Transporting Extra Ink

[Johnboy976]

I will be taking a doctoral class in the coming weeks. In prior classes I have consistently run out of ink sometime in the middle of the week, and so I inevitably have to more purchase ink or else use a... ballpoint... for the rest of the class. I am looking for a way to transport extra ink that happens to be durable and carries a sufficient amount of ink for my needs. What is your recommendation?

[Jdp2496]

You could always simply use a sample vial or two. The each hold 3ml of ink (5 if you fill them to the top, but you cannot fill your pen without spilling). If that is not enough ink...it may be a crazy idea...but medicine bottles (the orange plastic ones) hold a good amount and are water tight.

[ac12]

I would use either an in sample vial or a small nesmoline (sp?) bottle.

[Jdp2496]

Another tip. Organics Studio sells their ink in plastic bottles. If any of their inks interest you (Jules Vernes and F. Scott Fitzgerald are great) you could carry around a full 55ml without having to worry about glass breaking.

[WaskiSquirrel]

You could refill the pen when it gets low at home.

[macaddicted]

Visconti Travelling Inkpot is another option. Personally I'd go with sample vials inside a ziplock bag to capture leaks.

[Komitadjie]

I'd be tempted to just grab a couple cartridges to fill in that dry spot before I could get back to properly re-fill. Or possibly carry two pens.

[KAC]

If there's a sporting goods store near you (e.g., REI), small nalgene bottles are watertight, virtually indestructable, and very cheap. They come in a very large variety of suitable sizes.

[Johnboy976]

Thanks for the replies. This is very helpful.

[FayeV]

If there's a sporting goods store near you (e.g., REI), small nalgene bottles are watertight, virtually indestructable, and very cheap. They come in a very large variety of suitable sizes.

 

I stopped by REI last week and looked at their small bottles. The smallest I could find was a 1 oz Nalgene bottle; they also had a similar 2 oz bottle. (I also saw other smaller non-screw cap containers in that aisle that looked more like pill boxes, nothing you'd feel comfortable storing liquids in). Is the 1 oz bottle the size you all use? Or is there a 1/2 oz bottle available elsewhere?

[New_Falcon]

I previously used to use the 1oz nalgene from REI, then I found the 1/2 oz nalgene in a camping store.

 

Good news is that the 1/2oz is way better than the 1oz and cheaper too.

 

Bad news is that I've never seen them elsewhere since. Even and email to Nalgene didn't give any leads.

[Watermonkey314]

A more unusual place to look might be any biology labs (e.g. university teaching labs, active biomedical research labs, etc.). The solutions in kits like the Qiagen miniprep kits (specifically the elution buffers, EB) come in small Nalgene bottles - you might be able to find / convince someone to save an empty bottle for you instead of throwing it out.

[ac12]

Whatever you use, make sure that you have a heavy steady base for it.

I dumped an entire ink vial, when I bumped and tipped over the holder that I had it in. That was NOT fun, and it was an ink sample that I really wanted to try.

[prf5]

hikelight.com has 1/4 and 1/2 ounce nalgene containers.

[gistar]

One more vote for the Visconti Travelling Inkpot. If it fits your pens (and does fit most pens AFAIK) it holds sufficient ink for your purposes, closes securely, and you can fill your pens wherever you are without worrying for a stable flat base. It is certainly expensive compared with a sample bottle, but elegant and designed for the purpose.

[GTOZack]

i have a visconti traveling ink well, then when i traveled to new york, TSA nearly swiped it but then i had to demo how it functions then they let me go with it.

someone at the line was impressed. I think I indirectly converted someone. The name of... Visconti compels you.

 

they said it looked like that antimatter thing from Angels and Demons. I agreed but. i assured its purely inert and harmless.

[CraigR]

I have had the same problems in the past as the original poster. I often run out of ink in the middle of a meeting, seminar or on a trip. The best solution for me has been to either use a pen that uses a converter or cartridges and carry a supply of spare cartridges. My favorite pen, right now, is a Sailor 1911 Large. When I run out of ink, I can pop out the converter and insert a standard cartridge - on the fly. Cartridges are small and easily transported safely. The downside is that I don't always have cartridges that match the bottled ink that I use. When I take notes, I don't really care if the ink changes during the day so it works for me.

 

The other method that works for me is to carry more than one fountain pen that are filled with ink. I use a 2 - 3 pen case made of leather for this purpose. Fits easily in my pants pocket, book bag or briefcase.

[Kristene]

I carry two pens: one that I ink up at home, and one that uses cartridges, just in case both pens decided to be out of ink at the same time. That way all I would ever have to do is pop out the old cart, pop in the new and toss the old after class is finished.

 

So I guess you can say I have two fail-safes: my second pen, in case the first runs out of ink, and the carts for the second pen, in case it runs out of ink.

[rgperedo]

Get a Twsbi Vac 700 fill it up and then carry around the special ink refill bottle with ink ready to go.

[ac12]

I recommend the same procedure that I recommend to students.

Refill / top off the pen at the end of every day after your class or homework, that way you are always starting the day off with a FULL pen.

And as was mentioned, take a 2nd pen (and even a 3rd pen). If for whatever reason pen #1 finks out on you, just switch to pen #2 and keep going. Do the troubleshooting on pen #1 when you get back to your room.