Search the Community

Can the new Platinum Century 3776 with its advertised "airtight cap seal" considered totally airplane-safe? I know that any pen with a full converter that does not have any air in it should be safe to travel on an airplane, however sometimes you forget to check what's in your bag or forget to go through the motions of fully filling the pen right before a trip. It would be nice to have a completely "throw-in-the-bag-and-forget" kind of a traveling pen.

Hello, I just recently received my TWSBI Vac-700 Demonstrator in Medium, and although I am leaving already (oh bittersweet, to receive a pen and not use it immediately right after) from Japan to California, I'd thought it to answer my own question: Can the TWSBI Vac-700 truly withstand leaks on an airplane, be used on-board, and not leak when landing (or even when in use)? http://i.imgur.com/7n1HaOi.jpg To answer this question I've filled my TWSBI with bottled water (so that should it leak or heaven-forbid, explode) to the brim using the technique shown by Brian Goulet, and will have it in my jacket pocket nib up, then when the airplane reaches a constant altitude, I'll begin scribbling first with the water inside the feed with the blind cap closed until it starts to dry out, then open the cap so that water flows to the feed. Hopefully nothing happens other than continuing to write. After about half of the water has been used, I'll close the blind cap, cutting off the water flow, then place it back in my pocket again nib side up. Once I land, I'll check my pen, if there's no water, then we''ll know this pen is perfectly suitable for Airplane carry and use. I'll let you know the results as soon as I get home, and take pictures if possible.

Hi! Has anyone used a Schmidt FH452? They claim it can be used in altitude without leaking. I guess it is preassure compensated. Does it really work? Any leaks? Is it worth paying the little extra? Thanks for your input!

Hello all, I recently read at a Japanese pen-shop website that the Pelikan ink tank is specifically designed to cope with ambient pressure change to prevent leaks. I was shocked because . . . I've been using a Pelikan fountain pen for nearly ten years and I've never ever experienced leak. I take it everywhere I go including my countless air travels. I never take any special care about it before flying; I sometimes even fill up the tank right before leaving. I usually put the pen into the vertical pen-holder of my backpack and place it horizontally under the seat in front of me. That means that the pen is kept horizontally during flight. I've been long wondering about this, because my two previous pens leaked, leaked, leaked, and leaked. Countless times. I've owned only three fountain pens. The first was a very old, cheap Mont Blanc with a builtin ink tank and the second was a Parker Sonnet, which I was using with a converter. The latter leaked especially frequently. Say, I kept it in my breast pocket and maybe I ran and shook the pen; removed the cap and found some leak into the cap. It also leaked into the barrel, presumably because there was some little space between the converter and the barrel. (But, I bought a standard international converter which was supposed to be the right one.) I think I took it for air travels and it leaked as if it were a matter of course. Is Pelikan special? Or have I been just lucky? and was what I read about it just a myth? Are there other makes whose pens are leak-free? I want to find this out, because I'm thinking of buying a non-Pelikan pen, but I don't want to go back to the leak-fest. . . . Cheers, Ryo