Are Lamys Lame?

Hello, my grandiloquent readers,

A friend of mine went to the Washington D.C. pen show this weekend and was full of tales of the wonders that could be found there. Mixed in with the delights of high-end pens and people selling pens that do not work for $20 apiece, there were some dark undercurrents of what seem to me like the most petty backstabbing and sniping. I was wondering, is this normal in the pen world? I am a relative novice; there are many, many people out there who know much more than I about this milieu, and, given what I heard, I wouldn’t mind if it stayed that way. I am happy buying my $10-$15 Sailor pens; I find them delightful, and I don’t see the need to drop $1000 that I don’t have on a pen that only aficionados will recognize as being that pricey. However, I have to say that if I had spare millions lying around, I might not hesitate buying a $1000 pen. But I’m sure most of the people who attend those shows are not private millionaires, so they must have to really budget in order to keep up with the Joneses.

Among the more lamentable behavior that I heard about was a certain amount of disparaging of Lamy pens and Noodler’s ink. Now, I wonder, why? I have never tried Noodler’s ink, but I’ve heard great things about it, and I am constantly reading posts and blogs and blurbs of people whose go-to inks are some kind of Noodler’s. Is it that fountain pens are some kind of high-culture icon, that to use something that may be considered “discount” would reveal some kind of lack of class? By using Noodler’s ink, at about $13 a bottle, are you showing that you’re “ghetto” because you’re not using the $28-a-bottle Pilot Iroshizuku? Then what would that say about J. Herbin, whose inks retail at JetPens for $9 a bottle? Does the French name save it from barrio status?

And then there was the Lamy bashing. I do have a Lamy, a Lamy Safari, and it is one of the best pens in my modest collection. It always works immediately, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve written with it, and the line it puts down is crisp and solid without being weepy. Plus, its nib is one of the few that I would try writing on a carbon form, where words need to be pressed down enough to write in triplicate. It’s my most common go-to pen for being on the road because of its absolute reliability and durability, and it actually performs better than some of the more expensive pens that I have. So…does that make me some kind of provincial bumpkin?

I just think it’s a shame that people can become so petty about something that is a hobby. I am the first to admit how captivating the fountain pen can be, and how it really can become a way of life in a way; I certainly don’t use and don’t even own any non-fountain pens. But come on. It’s not like the fate of the world rests on whether the nib has an iridium tip or whether it’s gold-plated steel or solid gold. Who cares if the body is plastic or aluminum or solid gold? Does this help feed the starving, those who drop $8000 for a single pen? Does it bring about world peace, this backbiting and holier-than-thou posturing? It may be naive to say, but the fountain pen, as out of the mainstream as it is, should be an object that brings joy and friendship among those who can well understand and sympathize with that craving, that need to acquire ever more, that admiration of a jewel that is so functional. Why must people use a pen show, which should be a place where people get together and commiserate and take delight in their differences and respective knowledge, as a forum for disregarding and disrespecting others? Shame, shame.

I hope that anyone who reads this, all two of you, if you find yourself at a pen show, listening to some snobby charlatan who’s charging $20 for a pen that does not even work hold forth on how “peasant” a Lamy is or how “other side of the railroad tracks” Noodler’s ink is, I hope you remember my words and are able to tell that fishwife punk to say something civil or just hold his tongue. No matter how crappy a product is, and I am sure that neither Lamy nor Noodler’s is crappy, there is always something good to say about it. Why not focus on those aspects instead of the negative ones? I guess people think they seem more discriminating when they can bag on something and look as though they know what they’re talking about. I don’t find that kind of person discriminating. I find him bitchy. Those kinds of tactics were old in grammar school. It’s time to grow out of them. Rather than saying five negative things, try saying two positive ones and see how the conversation changes direction. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Sailor Recruit: The Newest Addition

My unanimous readers,

This pen, a mere $15 at JetPens, is one that I’ve been eyeing for a long time, and the only reason why I didn’t get it before now is because it cannot be used with a converter. It’s too small and slim. However, now that I have the Private Reserve Cartridge Refill Kit, I can fill up the cartridge (it comes with a free one) when it’s done with any color I like.

I loved this pen from first sight because of its beautiful, unadorned design. It’s pure and simple and very slender. But it’s not so short that it would inconvenience those of you with big hands. I don’t mind really short pens, but this one is longer than, say the Pilot Petit pens (at least unposted) so most people, I think, will be able to use it comfortably.

Like all Sailors, the nib is very very fine. And sometimes, as I’m writing quickly, I have this weird sensation that the letters are just appearing by themselves. This pen is so inconspicuous that it seems that words just happen on the page. I have not had that sensation with any other fountain pen I’ve used. And I have some very small ones.

It is smooth, obviously, and it starts right up when I use it. I love how it feels in my hands, and I feel that I could write a lot with it without getting tired. The line it puts down is solid but not as fine as, say, the Sailor Desk Pens. It’s fairly commensurate with the Manhattaner, but I’d say just a tad finer than that one. However, because its cap does not screw on, it does not have the threads on it that the Manhattaner does, and that makes writing with it a little more comfortable.

The nib is stainless steel, so it is very rigid. Bear that in mind. The body is resin, but it kind of feels like metal to me. It’s more substantial than just plastic, so the pen has a level of gravitas that the Manhattaner, for all of its kawaii properties, does not. (I don’t mean to be bagging on the Manhattaner; I love that pen, too; it’s just the closest thing I can think of to compare the Recruit to, and, if I had to choose one over the other, I’d choose the Recruit, converterlessness and all.)

Yep, I’d have to say that this is one of my favorites. Sailor is definitely my favorite brand now; between this and the Desk Pens, it manufactures my favorite pens. I love the fineness of the nibs and the crisp, clean lines that emerge from them. There’s just something about Sailors in general that makes me think that they know what Japanese-loving fountain pen users want in a fountain pen. I will likely get more Recruits in the future. I loved it the moment I started writing with it, so I highly recommend it, especially for those who want a slim, light pen that seems to write by itself!

Kaweco Fountain Pens: Converter or No?

Hello, party people.

I just heard from Joy at JetPens (man, they are fast!) and she told me that, unfortunately, there is no converter that goes with the Kaweco fountain pens. It’s because of their small size, apparently. Bummer. Bummer!  That would have been so cool. But since I haven’t seen one, I really don’t have an idea how much room is available for a converter.

Nevertheless, it’s OK. Because, if you, like I, have ordered the Private Reserve Cartridge Refill Kit, you can just order a set of the cartridges to go with the pen, and, once you’ve used up the ink in the cartridges, you can fill them up with any color ink you want–even orange!

I tell you, that kit has opened up a whole new world for me. I would not have bought the Kaweco pens because I wouldn’t want to be limited to just cartridges, but now that I have the kit, I can buy any fountain pen I want and fill it with anything I want. It’s immense freedom! I really recommend that kit to you…it’s been wonderful, and I’ve had so much fun filling up cartridges with inks. It’s only $6, and you get two of them. If you’re not too hard on them, they’ll last forever! Go buy a kit! NOW! DO IT! I SAID DO–

*Editor’s note: the previous blog was cut short as the men in the little white coats appeared on the scene with a stretcher and an injection of something soothing. Programming will resume shortly.

New at JetPens: Kaweco Fountain Pens and Inks

My figurative readers,

I just was on the JetPens site, looking to see if there is anything I can’t live without. Predictably, most of it I can’t live without! But they just got in a shipment of Kaweco fountain pens and inks.

I am not familiar with Kaweco; since my focus and preference tends to lie with Japanese fountain pens because of the über-fine nibs, I haven’t really investigated non-Japanese pens too deeply. Kaweco is a German company, and apparently they’ve been making pens since 1883, so, though I cannot say for sure, I bet they’re good.

JetPens has three new pens and eight new colors of cartridges in. Look in their “New Arrivals” section to see them all side by side.

First, the cartridges. They’re international-sized cartridges, and from the looks of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they could be used in other pens. They look pretty normal, and the product details are as follows:  Pack of six international short cartridges for Kaweco and other fountain pens. So I’m guessing that these cartridges are not proprietary, but I have not tested them myself, so don’t buy them just on my say-so; check with JetPens first. The colors that have just arrived are aubergine purple, royal blue, blue black, black, green, red, turquoise, and sepia. (Sorry, my sepia sucks. There’s only so much a computer can do.)

Next the pens. The first pen is the Kaweco Sport AL, fine nib. It comes in black, gray, and silver. It costs $52, and I wasn’t sure why it was so pricey, but I read that the body is made of aluminum. This will make it pretty substantial. It is short when capped, 4.1 inches, but a nice length, 5.3 inches, when posted, so even you gorillas with big hands out there should be OK using it. Plus, it doesn’t look that thin; it’s sort of fluted all the way around, and given its substantial body and girth, I think it would be fine for the less delicate among us. The cap screws on, which is a nice touch, and a stainless steel nib. I’ve found that stainless steel nibs tend to be more rigid than gold alloys, so be aware. I have no problem with rigid nibs, but YMMV. If you are interested in this pen, git to it now. There are only ten of the black, as of this writing, eight of the gray, and nine of the silver. Man. Either these must be awesome pens, or JetPens didn’t order that many. They must have gone really fast! So haiyaku, haiyaku!

The next pen is the Kaweco Sport Classic, and this one is much more in my price range at $15. (I can tell you now that, as much as I would love an aluminum pen, I cannot afford the Sport AL. Zounds.) This pen is less expensive because it is made of plastic, but the nib is 23 kt gold-plated stainless steel nib with an iridium tip. This pen comes in black, blue, clear, and white, and there are, as of this writing, 19 left of the black, 20 left of the blue (a lovely navy blue and, with the gold writing on the body, a very pretty combination), and no indication of how many are left of the clear and white (so it must be more than 20, but don’t quote me on that). I actually kind of like the white on this pen. It has a gold-colored nib and gold writing on the body, so there’s something kind of beautiful and Christmasy about the white one. I’ve always liked the combo of gold and white, and it’s really beautiful on this pen. Like the Sport AL, it has a fairly large girth and the “fluted” shape and a screw-on cap. Also, the posted and capped measurements are the same, so I’m guessing that the main differences are of the materials they’re made of and the nibs.

After that, we come to the Kaweco Sport Ice. (I like that name…”Ice.”) I think the reason they call this line “Ice” is because, unlike the previous two pens, which are monochrome (i.e., the body and cap are the same color), in this line, the pens’ barrels are clear, whereas the caps are colored, but also clear. So, while the previous ones are all (except the one that’s completely clear) opaque, the caps on these Sport Ices are colored but see-through. I like that, too; they’re very pretty colors, bright and cheerful. I must be in a Christmas mode today because they strike me as kind of Christmasy, too. Maybe because “ice” is in the name. So these little guys are a great price at $15 each, and they come in a lovely royal blue, green, orange, and red. (By the way, the nibs of all of these pens, the Sport AL and Sport Classic as well, are fine. If history holds true, they will be a bit wider than Japanese fine nibs. Caveat emptor.) As of this writing, there’s no indication of how many are left of the blue, 20 of the green, 20 of the orange, and no indication on the red. I’m actually thinking about getting the orange because I like to try to match ink colors–roughly–with the pens they’re in, and I have two orange inks but no orange pen to put them in. OH—well, now that brings up an interesting question: can these be used with converters? I don’t know. I’ll write to JetPens and ask. Don’ t you worry. I’ll find out for you! The measurements of this pen are the same; 4.1 capped and 5.3 posted, and their nibs are stainless steel and the caps are screw-on.

OK, finally, we come to the more expensive but correspondingly beautiful and stately Kaweco Student Fountain Pen. At $43, this pen comes in black (opaque), blue (see-through), and white. The body is made of “injection molded acrylic and chrome plated brass” and the measurements are slightly different: .125 inches capped and 6.375 inches posted. (How’s that for accurate?) As of this writing, there are 20 left of all three colors. They, to0, have fine nibs, and these are stainless steel (silver colored). The details also mention a “high-quality ink feeder,” so I don’t know if that’s something different about this particular pen, or if it’s just a detail they left out of the other ones. Since the price is higher, the feed system might be a little different. The black and blue of this line are particularly beautiful. The white is not bad, but it’s less striking with the silver than with the gold (IMHO). These are not “fluted” all the way around, but smooth, and I like that trait better, too. It seems less “sporty” and more dignified. Plus, they aren’t available in those wild colors.  And, as of this writing, there are 20 left of all 3, so there’s not the rush that there is on the Sport AL.

OK, so that’s the latest in terms of fountain pens at JetPens today! I’ll write to them and ask them about converters and get back to you. In the meantime, check them out! And, if anyone out there has experience with Kaweco pens and/or inks and wants to comment on their particular idiosyncracies, please drop a line and I’ll make sure to bring my lofty readers’ attention to it!

The Other Kind of Indian

My motley readers,

So I was writing to a friend who happened to read the blog about the sari encounters I had yesterday, and she told me that she had been reading a lot about cultural appropriation lately, due to the fact that feathered headdresses are being sold by Urban Outfitters and other “hipster” outposts. I was surprised to read about it because usually I’m pretty up on multicultural conflicts like this, but this particular one slipped totally under my radar. So thanks, friend! You know who you are.

Before I begin my cogitating, here is a link that will lead you to other links that explore this and related issues:

http://bonne-vie.net/index.php/2010/about-that-cultural-appropriation-thing/

In a nutshell, this seems to be the question on the table, and this is my question to you folks out there (provided that more of you have joined my single reader): Is it bad, and why or why not, to wear this feathered headdress thing as purchased by some money-making, non-spiritual company?

Here’s a pic that shows what it might look like at a party (how’d you like to be the girl on the right, thinking you’re so cool, but being shot all over the Internet as the ultimate in insensitive cultural appropriators? Sucks to be her.)

This photo is from “My Culture is Not a Trend.” The related post can be found at

http://mycultureisnotatrend.tumblr.com/post/523529245/via-berrysaymaduug-war-bonnet-gone-wrong

(Note: I have not yet read anything from this blog, so I cannot attest to its…well, anything. I’m totally unfamiliar with it. I am just borrowing a couple of pictures from it to illustrate what this issue looks like.)

And this is, according to someone’s comments on the same blog (so I cannot attest to its accuracy) apparently someone named Lucia Holm, a self-portrait taker, done on commission for one of the companies that make such headdresses.

You get the idea.

So, what is cultural appropriation? Everyone might have a different definition, but here’s mine (highly unofficial): “taking, whether stealing or borrowing, aspects of a culture not one’s own.”

And this issue goes back to the familiar conflict that Native Americans and non-Native Americans have been duking it out over for a long time. From Hollywood’s depiction of “Indians” in the corny Westerns of the 1950s to names of sports teams such as the “Braves” and the “Indians,” to naming vehicles (wasn’t there an SUV called the Navajo?). Now it’s headdresses.

A little background: the kinds of headdresses you see here being sold are knock-offs of a real phenomenon that was specific to a specific region, and they have a specific cultural and spiritual significance.

I think that this one is a little more real.

These headdresses were worn in the Plains regions of the US. (What one might call “the middle.”) These are the Indians that the layperson thinks of when the word “Indian” is brought up because it is the style that has most often been portrayed in the media. (Think Dances with Wolves.) The Sioux, the Kiowa, the Comanche…these are all Plains tribes.  Only men could wear them (so I can imagine that, for traditional Native Americans, seeing women flouncing around in these would be doubly blasphemous), and of the men, only warriors could wear them. And chiefs, I think, but there may be some overlap around who could be made a chief; perhaps only warriors could be made chiefs; I don’t know. However, it is true that wearing one was an honor not to be taken lightly. The feathers in them are, to my knowledge, mainly eagle, and these were awarded based on the warrior’s bravery and deeds. The eagle is protected federally now, but I don’t know if some tribes, the ones that have sovereign status, are still able to gather feathers. They may not. Perhaps a knowledgeable reader can let us know that. However, I know that some eagle feathers are still awarded, but they might be heirlooms…gathered in a time before the eagle was an endangered species. Nevertheless, the cultural significance of the eagle feather is still extant.

There are two obvious sides to this question, with an oblique question that sort of comes in at a 45-degree angle. One side is that wearing such a headdress is not insulting; it might even be honoring the culture(s) of origin. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Anyway, they don’t wear those headdresses anymore (actually, they do at certain significant events), and all of the genocide and stealing of land and not honoring treaties happened a century ago. This is just fashion; it’s not like anyone is doing that anymore!

The other side: Well, the unfairness in terms of access to resources (ever been to a reservation? Not all of them are dirt-poor, but many are.) still exists. Native Americans are still marginalized and mistreated and dishonored and ignored, if they’re lucky, but outright persecuted if they’re not, even to this very day. They should not have to see their cultural and spiritual representations/icons worn as fashion. (Here’s an interesting, if difficult-to-imagine parallel: most Christians know the history of Christianity and how the earliest Christians were persecuted by the Romans, right? Well, what if the Romans had eventually prevailed and wiped out all but a smattering of Christians? And then strolled around wearing crosses and crucifixes because it “looked cool”?)  Are there any devout Christians out there who don’t like to see the Holy Cross sold at Wal-Mart for $1.95 as part of a “gangsta” outfit? (I’ve seen it. It sucks. I’m not even Christian, and I don’t think much of that.)

Now the oblique angle, which I read on that link that I posted above: what if you made your own headdress? Obviously you won’t be catching any eagle feathers, but these hipster ones aren’t eagle feathers, either. What if you did the beadwork or the quillwork and made it represent your own life? What if you added a feather for each brave deed you did? (Please, for my sake, use vegan feathers–imitation ones. Please don’t use real feathers; the birds need them more than you do…but let’s make that another issue. I just don’t want to be propagating the idea that I think it’s OK to steal birds’ feathers for anything.) If you gave the headdress the significance in your life that the traditional Plains headdress had in the lives of the Plains tribes, would that be OK? Keep in mind that you’re still “appropriating” their culture; they didn’t offer this to you.  And if you’re a woman–and I think it is women to whom these hipster headdresses are aimed–that is a doubly difficult question because this headdress is not traditionally allowed to be worn by women. Are we right to impose American/European, Age of Reason ideas of feminism on a tradition that is clearly not rooted in it?

I suppose you want my opinion in this Gordian knot of issues. Well, this is it: I don’t completely know. Obviously I would never want to offend ANYONE for cultural insensitivity. So you would not catch me dead in one of those headdresses because, as it says on the blog, if someone wears one, she looks like a douchebag wannabe. Seriously. Not only does she show that she doesn’t know a fat damn about the culture she’s borrowing from, but she also is basically wearing a big sign that says “CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE ASSHAT” on her head.

But I also don’t want to say that it’s illegal or forbidden for her to wear it. I strongly believe that anyone who would wear such a thing is an idiot because of the obviously heated conflict that will arise from it and, at bottom, the hurt feelings that wearing such a thing would engender. Because, to me, that’s what it boils down to: hurt feelings. And I would never do that to a person because of her culture. Ever. When we wear mockeries of other people’s cultures, we say that we don’t care that those items were hugely important to them. Therefore, we don’t respect the traditions that go along with them. For example, I don’t know if this is true of the war headdress, but I know that it is true of the Kiowa sacred image, the Tai-Me: it was carried and set up by one specific person who was trained in the spirituality of the culture, and who was considered ritually pure enough to do so. Not just any Tom, Dick, or Wind-in-his-Hair could carry it around and be in charge of it. I would be willing to bet that the war headdress evoked similar respect. I know that, in the Kiowa tribe, traditionally women weren’t allowed to hold the weapons. Now, if the same is true of the headdress, but women are now wearing it–and so casually–what is that saying to a Kiowa who’s very traditional? “Your culture isn’t important enough for me to respect.” And for me, that’s not OK.

I would hope that it would not be OK for anyone else, but in fact, it is. There are people out there either ignorant or insensitive enough to wear such a thing. But I don’t think that the answer is forbidding them to wear it. That speaks of a kind of oppression that we never need to go back to again, and nobody knows that better than the Native Americans. Instead, I think perhaps the answer might be ridiculing them out of existence. Sort of like the “song mocking” that some indigenous people did as a form of social control. I am not sure what culture did this; I heard about this in an anthropology class over ten years ago, and it might even be more than one, but I thought it was a clever and effective idea. Basically, someone wrongs another, and everyone involved goes through all of the legal proceedings of the group so that it is definitely sure that he is in the wrong; he did commit the crime. But rather than slamming him in jail or chopping off his hands or killing him, thus depriving the group of a worker/able-bodied human, the tribe or group gathers and basically make songs about him and his crime, mocking him until he really feels the sting of it.

That doesn’t sound like much of a punishment, especially depending on how egregious the crime was. But think back to your school days, when you were the one in the center of the ring of your classmates and peers and that girl you thought was so cute, and it was your Superman Underoos that were around your ankles. Think back to the pointing fingers, the laughter…and the fact that you have never told anyone about that incident. Suddenly, public ridicule doesn’t seem that mild.

So, perhaps that is the answer to this conundrum. Rather than forbidding these wannabe hipsters who are just trying so hard to find a way to belong and be unique at the same time from wearing these headdresses, we can just make songs about how lame they look in their desire, conscious or not, to ridicule another’s sacred tradition. If it was not intentional, then one song session should do it. If it was, then maybe a week’s worth of song mockery should help rehabilitate them. It is a better way than out and out getting angry because, when you’re angry, you look like the douche, and nobody wants that.

However, what about  the asshats who make these headdresses to be sold? And the idiotic buyer who’d stock these lame-ass hipster stores with ill-gotten regalia, hopefully someone NOT American so that he or she can plead ignorance about the bad blood that has gone on between Native Americans and non-Native Americans since the first tribe was given smallpox-infected blankets? I don’t know about them. Maybe the hands-chopping-off is still an option.

In Case Anyone Was Wondering…

I just found out, thanks to JetPens, that the Pilot Con-50 converter fits into a Pilot Knight fountain pen.  When I bought this pen, it came with the (not as capacious) Pilot Con-20 converter, which really runs out of ink quickly. I finally took a chance (because I couldn’t find any place that would tell me) and hoped that the Con-50 would work, and it did! I figured it was likely, but there are some pens that will only take a certain type of converter, or no converter at all, even though other pens by the same company do (I’m thinking of the Sailor Recruit, a beautiful pen that I’ve been wanting to get but since it doesn’t take a converter, I never did. Now, however, that I have the Private Reserve Cartridge Refill kit (see previous post), I might since I will be able to reuse the cartridge.)

So, in case you were wondering, or if anyone out there has a Pilot Knight and wants a better converter than the one it comes with, YES, you can get the Con-50 to go with it instead. And, of course, I heartily suggest that you get it at JetPens!

Private Reserve Cartridge-Refilling Kit

My fabulous readers,

Today was JetPens day for me! I ordered a few things, but what I want to talk to you about here is the Private Reserve Cartridge-Refilling Kit, available at JetPens for a mere $6.

As anyone who’s into fountain pen knows, proprietary cartridges and converters suck. I understand why the companies make them, but for us, they suck. That means that you have to buy a converter for every brand of fountain pen that you get. That is why this refill kit is great: you can buy a pack of cartridges–or even a single one; the art supply store in Sebastopol has a big basket of (I assume; I’ve never bought one) general international-sized cartridges in black and blue for 25 cents apiece. For a mere 25 cents, you can have a lot of use, almost like a semi-disposable converter. This refill kit is the way to do it.

Here’s my situation. I got a Cross pen as a gift but I didn’t have a Cross converter. And, as you know, I don’t like buying anything from anywhere except JetPens, so I’d been just putting up with buying cartridges, even though that’s much more expensive in the long run, so I gritted my teeth every time I did it. However, a friend and loyal reader told me that she just got the ink refill kit, and that galvanized me to really investigate what it was. I typically don’t use cartridges; almost all of my pens have converters, but I do have a couple of odd ones that don’t, so I went to JetPens and looked at the photo. (The link is above, click on it to see.)

When I really examined it, it didn’t seem that daunting. All the kit is is two syringes, plastic, with a small detachable “needle” (though it’s not like a real syringe needle, which is terribly sharp; it’s more like a very narrow metal tube) that you screw (very easily) onto the tip of the syringe. You push the plunger all the way down before inserting it into the bottle of ink, and then you put just the metal tip into the bottle. Then you raise the plunger and watch the ink get sucked up in it! It only takes a little bit to fill a cartridge. So then, you take your empty cartridge and put the “needle” into it and SLOWLY press the plunger down and fill it up. (Leave a bit of space at the end in case your pen has a plastic piece that needs to be inserted into the cartridge. Some Pilots have that, and you don’t want to overfill it and spray ink all over you.)

I had attempted to use just a syringe with a fairly small tip; I have lots of them because Frankie used to need to get injections, so I got a bunch, both with the sharp needle and without. The needle is not a good thing to use for ink because 1) it’s really sharp, and 2) the hole is so microscopic that it would take forever to fill. However, if you just use the narrow tip, it’s not quite narrow enough to fit into the end of most cartridges. I tried with the Cross cartridge, and I got it filled about halfway, but I spilled more ink (back into the bottle, but still it was a waste) than I got into it. It was not only that the tip was too large; the tip fit exactly the diameter of the cartridge, and it formed sort of a reverse vacuum, and that meant that I could only get half the ink in because the air that the ink displaced had nowhere to go but up, thus spilling the ink and not allowing into the cartridge. However, the needle thingy is much skinnier than the diameter of the hole in the cartridge, so the displaced air can shoot upward as the ink fills it, and there is no resulting mess. It took maybe 30 seconds for the whole process, and it was totally tidy. I’m going to fill all the cartridge-only pens that I have lying around unused! Yay!

So, since the use is so gentle (i.e., you don’t have to hammer anything or do anything very damaging to the components of the kit), and they give you two of each of the components, it will last a long, long time and ultimately save you a lot of money. Also, not only does it allow you to reuse cartridges for a long time, but it allows you to suck up the last, tiny bit of ink in a bottle. No more having to fish around a bottle with a clumsy converter, trying to hold the bottle at an angle to collect the ink on one side, aim the converter, and screw the piston up at the same time. You can just set the bottle on a table and aim the needle all around, like a vacuum cleaner hose, and raise the plunger with the other hand. *Slurp!* Sucks it dry! Thus, your bottle is empty and ready to be reused for more inky things! (Wouldn’t it be cool if they had ink kits, like dried ink to which we could just add water and make our own? That’d be fun.)

Anyway, I just wanted to give you that little heads up. I am sure that this kit is old news to many of you, but this is actually the first time I’ve ever used one, and I’m delighted with how easy and clean and cost-effective the whole process is. And, to be honest, it’s kind of fun filling up the cartridges that are empty. It’s kind of like putting gas in your car. (I know, I know about the environment, and how gas is bad, I believe that and wish that I could ride a bike or walk everywhere that I needed to go, but I just can’t, so let’s let that sit for the moment.) Sometimes I feel that I’m “feeding” my car when I put gas into it because I have given it literally the fuel it needs to run. It’s the same thing with ink. When you fill a cartridge or converter, you’re “feeding” it with the fuel that makes it write. There’s a kind of primal, earthy satisfaction to that.

So, if you’re still stuck in the world of cartridges only, take my advice and get one of these refill kits, and if you have not, invest in bottled ink. Ultimately, it’s much less expensive, and obviously better for the environment because you’re not throwing away plastic cartridges every two days.  At only $6, you’ll make that up in hours of writing, no problem!