Best Fountain Pen For Air Travel?

[WilsonLaidaw]

I have just bought a cartridge loading Graf von Faber Castell Classic Pernambuco wood fountain pen. I went and tried a G v F-C OB nib at a pen shop in Cannes, in a hideous gem encrusted monstrosity of a pen but the nib is beautifully smooth and writes like the M-B 149 OB nib should have from new but didn't.

 

It took a bit of finding a Classic wood-barrel pen with an OB nib but one is now winging its way to me, in the hands of UPS from Spain to France. It also comes with a cartridge conversion filler, so I can use it normally with regular ink from a bottle and with the cartridges when I am flying. It will discipline me to wash out the pen more often, as I almost certainly do this too infrequently with my various fountain pens. The only one I am very strict about washing out is my Sheaffer Snorkel, as once they bung up with dried ink, it is off to the repairer for a few months.

 

Wilson

[Freddy]

Wilson for your consideration....I use a retracting-nib Safety pen....Without incident..No problemo.

For your reading pleasure a write up on Safety pens by David Nishimura..at the end check out

his FAQ Practical Advantages Of Safety Pens.

https://www.vintagepens.com/safety_pens.shtml

 

Fred

....how do you step forward from atop a 100 foot pole....

[WilsonLaidaw]

Wilson for your consideration....I use a retracting-nib Safety pen....Without incident..No problemo.

For your reading pleasure a write up on Safety pens by David Nishimura..at the end check out

his FAQ Practical Advantages Of Safety Pens.

https://www.vintagepens.com/safety_pens.shtml

 

Fred

....how do you step forward from atop a 100 foot pole....

 

Fred,

 

I already have a Mont Blanc Bohème Mozart retractable nib pen. It is a cartridge filler only, with a complicated arrangement of winding the cartridge into the pen. It has a much nicer OB nib than my large M-B 149 Meisterstuck pen. Sadly there is a problem with the design of the cartridge system and even if you leave it just 10 days or so, you will find the cartridge empty. I have spoken to other Bohème owners and it seems to be a universal problem. I sometimes wonder if the whole cartridge filling system is confidence trick perpetrated on us fountain pen users. I have never had one that really worked properly and I have converted all mine that can be converted, to bottle filling, with a huge improvement in functionality. The Graf von Faber Castell Classic I have ordered should be perfect for me, with a super smooth OB nib and both cartridge filling for travelling by air and bottle filling for the rest of the time.

 

Wilson

[canobiecrazy]

I have flown a handful of times with a filled Platinum Preppy(all using converter), and twice with a filled Sheaffer Touchdown. I had no issues of any kind. I never paid attention to orientation of the pens, but they were probably horizontal most of the time.

 

The safest choice I can think of is a pen with a shut off valve - close the valve tight and the pen won't leak. I'd imagine a tightly sealing inner cap helps prevent accidents to a degree. The Preppy has a spring loaded cap which is why I chose it for my first attempt. As for the Touchdown, perhaps the spacious feed and low overall ink capacity helped, or maybe I just got lucky.

 

I wouldn't trust a lever/button/etc filler, a squeeze converter, or an eyedropper. In my experience they are a bit more touchy and prone to leaking when left sitting horizontally than other pens are. I can't imagine they would do well under rapid pressure changes on top of that. Additionally, certain vintage pens(every US Waterman until the Taperite, most third tier pens) have low capacity feeds, giving less room for error until they will leak into the cap.

[pajaro]

It seems a lot of modern pens handle air travel well. The only fountain pen I took on a plane when I travelled for work was a Parker 51, either the fine or the 1.2mm stub. No issues, even though I had them in a plastic bag.

[katanankes]

I will add what I learnt:

 

1. Omas Paragons (original model) piston filler: terrible leakages all the times

 

2. Pilot Vanishing Point with Con-20 or Con-50: leaked most of the times.

 

3. Other pen with cartridges: usually no issues.

 

4. Pens with shut off valve, in particular Visconti pens with double reservoir (i.e. Opera Master or Homo Spapiens demonstrators limited editions): just perfect as expected.

[Claud]

Getting ready to visit Great Brittian/ Scotland next week for a bit. Got myself a Platinum Century 3776 to use with cartridges while I am there. Got the pretty Chartes Blue with a nice medium nib. Just a touch flash.

[martinbir]

Since my son insists on living half-way round the world and producing grandchildren who we simply have to visit, my flying has increased.

 

I take a variety of pens, mainly Lamy and Pelikan, in a small case. Once seated, this case goes in the seat-back pocket, nib upwards. They are then not touched until cruising altitude is reached. I have never had any problems with this method.

 

Of course, things may work out fine without all that palaver, I have never risked it.

[southpaw]

Opus 88 Koloro

Pilot Custom 823

Visconti Double Reservoir fillers

[akrohn2010]

Ironically my one vacuum filler (TWSBI Vac Mini) is the only pen that has actually leaked when I took it on an aircraft (leaked = more than a drop or two on the nib/cap after landing). In the past I made sure my pens are full and took them in snack-sized Ziplocs with some paper towels. Next time I may be bold enough to put them in the 3-pen case I got from Franklin-Christoph and just bring a few paper towels just in case.

 

What are ink stains good for if not character? :-P

[fabri00]

I came to Australia, where I'm now for business, from Europe with an Omas piston filled, without any issue.

[WilsonLaidaw]

The Graf von Faber-Castell Classic Pernambuco fountain pen with OB nib I ordered has just arrived. For a new nib it writes beautifully and the ink flow is freer and more consistent than my M-B 149 Meisterstück with OB nib. I am using it with converter and Pelikan violet ink at the moment, as I had a bottle in my desk drawer and I have bought a box of G v F-C cartridges for travel. I see they are exactly the same as Mont-Blanc cartridges, so I can use up all the various boxes of different colour carts I have of those as well.

[mongrelnomad]

Conid. Has an ink shut-off and doesnt suffer wandering air bubbles (823) or heat-related burping (eye dropper).

 

Six Conids, hundreds of flights, no spills.

[cellmatrix]

No need to buy expensive pen with shut off. Just buy half ounce Nalgene bottle or clean out old travel shampoo bottle, fill with ink put into ziplock with other liquids. Empty the pen prior to takeoff refill upon landing. Problem solved.

[dadbar]

I don't take fountain pens on planes or when I travel...but if I had to do that, I would reach for my Cross Townsend because it has one of the tightest fitting/sealing caps of any pen I own. The barrel can also hold more than one small cartridge so I can pull them out and pitch them before getting on the plane.