Do You Use A Retractable Fountain Pen?

[inkstainedruth]

I was at the Commonwealth Pen Show on Sunday. When I got there (close to 11 AM) the guy taking admission fees told me that the demonstrator Boston Safety Pens were already sold out! Turns out it wasn't *quite* the case -- the dealers from the UK still had a few, and the Noodler's table had a couple which had some flaws. I decided that I didn't want one (not a huge fan of demonstrators, for the most part). But I had an insteresting conversation with Nathan Tardif. I told him about how my nib and feed were still wet after a couple months of abuse/poor maintenance and flushing. And he said that some WWI era safety pens were found in trenches along the front lines -- and even after *decades* they still wrote.

I used mine this morning to do my journal entry. Had to retract the nib after about a page and a half of writing (pages are ~6-1/2" x 8" and I write two lines of text for every line on the page). Then, a quick immersion and back to writing. Had to retract the nib once or twice more to get to the end of page 3, but not too bad). And that didn't include the ink which burped into the cap with the change of air pressure over the past couple of days (we drove into the dregs of Hurricane Florence yesterday afternoon on the way home). Still not a huge fan of Luck of the Draw LE ink colorize (I'd describe it as being somewhere between El Lawrence -- which I really like -- and Zhivago, which I suspect would be too "murky green" for me) but it works well in the pen.

So, like I said before -- it's not an EDC pen. But that's okay -- I have other pens that fit that requirement.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Claud]

No. I had one, but gave it to my boss.

[FOUR X FOUR]

I use my Boheme on a regular basis...

 

I have a Boheme. It’s a goodlookin pen but it’s a pain to clean

[eharriett]

 

I had a '68 International Travelall... for one year. I refer to that as my year in automotive purgatory. It cured me of the desire to own a vintage car.

 

Yup. My Studebaker was the car I learned to drive on. Went from that to a Prius. As someone who didn't grow up in that era but that's all he knew when it came to driving, I had no idea how GREAT it felt to not wonder every single time I tried to start the car whether or not I'd be calling AAA. I loved driving that car, but I need something reliable that will start -- every time.

 

That being said, it did have one habit I still keep to today: the Studebaker was a 3 speed column shift. I went through hell to find the car I wanted the past few years with a manual transmission, but after a great deal of determination and searching, I now drive a very rare 2013 Ford Fusion with a stick shift. I can't tell you how much I missed driving with a clutch when it was gone

[WLSpec]

Pilot Decimo, use it quite often.

 

Also have a Vanishing Point, it is a quality pen.

[Ron Z]

 

 

Yup. My Studebaker was the car I learned to drive on. Went from that to a Prius.

 

A bit of a change, eh?

 

My dad had a Studebaker. He called it a "Stupidbaker." He decided that it was time to get rid of it after a Model T passed him going up a hill.

 

...and I agree with you about manual VS automatic. But fountain pen VS RB is about as "manual" as I want to get. I repair safetys, but it would have to be a pretty special pen to make me want to own one.

[ErrantSmudge]

And that didn't include the ink which burped into the cap with the change of air pressure over the past couple of days (we drove into the dregs of Hurricane Florence yesterday afternoon on the way home).

 

 

Really? The Goulet video made a point of saying safety pens are unaffected by changes in air pressure, for example when flying. The reason for the name "safety pen" has to do with them not burping ink into the cap.

[inkstainedruth]

Maybe so. But when I uncapped it this morning to use there was more ink than I had expected which ended up on my fingers and there was definitely some in the cap and on the threads as well. And I had tried as much as humanly possible to keep the pen upright when it was capped.

But I've had other pens burp on me as well. And (shrug) it's just ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Precise]

My suspicions are verified. I wrote in the OP, " But they don't look any safer than a conventional fountain pen."

 

So, as far as safety pens are concerned. I thank everyone for their input. Now we can return to Studebakers.

 

Alan

[wallylynn]

I told him about how my nib and feed were still wet after a couple months of abuse/poor maintenance and flushing. And he said that some WWI era safety pens were found in trenches along the front lines -- and even after *decades* they still wrote.

This is what I was really looking for when I got the safety pen: a pen I can leave unattended. Now I can have 2 inked pens whereas before one would always dry out.

[ele]

A properly functioning safety pen opened properly leaves no chance of ink getting anywhere. Period.

[Ron Z]

 

 

Now I can have 2 inked pens whereas before one would always dry out.

 

Well, you certainly won't have a problem with a safety drying out, will you? OTOH, if "nib creep" bothers you....

[eharriett]

 

Well, you certainly won't have a problem with a safety drying out, will you? OTOH, if "nib creep" bothers you....

 

Ha ha! Very true.

 

Here's one of mine inked up right now with Platinum Carbon Black. That's a steel/nickel colored nib!

[TSherbs]

 

Ha ha! Very true.

 

Here's one of mine inked up right now with Platinum Carbon Black. That's a steel/nickel colored nib!

Looks like 10W-40

[hbraerae]

Before I tried retractable pens, I was always worried ink would dry out too fast. Once I tried Pilot decimo, I was hooked for life. It's still on my top 3 favorite pens.

[A Smug Dill]

Between my fiancée and me, we have about a dozen Pilot Capless pens – including the fatter Vanishing Point pens in matte black, in raden designs, limited editions, and now a deep red 'birch' one which just arrived in the post yesterday, as well as a couple of Decimo models – in our household, and we just absolutely love writing with them. When I was working five days a week in an office, the matte black VP is my favourite pen to carry in my shirt pocket, and I used it a lot. The position of the clip doesn't bother us when we're writing with the pens, but the smooth, fat, glossy 'section' part of the barrel on some models don't feel as comforting as the less smooth counterparts on the matte black, metallic purple, and wooden barrels.

[Honeybadgers]

I have two safety pens, one is a vintage french safety pen in red ripple ebonite with a flex nib that I got for an unbelievable deal on ebay, but it has a non-original warranted 14k nib, and the fitment of said nib isn't perfect so it's prone to pulling away the feed and stopping the flow. I think it's because it has a #1 nib and needs a #2, so I will try to rectify that sometime in the future since it's a really, REALLY pretty pen with an intricate clip.

 

I also have the noodlers safety pen with a waterman #2 full flex nib swapped in that sees heavy use, it's a wonderful pen.

 

Neither is a "daily carry" pen since the process of pulling it out to sign a receipt is dumb.

 

The stypen up is really nasty feeling in the hand, super cheap and plastickey- only uses cartridges (no room for a converter) and mine dries out within two days.

 

I have finally started to come around to my pilot capless.

 

I also just ordered a special edition rotring telescoping pen. it's got a cap, but the section telescopes out and then the cap snaps off. I'm excited to try it.

[SoulSamurai]

I also just ordered a special edition rotring telescoping pen. it's got a cap, but the section telescopes out and then the cap snaps off. I'm excited to try it.

 

 

I have one in gunmetal, I love how it looks.

[Donald2]

I have two safety pens, one is a vintage french safety pen in red ripple ebonite with a flex nib that I got for an unbelievable deal on ebay, but it has a non-original warranted 14k nib, and the fitment of said nib isn't perfect so it's prone to pulling away the feed and stopping the flow. I think it's because it has a #1 nib and needs a #2, so I will try to rectify that sometime in the future since it's a really, REALLY pretty pen with an intricate clip.

 

I also have the noodlers safety pen with a waterman #2 full flex nib swapped in that sees heavy use, it's a wonderful pen.

 

Neither is a "daily carry" pen since the process of pulling it out to sign a receipt is dumb.

 

The stypen up is really nasty feeling in the hand, super cheap and plastickey- only uses cartridges (no room for a converter) and mine dries out within two days.

 

I have finally started to come around to my pilot capless.

 

I also just ordered a special edition rotring telescoping pen. it's got a cap, but the section telescopes out and then the cap snaps off. I'm excited to try it.

 

Please show pictures when you get it. I've never seen a telescoping pen other than the Noodler's Safety Pen.

[almoore]

I also have two Pilot VP's and have used them for my EDC and they are great pens.

 

I also have two Beena retractable pens, not really EDC pens but fun to own and not bad little writers.

 

Al