I got this pen today

[OldTravelingShoe]

(I've been away for a week, keynoted at a professional conference in Berlin, returned with more pens and... a flu.) 

 

TL;DR: This post is about a Pelikan Level L65 red with steel F nib, inked from the Level's own inkpot with Pelikan's own Royal Blue.

 

Overall, a surprisingly nice pen. Writes well out of the box, has good ergonomics, helps guide your hand and other activities. I like it. 

 

Note: I'm trying to slow down on buying pens, so I can enjoy more those I already have, but the FPN community and the Netherlands Pen Club convinced me I should try out the Pelikan Level series sooner rather than later. Thanks, @mallymal1, @PithyProlix, @amberleadavis, @ruby.monkey, @JulieParadise, everyone! 

 

Figure 1. The unusual Pelikan L65 skiffs over the jumpy fox and the lazy dog.

 

Figure 2. Inking without a spill? Not a problem for this pen. 

 

Figure 3. Sturdy nib as well. And round. Curious if I could fit a gold nib here, maybe from an L5. 

 

Figure 4. This pen can drink very fast and shows. But is it easy to get that ink into the second chamber? 

 

Figure 5. Did I say the pen itself is a work of art? Think Warhol and Miro, not Rembrandt and Cranach. 

 

Comments are most welcome. 

 

Enjoy! 

[amberleadavis]

11 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

(I've been away for a week, keynoted at a professional conference in Berlin, returned with more pens and... a flu.) 

 

TL;DR: This post is about a Pelikan Level L65 red with steel F nib, inked from the Level's own inkpot with Pelikan's own Royal Blue.

 

Overall, a surprisingly nice pen. Writes well out of the box, has good ergonomics, helps guide your hand and other activities. I like it. 

 

Note: I'm trying to slow down on buying pens, so I can enjoy more those I already have, but the FPN community and the Netherlands Pen Club convinced me I should try out the Pelikan Level series sooner rather than later. Thanks, @mallymal1, @PithyProlix, @amberleadavis, @ruby.monkey, @JulieParadise, everyone! 

 

Figure 1. The unusual Pelikan L65 skiffs over the jumpy fox and the lazy dog.

 

Figure 2. Inking without a spill? Not a problem for this pen. 

 

Figure 3. Sturdy nib as well. And round. Curious if I could fit a gold nib here, maybe from an L5. 

 

Figure 4. This pen can drink very fast and shows. But is it easy to get that ink into the second chamber? 

 

Figure 5. Did I say the pen itself is a work of art? Think Warhol and Miro, not Rembrandt and Cranach. 

 

Comments are most welcome. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

I also found that I can fill the pen with a syringe if necessary.  These pens are awesome.

[JulieParadise]

50 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

 

I also found that I can fill the pen with a syringe if necessary.  These pens are awesome.

 

Yeah, I am myself a bit surprised about how much I like it. 

 

We have the same pen that is shown in these pictures (transparent grey/black & red, M nib), and every time I get it out of my son's pen case to refill his fountain pens, I scribble with that one and feel the same kind of surprised satisfaction that comes to me when using other humble pens like a Pilot Petit or a Platinum Preppy, as those little plastic sticks do write really well and are so reliable.

[OldTravelingShoe]

15 hours ago, JulieParadise said:

other humble pens like a Pilot Petit or a Platinum Preppy, as those little plastic sticks do write really well and are so reliable

I only know thr Preppy, but I find it a very good pen and definitely a much more valuable pen than it is sold for. Humble indeed. 

[RoyalBlueNotebooks]

On 8/15/2022 at 7:04 PM, OldTravelingShoe said:

 

Figure 4. This pen can drink very fast and shows. But is it easy to get that ink into the second chamber? 

 

I used to have a Pelikan Level as my daily writer for years in high school. Extremely reliable, I loved mine to bit.

To answer your question, I've never got ink where it wasn't supposed to go despite the quirky inking mechanism, no need to worry.

Hope you enjoy yours lots!

[OldTravelingShoe]

On 8/17/2022 at 10:09 AM, RoyalBlueNotebooks said:

Hope you enjoy yours lots!

Hehe, thanks for the kind words, we're now in the exploration phase 😄

 

Edited August 18, 2022 by OldTravelingShoe
Fixed typos.

[PithyProlix]

Attack of the thin cylinders!

• A Daks Simpson (model name unknown) and a Mitsubishi Exceed, both made by Sailor and based on their Hoscal model. Because it's skinny the Hoscal is not my favorite for long writing sessions but its still one of my favorite pens so I'm glad to have found these. The Aurora Hastil-based Pierre Cardin I received a few days ago (shown a few posts previous to this) is roughly the same overall dimensions, except a little longer, and now I'm wondering if the Hoscal design was inspired by the Hastil, especially given the name similarity. Plus the Hastil was introduced in 1970 - while I'm not sure when the Hoscal was introduced, my earliest is from 1973 - so possibly the Hoscal followed soon after.
  
  I've included one of my Hoscals - a flighter - in the photos for comparison. The section, feed, and nib designs are identical, except for decoration/trim, and the Mitsubishi appears to have a steel nib, which has a little bounce but is distinctly stiffer than the other two. Both the Daks and Mitsubishi have lacquered brass caps & barrels.
  
  Daks: Cap ring is actual tweed cloth, in characteristic Daks' style. This significantly ups the ante for ink stain paranoia.
  
  Mitsubishi: Lacquer has a very subtle, wide & hazy spiral pattern using two shades of dark blue. Cap posts with a snap, unlike the other two. Slightly longer than the other two.
  
   
   
• Parker Arrow. Without the trim, etc. the exterior might be difficult to distinguish from the Hoscal. The Arrow, introduced in 1981, is slightly shorter, with cap longer and barrel shorter. All these nearly cylindrical pens - the Hoscal-based ones and the Arrow - seem to have the same diameter and have a subtle taper to the barrel, enabling posting of the cap.
  
  

[PithyProlix]

@OldTravelingShoe Thanks for the thanks (?) but I just heard about the Pelikan Level for the first time here recently. 

 

Anyhow, very cool pen!

[amberleadavis]

36 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

@OldTravelingShoe Thanks for the thanks (?) but I just heard about the Pelikan Level for the first time here recently. 

 

Anyhow, very cool pen!

 

It's not a very expensive pen, but it is awesome.

[DvdRiet]

3 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

Daks: Cap ring is actual tweed cloth,

 

I've been seeing Burberry pens for sale lately and I immediately thought this was one when I saw the photo! It's a very cool looking pen, that one. I understand your paranoia but at least it's the CAP band and not on the section  

 

And that blue Mitsubishi is a looker!! 

[PithyProlix]

43 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

 

I've been seeing Burberry pens for sale lately and I immediately thought this was one when I saw the photo! It's a very cool looking pen, that one. I understand your paranoia but at least it's the CAP band and not on the section  

 

And that blue Mitsubishi is a looker!! 

 

A low contrast background shows the finish much better. It's unusual. Plus I never knew that Mitsubishi had a fountain pen in their brand until I saw this one.

 

[PithyProlix]

2 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

I understand your paranoia but at least it's the CAP band and not on the section  

 

But imagine how close the nib gets to the cloth when capping. Yikes! 

[PatrickA]

Today I picked up this little Merlin 33 in blue, never inked/used with original packaging and warranty card. Nice pen from a brand with a Dutch connection.

[OldTravelingShoe]

32 minutes ago, PatrickA said:

Today I picked up this little Merlin 33 in blue, never inked/used with original packaging and warranty card. Nice pen from a brand with a Dutch connection.

Very nice pen, @PatrickA, thanks for sharing!

 

A bit off-topic: I noticed you mentioned Dutch and that your profile has a Dutch flag, so I'll just mention there exists a Netherlands Pen Club - several tens of pen enthusiasts, chatting as we speak on a Discord platform and meeting from time to time, to share pens and stories about them. I am one of the co-founders, with @DvdRiet. If you'd like to join, just PM one of us so we can send you an invite. Ajb! 

[OldTravelingShoe]

Not sure if I should mention it here, but I just acquired an old Pelikan mechanical pencil, one of those AUCH Pelikans with 1.18 mm leads.

 

The name is a play on the slogan of Pelikan at the time: Want a fountain pen? Of course, it should be a Pelikan!, as a follow-up, And a pencil? It should be a Pelikan, too! (too is auch in German, ook pronounced almost the same in Nederlands). 

 

I learned about how Pelikan used to pair their 1930s fountain pen 100 line with the Auch Pelikan 200 mechanical pencil from The Pelikan's Perch excellent write-up on the topic, so I decided to get one. 

 

I hope this was not too off-topic. 

[DvdRiet]

1 hour ago, PatrickA said:

Today I picked up this little Merlin 33 in blue, never inked/used with original packaging and warranty card. Nice pen from a brand with a Dutch connection.

 

Wow!! That is a seriously nice find!! Congratulations! Does it happen to have a Degussa nib? I just got a grey marbled on that looks a lot like this one (but a 'Transparant') and it has a Merlin-branded Degussa nib. Has that wonderful soft springiness to it like a lot of pens from that time.

[inkstainedruth]

4 hours ago, PatrickA said:

Today I picked up this little Merlin 33 in blue, never inked/used with original packaging and warranty card. Nice pen from a brand with a Dutch connection.

That's a pretty pen!  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mallymal1]

10 hours ago, PatrickA said:

Today I picked up this little Merlin 33 in blue, never inked/used with original packaging and warranty card. Nice pen from a brand with a Dutch connection.

 

Superb.

[PatrickA]

9 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

 

Wow!! That is a seriously nice find!! Congratulations! Does it happen to have a Degussa nib? I just got a grey marbled on that looks a lot like this one (but a 'Transparant') and it has a Merlin-branded Degussa nib. Has that wonderful soft springiness to it like a lot of pens from that time.

 Don't believe it is a Degussa, it doesn't have the logo. Nib still looks to be soft with some flex. 

 

 

 

Still doubting wether or not to replace the sac and start using it or leave it in this nice unused condition.

[Misfit]

My Jet Pens haul. The pen is a TWSBI Swipe in pear with a 1.1mm stub nib.