Is The New 3776 Considered Airplane-Safe?

[glorfindel]

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.

[jar]

Most any modern pan is airplane safe.

[Sasha Royale]

Understand the physical mechanism. Any air in the fountain pen ink reservoir will expand, when the airplane ascends, and pressure decreases. The expanding

air will will push any ink, between it and the nib, out through the nib, ergo, INK LEAK . The only fountain pen, that I would "just throw" into luggage, is an empty one.

Perhaps, your traveling pen should be a ballpoint pen.

[Tas]

Luck of the draw.

 

On a recent trip.

My 3776 leaked

My daily carry of late, a £2 Primaverde leaked on the way out but not on the return.

My Falcon and Namisu Nova didn't. Neither did my Vac 700.

The Vac 700 has been on a dozen or so flights and is the only pen I own that I can reliably take on a plane knowing I won't need to clean up some sort of burp or mess.

[MsRedpen]

My Platinum 3776 with converter reached frequent flyer status without leaking on any of the flights. I also use it during the flight.

You might give it a try!

[jar]

I think it important to point out a few behavioral practices. First, keep the pen nib up and capped during take off and landing and don't try using it until cruising altitude is reached.

[sugna]

  On 9/2/2016 at 3:42 PM, glorfindel said:

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.

 

I generally second the replies above. Check out this informative post from Joshua at the Pelikan's Perch for more info about flying with pens (obviously from a Pelikan-ish point of view but as far as I know air pressure can't tell the difference):

 

https://thepelikansperch.com/2016/08/29/pelikan-flying-fountain-pen-tips/

[glorfindel]

Thanks for all the input.

 

Just a couple of comments.

 

Sasha: yup, exactly. Hence my question - depending on how "airtight" the pen is, it may be able to hold the difference in the pressure and then the air will not expand. It all depends on *how* airtight it is.

 

Tas: Thank you for sharing your experience. Is your 3776 a new one with the "slip n seal" mechanism?

 

MsRedpen: in fact, I will in a couple of days - I took an empty 3776 with a separate cartridge on a trip with me and used the cartridge during the trip. I haven't used up even 1/4 of it - so I don't want to throw it out. I will try and keep the cartridge in the pen.

 

jar: Thank you for the guidelines. I was aware of the guidelines, but I wanted something hassle-free, like really, just "throwing it in a bag".

 

sugna: nice link, I wasn't aware of it. Thanks!

[Tas]

  On 9/3/2016 at 6:59 AM, glorfindel said:

Thanks for all the input.

 

Tas: Thank you for sharing your experience. Is your 3776 a new one with the "slip n seal" mechanism?

 

 

Yes. I really thought it would be okay. Mysterious . . .

 

If you're desperate tot take the 3776, take it on empty, load a cartridge onboard and dump it before decent. That should work.

I think.

[glorfindel]

  On 9/3/2016 at 7:14 AM, Tas said:

 

Yes. I really thought it would be okay. Mysterious . . .

 

If you're desperate tot take the 3776, take it on empty, load a cartridge onboard and dump it before decent. That should work.

I think.

 

Ah, sorry I wasn't clear - I already took it on a trip. It was empty when I did. During the trip I inserted a cartridge. Now I'm going back in a couple of days but I haven't used up all the ink in the cartridge.

[Tas]

  On 9/3/2016 at 7:20 AM, glorfindel said:

 

Ah, sorry I wasn't clear - I already took it on a trip. It was empty when I did. During the trip I inserted a cartridge. Now I'm going back in a couple of days but I haven't used up all the ink in the cartridge.

 

I see. Then as jar and others have mentioned, nib up until cruising altitude. Best of luck.

 

My pens lived lose in my pocket or bag. No real chance of reliably being kept nib up so guessing why they only randomly behaved.

[jmccarty3]

Two safe pens for air travel: Pilot Custom 823 and Conid Bulkfiller CAISO. Both of these have valves that block movement of the ink from the body into the feed. The difference is that the valve on the 823 has to be opened and closed manually, and the valve on the CAISO is opened and closed automatically when you remove or replace the cap. There are other pens that have mechanisms similar to the 823.

[stevesurf]

Back to the OP, all of my 3776 have been leakproof on air travel, even when stored horizontally or partly inverted. Just about the only evidence is perhaps a tiny drop of excess ink in the cap and my air travel often exceeds 100K mi per year. Other pens having equal pressure resistant ink sealing include most modern Sailors, Namiki and all Conids. Just about all you'll most likely get is a few stray drops.

 

All my Omas pens, however, pretty much empty their payload.

[mongrelnomad]

  On 9/2/2016 at 3:42 PM, glorfindel said:

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.

 

Conid Bulkfiller, Pilot 823, any Japanese Eyedropper, and - I think - some of the newer 3776s; basically, any pen with a shut-off valve (that stops ink reaching the feed) will be completely airplane safe. For the record, I travel a lot, and that's why my Conids get disproportionate pocket-time.

Edited September 5, 2016 by mongrelnomad

[Runnin_Ute]

It has been a couple of years since my last flight. But these are among the pens I had with me on that trip:

 

Pilot Metropolitan M

Pelikan M150 M

Pelikan M205 M

Pelikan 120 Merz & Krell EF

Noodler's Konrad (factory nib)

Waterman Phileas M

Lamy Al Star 1.1

Parker 45 Flighter M

True Writer Silver Anniversary F

 

All were inked and used - including during flight, both directions and at my destination. As best as I can recall NONE of them leaked at all. I don't believe all were freshly filled. There are a mix of piston, c/c, modern, vintage, semi vintage, steel and gold nibs.

 

The 120 M & K is from the 70's, the P45 as old as late 60's, the Al Star from the late 90's. The remainder from this century. (not that there have been many changes in the Al Star since I bought it and the ones available now)

[dcwaites]

The Slip'n'Seal mechanism is not a hard seal, it is just pressed against the base of the section by a gentle spring. The aim is to stop air getting in, not getting out. If you have enough air in the converter/cartridge, and the pen is nib down, then that air will expand and push the ink past the Slip'n'Seal cap.

A TWSBI, OTOH, has a firm inner cap, with seals tightly and hard against the base of the section. Ain't nuthin' getting past that...

[ink-syringe]

I forgot about my half filled 3776 Century in my bag twice recently and both times it leaked. In fact I had 2, one Sai demonstrator 3776 C and a Ch. Blue.

 

Both leaked though these were ideal leaking conditions. Not stored nib up (they were but jostled out in my pack) and both were about half full several connections on the flights so lots of pressure changes.

[EdeIstein88]

I carry my 3776 in my pocket every flight. Never had any problem.

[taciturn-lackey]

Not sure if my 2cents are helpful, but I took my 3776 to a trip to the US back in September (four flights total) and didn't experience any leakage. On the way it was full and on the return flights it was about half full. Tried to keep it pointing nib up but will admit that on the way back I forgot.