Twsbi Vac 20 Bottle - Other Pens?

[codster]

So TWSBI has released the Vac 20, a small, plastic ink bottle into which the Vac 700 pen screws. The ink well is inverted during filling, allowing a full vacuum fill with just one plunge.

 

The original Visconti traveling ink wells also used a screw in system before switching to a more universal rubber gasket.

 

I was wondering if any early adopters out there have tried the new Vac 20 bottle with a Pilot Custom 823.

 

Alternatively, for anyone who has both the Custom 823 and Vac 700, do the threads look similar, or are the caps interchangeable?

 

Thanks,

Cody

[heymatthew]

I have a Pilot Custom 74 and the Vac 700 and the Vac 20. The Custom 74 and Vac 20 aren't compatible. I mean... I filled the pen this afternoon using the Vac 20, but I did it by removing the top completely as you would with any ink well. Not sure if the Custom 823 would work or not, but I'm guessing not.

 

I will say that I'm not all that impressed with the Vac 20. It's definitely nowhere near the quality of their previous offering (Diamond 50). I personally find it to be incredibly cheap-feeling and underwhelming. At half the cost, it's definitely not half the value. Unless you're really into filling your Vac 700 completely full every time, I'd forego it.

 

I love all of my TWSBI products, but the Vac 20 just felt pretty uninspiring.

[fabrimedeiros]

I don't have the vac 20 yet, but I just read on Twsbi Facebook: "You can use other pens with it too if you take the cap completely off. You can also screw on our other diamond 50 ink bottle cap too. It's all interchangeable."

[heymatthew]

Yep. The caps are interchangeable and you can fill any pen from either ink well by just taking the cap off. I will say that the Vac 20 would be good for taking a smaller amount of ink on a trip or something. I was just so pleased by the heft and quality of the Diamond 50 ink well... Anything else would have a hard time keeping up.

 

I'm going to leave my Vac 20 at work with ink in it for those times when I run out unexpectedly at work and need a quick fill.

[NKessler]

I don't think it'll fit the 823 or other vacuum fillers.

 

What I have found is that I adore the Vac 20 even though it doesn't have the same heft as the Diamond 50. I like the fact that it doesn't weigh much and can easily be carried due to it's slim profile and small size. The Vac 700 holds so much ink that carrying around more than 2 or 3 extra fills doesn't make sense for someone like me. I'm in the process of testing the Vac 20 to see how durable it is and have been having great results today. So far it hasn't spilled a single drop of ink. I've put it in a plastic bag and shook the life out of it, dropped it down a set of carpeted stairs, and filled my Vac 700 at least 20 times in very quick succession with little to no care.

 

I fully intend to break the one I currently own to see exactly what it takes to make it fail and will be buying at least 2 more if this one holds up well over the next week of EDC use. I must say, though, that if the Vac 20 shows any signs of cracking like the 5xxs and the Mini, I'll be very disappointed and upset.

[heymatthew]

I don't think it'll fit the 823 or other vacuum fillers.

 

What I have found is that I adore the Vac 20 even though it doesn't have the same heft as the Diamond 50. I like the fact that it doesn't weigh much and can easily be carried due to it's slim profile and small size. The Vac 700 holds so much ink that carrying around more than 2 or 3 extra fills doesn't make sense for someone like me. I'm in the process of testing the Vac 20 to see how durable it is and have been having great results today. So far it hasn't spilled a single drop of ink. I've put it in a plastic bag and shook the life out of it, dropped it down a set of carpeted stairs, and filled my Vac 700 at least 20 times in very quick succession with little to no care.

 

I fully intend to break the one I currently own to see exactly what it takes to make it fail and will be buying at least 2 more if this one holds up well over the next week of EDC use. I must say, though, that if the Vac 20 shows any signs of cracking like the 5xxs and the Mini, I'll be very disappointed and upset.

 

Let me know how yours holds up... I'm curious. I don't have the guts to carry mine around with me in my messenger bag because if it breaks, it'll ink up everything in there. I think for desk use, the older ink well is more suitable. For travel or ink-sharing and what not, the 20 is fine. I guess I was expecting something a little more substantial.

 

I'll hang on to mine as a backup at work and if I ever travel, I might wrap it up in a plastic bag and put it in my carry-on so I can fill my pen when I get on the ground wherever I'm going.

 

I would advise anyone interested in it to try and check it out in person first. It's a nice piece, just not a heavyweight like the 50.

[Harlequin]

I had seen that the Vac20 was finally available as well and had wondered about it. With the couple of methods out there to fill the Vac700 almost fuull anyway, I don't see a REAL need for getting it, but it's always good to hear about it's pros and cons from someone who actually has it (and ofcourse, the Vac700). Thanks, heymatthew!

[NKessler]

OK, sorry to bump a several days old thread, but I promised I'd post my "TWSBI Vac 20 Torture Test" results, so I will.

 

I did not manage to break the bottle despite trying to do so. I did everything I could imagine your average user doing to it and didn't succeed in compromising any aspect of the bottle. I dropped it from a height of 6 feet onto a linoleum floor 4 times (filled to capacity with water), I dropped it down a flight of carpeted stairs onto a wooden floor 4 times (filled to capacity with water), I tightened the cap as much as I possibly could (even employing a rubber grip-sheet), and I very rapidly filled both my Vac 700s in the most irresponsible way I could possibly manage (with actual ink).

 

Through all of that, the bottle is still just fine and hasn't spilled a single drop of ink.

 

My recommendation is that anyone with a Vac 700 and a spare $15.00 USD should pick up one of these bottles as an emergency ink supply and keep it in your bag/car/pocket/wherever. After trying to break the bottle and coming up short, I've taken to storing mine in my backpack among all my electronics. I have literally no fear of it leaking or breaking and am very impressed by TWSBI's efforts in making this bottle viable for the consumer.

 

Now, I really like TWSBI's products. I've got 2 540s, 2 Vac 700s, 2 Minis, and now a Diamond 50 and Vac 20 ink bottle. I regularly use and enjoy all of them. All of this definitely makes me biased towards giving the Vac 20 a favorable review, so if you're planning on using this description of my experience as a barometer towards your potential purchase, I recommend that you only consider the torture test, not the rest of my opinions. The facts as I see them are as such: this bottle is much more durable than it feels initially and it works very well for filling the Vac 700 to full capacity. It also works well as a regular inkwell, but the Diamond 50 is much more bottom-heavy and less likely to tip over.

 

Take my experience however you like and, if you do decide to get a Vac 20, enjoy it!

Edited February 7, 2013 by NKessler

[amberleadavis]

I bought two. I love them. I'll be acquiring more.

[MiguelMarcosMartinez]

Nothing like waking up a 12-year old topic...

 

I hope this is useful to someone in some way though I admit my use case is pretty Frankenstein-ish. I like to use fountain pens for sketching with waterproof inks. When traveling, I wrestle with running out of ink, lack of compatible cartridges of waterproof ink, I can´t take glass bottles or blunt syringes onboard and so on.

 

This led me to looking for small travel-friendly ink bottles and to the Twsbi Vac 20. Below are a few discoveries that might be useful to others. I am not using the Vac 20 for its intended purpose to fill Vac pens but as a general inkwell.

- It's plastic so it's a good candidate for taking onboard when flying. I came across an old post elsewhere on FPN about someone who had experienced a leak when taking it onboard. I'll be flying soon and will put it in a ziploc with paper towels. For safety's sake I will grease the thread a tiny bit with silicone grease. If there's failure I'll come back and report it.

- It's transparent: Useful for inking up.

- It's not a great design in terms of stability so I have to be careful when the Vac 20 is open and when inking up. I have a kneadble eraser which I might test as a way anchor the bottle.

- The capacity seems ideal to last me a couple of weeks of heavier than usual pen use.

- Online I learned about the ink reservoirs that Twsbi and Sailor, among others, use in their bottles. I was interested in finding a reservoir solution for the Vac 20 so I could fill my pen with as much remaining ink as possible. It appears the TWSBI Diamond 50ml ink bottle apparently has a reservoir perfectly sized for the Vac 20 but I didn't want to spend the money for an inkwell just for this purpose. The reservoir that comes with large TWSBI ink bottles turned out to be too big. I looked at the Sailor reservoir measurements and it looked like it would work. I can confirm it work fine with the original Vac 20 cap.

 

-  The TWSBI Diamond 50 ink bottle cap is compatible with the Vac 20. I'd prefer this because I don't need to that long unique cap meant for the Vac pens. Still, I didn't want to invest in the 50ml empty inkwell. I had a bottle of Twsbi ink around however, and confirmed the cap is compatible. However, the Sailor reservoir is too tall and doesn't allow the cap to screw on correctly.

 

So, all in all, this is a crazy bit of a Frankenstein-ing and I still need to test it fully on the road. I have not ruled out shaving off the height of the Sailor reservoir to see if I can get the standard cap on. 🙂

 

Edit: If anyone knows of a good technique to slice off plastic, I'd love to know.

Edited May 20 by MiguelMarcosMartinez
Forgot to ask for help with working with plastic.

[Karmachanic]

30 or 60ml wide mouth Nalgene.  Stable.   Close to indestructible.   No gymnastics required.

[MiguelMarcosMartinez]

Thanks, @Karmachanic. Nalgene is not commonly available in Spain, where I live, but there may similar brands. Need to keep an eye on the dimensions to fit the reservoir but, yes, less gymnastics is better.

[Karmachanic]

Try Amazon.  Also search wide mouth HDPE - same as Nalgene.

[MiguelMarcosMartinez]

Super, HDPE gives me lots of useful results though no Nalgene. Thanks!