Just out of curiosity, what category do you think you fit best?


Me, I´m afraid I´m somewhere between category one and two - with strong tendencies towards number one.
I don´t like it when my M200 is running low on ink and I have no time for refilling before I have to leave for university...just because I´d have to use the cheap Ballograf pen I carry as a spare.
But on the other hand, I can´t convince myself to carry a bottle of ink in my shoulder bag, together with my notes, books, etc., so when I´ve had to write a lot during the day, I´m sure to refill at night, before going to bed.

Now, how about you?

about once a week.

I voted I refill when the reservoir is almost empty. However, sometimes I miss that and then refill after I enjoy the last drop of ink (like Sunday night when I was writing in my journal and "all of a sudden" my normally fantastic writing Core started getting really stingy with the ink . I opened her up and saw the converter was empty. I didn't feel like walkign downstairs and refilling the Core, so I grabbed my Esterbrook J (filled with Noodler's Antietam-- which I use for underlining text) and finished my journal entry. The Core was treated to a good flushing on Monday morning.

However, I'm not as adventuresome as I may indicate. I check the ink levels in the converter every few days (I have 6 pens in rotation).

French

I voted write till the last drop. That's because I always want to change my ink, but don't want to waste any of the last charge.

I voted "refill when almost empty." That's because my pens usually only go with me on my recreational outings after work, on days off, and weekends (I don't bring my pens to work). I suppose if I had a job which involved writing a lot during work, I would probably fill up every morning. If I go on a trip, I bring cartridges. I'm just wondering why so many people are reluctant to take a bottle of ink with them in their backpacks/briefcases...

Almost empty if I want to use the same colour, totally empty if I want to change (unless I'm impatient, in which case all bets are off!)

Ray

Usually write 'em dry, but that's subject to change based on mood, new ink arriving, etc. Also depends on the pen - if I can see the ink level, I'll likely refil before it gets completely dry. I checked write 'em dry because I can't see the ink level on most of the pens I have now.

Usually write till the pen gets low before refilling. However, if I know I'm in for a long day of grading, editing, or note-taking, I'll tank up a couple of pens to be sure I have enough to get through the assignment without a refill. One set of exam papers usually is enough to drain a Sailor 1911M medium point.

Cheers.

I voted in the last drop category, but that doesn't include my Parker 61. I like to keep it full to the brim. Just drop its tail in the pond . . .

I check that I will have enough ink for the day and top the cartridge or converter with a syringe. If I want to take a pen out of rotation I will write with it until dry.

I have to fill my Namiki VP's tiny piston converter (0.9 ml) every day! I start making some serious abbrvs drng lng mtgs!

Doug

To the last drop. But I always carry more than one pen with me, so its not a concern.

My main pen right now is a Sheaffer Fat Black Vac. Valiant. It can easily go a week, and has a visualizer. If I have a Snorkel I use the "when it skips" method like NoSnow.

But I just picked up a early Fat Touchdown Valiant with an extra fine nib and a larger ink sac. I don't think I'll even have to refill it.

I reckon I refill about once a week but check the ink more often in the pens that I can check.

If I am using the convertor in the VP then its more often but I have a cartridge in there right now which lasts a good while longer.

I always carry more than one pen as I hate not to be able to write with a FP.

Hi,

I wrote 20 or so pages with my Decimo Capless without refilling it. It had a 0.9 italic point.

I traded that capless. I will be getting a pink one for myself and a mustard one for my left-handed sister shortly.

I only refill when my pen is empty.

Dillon

after a single day passes, my reservoir is about 75% empty, so i find myself refilling it everyday

Even when i dont use it, i seem to have a compulsion to refill it anyway to give the nib a nice soaking in ink. Refilling always replenishes the wettness of writing for me

I had to prepare a presentation for today, got in a bit of a hurry yesterday and hence couldn´t follow the thread until now...AND I have to say I´m quite surprised by the result of the poll so far (after 69 votes)!

I´d thought there would be more people voting for category one or two, but the vast majority hasn´t...I guess most of you guys and gals always carry a spare (or three) in some sort of holster, hidden under your socks, or in other unsuspicious places, so there´s no need to be afraid of ink shortage.

[/QUOTE] Even when i dont use it, i seem to have a compulsion to refill it anyway to give the nib a nice soaking in ink. Refilling always replenishes the wettness of writing for me laugh.gif [QUOTE]

That about sums it up for us creatures of habit, doesn´t it? Maybe it´s not even about not running out of ink, its more of a ritual we´re sticking to.

Regards, A.

When dry, but I always have more than one pen available so don't worry about running out.

I love medium and broad nib pens, so I'm constantly checking ink levels.

I carry multiple pens and was writing in a Starbucks one afternoon and emptied two Pelikan 800s *and* my backup Namiki VP.

Got a lot of work done (somewhere between twenty and forty pages), but made me paranoid enough to start carrying ink wherever I go.

There wasn't a "when I remember to" option so I went for when it's almost empty. I'm not obsessed with keeping them full. I carry a 20 pen case with me so I've always got one or (clears throat) eh em.... a dozen plus that have ink in them at any given time.

Usually 90% of the pens in my case are juiced up & ready to go. About every other month or so i'll let everything run dry then i have a flush & clean session where i get to swap out the rotation & choose new colors or go back to what it had in it to begin with. Just depends on my mood & what's before me at the time.

Now these don't count the half dozen or so I have inked & floating around the workbench.

Dennis

When I'm using piston fillers in my rotation that day, I carry two and fill them up in the morning. I cannot easily carry ink bottles to work, as I do not have a desk job. Since I have to travel to multiple sites each day (office, usually at least 2 hospitals) there is no one place to leave a bottle.

I write a LOT at work--my job consists of 90%+ documentation, it seems, to keep the hospital administration and lawyers satisfied. When I use cartridges, I use a minimum of one cartridge per day (often one and 3/4 or so). I therefore need to have a good supply each day.

I refill my one fountain pen when the reserve is almost empty. But that happens once a week. I do a lot of journal writing all the time. In the bus sometimes when i'm bored at work. It really is once every week and a half.

Tara the pelikan's have a huge reserve how did you empty two 800s in one night at starbucks.

I wonder how many people on this forum would keep there pen wet with their blood. hahahah. I would imagine quite a few.

My note-taker in meetings is usually a Cross Century with a broad nib and I find it lasts a day of note-taking, but there is a bottle of ink to hand and a spare pen with something else in just in case.

So, my vote goes for "when nearly empty".

Chris

It depends on the pen I use. The two mains pen I use in the day are filled everyday. (pelikna m400 and namiki VP) and Then my backup pens are filled/empty and cleaned about once a week (rotring 600, waterman ici et la and normaly my monteverde incivia). My disfonctionnal pens I will fill every month or more (leaky lamy safari, and sheaffer italic nib (i'm a southpaw so italic nib are no good for me, it's only use is underlining).


I'm doint translation this summer so a typical day I empty my pelikan 400 and then maybe de the namiki VP. The spare are mostly if I feel like writing with another pen.

I'm on the obsessive type for my ink. Also each time I chage ink type I clean toroughly with water to be sure the two ink do not react together

Cheers

Claude

I don't like to bring ink with me as I think filling is kind of messy. You have to be able to wipe the pen on something! Using a converter, I can see the ink level. But if I go out with a piston or lever fill, and I know I will write a fair amount, I have to fill that am. I'm curious how folks bring more than one--I hate that multi pen shirt pocket look, and it weighs it down too. But putting it in a briefcase means it may lay flat, and that may leak, won't it?

I keep about 8 pens in a felt pen wrap and put that in my briefcase or handbag. No leaks yet.

That's right - spare FPs in something to stop them getting knocked about (pen case, spectacles case, cigar case etc.) and then left flat, cockeyed or upside-down in my briefcase. So far, no leaks.

Sometimes a spare pen is in my inside jacket pocket alongside a pencil and/or ballpoint, but never more than one pen visible in a shirt pocket for reasons previously given.

Chris

I have a sufficienly geeky job that I'm almost expected to have three different coloured pens in my shirt pocket. I generally carry them around in what's effectively a pencil case which drops in my my laptop bag and is usually vertical. Since I don't have any expensive pens, they don't need a lot of protection; I don't mind if they pick up a scratch or two. I only really worry about them being kept vertical when I take them on a plane.