Traveling With Ink -- Do You?

[amberleadavis]

TWSBI Vac 20 bottle is awesome and not just for TWSBI pens. IMO, it holds the perfect amount of ink for travel and has not leaked on me.

[ethernautrix]

I also use the small Nalgene bottles (like the one pictured) and cartridges.

 

For the first time in at least ten years, I checked a suitcase last week when I flew to Poland - four bottles of Noodler's inks in a Ziploc-type baggie made it with no leaks at all. I sent two flat-rate boxes here, and they arrived this week -- I recommend using the Ziploc-type baggies. Most of the bottles of inks arrived with no problems at all, but a couple of them did leak. Considering I sent around 30 or 40 containers of ink (including one Akkerman's bottle, which did not leak), I'm satisfied that only three or four bottles leaked (and the leaks were minor; most of the inks remained in the bottles).

 

But, yes, the Nalgene bottles and cartridges work the best for me (particularly for carry-on).

[hungh]

It depends on how long I'll be away from my inks.

 

If it's just for a few weeks, I take sample vials in ziplock baggies. If it's anything longer, the whole bottle in a ziplock baggie, wedged in the original box (or a similar sized box) stuffed with tissues. Never had any leaks this way.

[moylek]

Maybe I'm naive and lucky, but I generally take a bottle of whatever I've got in the primary pen I'm travelling with. That's generally either my Parker 51 or my Pelikan M800, generally with either Aurora Blue or Diamine Twilight in their original glass bottles.

 

I generally keep the bottle in my briefcase, but I've also put one in my luggage (in the latter case, in a bag, in case there is some ink on the edge of the cap).

[Joane]

I also use the small Nalgene bottles (like the one pictured) and cartridges.

 

For the first time in at least ten years, I checked a suitcase last week when I flew to Poland - four bottles of Noodler's inks in a Ziploc-type baggie made it with no leaks at all. I sent two flat-rate boxes here, and they arrived this week -- I recommend using the Ziploc-type baggies. Most of the bottles of inks arrived with no problems at all, but a couple of them did leak. Considering I sent around 30 or 40 containers of ink (including one Akkerman's bottle, which did not leak), I'm satisfied that only three or four bottles leaked (and the leaks were minor; most of the inks remained in the bottles).

 

But, yes, the Nalgene bottles and cartridges work the best for me (particularly for carry-on).

Wow! 30-40 containers at one time with few leaks! Which were the brands that did not remin airtight?

[ethernautrix]

One of them was a Montblanc old-style bottle, but I had just filled it with Platinum Mix-Free (a red ink), and I probably didn't tighten the cap sufficiently (obviously), cos I'd been awake all day and night (literally, except for 45 minutes at 6:15 am - and had to be at the airport by 11:30 am and had not finished packing and other horrors...). I shipped three other Montblanc bottles with no leaks.

 

One Lamy bottle, the kind with the blotting paper (except no paper).

 

The Pelikan Blue-Black (sole Pelikan bottle but not the only Pelikan ink).

 

Um... one of the ink vials in a Montblanc box (that the new style of bottle came in) leaked - I haven't determined which one yet. Minor leak, so no hurry to clean it (as it is contained in the box).

 

 

And that's it.

 

None of the glass or ceramic things I shipped broke -- but one seal of two did break off from the handle and was easily glued back.

 

These things were shipped in two USPS large, flat-rate boxes, for a combined weight of nearly 28 pounds.

 

Oh yeah, I haven't checked the inked pens (Pilot Parallels, Platinum Preppies, and the like) that I shoved in a pen case and packed into one of the boxes, but there is no sign of any leaks there, either.

 

As for the flight, I had five inked pens, and only the Ranga "Soquel" (recently bought at the Santa Cruz Pen Posse) with the vintage Wahl nib and feed leaked, but I had managed to fill it halfway (and only by injecting ink with a syringe through the nib - and that's why I don't like sacs). Again, only a minor leak. No staining resulted.

Edited November 14, 2013 by ethernautrix

[Joane]

Thank you for the detailed description, ethernautrix. Amazing you remembered each one! Note to self: make sure bottle is closed tight.

[inkstainedruth]

When I went to Seattle in August, it was the first time I had really flown with FPs and I mostly took refilled sample vials inside a ziploc bag in my purse. I also had a small 2 oz. glass jar with Kung Te Cheng in it (also inside a ziploc, which was good because it tends to leak if it its not kept upright.

I might, in future, try the trick I saw a while back of using an empty Altoids tin -- I'm going to try seeing whether using spray foam insulation around a couple of empty vials (with plastic wrap around them to pull them out after the foam sets) will work to keep them from rolling around too badly. If that doesn't work I will try using floral foam cut to size (which has the advantage of absorbing moisture -- in this case ink) and fitting that inside the tin.

I considered using cartridges, but most of my pens these days don't take them (and those that do are ones for which I prefer using converters.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[redhairedwriter]

I'm preparing for a trip right now, incidentally. Eventually I decided to go for cartridges. They're boring and not as efficient as using a converter, but it saves weight and room when you're packing for an airplane. I wish I could bring my bottles of ink, but it's ridiculous to pack a few bottles when they take up precious weight and I'd have to lug them down streets, on and off trains, etc. Cartridges are just easier and, on a two month trip, allow me the joy of not limiting myself to only one ink colour.

[redhairedwriter]

That said, I am bringing a converter with me. You never know where you might run into an ink you just can't resist getting!

[fpenluver]

So far never travelled by air with fountain pen. I think might try to put the ink in smaller bottle and put in airtight container such as lock and lock. I even think that inked fountain pen should not leaks as it is airtight. Has anyone tried it that way?

[Centopar]

The only leak I've ever had on a plane was with a Waterman eyedropper which leaks even at sea level if you so much as look at it. I fly at least once a month (twice if you count the return leg), and I don't bother emptying my pens (eyedroppers besides) any more; I just pop my pen wrap in the seat pocket in front of me with nibs up before takeoff, and make sure they're in the same position on the way down. I also make sure I don't write while the pressure is changing.

 

I always have five pens in that wrap, and most of them are usually vintage, so not designed to deal with aeroplanes. As for ink bottles, I don't decant: I just screw the top on well and put it in my washbag. I have never had a leak in hundreds of flights.

[johnmetta]

I bring my fountain pens with me whenever I travel, and always carry ink. I bring ink in Goulet Pens sample bottles, and fill my pens before flying. Done it 5 times, with two M800s and a few times with my M640. No problems at all.

 

If I don't carry ink with me, I won't write as much because I'll be worried about running out.

[Pengrump]

Just got back onTuesday from a long weekend in Scottsdale, Arizona. Flew with two Pilot Metropolitans filled with cartridges in the pen slots of my backpack and four additional cartridges in a zippered backpack pocket. No problems at all. I even wrote with the pens on the flight back to Boston. No leaks. I had been considering flying with two full TWSBI Vac 700s, but decided that if TSA had a problem with them, they'd be more expensive to replace that the Metropolitans. I only fly with bottled ink if I check luggage. Then I too use the little nalgene bottles or else the 30 ml Diamine bottles, fill them, wrap them in bubble wrap and put them in a ziploc. Never had any problem. The only problem I ever had flying with ink in my carry-on was back in 2003 when a security person decided that my 30 ml bottle of Diamine Monaco Red was dangerous.

[RobertS]

Another vote for the Visconti Traveling Ink Pot. I own three, and highly recommend it as a safe, convenient and elegant way to travel with ink.

[Sasha Royale]

I always have a Parker 45. For travel, I put in a full cartridge. if I am to be gone for more than a weekend, I will add a full LAMY 2000, or Pelikan, or a TWSBI. It's more than enough ink.

[fpenluver]

It's good to know that fountain pens do not leak on plane. I remember when I was a kid, I had a long travel on road and it was leaking all over the place, but I did not place it upright. Put them upright when travelling, good point to remember.

I still think it is safe to put them separate into some kind of waterproof container though. Just in case. Better safe than sorry.

[Unky]

+1 for the TWSBI vac inkwell. I have taken it with me from Ohio to Arizona and back with no issues.

[Jerome Tarshis]

I have so little need to write by hand that I expect one filled fountain pen to last me through a week's visit to another city. With plenty of ink left over. In former times, when I took trips that lasted longer, I bought a bottle of ink, used a little of it, and left the bottle in my hotel room.

 

If I were moving to Poland and had an ink collection, yes, the ink might have to move with me. The way I live, no need to do that. One long cartridge or one filled pen will suffice. Beyond that, ink is plentiful and very cheap by comparison with the other costs of travel.

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I keep several bottles of ink in my desk at work.

 

I keep a bottle of blue in my car.

 

I carry a bottle of Sheaffer blue in my luggage: a standard, old-style Sheaffer "well" bottle, in a padded Nalgene polycarbonate jar (it's a snug, shock-resistant fit), which is itself (at least, in the wake of an incident involving a broken ink bottle, and ink leaking out around the threads of the Nalgene (!!) jar) enclosed in a zip-top bag.

If there are any air segments in the trip, I carry only the blue dome-top M200 and the black/charcoal dome-top M150, and when I'm actually flying, the pens travel in my checked bag, wrapped in a paper towel, in a zip-top bag, and I carry a cheap disposable mechanical pencil.