hold my pen nibs in a tiny pill case but a matchbox can do the job either. And all that you need to hold with you is one nib holder and the nibs. ( and a small bottle of ink).
They can be used also safely with other mediums like watercolour, acrylic inks, gouache and even for applying masking fluid if you want to as there is no chance to clog. And in the rare case that you mess them up, if you leave for instance the ink dry on a nib, you can clean them easily with an old toothbrush.
So I don't see any good reason to invest on a ( usually expensive ) collection of fountain pens or ( the cheaper ) disposable felt tip/gel/technical drawing pens that will limit my options on the colour mediums that I can use with them and/or will trouble me with their maintenance.
Fountain pens are great writing tools, pretty and collectable but their main disadvantage is that you need one fountain pen for each ink colour that you might use and you have to be always careful on what sort of ink you are going to use on your pens if you don't want to clog them.
The technical drawing pens now don't last that long and don't offer any kind of variation on the lines that you get from them. And as they are disposable they are not the most environmental friendly option either because they can't be completely recycled.
So personally I prefer dip pens that I use with individual nibs in different shapes.
The main advantage of dip pens is that they don't need any particular maintenance. You don't have to worry if a particular ink will clog the mechanism or erode the nib of your pen. You can use them with any kind of ink with or without shellac, sumi or indian ink, even iron gall ink, or acrylic or other and you can change the colour of the ink instantly by just wiping the ink from the nib. Most of inks are available in small sample bottles so you can hold safely with you a many as you like ( or need) .
The nibs are also available in all kind of shapes, flexible or square, pointy etc they are very affordable and they don't occupy that much space in your sketching bag. I hold my pen nibs in a tiny pill case but a matchbox can do the job either. And all that you need to hold with you is one nib holder and the nibs. ( and a small bottle of ink).
They can be used also safely with other mediums like watercolour, acrylic inks, gouache and even for applying masking fluid if you want to as there is no chance to clog. And in the rare case that you mess them up, if you leave for instance the ink dry on a nib, you can clean them easily with an old toothbrush.
So I don't see any good reason to invest on a ( usually expensive ) collection of fountain pens or ( the cheaper ) disposable felt tip/gel/technical drawing pens that will limit my options on the colour mediums that I can use with them and/or will trouble me with their maintenance.