Pelikan M800

[goodguy]

I bought my red Pelikan M800 a year ago.New from the shop in Israel when I was there for a visit.

I came back home and used it and as expected fell in love with it.

In a fear of scratching it I cleaned it thorouly and put it in the cabinet.

Few days ago I decided to take it for another spin and again I am amazed how great this pen is.

 

One thing I dont understand is why people call this pen a whorkhorse.

For me a whorkhorse would be a very reliable BLUNT device that is designed to work but isnt design and a High End Hi Quality product.

I would say the Waterman Phileas or Parker Vector are a workhourse pens.The M800 is a finly tuned,High quality pen.This pen will last you a liftime if you treat it well.I wouldnt call it a workhorse (a work eagle maybe ? )

[jonro]

It's all semantics. Aside from actual animals, the dictionary definition of workhorse is "a person or machine that dependably performs hard work over a long period of time." The m800 is a smooth and reliable writer that will start writing immediately, even when it has been sitting unused for a couple of weeks (possibly much longer). Its large ink capacity means that it's in for the long haul. That's why it's called a workhorse. I'm sure that many farm workhorses were beautiful thoroughbreds, even though they toiled in the fields. That's the m800, a thoroughbred workhorse.

[jmkeuning]

Workhorses have long tail and manes. My workhorse, a Sailor Sapporo, has neither. Workhorses also eat hay, but my Sailor eats ink.

[tamburlaine]

...but my Sailor eats ink.

 

The poor fellow! I hope the ship's surgeon has had a look at him...

 

Oh dear, sorry I couldn't resist!

[John Cullen]

For me, a workhorse pen is a pen that functions well, writes smoothly, and is dependable when carefully used on a daily basis.

 

The Pelikan 800 fits the bill. Use it. Enjoy it. Sit and look at it and find pleasure in that.

 

Personally think it is just fine that many pens need to be used carefully.

 

I am getting a little bit off topic, sorry. But no one espects their computer to survive being dropped in the bathtub, so why do some people (not the people in this thread) complain when a pen gets ruined if it goes through the wash? It always puzzles me.

 

I do not think a pen needs to be indestructible to be a workhorse or to be considered a great pen. For me a workhorse pen functions well and reliably when it is used correctly under the conditions it was meant to survive, not the conditions users can create if the insist on taking their pen to the bank, on the boat, and into the ice fishing shack.

 

Jeepers, would any sensible person complain if a fifty thousand dollar violin was harmed by being used outside in a rain storm? The snorkle can survive almost anything, and that is wonderful but not required, especially given that using a FP these days is not generally the most practical way to go. If the fountain pen was the most practical way to go in most cases, we would not have all the threads about clogging, and skipping, using on coated paper, avoiding lending out, protecting from sunlight and curious hands, trying to find spare parts, gnashing teeth over warranty work, and trying to find inks that photocopy etc......

 

I would suggest using the 800, especially if your really enjoy writing with it........though clearly if you are going out in the field where the pen might be rained on or dropped in the mud then take the Phileas.

 

The 800, IMO, looks great, feels good and functions well. Who wants an ugly fountain pen made of dried waste material? Nothing wrong with something being breakable under certain circumstances.

[DavidM1]

I use my 805 just about every day at work and after almost a year it still feels like a bit of luxury when I take it out of its home in a Pel pen case. It is a bit of a private luxury. I tend to take a Pel m215 or an old Parker 51 to meetings.

 

I think of the m215 as a workhorse but I'm more careful with the 805.

Edited August 18, 2007 by DavidM1

[beezaur]

I use mine at work every day. It is my "go to" pen when I am at my desk., the hardest-working pen I own.

 

Scott

[PAKMAN]

OK now I have to do something about my 800. I never thought of it as a workhorse because it has a Double Broad nib and is more of a special use pen. I better see about getting a Fine point for this beautiful pen and put it to work!

Edited August 19, 2007 by pakmanpony

[PelikanPenman]

The M805's I have are beautiful pens, one black and one dark blue, I do think of them as workhorses because they are dependable, they start every time, they write beautifully, better than my handwriting, but I do treat them with respect and keep them cased on my desk. When I walk around the office and hanger I take my M200, just in case I drop it, which I have a couple of times, but it has not hurt it in the least, so far. But a lot of that comes down to cost also, I know if I do break the M200 then I can replace it for $60, but I drop and break the M805 then I am looking at $225 to $250, so I am a bit more careful with them, just due to expense, not because they are more fragile, far from it.

 

It is like most things German designed and made, they look great but they are designed to work, full stop. That is why they are called work horses, no disrespect to the pens, it is just a simple fact, they are designed to work.

 

Cheers.

[AndyHayes]

I use my 805 every day. When I have spent this much on something it has to earn its living!

[andyk]

I don't use mine every day, but keep in it regular rotation, I suppose my true workhorses are the M200/M400, as I almost always have one with me. If I had less pens, then the M800 would get used more often.

 

Andy

[FrankB]

Many moons ago when I was in seminary, we had a professor who smoked a pipe nearly all the time. His favorite pipe was a rough brown color that I thought was an old briar. I smoked a pipe, too, so we ended up talking about pipes. I found out that this favorite pipe of his was actually a Meerschaum. (Meerschaum is a pure white chalk that is used to make pipe bowls that breathe well. The chalk absorbs smoke and chemicals from the tobacco, toning various shades of brown with time.) He had not only used the pipe long enough to tone it a deep, dark brown, he had tired to clean it off on the outside with a wire brush! I told him that was a hell of a thing to do to a good pipe. His reponse was, "Well, what do you do when something is your favorite? You destroy it!"

 

I think he was right. It doesn't matter if your "favorite" is a pipe, a pick up truck, a brief case or a pen. If it is the tool for you, for whatever reasons, use it. Destroy it!

 

I think a Pel M-800 is a grand pen with a size and shape that I find ergonomic, a weight and balance that suits me, a large springy nib that writes well, and a filling system that seems all but bullet proof. The pen is dead on reliable. Those characteristics seem to spell "work horse" for me.

Edited August 19, 2007 by FrankB

[goodguy]

Many moons ago when I was in seminary, we had a professor who smoked a pipe nearly all the time. His favorite pipe was a rough brown color that I thought was an old briar. I smoked a pipe, too, so we ended up talking about pipes. I found out that this favorite pipe of his was actually a Meerschaum. (Meerschaum is a pure white chalk that is used to make pipe bowls that breathe well. The chalk absorbs smoke and chemicals from the tobacco, toning various shades of brown with time.) He had not only used the pipe long enough to tone it a deep, dark brown, he had tired to clean it off on the outside with a wire brush! I told him that was a hell of a thing to do to a good pipe. His reponse was, "Well, what do you do when something is your favorite? You destroy it!"

 

I think he was right. It doesn't matter if your "favorite" is a pipe, a pick up truck, a brief case or a pen. If it is the tool for you, for whatever reasons, use it. Destroy it!

 

I think a Pel M-800 is a grand pen with a size and shape that I find ergonomic, a weight and balance that suits me, a large springy nib that writes well, and a filling system that seems all but bullet proof. The pen is dead on reliable. Those characteristics seem to spell "work horse" for me.

All you said about the M800 is true but there is another thing that I think differ it from many other pens and thats their quality and class.Other than my MB 149 and MB 146 I dont have a pen I enjoy holding so much as the Pel M800.This pen has "Quality" writen all over it in my eyes thats what makes the difference between a "Workhorse" and a "Racing horse".

I also disagree with your professor that if you use something you must destroy it or you destroy it simply by using it.Many things were made to last and with proper use these things will last you a life time like Parker 51 or the old VW Beetle.

In my eyes if this professor enjoys so much the pipe he should clean it.Thats what I do with my pens.Eve my users like my Omas Paragon I will treat with respect,clean thoroughly every couple of weeks and try not to drop it,scratch it...etc and so far after over a year of use it is still in almost the same state I got it.

[jd50ae]

If I am in a hurry I go to the M800. If I am about formal writing I go to the M800. Checks, forms and anything that requires a signature I go to the M800. Yes, I consider it my all around every day go to pen. All pens I use are compared to the M800 and no other. It might be a workhorse but it is a very fine workhorse and is never out of my rotation.

[wspohn]

I like my M800, but I prefer the semiflexy nib of the M1000 more!

[HLeopold]

If I am in a hurry I go to the M800. If I am about formal writing I go to the M800. Checks, forms and anything that requires a signature I go to the M800. Yes, I consider it my all around every day go to pen. All pens I use are compared to the M800 and no other. It might be a workhorse but it is a very fine workhorse and is never out of my rotation.

 

I think I have finally figured out why I liked this silly no-name “ALL WRITE” pen I have had for the last year or so, it is exactly the same size and nearly the same shape as my new (old) Pelikan 800, it is a lot lighter, but the size is so good that I want to get it up and running again. (And that nice flexi broadish nib is nothing to sneer at either.) I was working with some leather today trying out some ideas for a pen case for the 800 and another pen and used the “ALL WRITE” as a form while wet forming the leather to the Pelikan, it was a perfect fit, though the case isn’t going to be that usable, I need to try something else next time. I also seem to have to make at least one example that does not work before I can get it “all write.” ;-)

[Bill Smith]

To me the Pelikan M800 is a work horse like an 5 Series BMW, I use both of mine on a regular basis. I tend to use my OMAs pens on special occasions though.

[penmania]

OK now I have to do something about my 800. I never thought of it as a workhorse because it has a Double Broad nib and is more of a special use pen. I better see about getting a Fine point for this beautiful pen and put it to work!

 

by right using of Nib: BB, it should be more on signatures. If you like delicate font, then you opt for fine. If you seldom write with it just signing, start with nib M.

[Garageboy]

I use my pens, but with care. I wont ink NOS pens, but eveyrthing else, yea. Workhorses= little glitze, lotsa performance

[penmanila]

my broad-nibbed M800 pen IS my workhorse--for the moleskine, for the checkbook, for office signatures, etc. i might rotate it with an MB 146 or a duofold international now and then, but it's been my most regular companion for the past few months. no complaints (from me or the pen )