Worst Fountain Pen Melt Down During An Exam?

[huhjunn]

This ever happen to anybody? I'm just curious and would like to know your experiences. I'm new to FPs so I haven't had any hiccups with them yet.

[Flake]

I had my fine point run out of ink in the middle of an essay. Grabbed another one.....green ink. When it ran out, I grabbed the large capacity pink-filled pen. Thankfully the professor never mentioned my technicolor paper despite his "blue or black only" policy. I think he had more fun watching me try to get a drop of black ink out of my ink vial to bother taking off points.

 

Thankfully other than a stray inkblot here or there, beyond running out of ink they performed admirably so far.

[GabrielleDuVent]

None so far, and have been using them since childhood. Let's hope it'll continue that way...

[NedC]

Other than a Parker Vector running out of ink and bleeding a bit through bluebook paper... Always have a spare writing implement for exams.

[BT-7274]

Just last week, I had a Targa run dry during a writing placement test...Despite the fact that I had just filled it the day before and hadn't used it prior to that. Best part was that it ran out right on the last word of my essay. Those small blue books are sponges...

 

So, I broke out the Lamy 2000 and finished up the word. A tiny splotch of blue-black in a sea of black cursive. My regret now is not having a pen with Levenger's Pinkly inked at the time. A splotch of hot pink in a sea of black ink.

[K. Cakes]

None. I always come prepared with backups.

 

Just last week, I had a Targa run dry during a writing placement test...Despite the fact that I had just filled it the day before and hadn't used it prior to that. Best part was that it ran out right on the last word of my essay. Those small blue books are sponges...

 

So, I broke out the Lamy 2000 and finished up the word. A tiny splotch of blue-black in a sea of black cursive. My regret now is not having a pen with Levenger's Pinkly inked at the time. A splotch of hot pink in a sea of black ink.

How do the bluebooks take FP ink?

[J English Smith]

Saddest thing I ever saw was my friend Jeremiah coming into class one day with a freshly inked Rapidograph that had literally come apart in his backpack. Think black ink bomb. The backpack was literally dripping... Put me right off of Rapidographs...

[XiaoMG]

I never used fountain pens for exams, but if I had, I'd have checked their ink levels before taking them out.

 

Worst accident in normal use was absent-mindedly twisting the cap off a posted TWSBI 540.

[BT-7274]

None. I always come prepared with backups.

 

How do the bluebooks take FP ink?

Like a sponge. Even the mighty Noodler's X-Feather couldn't resist the paper's feather and bleed inducing property. Granted, it was inked in a Targa with a medium nib. And a generous one at that.

[saaj]

Well it almost happened... The ink cartridge wouldn't pop in the 45, but luckily i had my frontier with me... On another note, in one of my exams i had to write in black ink,and since i only use blue, i was forced to use a ballpoint. Most painful exam ever.

[Tom Aquinas]

In November 1969 I took two pens , a Parker 51, and a Parker 65 into a full day exam consisting of 2x3hr essay papers. I used the 51 in the morning and the plan was the 65 in the afternoon. It had a lovely writing nib (like oil on glass) and the plan was to use that for the final run to be easier on my hand which had been seriously injured. The 65 unknown to me has a fault . The lovely nib sits on a big wad of plastic , or resin or whatever, and can get a hairline crack and fall off the pen (not unlike a fault the Mont Blanc 146 had in the early 1980s with hairline cracks). It happened. There was about enough ink in the 51 for a 45 min essay, and fortunately I had a 51 jotter.

 

In those days Parker had a local workshop. The technician in charge admitted the fault and came with a brand new Parker 61 which had a cc and said he recommended an exchange, he then came back with paperwork and a dozen packets of cartridges...... gratis. He gave the same deal to a mate in my dorm at College who had a pen go on him in a January supp.That was the golden age of Parker. So next set of exams I took in 3 fountain pens (A Parker VP with a fine nib I was offered at the Parker workshop at trade prices. I was admiring it when the techy was examining the poor 65, so I was asked would I like it and they sold it to me for an incredible price).

 

Despite the tension on the most pleasing side of the day and possibly compensation by the Fates, I got a High Distinction.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Tom Aquinas

[koa]

Yes, I clearly remember, a pen, with an ink window, half-way through the exam, the pen snapped in two just below the window. Ink flowed out everywhere, covered my exam paper, and continued to cover my hand, and my arm, and then proceeded to my mouth, where it entered sort of like the mirror in the first Matrix movie. Then I woke up.

 

See: http://xkcd.com/557/

[de_pen_dent]

Nah, I never had any problems. I used to use my lucky Sheaffer Imperial for the exams, filled each evening, and would always have 3-4 backups (Heros, Wing Tsuns, etc), b/c I was paranoid.

[Mesu]

Never during final exams but during a surprise test. Left the pen uncapped on the desk for a sec to reach for my pencil and it started rolling. My hand shot out as a reflex and instead of catching the pen, i managed to knock it to the floor, hard. It fell on its nib and bent

 

Teacher:

 

Me:

 

Teacher: and lent me one of her spare pens

[MC_in_Houston]

To err is human, to erase divine. Pencil for exams. Pursuing a degree in the techincal arts is not coductive to pen use during exams.

[Trebster]

Never happened in this corner. Took all my exams armed only with a Sheaffer Targa.

[Paddler]

Exams? Yikes! Memories of exams are lost in the dim expanse of time since dirt was still being beta tested. When I was doing all that exam nonsense, animals could still talk and Methusala was riding a hobby horse.

 

[J Jordan]

Never had a problem with pens on any exams. But, I did have a new Noodler's Konrad lose about half of its ink on a paper here at work.

 

I don't know what to do with it.

[ravantra]

During a recent field investigation I was taking some notes and jotting down some dimensions when my pen (TWSBI Mini Classic) ran very low of ink and the pen just belched a dime size glob of ink (Elysium). I then reached into my bag a took out a TWSBI 530 with Noodler's Zhivago. Just glad it did not happen in a meeting.

[Sasha Royale]

I was the neurotic kid who brought THREE #2 pencils to the SAT's, and there

was a pencil sharpener in my pocket. People liked flying with me because I was

always overprepared. I carried both black and gold "bobby pins" in my car. (Girls

loved me.) Safety pins, too.

 

I started every college day with two Parker 45's. Both converters were filled after

breakfast, before leaving home. I carried an Altoids tin with two spare cartridges.

 

Average quality fountains shouldn't "burp" on you. Except, I have read that eyedropper

pens do that.

 

If I were starting college in 2013, my pen would be a TWSBI Diamond 540, or 580, or Mini.