Rip Thread For Lost Pens

[Runnin_Ute]

Just over three years ago (June 2015) I lost a pen roll with the following pens:

 

Parker 51 Special set with Mechanical Pencil

Parker 45 Flighter

Parker 45

Pelikan 120 Merz & Krell EF

Pelikan M150

Pelikan M205 Toledo Red

Pelikan M205 Black

 

between home and my office about 2 miles away.

 

I did lose a Waterman Phileas (red marbled) with a Fine nib about 2.5 years before that.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Wow. I thought losing a Lamy Al-Star was bad. I can't imagine losing my M600. It was a gift and signed my childhood friends marriage certificate.

[bemon]

When I got my first job after college, as a book editor, my parents gave me a hand-turned pen. It was a light wood. One end had a blue ballpoint refill; the other end was red. I kept it at my desk at the office. Someone snagged it. I do not think it was worth a lot, but it was meaningful to me.

I remember my parents gave me a Parker IM to replace my lost Cross Century. Again, same deal- snagged off my desk. Not an expensive pen, but given as a gift so it was important. Found it a few weeks later in someones pen cup while I was at her desk working together on something. Bashed, chipped and Im pretty sure it has tooth imprints in it.

 

Wasnt impressed.

[bemon]

Wow. I thought losing a Lamy Al-Star was bad. I can't imagine losing my M600. It was a gift and signed my childhood friends marriage certificate.

I know. An alarming number of Pelikans have gone missing!

[amk]

Not really a 'lost' story, but I had a Waterman Expert which bust a tine off the nib. And since in those days I didn't know all about the swappability of Waterman nibs, and the fact that I could find a beat-up pen with a serviceable nib for very little on ebay, I junked it...

 

We live and learn!

[stacybean]

Two Lamy AL-Stars: charged green with 1.1 stub

and all black F. Cross ATX with Cyano Blue finish and. TWSBI 540 with stub nib. . This is why I generally dont leave the house with the irreplaceables. The Lamys were lost from a messenger bag with slots that didnt quite contain them.

[mitto]

Just over three years ago (June 2015) I lost a pen roll with the following pens:

 

Parker 51 Special set with Mechanical Pencil

Parker 45 Flighter

Parker 45

Pelikan 120 Merz & Krell EF

Pelikan M150

Pelikan M205 Toledo Red

Pelikan M205 Black

 

between home and my office about 2 miles away.

 

I did lose a Waterman Phileas (red marbled) with a Fine nib about 2.5 years before that.

That was quite a loss in one go. Feel really sorry for you.

[loudkenny]

I lost every pen in my avatar in September 2015 when my home burned... except my Plum 51. For reals.

 

I went back to college for the fall semester, and one day left my laptop plugged in while I went to school. While I was gone, my laptop's lithium battery exploded and set my computer desk on fire, which burned my kitchen wall and sooted up the rest of the house. My pen glass (avatar) was next to the laptop, and burned. I lost about twenty pens in total, mostly Parkers. Luckily my Plum was in its display box in my bedroom dresser, and I found it *last weekend* all safe and sound in a box while sorting through some of the salvaged things.

 

I learned the following...

 

1) You can remove nibs and other metal pen parts from melted carpeting using lots of acetone and a steel gallon paint can - and lots of patience. Strangely, the fire melted the pens completely but didn't hurt the nibs at all, so I was able to buy other pens to put the nibs in. The only pen I'm still trying to salvage is a First Generation 51 Flighter - the clutch is still stuck in the cap.

 

2) It is almost impossible to file an insurance claim for fountain pens, no matter how much they were worth.

 

3) It's almost as much fun looking for replacement pens as finding the original ones.

 

I have photos here somewhere. I was going to post a list of the dead but it was simply too depressing.

 

ken

Edited October 10, 2018 by loudkenny

[mana]

I know. An alarming number of Pelikans have gone missing!

 

Well, you know, they do have wings after all... Although my flock of Pelikans just seems to grow in size all by itself.

But lost pens... been a while. I have had fountain pens break (going vintage is fun until it isn't). Last one was a Lamy 99 with a gorgeous OF nib. The section/hood of the nib had developed a split and started leaking ink. Need to source a replacement for that one...

 

The last time I lost some was on a scouting trip (IIRC it was a wilderness/scouting skill competition) some twenty or so years ago. We were doing one of the tasks at a check point in a forest clearing and when we moved on from there I left behind a smaller bag full of stuff including a pouch which had my standard EDC writing equipments of that time. IIRC the most expensive thing there was a black 0.5mm rOtring 600 MP. Lesson learned? Never hang anything from a branch, no matter how small the tree. You will completely miss the said item and lose it as a result.

[Honeybadgers]

someone broke into my car and stole my first TWSBI vac700R with an FPnibs 14k full flex, and a wet noodle eversharp skyline I got from Greg Minuskin that I adored (but the jerk decided to throw a temper tantrum after selling me a 52 1/2 V and shipping it with ink in it when I asked for some kind of restitution for his mistake, he blocked my email after threatening me with his lawyer)

[challer61]

I don't keep pens in my pocket generally for this reason. On the road, they go in a case, always, when not in use. I will keep one in my suit jacket when going to/from meetings but I have "missed" my pocket when I thought it was there from time to time. At the EOTD, pens are things, and they should be used, not kept in the safe. If I can't afford to lose it, I insure it or don't buy it. Is there pen insurance for really expensive pen collections?

[amk]

Ken, I thought when I read the first line of your post, "Oh no, what a tragedy"... and then I read the rest of it. What an amazingly positive post considering the circumstances! I bet those nibs are extra-precious to you now.

 

Hope the house is back to normal and the insurance paid out on most of the damage - even if maybe not the pens.

[loudkenny]

I was very fortunate indeed, because nobody was hurt and my house was insured.

 

I'm hoping that anyone who has something like this happen to them remembers this post and how to salvage their parts.

 

If anybody wants to learn how to salvage pen parts after a fire, please PM me for advice. It may actually be doable - it was for me!

 

I have photos, but i'm not allowed to post them for some reason.

 

ken

[XYZZY]

Is there pen insurance for really expensive pen collections?

 

I have photography friends that have only positive things to say for their "Personal Articles" add-on to their State Farm homeowners insurance. Camera stolen, got it replaced. Lens broken after being dropped (completely owners fault) and they got it replaced. I've got over $10k of camera gear on mine, but haven't needed to make a claim so I can't personally vouch for the claim & replacement process. Nevertheless, it's a "personal articles" coverage, and not "gearheads with too much photo gear", so if I ever have pens worth covering that's where I would start.

 

Whenever I add a new camera lens I just email a scan of the receipt showing model number, price paid, and serial number of the lens. I'm not sure how much of that is required information, though.

 

@loudkenny: relieved to hear your positive outlook about such a horrible experience.

[Honeybadgers]

My renter's insurance added another $5000 in coverage for my pens. You may need them appraised or keep receipts online on the cloud, but homeowner's renter's insurance will cover it. Barring that, if you've got some REALLY expensive stuff, a call to someone like Jeweler's mutual may be in order.

[chromantic]

I lost (or possibly only misplaced) one of my JIFs, a dark blue with black cats and white mice on the barrel. Spent several months checking ebay before another one finally showed up

 

Like Wulfraed, I thought I lost a Jiffie, it snagged on a grocery bag as I lifted it from the cart to put it in the back seat. Drove back to work but then checked the back seat and saw it hanging on the bag. Whew!

[mana]

I have photos, but i'm not allowed to post them for some reason.

 

ken

Try uploading them to the site first using the upload tools > https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/ihost

 

You have to manually copy-paste the link/code to the image but yeah, it should work.

[Mannyonpil]

Some years ago I left a Cross Townsend at my desk in a library. I went to the bathroom but when I came back it was gone.

 

I lost two pens, a Parker Vector (I know, I know) and one that I loved but cannot remember now. They were in a pouch that I left at the Starbuck's in Sinch'on, Seoul.

 

And just a week ago, my brief case disappeared with:

 

1 Wyvern Ambassador, nice 14k springy EF nib

2 Unknown c. 1930s English bulb fillers, probably Platignums, one with a 14k warranted and the other with a gold Esterbrook relief nib.

1 Esterbrook Relief 2-L in green marble.

1 Lamy 2000, smooth EF, less than six months old

1 "NO-MEK" brand transluscent bulb-filler, c. 1930s.

1 Asa Nauka eye-dropper, transluscent

 

It was a disaster as these are among my very favorite pens that I use on a daily basis and most were not especially replacable.

 

Several days went by and I began to come to terms with the fact that nothing lasts forever, etc, etc. And then I got a phone call; someone found my bag by the side of the road, open with the contents strewn across the grass! I nervously asked about the pens, the computer, the notebooks. Lo! Everything was still there and in working order. It would have been the worst pen disaster but fortunately they all came home safe and sound.

[mana]

Let me guess, you forgot it on top of your car? Just going by your description...

...someone found my bag by the side of the road, open with the contents strewn across the grass!

[Mannyonpil]

It was too far from the road for that. I think I may have left it in the driveway and an animal took it. We have coyotes, racoons, etc that could have taken an interest in it, I suppose.