Traveling with fountain pens

[Gray Miller]

I was very happy to get, last week, my first fountain pen (well, first since middle school, anyway). It's one of those clever folds-to-half-size ohto Tasche pens, and I'm enjoying it immensely.

However, this week I'll be traveling out to Seattle, and I'm wondering if there are any travel concerns I need to be aware of due to pressurization, etc.? I'm also planning on buying some extra ink cartridges for the trip; anything special I need to worry about for packing them?

Gray
http://www.fameorfamine.com

[iJerry]

I travel quite a lot on planes - several times a year ranging from
smalish commuter planes to major airliners. And I always travel with
fountain pens - usually in a white shirt pocket. Firstly, the
cartridges - I've never had one burst open - most planes a pressurised
these days anyhow, but I usually take the precaution of sealing spare
cartridges in a ziplock plastic bag - just to be sure.

The fountain pen in its closed state and in the pocket will keep the
nib upwards and the ink down in the cartridge, so there is little
likelihood of a spill. I have also wriitten with the fountain pen in
the plane and have had no problems with ink pooling. In earlier times
I had a bladder-type fountain pen and occasionally had some leakage,
but it did that anyhow on the ground, so as a rule I'd say if it
doesn't leak on the ground, it won't leak up in the air.

I use several brands of fountain pen - parker, waterman and visconti
and usually carry at least one in my pocket. I don't put them in my
baggage as the checked bags cargo hold may not be pressurised so there
may be a substantial pressure differential in that case. I'd say keep
it in your pocklet, and if you are worried, put it in a ziploc bag if
you are worried about it.

Cheers
Jerry

[Evan Edwards]

On Monday 12 March 2007, Gray Miller wrote:
> anything special I need to worry about for packing them?

Just to add to Jerry's comment, conventional wisdom has it that fountain
pens will be fine either full or empty when taken aboard planes. If they
aren't vertical and they are only half full, you run a risk of leaking. Full
won't leak because they aren't affected by pressure, and empty won't leak...
well... for obvious reasons.

Like Jerry, I've never had a problem, and I have travelled with half full
pens oriented upward. I chickened out when I thought about using one, simply
because cleanup in a cramped seat would have been an exercise in origami for
someone 6'3".

--
Evan "JabberWokky" Edwards
http://www.cheshirehall.org/

[newt]

I have never had a problem with a fountain pen in the airplane. My
problem was what to do if I ran out of ink on a trip. I usually take
an ink bottle, wrap it in tissue and put it in a ziploc bag. I put
this in my shaving kit bag. Why? My shaving kit is rubberized inside
and when zippered shut is the only receptable in my baggage that will
handle any breakage. Over the years I have never had a problem with my
glass after-shave container so the same should hold true for the ink
bottle. Ample ink and piece of mind.

[newt]

[Emily Akin]

Wrapping the bottle with bubble wrap would be a good idea, too...either before or after you put it in the plastic bag. My husband had a bottle of aftershave to break in luggage recently. It wasn't in a shaving kit, but it was in a reinforced compartment inside the luggage. Can't imagine what type of blow would have caused that bottle to break, but it was a cross-country trip.

--
Emily Akin
On time and on target
www.writingontarget.com

[Jim-L]

1) a pen in your pocket, or carry-on, is in the pressurized cabin,
just like your body. If you can breathe normally, so can your pen.
It's just like being on the ground. I take no extra precautions, in
28 years of travelling.

2) Need extra ink? How long is your trip? Do you normally write so
much that you need to refill a pen each day or two? All this talk
about carrying bottles, ink pots, etc. Here's a novel idea: Take
more than one pen! And/or a few of those disposable plastic carts.
Problem solved. And in extreme emergency, each hotel room desk has a
ballpoint.

This is like, on another board, someone worried about which pocket
notebook had enough pages for a trip. Another simply said, "Carry a
second notebook."

duh

[iJerry]

I use cartridges - and always have a spare one inside the body of the
pen, so if I run out on the plane I can just change cartridges and
keep writing - I've never had a plane trip that needed more than that.
I usually carry a few spare cartridges in a ziplock bag in my carry-on
anyhow and that is usually enough for the whole return trip.

Cheers
Jerry

[lesliesrussell]

This is a little off topic, but Tasche is German for pocket.

[tuesdaynext]

I did have trouble with my fountain pen after taking it on an
airplane... it was probably not stored with a full cartridge upright
but rather tossed into the bottom of my bag. The result was a gloppy
ink flow due to an air bubble. My local pen shop cleared it out for me
and had it working again in no time. So my advice, have a back-up
writing implement... just in case.

[trumpetvine]

I use fountain pens for sketching and have taken them on planes many
times. I always put them in a ziplock "snack-sized" bag in case they
leak, but honesty they never have (except my vintage pens which leak
even without a plane involved!) I have read that using them on the
plane can encourage them to leak on landing but that has not been my
experience. I use bottled ink but carry it in a Visconti Traveling
Ink Pot (expensive but worth it for the convenience - doesn't work
with all pens though).

Enjoy your new pen!

-martha
http://www.trumpetvine.com/sketchblog