Level 5 / 65?

[Wil D]

Just found an unused blue/black L5 in a drawer, with a bottle of ink and a stand. I could fill it, and it writes smooth. I like that I can have it on my desk in the stand.

Anybody still uses an L5 or L65?

[OCArt]

Yup, I use two of them every day and have for the past ten years, very trouble free pens. They are not for folks who like to change inks as they are hard to clean out but their large, bulk ink supplies last forever.  I dumped the royal blue from the Level bottle and filled it with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts.

[PPPR]

I love the massive capacity of the L65. Only eyedroppers come close, and the L65 has none of the eyedropper headaches, e.g. burping.

[Wil D]

7 hours ago, OCArt said:

Yup, I use two of them every day and have for the past ten years, very trouble free pens. They are not for folks who like to change inks as they are hard to clean out but their large, bulk ink supplies last forever.  I dumped the royal blue from the Level bottle and filled it with Noodler's 54th Massachusetts.

I only use 4001 blue/black and turquoise. I found another ink pot, so I could refill them with that.

[Wil D]

4 hours ago, PPPR said:

I love the massive capacity of the L65. Only eyedroppers come close, and the L65 has none of the eyedropper headaches, e.g. burping.

Found a red L65 yesterday in a pen cup. Could fill that one too. Writes the same as the L5.

[PPPR]

8 hours ago, Wil D said:

Found a red L65 yesterday in a pen cup. Could fill that one too. Writes the same as the L5.

That's cool. I've not seen a red one in person. Mine are yellow, blue, and green. 

[Nyanzilla]

I have got several of the L5 pens and Rollerballs which look cool and modern, but unfortunately the quality of the silver coating is horrible. The gold plated are better but still not good. Only the ceramic and the black painted last.

Another issue I have with them is the step between the barrel and the much thinner grip section. Therefore I don't use them for writing anymore.

However I also got a couple of the L65 which I really like because they are very comfortable to hold, and the ink lasts for over 90 pages.

[stephanos]

I have had a Level 5 on my desk for at least the last decade (blue & gold, 18C F nib). I use it infrequently - really, only if I have nothing else to hand - as I'm not a huge fan of the section. Still, it has survived, because of its enormous ink capacity and because it's extremely reliable - seems to never dry out. (Edited to add: Oh, and of course it writes very well - nearly forgot to mention that...)

And near the end of 2022 I bought a NOS version (blue/silver, 14C M nib) from a B&M store near where I work. The owner was well beyond retirement age and the store doesn't seem to have survived his retirement. I have yet to use the pen, though; bought it in case the F-nibbed one ever stops working.

 

Actually, I have a question: can the bottles be refilled? I do have the bottle that I bought as part of the set in 2022, but that's it, and the bottle I'm presently using is almost empty.

 

[OCArt]

1 hour ago, stephanos said:

Actually, I have a question: can the bottles be refilled? I do have the bottle that I bought as part of the set in 2022, but that's it, and the bottle I'm presently using is almost empty.

 

Yes, the cap screws off but with some initial difficulty-- I had to use pliers. The original ink was Pelikan Royal Blue but I've refilled with other.

[stephanos]

54 minutes ago, OCArt said:

Yes, the cap screws off but with some initial difficulty-- I had to use pliers. The original ink was Pelikan Royal Blue but I've refilled with other.

Brilliant, thank you. I'll use pliers and won't be shy to use force, gently...

[TorPelikan]

Two L5's are ready for writing.

 

Black/Blue with steel M nib filled with Diamine Schubert ink.

Silver/Red with 14C gold M nib filled with Diamine Bach ink.

Both write smooth.

 

Of course, I refilled the original bottle.

Please see my profile photo.

 

Tor

[ruby.monkey]

I have two gold-nibbed L5s and two L65s on my desk, with a couple more L65s in the pen drawer. The L65s are better proportioned than their swankier siblings but they're all excellent pens.