Choosing your first fountain pen
Nib size, filling system and weight: three things to decide, and one to ignore.
Will a fountain pen leak on a flight?
Air pressure, half-full converters and ink on your shirt: the worry every pen user has before travel, and how to avoid it.
Before every holiday season, customers ask whether they can carry a fountain pen on a flight without ink ending up on their shirt. It is a reasonable worry. Pens can leak in the air, but a few simple habits prevent almost all of it.
The cause is air pressure. As the plane climbs, the cabin pressure drops, and any air trapped inside the pen’s converter or cartridge expands. That air pushes ink out through the feed and the nib. A pen that is nearly empty has the most air inside, so it is the most likely to leak. A pen that is completely full or completely empty has little or none.
So before you fly, either fill the pen right to the top or empty and flush it. Carry it nib up, in a pen case or a shirt pocket, not loose in a bag where it might lie on its side. Do not uncap it during take-off or landing, and if you need to write on board, hold it nib up for a moment after uncapping, and keep a tissue around the section.
If you want to write during a trip, carry a small sample vial of ink, 5 ml, in a zip bag in your checked luggage or as a liquid in your cabin bag, and refill when you arrive. Fountain pens are generally allowed in cabin bags, though rules can vary by airport. And if a pen does leak, rinse it in cool water when you land; it will be fine.
