Most Durable Fountain Pen?

[JLT]

Rotring 600?

 

 

+1. That's one stoutly built pen. And the Schrade Tactical pen. I shudder to think what it would take to do mortal damage to either one.

[kayakjax]

When I want a pen I don't have to worry about, I carry a No Nonsense eyedropper.

 

I think they're practically bomb-proof.

 

And cheap.

[JLT]

I would get a solid aluminum pen. Or any pen that is really light. and scratch resistant. Usually the heavier they are, the heavier they fall.

 

 

A pen made of Al would be resistant and nice too. But I don't remember if there is any pen whose most parts are Al. :hmm1:

 

The Schrade Tactical pen's cap, barrel and section are all made of anodized aircraft-grade aluminum alloy. Tough and light. The only downside to this pen is that the section is a little on the slick side and one's grip feels vague at times. Go ahead - try and hurt the darned thing . . .

[alvarez57]

My vote goes, of course, to the Esterbrook J. I have one that spent at least twenty plus years in the glove box of 1949 Chevy hay truck. My uncle got the truck from a grocery delivery company in the 1950s and the pen was in the glove box then. He used the truck for several years to deliver feed. Later when he went into the hay hauling business, he made the truck into a flatbed and used it. I spent more summers in the 1960s than I care to remember on the back of that truck bouncing around hayfields and lumbering down rutted roads into dusty barns. The whole time, that black Esterbrook J was bouncing about in the dusty glove box of that truck. The truck with the fountain pen in its glove box spent the 1970s rusting into the ground behind my uncle's barn. On a lucky Saturday while walking about on the barnyard once more before my uncle put his farm up for sale, I happened to sit in that old hay truck. Rummaging about, I opened the glove box and found the Esterbrook J along with a pair of wire pliers and some bits of bailing wire. My uncle said I could have the pen, the pliers, and the wire. I just took the pen. I replaced the sac, the j-bar, and the nib (the nib I replaced by choice, the original nib was fine and is now in another Esterbrook). It is a great daily writer and, I would add, a durable fountain pen.

 

-David.

 

I would say so to! I have two Esterbrooks that I like very much... and cheap (Junior, restored for $40 each).

[terminal]

You know that's right about the parker 45 -- kind of a red herring to throw in. I mean, these things are... of negative value. People will pay you to take them, and yet they are really durable. Of course no CC (afaik)

What do you mean, "these things are... of negative value"?

I'm also curious what that means. I know it's a bit overshadowed by the popularity of the "51" but I've owned a couple of Parker 45s and thought they were terrific. And they definitely take CC since that's what it was initially designed to do--Parker's first CC pen. Lamy converters are a perfect fit in case you have trouble finding a Parker made converter.

 

You know what, I just wrote that badly.

 

I simply meant to joke that people will pay you to take them which makes them negative in value. It's not really true, but my real point is: BOY ARE THEY CHEAP ON EBAY

 

Sorry that came out so garbled.

[79spitfire]

Shhh! Gold nibbed Parker 45s are still cheap on e-bay, easy to clean and nearly bulletproof! Someone sold me a flighter for $15! If you guys keep telling everyone how great they really are the prices will go up and....

 

uh.. ignore this it's all lies, 45s are awful pens... *whistles as he slowly wonders off to look occupied with something else*

 

er.... Just get some Chineese pens and leave the 45s for me... um... someone else

[Tom Aquinas]

For a near vintage pen with class a cross hatch P75 that endures the ages; for a vintage pen with class , handles the unnatural vicissitudes of pen lif and nostalgia a P51; for a robust, durable icon still in production a Lamy 2000. My 11 year old battle worn veteran Mont Blanc 144 should not be writing. It has a nib bent slightly to the left yet writes beautifully and smooth, and, it has hair line cracks above the nib around the section which has the ink and no leaks with either ink or cartridge.

Edited June 13, 2012 by Tom Aquinas

[fabrimedeiros]

I would get a solid aluminum pen. Or any pen that is really light. and scratch resistant. Usually the heavier they are, the heavier they fall.

 

 

A pen made of Al would be resistant and nice too. But I don't remember if there is any pen whose most parts are Al. :hmm1:

 

The Schrade Tactical pen's cap, barrel and section are all made of anodized aircraft-grade aluminum alloy. Tough and light. The only downside to this pen is that the section is a little on the slick side and one's grip feels vague at times. Go ahead - try and hurt the darned thing . . .

 

Nice to know! Thanks! I've just recieved an email from Pelikan and they show the (new?) Pura P40, that's a FP also made of Al. This pen has futuristic look. It's nice, but I don't like nib that resembles the Parker Ingenuity.

 

Edit: I just read the Pelikan forum and Pura is not new, probably was lauched 2008-2009. Like you said about Tactical pen, people here also complain about the Pura slick section. Seems a nice and sturdy pen, though.

Edited June 13, 2012 by fabrimedeiros

[Durham K]

The Parker 25 has to be a solid pen in most cases. It may be a nail to write with, but it is almost a "Tactical" pen in the right (or wrong) hands. Not that I have tried!

K

Edited August 1, 2012 by Durham K

[pienaar]

I think the Safari would take a real beating. Plastics do not dent, they bounce. The premier combat handguns in the world today are made from the same type of plastic the Safari is and they take a real beating and keep on going.

[zuku]

First, a couple of diclaimers:

1.- I respect and love all the FPN members, including those with great experience, more than the one this noob here has.

2.- Nothing in this universe is indestructible.

3.- We are not considering the nib, so we are talking about a pen with its cap on, clipped or screwed or whatever, as securely as it was designed to close.

4.- I love L2K's, and i am having even nightmares for the incoming stainles steel one.

5.- Parker 45 and 51 deserve all my respect and i agree with the comments expressed above.

 

That being said, I think that nothing will never ever beat a Parson's Essential Fountain Pen.

Thank you.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I haven't yet seen any mention of a Pelikan M200.

 

You beat up on them hard enough, for long enough, and yes, they'll eventually give in. But in general, they're built like tanks.

[Tom Aquinas]

Any of the student pens. Shaeffer have had the same basic design for decades. Safaris are also exceptional as are the Pelikanos. :meow:

[OcalaFlGuy]

The Pilot Varsity.

 

After a nuclear holocaust there'd be cockroaches and Varsities.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[searcher18]

My wife washed one of my shirts in our washing machine. Unfortunately, I had a Omas fountain pen in the pocket. My Omas Milord came out of the washing machine heavily scratched and battered but still writes beautifully.

[georges zaslavsky]

the vintage parker duofold which was dropped from several floors as the ads showed and yet wrote as good as new and when not dropped

Edited August 2, 2012 by georges zaslavsky

[Emperor]

+1 for Lamy Safaris and Twsbi 540

 

Also, well, anything is durable if properly taken care of

 

And lastly check out Jinhao 1200. I had one but it had flow issues which I have no technical skills for the repair of, so now it is a decoration item that I gave to my mom but with good flow that pen is extremely sturdy (and hefty) for its price.

[akrishna59]

As of the Aero Parker 51:

 

Parker 51 is a very durable pen in the sense of the filling mechanism and the nib.

 

 

although i am not a fan of the 51 i believe that this is the best definition of a durable pen.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[Xray]

My vote goes to the Lamy 2000. See https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/92073-the-lamy-2000-experiment/.

 

The Lamy Safari is extremely durable, as well.

 

 

Wow, thanks for showing that

 

My vote'd also go to the 2k. Even the brushed finish means everyday wear-and-tear is unseen as scratches (which I haven't even noticed on mine) would blend into the normal finish.

[Tom Aquinas]

the vintage parker duofold which was dropped from several floors as the ads showed and yet wrote as good as new and when not dropped

 

 

I read about that 18 years ago. The day after my Man 100 fell out of my pocket onto a thickly carpeted floor and inertial force from the springing impact twisted the nib off centre. It would write then all of a sudden go "click" and I would need to manipulate the nib before the cycle started again. So I wondered about the Duofold test. I ended up replacing the nib because the local nib masters could not repair it.