Pelikan White M100 EF

May 8, 2007

Today I received a wonderful package from Perlson Enterprises in Oak Lawn IL (Judperl on eBay - not affiliated). It contained a new, white, Pelikan M100 with EF nib. It is a compact pen, 122mm long, 11 mm in diameter, with a cap 55 mm long. Dimensions are from the ruettinger-web-de web site. Purchase price was $25.60, including shipping.

This being my first piston-filler, I checked the web site to find out how to fill it (losing male points for reading directions prior to all else failing), after, of course, I flushed it with warm soapy water, followed by clean (relatively -- it was tap water) water. I then filled it, according to directions, with Noodler's la Cloeur Royale (royal blue, my current favorite). After filling it, I tested it on the outside of a large white envelope I received from my HOA. In a word, it was wonderful! I previously purchased a Pelikan Grand Prix, to sample the "famous Pelikan nib". It has a medium nib, and writes like butter. It is also a little on the wet side on most papers I have tried it on (the Grand Prix, that is). The M100 Pelikan, however, writes like a dream. It is wet and easy, like the Grand Prix, but does not dump too much ink onto the paper. It actually strikes the perfect balance of wet/dry, at least to my taste. Very similar ot the Phileas fine in that respect.

The other aspect, is the EF nib. It is barely finer than the F on my Phileas, but much finer and it might be a needle point. It seems to be a Goldilocks moment for me. Not too wet, not too dry, just right; not too fine, not too broad, just right. If I have any complaint at all about the pen, it is its size. I can barely use it unposted, because it is shoooooort. But posting the cap solves that problem. The light weight is not a problem, as my workhorse everyday pen is a Phileas, which is also fairly light.

For an under $30 pen, this one is hard to beat - especially if your hands are smaller (from thumb to pinky, my spread hand can comfortably span 11 keys on a baby grand piano keyboard). It has edged out (at least temporarily) my Charles-Hubert Paris in my pen carrier, a four-seater, and the matching CH gel pen will be rotated out of that carrier for a new Waterman anonymous with a Medium nib which writes like a dry fine. I have another small carrier which now holds my new Parker 45 Fountain & Ballpoint (I subbed a gel refill) set. Maybe I am a little over the top? But, as my middle son says whenever a new pen arrives, "Well Dad, at least it's cheaper than collecting guitars".