Do You Carry Ink?

[Tuan]

I'm having a lot of fun with my first fountain pen, but now I'm often running out of ink when I'm out and about, and when I'm not running out, I'm afraid that I'm about to. This is a major nuisance.

 

What do you experts do? Carry a backup ballpoint? Carry two fountain pens? Have a morning refill ritual? Carry some sort of antique, jewel-encrusted ink vial?

[bridgettt]

I don't know what kind of pen you have but I tend to carry at least one pen like a Pelikan 205 that both holds a lot of ink and has an easy way to guess how much ink is left. That said, I tend to have several pens on me at any given time so I'm not at all likely to run out. Another thing I have done before is to find at least one cartridge ink that I like and carry an extra cartridge. Pop old one out, pop new one in, and keep writing. Easy, peasy. The morning refill ritual works, too, but is too disciplined for the likes of me.

[holzmeister]

They make antique jewel encrusted ink vials???

 

Seriously, I carry 1 fountain where I see the level and a ballpoint-->less as a backup than when someone asks, "Do you have a pen I can borrow?"-->Sure, that one.

[PaperDarts]

If I'm carrying fountain pens I rarely cary only one. I usually have at least two pens in my bag and a spare cartridge or two; my back-up pen is a nice rollerball. And if all else fails, a pencil!

[jb500]

I used to carry a small ink bottle in a ziploc bag in my backpack until I forgot to tighten the cap one day, which cured me of this method. Now, I carry several fountain pens, each with a different purpose: A Pelikan for note taking in the office, a Vanishing Point for note taking at meetings, a LAMY Safari as a backup. I always find I have at least one pen with ink this way.

[wimg]

I carry 5 bottles of ink and approximately 20 fountain pens wherever I go. I generally also have a BP with me for those occasions where someoen needs to borrow a pen, or for forms printed on paper that doesn't absorb fountain pen ink.

 

The bottles of ink I currently have with me are Waterman BlueBlack, Herbin Café des Îles, FPN Galileo Manuscript Brown, FPN Dumas Tulipe Noire and FPN Van Gogh Starry Night Blue. And in my pens I have a variety of other inks too.

 

All of this in my work trolley-bag .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Tuan]

Thanks, everyone, and yes, I should have said that I have a Safari with a converter. I never seem to be able to tell how much ink is left--the viewfinder is nearly opaque. It runs out without warning and does so every few days.

 

It sounds as though, unless I pack enough to open a portable pen kiosk with Wim, I should probably just carry a backup ballpoint pen, since several of you are bringing up the good point that I'll need one anyway to lend to others and use for various purposes.

 

I wish I could fill Lamy cartridges with my choice of bottled ink and RESEAL them as if they had just come from the factory, so I could use them as portable refills but with my chosen ink.

 

I don't suppose that's possible, is it?

[Phormula]

I use cartridges on the go, plus a BP for lending and for the situation in which a FP is not suitable.

My travel pens take standard cartridges, so if I run out of ink I can simply switch the two cartridges inside the pen.

Roughly I can write 11-12 A4 pages with one international cartridge, so I have enough mileage to reach the first break.

Then I have six spare cartridges in a Visconti container, so at the first break I can replace the empty cartridge in the back of the pen.

 

I am using ink and converters in the office and at home.

[knitknitfrog]

I have a four pen leather holder, in it I carry two fps, one bp, and a mp. Sunday night I re-ink the current rotation, and during the week if I have a foreseen heavy writting day I will top up that morning. I also have two smaller bottles of my fab diamine inks in my desk drawer at work, just in case ....

So far in 6 months I have not been caught out inkless yet.

I change pens and inks every month following in the inspiration of a pen pal who chooses a new ink every month to mark the date change.

Edited April 18, 2011 by knitknitfrog

[UltraMagnus]

I carry two fountain pens and a fisher space pen, the latter is more for lending, carbonless forms, and for those occasions I find myself needing to write upside down under water of course! :roflmho: .

 

If I am really worried about running out of ink I just take some cartridges with me.

Edited April 17, 2011 by UltraMagnus

[inkyindi]

i have 3-4 small ink vials i carry with my pens. lighter than carrying whole bottles (which i used to do). walking out of the house without my inks is like walking out of the house without my wallet--unthinkable! carrying a ballpoint is useless for me as FPs are my writing instruments of choice & i plan appropriately for their care & feeding when away from the house.

 

oh! you can get the PR syringe kit, carry a small ink vial of your fave ink & refill your cartridges on the go. doesn't take long at all. though you can just stick the converter in the ink vial & refill that way. so many ways to continued writing happiness!

Edited April 17, 2011 by inkyindi

[fiberdrunk]

I tend to use a converted Platinum Preppy eyedropper pen which holds a huge volume of ink. I don't have to refill all that often. I do have some small vials for carrying ink, too.

[Mrsal]

i keep a visconti travelling inkwell in my locker, but have never had to use it. my pens generally run out when i am doing my homework at home

[omicron]

I used to be compelled to, because I was worried about running out of ink.

But after destroying two bottles of cobalt blue on campus, and realizing in a given day I never use _all_ of it ( maybe like 90% tops ) I convinced myself

not to carry around bottles of ink.

 

( well, at least currently, I used to have a pelikan that drank 1 ml / class period )

[View from the Loft]

I don't have a nightly/morning pen refill as a matter of course, but with four of us using fountain pens, I have a nightly session of checking who needs their pen refilled. For the three at school, the two using Lamys find that they do need to refill every night or they will run out the next day. My daughter's Vector runs on a refilled cartridge, which seems to last her two days. My Pelikan M600 is refilled every other day, and other than that, it depends which pen. Those with convertors I tend to refill every day due to the limited ink capacity. Lever or piston fillers can go to two or three days, but I play safe and go for every other day.

 

My suggestion? For the 30 seconds that it takes, just fill your pen every night.

 

Edited to correct abysmal spelling.

Edited April 17, 2011 by View from the Loft

[Ouroboros]

I've got a small case that hold two pens, so if I have one in my pocket that's three. There's also a cartridge in the case, a Fisher pen in my pants pocket and I try to remember to if not fill every night, at least check the level. Unless you are doing a huge amount of writing everyday and don't have a office/desk of your own to refill at, I would think that a nightly refill would work, and maybe a cartridge just in case.

[ThirdeYe]

I'm pretty good about making sure that if I feel like I'm going to be doing a fair bit of writing, that I'll fill the pen before bringing it with me or bring a pen that I know is mostly full. Sometimes I bring more than one pen, if I have a place to put them. I also bring a backup compact ballpoint with me, but I rarely ever have to use it.

[kcunvong]

At work, I carry two or three fountain pens with different nib types to choose from. One night of work will easily drain an entire Pelikan 250, so I also carry one of those small ink sample vials you get when ordering from Gouletpens.

Edited April 17, 2011 by kcunvong

[machine]

I keep a bottle of ink at work; and when I am traveling / meeting folks I usually carry a ballpoint pen as backup, or to lend out.

[USN Air TrafficController]

Nalgene 1/2 ounce bottles work nicely.