Best Edc Pelikan?

[logantrky]

Looking to purchase my first Pelikan after several years of collecting Montblancs. I prefer a mid-size pen (the M1000 would be too large for me). Feel free to recommend vintage as well. Budget is around $500.

 

(Kind of torn between the M800 or a M101N. Im open to new suggestions though).

[Lam1]

The M800 and M101n are very different pens.

 

The M800 is comparable to the 146, but a bit larger and heavier.

 

I believe he M101N is the smallest Pelikan in production (I don't have a M150 to compare) and it is very lightweight.

 

I am comfortable writing with both of them, but prefer the M800. It all depends on what you like and how big you want your pen to be. The M600 is a lightweight and intermediate sized pen that seems to please almost everybody (in my opinion, it is the one that more directly compares to the 146, but with a smaller nib).

 

If you are looking for a nib with character and/or flex, definitely look into the vintage 400/400NN. You can get the archetypal Pelikan (a brown tortoise) from that era for way less than you are willing to pay. The M400s from the 1990's also have wonderful nibs.

 

Good luck in your search.

[Tom Kellie]

If you are looking for a nib with character and/or flex, definitely look into the vintage 400/400NN. You can get the archetypal Pelikan (a brown tortoise) from that era for way less than you are willing to pay. The M400s from the 1990's also have wonderful nibs.

 

~ Lam1:

 

I fully agree with what you've expressed above.

Tom K.

[OCArt]

I have both the M100n and all sizes of Pelikans including M600 and M800. I like both 600 and 800 but slightly prefer the M600. Choose the M101n if you want a more vintage look. Art the time I bought my M101N red tortoise nibs.com had the best price and I had the nib ground to a cursive italic that I really like. endlesspens,.com has some great prices on Pelikans and I have gotten great service from them.

[PAKMAN]

The M800 is the best of all worlds for me.

[Lam1]

 

~ Lam1:

 

I fully agree with what you've expressed above.

Tom K.

 

 

Thanks, Tom!

 

Those 400/400NN are real winners, and a bargain for what they offer.

[zaddick]

M600 sounds about right as a place to start. Came in lots of colors as the city series in the past so lots of possible color options.

[Parker51]

Part of it depends on your hand size and part of it depends on how you will be carrying it.

The m800 is a great pen, but it is large and a little heavy. It does not sit well in a shirt breast pocket because of this. If you will be carrying it in a jacket pocket, or a pen case, then you will be OK however.

The m101N is a great size for a smaller hand and it fits well in a breast pocket. Plus, it is available in a large variety of colors.

Edited November 29, 2019 by Parker51

[mana]

Of the modern ones? M101N, definitely. They are worthy successors to the vintage 100N series pens albeit kind of pricey.

Vintage ones? Post war 100N and 400/NN are ridiculously awesome choices. They (especially the 100N) are pocketable, light, hold a ton of ink and have great nibs. They are also durable enough too so if you refrain from dropping them on hard floors from height etc. you should be more than fine. I have carried several of those in my EDC kit for years now and have not had a single problem with them.

When posted the 100N and 400/NN grow to full size. And yes, I am a huge fan of them (my all time favorite pens).

Price wise you should be able to find the above pens in good to great/NOS condition from anywhere between 100€ to 250€, sometimes even cheaper. Pretty ridiculous for fully featured fine writing tools with 14k nibs.

[chromantic]

I believe he M101N is the smallest Pelikan in production (I don't have a M150 to compare) and it is very lightweight.

 

No, that would be my little friend, the M300.

Edited December 1, 2019 by chromantic

[Lam1]

 

Smallest is my little friend, the M300.

 

Oops! Yes, how could I forget that?

I even bought a M300 set at the beginning of the year (which my wife immediately confiscated!).

 

Thanks for correcting me!

[langere]

Although in all other dimensions I think the M600 is the one you want, I find that all of my modern Pelikans have a tendency of having the cap unscrew and mess up your shirt pocket or your purse. Thus, having an "everyday carry" modern Pelikan, unless you keep it snugly in a carrying case, is not a good idea.

 

My modern birds stay at home or in pen cases if I travel.

 

I have found that the vintage Pelikans are much better about unscrewing caps. That is why a 400NN or something like that might be better if you want to carry it in your pocket. Getting a fully restored vintage pen at your price point is quite doable.

 

Erick

[sansenri]

if edc is the scope I would advise an M600

 

the M101N is a lovely pen, a tad smaller (shorter unposted) so you should try for size

 

if you are willing to consider the smaller size of the M400/M200 then I cannot help suggesting the M200, a real portable workhorse that can save you some expense and is easy to take with you anywhere without too much concern

[Tasmith]

Although in all other dimensions I think the M600 is the one you want, I find that all of my modern Pelikans have a tendency of having the cap unscrew and mess up your shirt pocket or your purse. Thus, having an "everyday carry" modern Pelikan, unless you keep it snugly in a carrying case, is not a good idea.

I had my M200 unscrew in my breast pocket once a few years ago. Now I just make sure the cap is "finger tip snug" when I screw it on and have not have any problems since.

 

If the cap unscrewing is still a concern, then a pen sleeve might be a solution.

[sansenri]

yes, I use a pen sleeve always

(the pen which unscrewed in my pocket and stained my jacket for good is a vintage 140...)

[Bo Bo Olson]

It depends on what you want your nib to do.

Modern MB's are what I call a 'Springy' nib, good tine bend but only 2X tine spread when mashed. Sort of fat, tad stubbish. I only have one modern post '90's MB. (One semi-vintage '70-80, three vintage 50's ones.

 

Out side of the tear drop tipped 200, a very nice springy regular flex nib.....when well mashed will go out to 3X a light down stroke. One can not of course write so mashed, but it has more spring than an MB. It leaves a nice clean line.

Like the 'semi-vintage '82-97 pens, and the steel/gold plated nibs are = equal to the 14K nibs of that era. I have three gold nibs from this era, and two steel ones. I also have two modern 200's and a 215; having the same grand steel nib.

Those give a real nice comfortable ride.

 

I don't like the modern, post '97 fat and blobby Pelikan nibs. They are a double kugal/ball nib; do not have a nice clean line. Are good if you cant or rotate your nib often. (IMO good nibs to stub or make CI.) IMO developed for the folks that hold a fountain pen like a ball point, who don't have three minutes to learn how to use a fountain pen or are so ham fisted they keep bending nibs. Repair cost of nibs was a reason for going to stiffer nibs.

Fat and Blobby Butter smooth nibs are slippery on slick papers like Clairefontaine Triomphe or Rhoda 80-90g.

Good and Smooth is the the level just under Butter Smooth(1/2 a width narroer and write with a cleaner line) , and don't slide on good paper.

From 1950-97..47 years (and same with other vintage pens I have) good and smooth was the normal issue.....well IMO the Golden Age of Fountain Pens ended @ 1970, the Golden Age of Papers died un-noticed in the '80's. So butter smooth is best perhaps for poor paper, that don't give you a good base for a clean line as is.

Fountain pens are 1/3 nib width/flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink and in that order. We are however living in the Golden Age of Ink.

 

 

The 400/600 are semi-nails, the 800 is a nail and the Pelikan made 1000's nibs are regular flex; the older Bock made 1000 nibs are semi-flex.

(almost forgot this) If butter smooth and only butter smooth is your goal, then the 400/600/800/1000 will give you that.

Semi-vintage and vintage.....

Those nibs are 1/2 a width wider than semi-vintage or vintage.

I have a semi-vintage standard sized 600 (the same size as the 400) and a modern 1005 both in OBB and the 600 writes half a size narrower.

 

The light and nimble 200, 400 and 600 have great balance posted.......once when one wrote all day, that was desirable.

IMO neither the 800 nor the 1000 (1005) have good balance. But I prefer the vintage medium-small pens like a semi-flex stubbed nib like the 140, standard sized pens like the 400 or the old MB 234 1/2 Deluxe, P-75 or medium-large P-51, Geha 725 or the 600. I do prefer the vintage medium-large MB 146 over it next version the large 146. Better balance, better nib.......even though the nib of my '70-80 146 is a nice regular regular flex. The '50-70 MB's came in factory stub semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex. My old smaller 146 has a maxi.

 

Someone had the impression you like larger pens....the medium-long 600 has good girth; very, very close to the modern 146 body width...in fact un-posted the bodies with nib are @ the same length. It is when posted the 600 shines more than the 146; in the 600 has a shorter cap than the 146. .

 

There are a great deal of beautiful 600's for sale used. One can improve the pen easily and cheaply by putting a gold plated or if it is one of the 605's by putting on a plain steel 200's nib. For undere $30 for steel...more for gold plated. (I saw an outstanding price on the net, perhaps the English Cult Pens, that gold plated was cheaper than what I can get steel plated in Germany.)

If one wants to go a bit more gold myth a '82-97 400's 14 K nib.

 

The other good thing about the 600 is it will take a '50-65 factory stubbed semi-flex nib.

If one wants an Oblique and is right handed, the only way to fly is with vintage oblique.

 

Nail/semi-nail oblique are for left handers or those who are perhaps left eye dominate and therefor cant/rotate the nib. It (semi-vintage or modern) does nothing in line variation. I have a few obliques that are semi-vintage regular flex. They do an echo of a whisper. I have two W.Germany nibs which are a slightest tad more springy....one does have to have both W. Germany ('82-90) and Germany ('90-97) to feel the difference. The W.Germany 200 OM...... ....not much at all. The W.Germany 600 is an OBB so there is some, but not near as much line variation as my vintage ('50-70) German OB-OBB nibs. I have a 381 semi-vintage cartridge Pelikan; and boy was I surprised it was an OB, after using it for a couple cartridges.....in it did nothing other than have the regular flex springy ride.

 

Nails Obliques, I had a Lamy OB Persona and OM 27. The Persona Pendelton Brown made it into a nice CI, the OM 27 I sold. I could have taken out an electron microscope and still found no line variation.

 

A word on semi-flex.......is mile away from semi-flex it is not a superflex nib ... It is a flair nib, one writes normally, and just as fast as with any other pen. One can if one wants press the nib out to 3 X for a fancy decender at the end of a paragraph or such.

It wasn't until this year did I find out why some folks were saying they wrote too slow with semi-flex. They were abusing the nib, pressing it beyond the safe limit of 3X a light down stroke making it a calligraphy nib.....and perhaps even springing the nib, trying to make it do what it was not designed to do. Yes, one writes slow, when drawing calligraphy letters.

It is a flair nib, giving you that old fashioned fountain pen script with out doing anything at all. Normal pressure starting a word will make some or much of the first letter wider, looped, b or l's will be a tad wider than normal, as is a crossed t. .............this is assuming you have developed a lighter hand.

 

It took me up to 3 months to go from heavy handed often maxing the nib out to 3 X to not.

 

A wise poster said, "Stubs and CI are 100% line variation. Semi-flex is line variation', On Demand.

You do have to have a light enough hand to be able to demand it.

I had my 'butter smooth BB 605 made into a 1.0 or B stub....still butter smooth. Before that I had a semi-flex B on it often..... ..............to lazy to put it back on, and got to use that '54 tortoise for it's self. IMO that vintage semi-flex B is a great nib.

Thinner than your modern MB B nibs........my modern MB B is fat....more a BB. So a vintage B would be like a fat M. An OB is a writing nib.....not a signature nib of modern pens.

 

Get a nice fancy 600 (there are many), buy a better springy clean line regular flex 200 nib for it for under $30, and later when you are ready for some fine flair; get a '50-65 vintage factory stubbed (as they all were outside of Lamy nail) semi-flex nib for your 600.

[pajaro]

 

Oops! Yes, how could I forget that?

I even bought a M300 set at the beginning of the year (which my wife immediately confiscated!).

 

Thanks for correcting me!

I keep my M300 green stripe and M320 red thing hidden from my wife, who has my italic pens that I showed her.

[Freddy]

Pelikan 100N and when capped quite large and comfy....great everyday writer..And with a great selection of Sweet nibs{Betcha Can't Eat Just One..Lays spud chips}

 

Fred..

who has large paws......................

Edited December 1, 2019 by Freddy

[katerchen]

Another vote for the 100N. They are still plentiful (not advocating that you actively mistreat the pen, but no need to obsessively baby them either) and reliable with a huge ink capacity.

 

-k

[LyaT]

Not sure if the op has bought the pen or not. I have a red tortoise M101n and a blue dunes M805, they are both my favorite. The M101n is very comfortable when posted, it is stunningly beautiful and graceful. However, I prefer my M805 for EDC, because it is sturdy and reliable.

 

I had an ink leakage problem with my M101n a few months back. There was a crack between the ink window and tortoise barrel. Pelikan replaced it with a new barrel, but this new barrel is now giving me problems with the piston knob thing coming off during refills. It does not leak (yet), but the whole plastic piston filler is flimsy. I still love the pen, but I wont recommend it for EDC. It is a beautiful desk pen.