u/cabinmarine

Hi folks, I have recently revived my interest in fountain pens, and I am thinking of getting a new batch of ink. I have the following pens:

1. Pilot Vanishing Point (M)
2. Pilot metropolitin (M)
3. Pilot Kakuno (M)
4. Kaweco Perkeo (M)
5. Kaweco Al Spot (B)
6. Miscellaneous Cello school children targeted cheap pens all below INR150.

I've tried the following inks before:

1. Camlin - ofcourse, all of us Indians start here - needless to say I threw away more in my life than I used.

2. Krishna - Lyre bird Blue 350ml bottle(didn't find it any better than bottom of the barrel Camlin), Tulsi green(horrible flow and shade, was more black than green), Halloween orage(shade was ok but again horrible flow), there was another one of these unique shades I had but I forget as my entire experience with Krishna has been horrible, years ago when I was still using them I even managed to connect with and asked Dr. Sreekumar directly for advice and he told me to mix a little bit of clove oil in it. I just couldn't fathom mixing in dish soap/handwash liquid and/or clove oil into my ink to make it work.

3. Parker Quink - Kinda ok, maybe a step above Camlin but I don't think I was happy so again, bought two bottles, mostly threw away more than I used.

4. Pilot Blue 30ML bottles - I've 2 bottles, they are both half full so this is my mainstay and I am fully satisfied but unfortunately I just read an unverified post on this sub that people are returning bottles of this ink after filling in Quink in it - maybe a psyop by a hoarder as the particular ink is out of stock in may places.

5. Pilot Iroshizuku Kosumosu - I use this exclusively for my Vanishing point and I've quite a bit to go through so not worried just yet.

But given that my Pilot standard ink is running low, and I am writing around 5-7 pages a day sometimes, I am inclined to seek a cheap/smooth alternative to the pilot ink in the around INR350 price point, any suggestions?

I've not tried daytone because it gives me Camlin or even worse vibes - being so cheap 1 fucking litre for around INR500 is some cost effectiveness, makes me question if I should put it in my Metropolitin or Kakuno.

I am also unsure about Waterman, Pelikan, Syahi and all other Indian brands. Happy to hear from folks with same pens as me what they use for volume writing. I don't care about fading or water resistance of the ink, just has to flow and not smudge/dry relatively quick.