Ink storage during roadtrip.

[Asteris]

In a few days I will be taking a roadtrip to the other side of the country to stay at a country house for a month. This is the first time i will be taking a fountain pen with me. Because I will be staying for a month, a travel inkwell's capacity will not suffice my writing needs so I decided to take the whole bottle with me (the pen will be empty). A Pelikan 30ml bottle. Could you give me any tips on how to prevent and contain any spillages?

[I-am-not-really-here]

A brand new bottle with an unbroken seal should suffice, at least on the "go" direction.  Upon return wrapping the cap down with electrician's tape or plastic tape should prevent leakage. Or, just consume it all in those 31 days!

 

Alternatively, transferring the contents into an appropriately sized Nalgene bottle should work, in both directions.  Or you could break down the 30ml bottle into three 10ml mini bottles, consuming them as you go.  One potential downside to mini bottles is a narrower mouth so if you choose this route test your pen's nib access before you leave...

[lapis]

I'm all for Nalgene. The 15-ml = ½ oz  or 30-ml = 1 oz each have a mouth wide enough for an 149 or an M1000 so just do it.

[Asteris]

1 hour ago, I-am-not-really-here said:

A brand new bottle with an unbroken seal should suffice, at least on the "go" direction.  Upon return wrapping the cap down with electrician's tape or plastic tape should prevent leakage. Or, just consume it all in those 31 days!

 

Alternatively, transferring the contents into an appropriately sized Nalgene bottle should work, in both directions.  Or you could break down the 30ml bottle into three 10ml mini bottles, consuming them as you go.  One potential downside to mini bottles is a narrower mouth so if you choose this route test your pen's nib access before you leave...

Should i put the tape on the threads before I cap it or apply it on the outside?

[Asteris]

1 hour ago, lapis said:

I'm all for Nalgene. The 15-ml = ½ oz  or 30-ml = 1 oz each have a mouth wide enough for an 149 or an M1000 so just do it.

 

Thanks for the suggestion.

[I-am-not-really-here]

2 hours ago, Asteris said:

Should i put the tape on the threads before I cap it or apply it on the outside?

On the outside after capping.  Any non-porous tape should work.   Run 2-3 overlapping turns covering the bottom of the cap to the top of the bottle. You are basically taping up that seam. If you want to be extra secure then put the taped capped bottle inside a zip lock.  The bag won't stop leakage but will help isolate it if it does happen.

[amberleadavis]

Also, I have wrapped my bottles in plastic food wrap (the clingier, the better) and put them in zip lock bags. We have traveled many places that way.

[Runnin_Ute]

ziploc bags are a good idea - whether you tape the neck or not.

[Karmachanic]

Another vote for Nalgene

[Monophoto]

If you are traveling by car, bus or rail, I don't think you need to take any special precautions - most of the ink bottles I have seen close tightly enough that leakage won't be a problem.  If you want to be a little careful, you can seal the bottle in a zip-lock plastic bag.,

 

Traveling by air is another matter, firstly because of security constraints, and secondly because of pressurization while flying.  I have purchased ink while traveling in Asia that I carried back to New York in my brief case.  However, I didn't open the bottle until I got home, and the original factory seal was sufficient to prevent leakage.  Because the amount of ink was less than the  threshold, there was no issue with airline security, and because the bottles were new and therefore full, there was no trapped air to react with airplane pressurization.

 

However, there was one instance when I was going to be traveling for an extended period, and felt a need to carry a bottle of ink with me.  I carried it in my briefcase, but I didn't have to do anything special with security (this was before the current security rules came into effect).  I did worry about pressurization, but that turned out to not be a concern - either the amount of air was too small, or the seal on the Mont Blanc 'shoe' bottle was tight enough that the trapped air wasn't affected by pressurization.

 

However, the advice that is most often given is that the safest way to transport ink while traveling is in sealed cartridges.,