Do you change pens with the seasons?

[dms525]

 

When Summer arrives, my wardrobe shifts to Hawaiian shirts and polos. These usually have very shallow breast pockets that do not accommodate full-sized pens. So, for my everyday carries, I switch to pocket pens. Here is a sampling of my favorites:

 

 

From Left to Right: Pelikan M800 (for sense of scale); Kaweco AL-Sport; Sailor PG Slim; Pilot Prera; Sailor PG Slim Mini; Franklin-Christoph Model 20p

 

Am I the only one who carries different pens in different seasons?

 

David

[antares1966]

I do this to some extent as well.  I don’t really have a pen “collection”, I have 4 regular use pens and a fifth cursive italic I use for assures sing envelopes and writing letters for the holidays. That being said, my Leonardo Momento Zero Alga green pen gets primary use in the spring, and I have a Waterman Carene in marine amber that I inknip with MB Toffee brown as an autumn color.  My black and blue pens get rotated fairly randomly in between.

[AmandaW]

I change between hot dry season pens, when only those which seal really well are inked, and cool season for all the others that I don't trust. I like them all, this is my strategy for enjoying them given my climate.

 

The summer pens include: TWSBI Eco, Platinum, Opus88, Jinhao 992 and 86, Pilot Custom and Falcon, the long Sailor clipless and a few others. All those are reliable in the driest conditions here.

 

Winter pens: Lamy Safari, Al-Star, Studio and Aion, Pilot Prera, Kakuno and MR, all my other Sailors, Parker 45s and most others that have a slip cap.

 

I don't rule out inking up a winter pen in summer, but do so fully aware of the risk. I will use it for a few days, then clean it while doing so is easy.

[dms525]

1 hour ago, AmandaW said:

I change between hot dry season pens, when only those which seal really well are inked, and cool season for all the others that I don't trust. I like them all, this is my strategy for enjoying them given my climate.

 

The summer pens include: TWSBI Eco, Platinum, Opus88, Jinhao 992 and 86, Pilot Custom and Falcon, the long Sailor clipless and a few others. All those are reliable in the driest conditions here.

 

Winter pens: Lamy Safari, Al-Star, Studio and Aion, Pilot Prera, Kakuno and MR, all my other Sailors, Parker 45s and most others that have a slip cap.

 

I don't rule out inking up a winter pen in summer, but do so fully aware of the risk. I will use it for a few days, then clean it while doing so is easy.

 

Thanks for responding, Amanda!

 

Is it that the pens that don't seal really well leak in the hot dry seasons? Is that because the ink expands with the heat or what?

 

I regard my Summers as hot and dry and have never noticed that made a difference. Now, your climate may be more extreme than mine, and we keep the house at a reasonable temperature with air conditioning.

 

David

[jchch1950]

There are countries that the change of seasons is mostly a calendar fact, because they are close to the Equator line. You can use any fountain pen with the only one problem : a big variation between open air or air condition, but I have not notice a big difference in the behaviour in the ink flow.

[AmandaW]

If conditions are too dry and the pen doesn't seal really well I think the water in the ink evaporates. Air conditioning can be drying too.

 

Something like a Noodler's Ahab will cause the ink to become too thick and sticky to flow within days. A Lamy-anything in less than a week. Powder in the cartridge within a few weeks. It's not just the cap sealing, but the open 'ink window' with many - the cartridge can contain powder, but still have a little ink in the feed.

 

Yes, it's probably more extreme here (over 100° in the shade for 5 months and humidity in the teens),  but I expect you have pens of exceptionally high quality that seal better than many.

 

I'm not complaining - just explaining my 'season strategy'. My pens are kept in the coolest place in my home with swamp-cooler air con running, but it makes little difference. So I split them into two groups. The Lamys et al come out to play after the first rains in autumn, then in late spring I look forward to changing over to TWSBI and co. Something in that might be helpful to others.

 

 

 

[dms525]

Thanks for your observations, Amanda. I certainly have pens that don't write if not used for a day or more and start up if the nib is dipped in water. Maybe this is related to what you have experienced. I guess the best solution is to not ink them unless I plan to use them daily.

 

I usually have an unreasonable number of pens inked at any time. Some will write after weeks of neglect (Pelikans, for example, and many Japanese pens. Lamys and some others don't.

 

David

[Runnin_Ute]

Not really. My larger pens don't get shirt pocket carried often regardless of season. I have some long sleeve polos as well as short sleeve ones. Those that have pockets are similar to the ones that have short sleeves. But I have been known to wear dress shirts year round. Depends on what is going on that day. So it's more "shirt dependent", than "season dependent".

[MarcoA63]

Ironic reply, I wish I could change wife with each season 😊

[Toolattack]

Interesting @dms525 I tend to keep the same pens inked up all year round and they are my 'go to' pens. However, I like your style and may consider this concept in the future. My wardrobe will need changing as I currently don't own a single shirt with a breast pocket!

[inkstainedruth]

No, I don't change pens depending on the season, any more than I change inks depending on the season.  I pick what I haven't used for a while, or else have recently acquired or gotten repaired (and also, to some extent it may depend on what inks do well -- or not -- in them).

So, for example, I've been using the Parker 45 Flighter I picked up over the weekend (with whatever black ink was in it); and finished up a fill of Sailor Souboku in the 1911S Loch Ness Monster this morning (because I always want at least one ink in rotation that is permanent enough to use for stuff like signing documents and writing checks; the Loch Ness Monster pen is being swapped out for the Noodler's "Forbidden City" acrylic Konrad and Noodler's Heart of Darkness as the "permanent ink" pen du jour).  

Of course, that makes 2 pens inked up with black inks, which is sort of weird for me....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth