Roughly, How Long Does A 50Ml Bottle Last?

[MikeGB]

I am hoping to get the opinions of folks that write -- a lot -- preferably students.

 

Getting my first M800 soon and I really like the Pelikan Mandarin ink but it's a lot more expensive(£17/50ml) compared to the ink I usually buy(Diamine -- £5.90/80ml).

 

I always prefer using a fountain pen for writing but I don't use it nearly as much as most people do, but with studies starting again(and 7 years left...) I'm going to be using it a lot.

 

So, in a hopefully not how-long-is-a-piece-of-string-style, roughly how long will a 50ml bottle last me? I make a lot of notes and study anywhere between 5-8 hours, 6 days a week.

 

Thanks!

[inotrym]

It depends on the pen, nib size and paper. I have no experience with Pelikans, but I'm fairly sure you can make out of a single bottle a minimum of 2 months (with extensive use). Probably even more than that.

 

Are you sure you want to use Mandarin for your notes? Wouldn't it be a little too bright?

Edited September 15, 2016 by inotrym

[ac12]

You better think twice about Mandarin.

It is nice for letters and short notes, but a LOT of it will likely be hard on your eyes.

I could not stand looking at a lot of it for a long time.

And as a former college grader, you do NOT want to hand in a paper for me to grade written in that ink. Give me a headache to read your paper, and your grade will suffer.

 

"I make a lot of notes and study anywhere between 5-8 hours, 6 days a week."

Sorry but this tells me very little about how much you write, which is one key variable to estimating ink usage.

And as inotrym said, pen, nib size and paper, the other variables, also make a difference.

A Pelikan M or B nib will use a lot more ink than my old US Parker 45 with a F nib (which is like a Pelikan XF).

Edited September 15, 2016 by ac12

[Witsius]

It's really impossible to predict, as the others have said, it all depends on nib size/wetness, paper, and the exact amount you write. I can usually write my M200 dry in a week or two, and if it holds about 1.5ml of ink (just a guess), then that's between maybe 33 and 66 weeks if I use just one 50ml bottle of ink. I would say to figure out how much ink your M800 holds, see how often you need to refill it, and do a little math. That will give you a good idea of how long a bottle of ink will last. If you find you're burning through it pretty fast, maybe get a couple of bottles at a time.

 

And, yea, maybe pick a color you can stand staring at a lot. A page full of really bright ink can be pretty hard on the eyes, especially if you have to look over pages and pages of notes for long periods. If Mandarin works for you, go for it. You might as well have fun writing notes. (Purple is one of my favorite ink colors.)

 

No matter how you cut it, Diamine is going to be more economical than Pelikan ink. Diamine's 80ml bottles are going to be far more economical than Pelikan's Edelstein 50ml bottles. Diamine makes so many colors, I wonder if you couldn't find a Diamine ink similar to Pelikan's Mandarin.

 

Noodler's ink, at least here in the States, is a great value. $12.50 for 88ml of ink. Using Noodler's in the same M200, I might get between 58 and 116 fillings. So, for me that's between one and two years out of one bottle of Noodler's ink at my current pace, although, I am writing a bit more lately.

[MikeGB]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

 

As far as nib goes I'm still deciding between an EF and F.

 

Paper is just generic notepad paper. Probably 55-65 GSM.

 

I write probably 10-20 pages a week.

 

I don't mind bright colours either, personally. I'm a night owl so I study, usually, between midnight and 8 a.m. by lamp light, so brighter colours aren't too harsh on my eyes.

 

As far as papers go, I type those up and keep the handwritten ones for my own personal reference.

[inotrym]

If that's the case a 50ml bottle will definitely get you through at least a full semester.

And if you are sure Mandarin will do it for you, then by all means go ahead.

(Personally, I go for burgundies and the occasional green for notetaking. Parker Quink Green was a very pleasant surprise)

 

Have fun studying!

 

PS. Yay for all of us night owls!!

[MikeGB]

If that's the case a 50ml bottle will definitely get you through at least a full semester.

And if you are sure Mandarin will do it for you, then by all means go ahead.

(Personally, I go for burgundies and the occasional green for notetaking. Parker Quink Green was a very pleasant surprise)

 

Have fun studying!

 

PS. Yay for all of us night owls!!

 

Thanks!

 

I really like the ink and it's the most expensive ink I've bought so far, so I didn't want to just breeze through it in a month.

[Arkanabar]

You might consider KaB's epic thread, "Most Boring."

[ksm]

Ink usage is very personal.

 

In my student's days I've used Pelikan M200 with fine nib and Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black ink.

This combination was a bit dry, but worked very well on crappy paper.

Single 30 ml bottle lasted me for whole term, sometimes longer.

 

Nowadays I use mainly stub/italic nibs that burn through ink quickly (single fill of TWSBI 580 with KWZI Blue-Black is good for 35-45 A5 pages of dense handwriting), but some times I fill a fine nib pen (i.e. Hero 100). It never fails to surprise me how much longer it takes to empty that pen.

 

My personal take on ink prices is: If you are using one or two colours of ink (as opposed to collecting inks), then even Iroshizuku inks are not too expensive, especially compared to price of a quality pen.

 

Finally I'll join the choir of voices advising against use of Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin as main note-taking ink. If you've got a bottle of this ink (or a cartridge) try to write single fill of pen with it and then read your notes for about an hour late at night. This exercise might change your perception of this colour.

My personal experience: I love the look of Noodler's Apache Sunset, but I would not use this ink for anything but markup or short calligraphy piece.

My suggestion: KWZI IG Mandarin, it goes on paper as bright orange, but it darkens to more eye friendly colour.

Edited September 15, 2016 by ksm

[Witsius]

If you're writing 10 to 20 pages a week, then I'd say you will probably need to refill every 1 to 2 weeks. A 50ml bottle of Mandarin probably won't break your budget at that rate.

[webgeckos]

I love Mandarin but then I have a love affair with Orange inks. I don't find it super bright. Nice shading.

[jde]

I am hoping to get the opinions of folks that write -- a lot -- preferably students.

 

Getting my first M800 soon and I really like the Pelikan Mandarin ink but it's a lot more expensive(£17/50ml) compared to the ink I usually buy(Diamine -- £5.90/80ml).

 

I always prefer using a fountain pen for writing but I don't use it nearly as much as most people do, but with studies starting again(and 7 years left...) I'm going to be using it a lot.

 

So, in a hopefully not how-long-is-a-piece-of-string-style, roughly how long will a 50ml bottle last me? I make a lot of notes and study anywhere between 5-8 hours, 6 days a week.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Well, not a student, but replying anyway!

 

As others have replied: it will depend a lot on your nib, paper, etc., as well as how much you write six days a week.

 

To help you: A Pelikan M800 holds 1.2ml of ink. So, all ya gotta do, is see how long one fill lasts you, and then calculate out how long the bottle will last.

 

This is always fun stuff for me. Based on my pens, etc. when I'm writing 10-15 pages nearly every day, I go through 50ml every five weeks, more or less. I know one person here on FPN who goes through 50ml every 2-3 weeks, writing with broad nibs.

Edited September 15, 2016 by jde

[Joe in Seattle]

When I was in college one or two bottles would definitely last me the entire academic year.

[Mew]

 

If you use EF nib with that Pelikan, that would be equivalent to a Japanese F nib that I use. That Pelikan has an ink capacity of 1.2 ml I think, so with that you should be able to write 10-15 pages.

I have my Pilot custom 823 inked up which has an ink capacity of 2.5ml. It half full right now (other half has been used up) and I have been able to write 11 A4 pages with it.

Edited September 15, 2016 by Mew

[Runnin_Ute]

Let's do the math. One 50 ml bottle, 1.2 ml per fill is 41.67 fills. Let's call it 40 to allow for spillage/other loss. That is about 9 months or so at 1 fill per week.

[Pensei]

I think it will last about 63% as long as the Diamine.

[Jordan N]

It would be extremely difficult to predict how much ink you would need. Nib, ink, paper, a number of pages, a number of lines per page (size of handwriting) ... I would go for less expensive ink. If you would like to use Pelikan ink in your Pelikan pen - 4001 is twice cheaper than Edelstein.

In regards to the color, I would avoid orange color. There is a good chance you will have to read your notes over and over again. There is a reason why we print reading materials in black. In addition, you may want to save your notes in digital format or to make a photocopy. Orange is not a great color for that.

I would buy a warm orange binder, but use dark ink, royal blue or darker.

[KaB]

You might consider KaB's epic thread, "Most Boring."

 

Indeed.

I didn't confine to only one ink colour, but probably wrote with this one bottle like 80% of the time.

Took me a little over a year to empty the bottle.

Writing with a 1.1 and a 1.5 stub.

Writing more than your 10-15 pages.

 

So, if you're going for an F of XF nib, writing only 10-15 pages a week, no way you'll finish a 50ml bottle in a year!

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

 

As far as nib goes I'm still deciding between an EF and F.

 

Paper is just generic notepad paper. Probably 55-65 GSM.

 

I write probably 10-20 pages a week.

 

I don't mind bright colours either, personally. I'm a night owl so I study, usually, between midnight and 8 a.m. by lamp light, so brighter colours aren't too harsh on my eyes.

 

As far as papers go, I type those up and keep the handwritten ones for my own personal reference.

 

You will get, at least out of my TWSBI, 10-20 pages a fill. That's using a 1.1 stub in mine. It holds ~1.5 ml.

 

Now something I have found out. Use dark on light for low light writing and reading. I drive a school bus. When I go to give me staring assignments or have to read my pretrip inspection and mileage logs, I can't read the light colors. I use either a black-blue* or something else very dark. Teals, oranges, Tanned Armadillo, etc. are near impossible to read in early sunlight even with the drivers dome light on. I've been using Dromgoole's Blue Steel the last few months.

 

 

*I say black blue because there are some that are father on the black side than the blue. Dromgoole's Blue Steel was, IIRC, designed to mimic the blueing processed for firearms. That is more black than blue. And blued steel is a wonderful color, especially when you see it wearing down and staying to show the shiny steel underneath.

[stephanos]

Buy only one bottle, and replace it once it reaches nearly-empty.

 

My father-in-law was a teacher and used his fountain pen every day: he went through one one-litre bottle of Pelikan 4001 in his working life (which I understand he used only for school-stuff).