New to The Nib (and some stupid questions)

[nuclear_shaver]

Recently my girlfriend picked up a Lamy Safari and I had a go with it and really liked it, so I dug up a Edison Herald Grande (never used) that my dad gave me awhile back, plus ordered a few 78g's and converters off ebay (for general use and carrying around). I also grabbed a bottle of Noodlers Bulletproof Black off Amazon to get me started.

I travel (for work and such) somewhat often, and was wondering what you guys do about travel? I would imagine ink cartridges would be the best bet, but from what I could tell the ink quality is inferior. Are there inkwells designed for secure transport? What do you guys do? If you had to pick an ink cartridge, which would it be?

 

[Vercin]

like in everything you have different selection and quality .. so you could get cheap low quality bottled ink, as well as better quality ink cartridges. I think bottled ink have a better selection on shades and colours compared to carts .. but I could be wrong on this

Will let the advising of what to get, to some one with more experience then me I've only tried Scheider Ink carts and Waterman bottled ink from the modern stuff .. the rest I have is vintage. From that, my experience is that modern inks dry a lot faster.

 

[SmoovD]

Welcome aboard. You are off to a grand start. Carts are convenient but are expensive and limit the colors for consideration. It will all depend on your preferences.

If the travel is only a few days I will load a few pens to take with a few carts as back-up. If longer than a few days I will take a small bottle with me for re-fills. Another option is to check the area you will be staying to see what shops are in the area. Might be able to score on bottle on the road! As long as the pens are stored with the nib up the fight should not cause any issues. Good luck and do not forget paper.

 

[nuclear_shaver]

Welcome aboard. You are off to a grand start. Carts are convenient but are expensive and limit the colors for consideration. It will all depend on your preferences.

If the travel is only a few days I will load a few pens to take with a few carts as back-up. If longer than a few days I will take a small bottle with me for re-fills. Another option is to check the area you will be staying to see what shops are in the area. Might be able to score on bottle on the road! As long as the pens are stored with the nib up the fight should not cause any issues. Good luck and do not forget paper.

Cool, good info! Here's another newby question. Are the cartridge (for the pens I mentioned anyway) standardized? Also which cartridge brand do you prefer? I really only need black (for now). As for paper I mostly right in a laboratory notebook. Any advise on which ones have good paper?

 

[VMR357]

I have several old Sheaffer pens and am on my second Lamy Safari. I used Pelikan blue-black for a while, but usually use Waterman inks now. The Sheaffers are snorkles and pistons so I use bottled ink for them. I have a converter for the Lamy though sometimes I use cartridges. I don't usually carry my Sheaffers, I use the Lamy for everyday. For traveling, I think changes in elevation like going over mountains or when flying would be a concern if you are carrying a loaded pen. Some pens breathe better than others. The trick is keeping them upright. Cartridges are cheap so I take a few along and load the pen when I reach my destination.
Vern

 

[VMR357]

Cool, good info! Here's another newby question. Are the cartridge (for the pens I mentioned anyway) standardized? Also which cartridge brand do you prefer? I really only need black (for now). As for paper I mostly right in a laboratory notebook. Any advise on which ones have good paper?

No they aren't standardized. If you take your Safari, you'll need to get some Lamy cartridges. Lamy and Parker cartridges look similar, but they are different and won't work on the other brand's pen. Sheaffer cartridges look cheap but seem to work. I haven't tried too many other brands so can't say more.

 

[SmoovD]

Actually there are standardiszed cartridges ("international", both long and short) but not all pens use them. Some require propriety carts. I am more of a bottled ink user but if I had to choose I would go with Diamine. Great inks with great color offerings. For the most part they are not waterproof or anything of the like but I am cool with that. As far as paper goes, Rhodia is a solid brand that won't break the bank. It is a big ol' world that you have entered....experiment a bit and have fun.

 

[Giant Kiwi]

Lamy and Parker cartridges look similar, but they are different and won't work on the other brand's pen.

I beg to differ.
I tried a Parker cartridge in my Lamy vista and it worked beautifully.
No leaking or anything

 

[Vercin]

I have a schneider (universal) in my parker .. the only issue is that the schneider has tappered body (expands toward the top) .. so while the opening fits great over the feed .. the body of the cart is a really tight fit in the body (covering) of the parker (vector).

 

[cursethis]

I eventually (keyword eventually) want to get one of these bad boys. However, I don't travel nearly enough to convince myself that I should buy it.

 

[nuclear_shaver]

I eventually (keyword eventually) want to get one of these bad boys. However, I don't travel nearly enough to convince myself that I should buy it.

That is extremely awesome but at 70 bucks I would have to travel a lot to justify it.

 

[cursethis]

That is extremely awesome but at 70 bucks I would have to travel a lot to justify it.

That's my issue. I don't travel enough to warrant having one. It'd just lie around collecting dust after I played with it non-stop for the first week.

 

[nuclear_shaver]

I think my solution to travel will just be to empty the converter and carry ink in double ziplocks or something (at least for now). I generally travel by car to a laboratory about 5 hours away, shouldn't be any problems.

 

[SmoovD]

I think my solution to travel will just be to empty the converter and carry ink in double ziplocks or something (at least for now). I generally travel by car to a laboratory about 5 hours away, shouldn't be any problems.

If you keep the nib up, like in a shirt pocket, you should not have to empty the converter.

 

[Snargle]

For travelling with bottled ink , I'd probably decant some into a one ounce Nalgene bottle. They're pretty much bombproof, lightweight, leakproof, and don't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[nuclear_shaver]

Also picked up a Rhodia notebook. Man they look nice!http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DCBMQK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[nuclear_shaver]

For travelling with bottled ink , I'd probably decant some into a one ounce Nalgene bottle. They're pretty much bombproof, lightweight, leakproof, and don't cost an arm and a leg.

Great idea! I think I even have some of those for travelling.

 

[VMR357]

I beg to differ.
I tried a Parker cartridge in my Lamy vista and it worked beautifully.
No leaking or anything

I think you may be right. I don't think they look that much alike, but the business end looks very similar. I'm guessing you would have to seat a Lamy cartridge by hand in a Parker pen.