Just bought a green/black M400 today.
Find the size to be just nice for me as the M600 and M800 all feel too big.
So far like the smoothness, much smoother than my Parker45, vector, Lamy Safari and Harley Davidson 96.

However it really feels very light and a little bit flimsy.
Will it crack easily ?

I hope not.
Congratulations on your new pen!

My 600 has seen some abuse I wouldn't want to put it through everyday and is fine. I've napped with it in a pocket.

Mike

I have a Blue Stripe 400 that I used every day for 2 years and it still looks great and works perfectly. I recently bought a brown Tortoise 400 from the 50's and it still works like a champ.

Your pen must go to certain degrees of abuse to crack.

My Pelikans are daily users and get the same treatment than my Lamy vistas: they are an article of daily use (but are on a safe-ink-diet whereas the Lamys are for staining or high maintenance inks).
I have various vintage 400/400NNs I tuck into my bagpack or my trouser pockets. They are daily users, accompanied by M400s and Parker 51s. During university years a M200 went into my bag without any pencase. I have this pen for more than 20 years now.

Well, the M400 is your first gold nib as far as I can judge; this would explain the difference in smoothness you felt. Plus Pelikan are known for their smooth nibs, especially the B size.

Don't worry, they are solid as a rock!

Andrea

Thanks for the reassuring positive feedbacks guys.
While out shopping today I saw a Pelikan R250 selling for only $16 (probably a pricing error).
So I grabbed it immediately.
2 Pelikan pens in 2 days

$16????!!!!
Some guys have all the luck .....

just to add my .02 - I have been really cruel to my 200/400 pens. Haven't dropped them on tile or concrete yet (and don't plan on it) but certainly they've been in pockets, at the bottom of purses, jangling around in my nightstand, etc and while some of my pens could use a quick buff, they are all still in excellent condition. One of the reasons I consider Pelikan among the best pens made is that they *are* lightweight pens that can take a lot of abuse. It's harder to make that work than to build a heavy tank-like pen. So far, my Sailors and Namikis have had the same characteristics of quality and light weight. Pelikan has always done this job so well that several of my Pelikans were actually "pre-owned" pens that required no repair or clean-up. In short - they last.

I would say that it will not crack easily.

Whether you like it or not -- and I actually believe you will like it -- Pelikan will withstand all pressures (literally and figuratively). MBs won't (sorry, MB lovers).
(I think that my Parkers and Watermans and Sheaffers are all basically okay, but they are NOT better in this regard).

Hang onto any Pelikan you own, that is is good brand and has moreover a very good service.

Mike (no, I don't work for Pelikan).

I love the portablity of the M400 size. It is the same size as the M200/215 so I keep them together and they are lovely. I still love my M1000/800 as a desk pen though.

So the precious resin used in Montblanc is not as durable as the celluloid used in Pelikan ?
Read quite a few horror stories on leaking Montblanc 149.
But there are stories on crack in the caps of the tortise shell m400 as well.

I just got a M200 0.9 italic cursive nib from Richard on Friday. I have to agree that it is really light like my bottom end Parker Reflex, but the details are nice. The Momma pelikan gazing at her baby pelikan on the top of the cap. Good to hear that this pen is very durable. Look forward to many many years of use.

Wanda

>> So the precious resin used in Montblanc is not as durable as the celluloid used in Pelikan ? <<

Sorry to contradict, but the plastic which Montblanc says their pens' finishings are made out of is really not at all any "precious resin".
And Pelikan (at least today) doesn't use any celluloid, either.
I don't know exactly what the content of each plastic in both cases is, but just call them both "modern plastics".

Mike

I've been told by more than one person long in the pen business in many different aspects that Pelikan uses celluloid acetate in the striped Souverans. To be distinguished from "true" celluloid as in celluloid nitrate. In the sense that it is not true celluloid, Mike is correct. In the sense that it is a plastic that has been called celluloid acetate, which is different from acrylic or "precious resin", it is that. There are many discussions about the two to be found both on FPN and throughout the web I'm sure. But the folks who know plastics have explained what CA really is v. acrylic v. CN

The only issue I have with the 400s is that the cap unscrews pretty easily - be careful if you cart them around!

Erick

Bought myself another M400 today.
An old style blue stipe with the yellow 14k nib.
Wanted to see wheter it's any different from the new generation nib.
So far can't feet much difference.

I have a white and tortoise M400 with a mottishaw italic cursive nib - it's absolute heaven!