Rip Thread For Lost Pens

[bemon]

Not a happy thread, but let's pour out a little ink for those missing pens!

 

I recently lost my blue Pelikan K400 that we signed our marriage certificate with. Dropped somewhere between the car and day care, it's either been run over, skittered into a gutter or possibly, picked up by someone who saw it for what it was and has a free luxury jotter now. I get that it's just a pen, but if anyone one understands my frustration at myself for not paying enough attention it'll be most of ya'll!

 

RIP K400.

Edited September 27, 2018 by bemon

[carlos.q]

Yesterday I lost my red Pelikan M600. I dropped it on the way to my car while talking on the phone.

 

That was an expensive call!

Edited September 27, 2018 by carlos.q

[bemon]

Yesterday I lost my red M600 pen. I dropped it on the way to my car while talking on the phone.

Ouch, that hurts a little more than a K400.

[BaronWulfraed]

I think I've only lost two or three fountain pens since 1970: Sheaffer "School" pen (maybe two, I still have one, but I'm sure I had different colors back then); An unknown-model Pilot which had been my father's -- fell out of my shirt pocket somewhere on the walkway at ACS Academy, Halandria, Athens.

 

Nearly lost a small Pilot -- the clip snagged on the fleece of a coat and pulled it out of my pocket. Someone at work mentioned someone else had located a pen and recalled I used fountain pens, so I did recover that one.

 

Also had a brand-new Sheaffer Intrigue fall out of a pocket (along with a Balance II; both had arrived in the mail that morning). Fortunately, I felt them hit the ground as I got out my car. Unfortunately my boot came down over the Intrigue (near the heel) and there wasn't quite enough clearance to avoid putting a few dings into the cap.

 

Not a lost pen, but still a RIP... Mont Blanc 144... (the small cartridge/converter model). One day the threads connecting the section to the body decided they were a mini-Slinky -- I had just a coil of plastic spring. This was early in my "collecting" days, and I just disposed of the pen. Especially as I'd bought it in the UK and was living in California, and didn't know anything about repair services for pens.

Edited September 27, 2018 by BaronWulfraed

[pajaro]

In the local grocery I left my little leather notebook and K200 blue marble ballpoint in the shopping cart. Somebody got a good pen.

 

Parker 51 yellow Kullock conversion #2 pen walked away from a desk at work. The #1 yellow 51 had been accidentally broken.

[bemon]

I think I've only lost two or three fountain pens since 1970: Sheaffer "School" pen (maybe two, I still have one, but I'm sure I had different colors back then); An unknown-model Pilot which had been my father's -- fell out of my shirt pocket somewhere on the walkway at ACS Academy, Halandria, Athens.

 

Nearly lost a small Pilot -- the clip snagged on the fleece of a coat and pulled it out of my pocket. Someone at work mentioned someone else had located a pen and recalled I used fountain pens, so I did recover that one.

 

Also had a brand-new Sheaffer Intrigue fall out of a pocket (along with a Balance II; both had arrived in the mail that morning). Fortunately, I felt them hit the ground as I got out my car. Unfortunately my boot came down over the Intrigue (near the heel) and there wasn't quite enough clearance to avoid putting a few dings into the cap.

 

Not a lost pen, but still a RIP... Mont Blanc 144... (the small cartridge/converter model). One day the threads connecting the section to the body decided they were a mini-Slinky -- I had just a coil of plastic spring. This was early in my "collecting" days, and I just disposed of the pen. Especially as I'd bought it in the UK and was living in California, and didn't know anything about repair services for pens.

That's gotta be ultra frustrating. Damaging a pen that just arrived. Fortunately I've only lost 3 pens and they've all actually been ballpoints. I use fountain pens far more often, but always keep a ballpoint clipped to my shirt or in my pocket. My fountain pens live in a leather pouch in my briefcase.

 

About 10 years ago I lost a Cross Century. I used that pen for about 3 years before I lost it. I call it my gateway pen because when I decided to replace it I thought I'd find something different and discovered the world of fine writing extended far past a Cross ballpoint...

 

Then last year I lost my pocket pen- a Fisher Bullet. No biggie. And of course most recently my K400 which frustrates me because I can't justify the cost to replace it. Not to mention it was used in a milestone event.

[bemon]

In the local grocery I left my little leather notebook and K200 blue marble ballpoint in the shopping cart. Somebody got a good pen.

 

Parker 51 yellow Kullock conversion #2 pen walked away from a desk at work. The #1 yellow 51 had been accidentally broken.

And really, when someone walks away with a "found" pen you have to wonder if they know what they're getting and appreciate it, or if they just like how it looks and treat it the same as a pen from their bank.

[Cordovian]

In the local grocery I left my little leather notebook and K200 blue marble ballpoint in the shopping cart. Somebody got a good pen.

 

Parker 51 yellow Kullock conversion #2 pen walked away from a desk at work. The #1 yellow 51 had been accidentally broken.

Did the same thing except the pen was a Pelikan M150. I got the notebook back but they kept the pen. My only hope is that they turned the filler knob not knowing what would happen and got a big surprise.

[ErrantSmudge]

About a week ago, I lost one of my Lamy Safaris. It was a shiny blue one, nothing special about it, but it was still very sad to see it go. I carry around a messenger bag for my EDC haul, and somehow it slipped out of the dedicated pen spot and into the void.

 

I typically carry around a Safari or a TWSBI Eco as an EDC pen. I've now resolved to only carry low-value, standard-edition pens outside the home. For me that means no special-edition pens like the Safari Dark Lilac or my Rocket Blue Eco-T.

 

I think whoever finds my missing Safari will not recognize what it is and chuck it in the trash.

Edited September 27, 2018 by ErrantSmudge

[bemon]

Too bad to hear.

 

About a week ago, I lost one of my Lamy Safaris. It was a shiny blue one, nothing special about it, but it was still very sad to see it go. I carry around a messenger bag for my EDC haul, and somehow it slipped out of the dedicated pen spot and into the void.

 

I typically carry around a Safari or a TWSBI Eco as an EDC pen. I've now resolved to only carry low-value, standard-edition pens outside the home. For me that means no special-edition pens like the Safari Dark Lilac or my Rocket Blue Eco-T.

 

I think whoever finds my missing Safari will not recognize what it is and chuck it in the trash.

Too bad to read, and yeah I year ya. That's the worst part of it, is to someone outside the pen world the no one will understand the value. It's never as bad if you know your lost pen is going to a second happy home.

[amcityink]

Sometimes all is not lost... 2 years ago I lost a MB Legrand, a pen I’ve owned for years, and was perfect... I actually didn’t know where I lost it, had one day, then gone... I turned over my car, house and office, nothing.. finally gave up the hunt... this made me rethink buying expensive pens for everyday use... I bought a Namiki Falcon and Sailor 1911... which was great I love both these pens..

 

A year or so later I put on a sweater and my Legrand falls out of the pocket on to the carpet...

[inkstainedruth]

Lost not one but TWO M200 Café Cremes (although there's a piece of me thinking the second one is somewhere in my house).

Lost my M405 Stresemann when I went camping last year, but fortunately that one got turned into the camp Lost and Found (whew -- didn't want to have to tell my husband I lost the really expensive pen...). I was less afraid of it growing legs than I was of someone driving over it in a fully loaded SUV pulling a fully loaded trailer in the grass....

But then I lost my first "good" pen (a Parker Vector) in my house for the better part of a year before finding it in a desk drawer while looking for something else (fortunately I had JUST flushed it out before misplacing it).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[mitto]

I have only one pen falling off of my shirt pocket in 2003. It was a blue Parker Vector that I used to often use in office. Soon after, a FP user colleague gifted me another black Vector when he knew I lost my pen. We both would use only Vectors in office.

[Driften]

I hope your pen actually turns up. It can happen. I lost two different Lamy Safari's but they turned up hidden in the car. Then I lost the first one again to never be found. I expect it's hiding in the garage somewhere.

 

But a number of people have lost pens that later come home again. One story was a pen that got lost in the snow in front of a house and turned up the next spring when the snow melted. I hope your special pens comes back.

[Aysedasi]

Despire beng generally careless, I've thankfully never lost a pen, but I had 'fun' with my custom made raffle-winning bulb-filler from Shawn Newton. I managed to break the part into which the section screws, so back it went across the pond to Shawn who kindly replaced it. The day it came back, I was using it at work and it rolled off the table onto the floor. Under the thin carpet is metal (shielding the heating system) and I couldn't believe it - it broke again in exactly the same place. So it was back to Shawn who mended it again for me, although this time with a plan black insert - which now acts as a reminder to me to treat it wth more care (which I should as it's the sweetest writer I own..... ).

[JakobS]

I have lost three Esterbrooks, a light green Dollar with a 3550 nib while walking on campus, a SM Deluxe Burgundy with a 9xxx nib of some sort while on a bus on the same campus, and a Red J with a Pendleton modified left foot oblique renew point nib while hiking on Isle Au Haut in Maine (tripped with a heavy backpack, and went tumbling into the woods!).

 

I lost a Red Lamy Safari in a soy field for about a week, one of my grad students found it later when he was collecting data, and knew it was probably mine, it was slightly faded, and perhaps did nothing for increasing the looseness of the cap, which seems to be a chronic problem with these after a few years of constant use...

 

Oh, and a stainless steel Lamy Studio with a medium nib while visiting a veterinarian on a pre-vet trip in college, luckily Pam Braun was still around and had a great price on a replacement, but it was a pen my dad gave me for Christmas so a bummer nevertheless as it was the only pen I was ever gifted...

 

I always hope that if they are found, the realize what they are and enjoy them, or get them into hands that will...

Edited September 27, 2018 by JakobS

[bemon]

Sometimes all is not lost... 2 years ago I lost a MB Legrand, a pen Ive owned for years, and was perfect... I actually didnt know where I lost it, had one day, then gone... I turned over my car, house and office, nothing.. finally gave up the hunt... this made me rethink buying expensive pens for everyday use... I bought a Namiki Falcon and Sailor 1911... which was great I love both these pens..

 

A year or so later I put on a sweater and my Legrand falls out of the pocket on to the carpet...

Thats awesome. I keep hoping that my K400 fell out at home and the cat batted it into a crevice somewhere for me to uncover later.

[bemon]

I hope your pen actually turns up. It can happen. I lost two different Lamy Safari's but they turned up hidden in the car. Then I lost the first one again to never be found. I expect it's hiding in the garage somewhere.

 

But a number of people have lost pens that later come home again. One story was a pen that got lost in the snow in front of a house and turned up the next spring when the snow melted. I hope your special pens comes back.

Thanks- I appreciate your hope! And yeah, it could turn up. I did drop it once before because the clip isnt that strong. But I heard it hit the ground. Nothing this time. (Though I was both in a rush and on cold medication.)

 

Oh well, Ive been wavering back and forth over replacing the car. The thought that its in there somewhere is one more reason in favour if keeping the old battleaxe on the road

 

I did a semi thorough check and found a dollar..

[katerchen]

My Pelikan Signum (with the black, slightly ribbed body material) that I used for the last 3 years of university. I have no idea where it went after graduation.

 

At the time, on my budget, that was a pretty significant commitment to this expense.

 

-k

[goodpens]

When I got my first job after college, as a book editor, my parents gave me a hand-turned pen. It was a light wood. One end had a blue ballpoint refill; the other end was red. I kept it at my desk at the office. Someone snagged it. I do not think it was worth a lot, but it was meaningful to me.