Pens That Don't Dry Out

[Precise]

I used to keep a dozen pens inked and, as you might imagine, many dried out.  I even tried machining grooves and installing O-Rings on some.  It helped, but not enough.  However two brands stayed ready to write for more than a year.  They are the MB 149 and the Pelikan 400.  They amaze me.  

 

How about you?

 

Alan

[A Smug Dill]

9 minutes ago, Precise said:

How about you?

 

It isn't clear to me what you're asking precisely, sorry.

 

Are you asking how many pens I keep inked concurrently in practice?

Are you asking whether, on account of that habit, my pens dry out before I get around to finish a fill of ink?

Are you asking me whether I'm also amazed by the performance of the MB 149 and the Pelikan 400 as you described?

 

The only thing that you don't seem to be asking me is which pens don't dry out for a long time. As you might imagine, there are already plenty of threads discussing that topic anyway. See this for a recently started and still active one:

 

[senzen]

My best are also my 8 Pelikans, my Sailor Pro Gear and 1911S, Pilot 91 are just as good for this, followed by my Lamy Studios. I need to keep most of my other pens stored so they don't dry out and ink colours don't change.

[sirgilbert357]

I've never had a Pelikan MXXX dry out at all.

None of my Pilots dry out, including the Decimo I had for quite some time. They were all flawless.

Neither of my Lamy 2000's dry out.

I just found my Conklin Endura Abalone Shell pen inked with Diamine Syrah and it wrote instantly, no hard start...I honestly forgot when I inked it/used it last. It has to be over a month since I put it in the pen box (an error, since I usually don't put inked pens in the pen box). Right next to that pen, I found my Diplomat Aero, also inked and it wrote perfectly too -- its been inked just as long as the Conklin.

 

My Wing Sung 601 has been left inked and unused for around 6 months and it wrote instantly when put to paper. Ink was Pilot Blue Black.

 

My worst is the Conklin All American. Hard starts after only two days sitting unused. Very disappointing. If you use it a little bit each day, it is fine though.

[Thymen]

• Dry out after a few days of not being used:
  • - Shaeffer Grande Connoisseur
  • - Parker Duofold Centennial Mk II
  • - Lamy Safari
• No dry out, even after weeks of not being used:
  • MB 149 / 146
  • Pelikan M1000
  • Sailor Realo
  • Platinum #3776
• in-between:
  • Moonman M600S
  • Jinhao 159

 

[Precise]

SirGilbert,

 

Your results are impressive.  What kind of ink are you using in the other pens?

 

Mine are mostly inked with  Diamine Sapphire and Diamine Oxblood.  But I've tried many inks.  Pelikan Blue is one I often use when pens are too wet.

 

Alan

[maclink]

Pens that have not dried out despite neglect for months on end:

- TWSBI Eco x2 - this one I have deliberately neglected and eventually flushed it after over a year of always starting perfectly on the odd occasion I'd do a check on it.

-  Kaweko Brass Sport

- Platinum 3776 (of note is that I have another that didn't do as well, for whatever reason).

- Platinum Prefonte (neglected with Platinum Carbon Ink as an experiment.  It's now been 3 months and I just checked on it.  It writes perfectly)

- Cross Century II - Amazing how it sealed well enough to write immediately even though it was inked with Sailor SeiBoku for several months with only very occasional use just to check how it was holding up.  This is a slip cap pen as well.

 

The Lamy 2000 does well, but I neglected it once for 3-4 months along with the Eco, and while the Eco wrote as if just inked, the Lamy 2000 would not.  The same has happened with me and Pelikan M205 inked with R&K Documentus Black.  I just left it inked even though I had it out of rotation but it didn't hold up for that long (a couple months) before starting to hard start and skip.

 

I have great confidence in a MB 146/9, and Pilot Custom 912/823 among many others.  However, I usually use them and never really put them away to be 'conveniently forgotten' as a test.  However, these pens perform well and always start up immediately even after over a week of no use while I'm using other inked pens.

 

Pens that have been poor in not drying out have been the new Parker 51, one of my vintage Parker 51's, a Leonardo Momento Zero, the Platinum Cool, Lamy Safari/Al Star.  

[K Singh]

Mine is the Faber Castell Loom. Even if I put it aside for a couple of months it writes instantly. And the nib is just fantastic as anyone who has used a Loom before would know.

[bunnspecial]

I've found many pens with external vent holes in the cap(very common on vintage pens) to be somewhat prone to dry-out.

 

My resin Montblancs, all of which lack external vents, just don't try out even if left unattended for a while. My celluloid Montblancs seem to in a month or so left unattended. For a vintage pen, Parker 51s seem to seal quite well in my experience.

 

Most modern screw cap pens seem to seal well in my experience. The notable exception I can think of is the made-in-UK Parker Duofolds, which are notorious for drying out. Once again they have an external vent, although it's hidden under the clip. My recent production French Duofolds are as good as my Montblancs.

[pajaro]

Parker 51, Sheaffer Imperial, Sheaffer school pens, some Pelikans and Montblancs, Psrker Sonnets after dripping a little epoxy into inner caps don't tend to dry out.

 

[minddance]

Moonman c1 with Diamine Umber. no dryout for 2 years, my friends. And why 2 years? How did I arrive at that? because the nib was way too broad for my liking, I stopped using it, but lazy enough not to wash it.  The replacement/spare EF nib is a nightmarish medium width line. Let's put it away for another 2 years, perhaps? I might report again in 2024.