Anybody Looking For A Cheap, But Good Travel Pen?

[Claud]

On Amazon, Platinum 3776 Century Chartres Blue cartridge converter fountain pen for $70.99 delivered. It even has a 14 K nib. I ordered mine with a Medium nib, but there were other choices. There was also a darker pen color and for $110 there was one with Rhodium trim.

Have lately been studying travel pens because will be touring England, Scotland etc. for two weeks or so this summer. It seems to me that a cartridge pen is the best solution if one wants to enjoy this hobby while traveling. Looked at MB 147 and liked it, but the chance that it may get lost or stolen increases with the well known brand. Most of us would be disturbed, but not devastated to lose $70, but $800.00 for the 147 would be a different story..

Edited April 14, 2018 by Claud

[Karmachanic]

Jinhao x750. $3. Don't let the price deceive you. Sturdy pen that comes with a smooth M nib. Prefer it to a pen I paid 40 times more for. Takes an easy to find #6 nib if you'd like something else. Take two just in case! Give one away when you leave.

Edited April 14, 2018 by kd3

[MsRedpen]

Claud,

#3776 is indeed a great pen for travels, just make sure you order also the adapter to take intl standard cartridges, as Platinum uses proprietary carts (good for re-filling with syringe), in not so ooohh! colours.

 

For shorter travels I fill (one of) my Pelikans, and take Platinum as a back-up.

[ppdiaporama]

Kaweco Al-Sport in raw aluminium with the nib of your choice ... it's small, pocketable and gets nicer as it picks up dings from your change and keys! Mine lives in my jeans along with my pocket knife.

[senzen]

It's a good price for a next level pen... But for cheap, a Metropolitan is a nice pen, for all of $11, plus a clear converter if you want one.

[invisuu]

At that price, Id get a twsbi vac 700. Since youll be on a plane, you can shut it off to prevent it leaking due to change in pressure.

[inkstainedruth]

I've travelled with a variety of pens. My favorites for travel would be my Parker 51 Aerometrics (the issues with pens burping during changes in air pressure is part of the reason for the design, as I understand it, from the hooded nib to the collector). They hold a fair amount of ink, so you don't have to constantly refill them or futz with converters or cartridges. They're understated looking, so you would probably have less worries about theft, and they tend to be pretty robust. Yes, they're vintage. But yes, the odds are good that you can find one for a reasonable price (as long as you don't want one of the rarer colors, but even then I scored a Plum Demi on eBay for a little under $72 US including shipping a few years ago) -- and the advantage of the Aeros (as opposed to the slightly earlier 51 Vacs) is that odds are good that all they need is a good flushing out (the 51 Vacs are more likely to need to have the diaphragm replaced on them). They're not flashy looking pens -- but they are *superb* writing instruments. It's a no-brainer that Parker sold an estimated 20 million of them over the 20 year run of them being their flagship line pen.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Driften]

Were you looking for a Pelikan suggestion since you are asking in the Pelikan area?

Pelikan makes some cartridge converter pens you can get, or a M200 series pen would be a lot less expensive to lose then a MB.

[TSherbs]

On Amazon, Platinum 3776 Century Chartres Blue cartridge converter fountain pen for $70.99 delivered. It even has a 14 K nib. I ordered mine with a Medium nib, but there were other choices. There was also a darker pen color and for $110 there was one with Rhodium trim. ...

 

That seems like a good price.

 

But I only travel on planes occasionally, maybe once a year. So I just bring a favorite gel pen. I don't want to travel on a plane with a pen of any worth, nor do I want to travel with an ink bottle, so the only thing I have ever brought on a plane was a Hero 616 with a full bladder. This year I didn't even bother with that and just brought an Energel. <shrug>

[The Blue Knight]

edit

Edited April 14, 2018 by The Blue Knight

[Claud]

Were you looking for a Pelikan suggestion since you are asking in the Pelikan area?

Pelikan makes some cartridge converter pens you can get, or a M200 series pen would be a lot less expensive to lose then a MB.

 

It is my observation that even though most of us here are very fond of Pelikan pens, we all seem to have a few other pens for a variety of reasons. I was not aware that Pelikan had a pretty cartridge fill pen with a 14K nib for less than $80 dollars.

I did not want to carry a pen and an ink bottle while traveling all over the British Isles. I am easily seduced by a pretty pen that writes good. I just thought I would pass it on to the flock.

 

PS I am glad I started this thread. Several other great suggestions were offered. Thank you. Any more?????

Edited April 14, 2018 by Claud

[Driften]

 

It is my observation that even though most of us here are very fond of Pelikan pens, we all seem to have a few other pens for a variety of reasons. I was not aware that Pelikan had a pretty cartridge fill pen with a 14K nib for less than $80 dollars.

I did not want to carry a pen and an ink bottle while traveling all over the British Isles. I am easily seduced by a pretty pen that writes good. I just thought I would pass it on to the flock.

 

PS I am glad I started this thread. Several other great suggestions were offered. Thank you. Any more?????

 

 

As far as I know the cartridge Pelikan pens have steel nibs.

So you put up a post in the Pelikan area with no Pelikan content wanting non-pelikan suggestions... Okay...

 

The 3776 is a good pen. I have one with a music nib I like. You are not going to find many NEW pens with gold nibs for the price of a Japanese import Platinum 3776. The SF was to fine for my taste. The converter does not hold a lot of ink. If you had the budget I would get a Pilot Custom 823. I like mine much better then a 3776 and has a lot of the same feel as a Pelikan m800 with a nib that is a little softer.

 

If you ask about good travel pens in the general first stop area you might get a lot more opinions.

[Tseg]

 

If you had the budget I would get a Pilot Custom 823. I like mine much better then a 3776 and has a lot of the same feel as a Pelikan m800 with a nib that is a little softer.

 

 

Here, here for the Pilot Custom 823 as a travel pen. I just got back from a week long trip with a ton of writing and there was still ink in the reservoir when I returned home. It writes beautifully.

 

With that said, I did order and am awaiting arrival of a Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue as a carry pen because it is small and fun looking rather than big and serious (expensive) looking like the Custom 823, where people notice it every time I pull it out. The Pelikan likely would accompany on day trips and shorter trips. I sometimes like to maintain a low profile.

[Karmachanic]

OK. Here's one more. If you don't want to carry ink then try a Wing Sung 698 with an F nib. Between the large ink capacity and the F nib you could be ok for two weeks. If you run low grab a 30ml Diamine to refill and leave it behind having refilled.

[Driften]

 

Here, here for the Pilot Custom 823 as a travel pen. I just got back from a week long trip with a ton of writing and there was still ink in the reservoir when I returned home. It writes beautifully.

 

With that said, I did order and am awaiting arrival of a Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue as a carry pen because it is small and fun looking rather than big and serious (expensive) looking like the Custom 823, where people notice it every time I pull it out. The Pelikan likely would accompany on day trips and shorter trips. I sometimes like to maintain a low profile.

 

 

I am also waiting for my M120 Iconic Blue. It made it though customs in San Francisco and I hope it will show up on Monday. It's not going to replace one of my top 5 pens (which include my M805 and Custom 823), but I expect it will put my M200 into un-inked status. That the m20x/M120 is a very nice pen for shirt pocket carry. Not a gold nib, but it shows more softness then the hard nib on a Platinum 3776 while holding more ink then a Platinum converter.

[Calabria]

 

With that said, I did order and am awaiting arrival of a Pelikan M120 Iconic Blue as a carry pen because it is small and fun looking rather than big and serious (expensive) looking ... I sometimes like to maintain a low profile .

Although not a "cheap travel pen," I can say that the M120 makes an ideal travel companion for all the above reasons. It also won't explode on a plane, and carrying a little bottle of ink is the least of my worries (it's actually comforting).

[TSherbs]

Although not a "cheap travel pen," I can say that the M120 makes an ideal travel companion for all the above reasons. It also won't explode on a plane, and carrying a little bottle of ink is the least of my worries (it's actually comforting).

ha!

 

The rest of us put something else in our comfort bottles

 

 

 

[Tseg]

 

 

I am also waiting for my M120 Iconic Blue. It made it though customs in San Francisco and I hope it will show up on Monday.

 

Mine is in customs in NYC (or out of customs?). Of course I leave on a Mon.-Thurs. trip again this week so I hope Mrs. Tseg brings it in from the front door without opening while I'm away.

Edited April 14, 2018 by Tseg

[Driften]

 

Mine is in customs in NYC (or out of customs?). Of course I leave on a Mon.-Thurs. trip again this week so I hope Mrs. Tseg brings it in from the front door without opening while I'm away.

 

 

I ordered from Cult pens and it say that it was a signature required shipment... Good luck!

[Runnin_Ute]

There are a number of pens that would be good travel pens. Both Pelikan and non. Parker 45 - and in the UK cartridges should be easy to find, even if they are proprietary. Of course a Pelikan P200 is an international standard cartridge pen.