Traveling with ink?

[rh314]

New FPNer here. Really enjoy the site. Plus the marketplace has been feeding my habit... um... hobby.

 

On occasion, I need to travel for business on short (3-4 day) trips, and that's just long enough that I want to bring a bit of extra ink. I've been shoving a Noodler's bottle in a sock and then a ziplock, and checking it in my luggage, but that's always a bit scary.

 

Anybody have better solutions? I'm looking pretty hard at a Visconti ink pot (or two, for different colors inks, w00t!) but I'm kind of wary about bringing these unusual-looking bullet-shaped metal tubes filled with liquid through a TSA checkpoint. Seems pretty likely that it'll cause delays.

 

Another possibility is some really tightly-closing, wide-mouth, plastic bottles to hold just a fraction of an ounce (enough for 1-2 refills)? Does anybody have any experience with doing something like this? I saw some posts on using 1oz nalgenes -- are those big enough to submerge a nib?

 

Thanks,

Ron

 

--

Current rotation: Waterman Expert, Namiki VP, Pelikan 605

[Wolverine1]

I think Nalgene or some other manufacturer makes small plastic bottles with leakproof lids. I have seen them at outdoor/camping stores. I bet if you went to a Cabelas or a Gander Mountain store, or looked at the REI or campmor catalogs, you will find small leakproof bottles that woudl hole say, half-a bottle of ink, which is like 2oz, maybe?

[Samovar]

Nalgene would also be my choice.

http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/store/categ...ory=Travel+Kits

[PaulLeMay]

I use this little glass bottle. It has a cork seal. I try to make it pretty full when I fly, to reduce the amount of air. I sometimes wrap it in a paper napkin just in case, but it hasn't leaked yet. Holds maybe 10cc, enough for a few days for me.

[saintsimon]

Some Visconti ink pots are not of that metal bullet style but are made of black plastic with a transparent window part.

 

Like the pot on the right (pic by Visconti)

http://www.visconti.it/archivioImg/travink-l.jpg

[kissing]

 

Is taking the whole ink bottle that much of a hassle? It doesn't take that much luggage room, does it?

 

If I go travelling for a few days, I would take my mini ink bottle that came with a dip-pen calligraphy set It looks exactly the same as the one Paul uploaded.

 

In the past, I thought I might try film canisters...but they leaked horrible

[Bill]

In case there is one near you, The Container Store carries a variety of small clear plastic bottles with volume markings and mouths wide enough for inserting pens.

 

Bill

[meanwhile]

Nalgenes are unkillable and unstainable. They were designed for lab work and adopted by mountain climbers. They're cheap and easily obtained. A wider and shorter design would make getting the last drops of ink easier, but you can always tilt the bottle.

[kilkil]

Nalgenes are unkillable and unstainable.

I wouldn't quite say they that with their standard bottles, their Teflon bottles perform quite a bit better (also cost quite a bit more). WIth that aside their standard bottles are exceptionally durable and will be more than enough for traveling with ink.

[AndreaDuni]

I have two Visconti Travelling Ink Pots and other 2 are incoming for gift to uncle and friends. In Italy I have found them at 40 euros each.

The Visconti Travelling Ink pot is not a simple bottle with a transparent window. There is a rubber ring inside that let all fountain pens to be full charged without any trouble like soil around with ink. It is a patent of Visconti.

 

http://fountainpens.netnemo.net/Ink%20Pots%20-%20Ink%20Wells/Visconti%20Traveller%20Ink%20Pots/slides/ViscontiTravellerInkPot_03.JPG

http://fountainpens.netnemo.net/Ink%20Pots%20-%20Ink%20Wells/Visconti%20Traveller%20Ink%20Pots/slides/ViscontiTravellerInkPotDeluxe_02.JPG

Edited May 31, 2007 by Netnemo

[KCat]

Love the Viscontin Ink Pot though it's mostly too expensive here.

 

I use Nalgene Wide-mouth Leakproof (HDPE) jars - container store has them but so do many lab supply stores. Non-staining, and "non-killable" is true for these particular jars. I have bought them for about $1.69 each in the past. But that was some time ago. Container store charges about 2X that. They truly are leak-proof.

[Kees]

Montblanc ink was sold in plastic containers in the 80ies. One of those would do nicely, if you could get hold of it.

[ConnallMac]

I will second the suggestion of Nalgene bottles. I bought a package of them about a month ago at a Gander Mountain store in Indianapolis. For about nine dollars I got something like nine different bottles of varying shapes and sizes, ranging from about 1 ounce to about five ounces. I currently have three of the smaller ones employed in carrying Noodler's Brown, Noodler's Beaver and Private Reserve Copper Burst. I have also transferred the remainder of my Noodler's inks to the larger bottles, so that I have no fear of breaking either the glass bottles or the plastic tops. I have been greatly impressed with them. I was also able to mark each container with a Sharpie to indicate the color and manufacturer.

 

 

--J. Haney

[fjf]

http://thewritingdesk.co.uk/herbin/cart_tin_ind.jpg

 

http://thewritingdesk.co.uk/visconti/visco...vangogh_ink.php

 

http://thewritingdesk.co.uk/visconti/visconti_vangogh_ink.jpg

[PaulK]

I've never travelled with bottle(s) of ink in my checked-in luggage. I also wonder now under the present restrictions it would just create more attention. As it is I've had a new Grundig radio dinged up (TSA removing the batteries), shampoos that leaked inside my Dopp bag because someone didn't have the sense to tightly screw the cap on after checking its contents), and clothing loose inside my garment bag (because they couldn't close the hanger latch) <= some(!) examples. I could just imagine what they'd do with a bottle a ink or (gasp!) some strange, dark liquid in an unmarked vial.

 

I'll carry cartridges. IMO, truly much easier: haven't had a single problem with the agents or passing through security when my laptop/office bag contents is selected for a more thorough screening.

 

My best,

Paul

[Kees]

In a related thread I once posted a not too good picture of a very nice Pelikan travelers’ bottle:

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...=0entry101769

[vision35]

I travel with a wide-mouth Nalgene, either a one or two ounce, I can't recall, it's about 2.5 inches tall.

 

For my Scotch, I travel with a four ounce Lexan Nalgene, which costs a bit more but is even less likely to transfer plastic flavors to the Scotch.

 

So far, I've never confused the ink and the Scotch Nalgenes.

 

For work, I just carry the ink, not the Scotch.

[cmeisenzahl]

Like the pot on the right (pic by Visconti)

http://www.visconti.it/archivioImg/travink-l.jpg

Very cool pic! ;-)