It's a nice pen, this Gravitas Pocket fountain pen...!

I've found that the cartridges of ink I'm using in the Gravitas Pocket fountain pen, last about a week of consistent (journalling per day in a Leuchtturm1917 pocket-sized notebook) use.

I'm reasonably happy with that: They're small cartridges, the International size, and shouldn't last all that long with regular use.

Cleaning out the old cartridge was dead easy using the hobby syringe kit I got from Amazon; I flushed out the old cartridge with a 1ml syringe a few times with warm water, and it's now completely clean. It'll take a day or two to dry out inside, but that's no bother, as I don't plan to refill it for a few days yet.

It also means that in another week or so, I'll have two empty, cleaned cartridges that I can refill with the Diamine blue/black I bought at the London Pen Show.

The photo shows my Gravitas Pocket fountain pen, with full and empty Kaweko-brand black ink cartridges, and a couple of different model plunger format converter cartridges, that regrettably aren't much use, as the hold even less ink than an actual International-size cartridge.

In addition, the converter plungers will be pushed in as the end cap of the pen is screwed into place, forcing ink through the nib; that reduces their usefulness in this particular pen even more, which is a shame, but not the end of the world.

So, refilling old, empty cartridges may well be the long-term solution for this pen. I still have a couple of Kaweko pens, that are with my niece (Haze Peers) for fixing/repairing (she's well into fountain pens 🙂 ).

However, this one works nicely, writes even more nicely, and I REALLY like this pen too 😉

So, colour me rather happy with this purchase 😃

A little retail therapy...!

 I attended the London pen Show today. First one I've been to. It caters to pens, obviously, but mostly fountain pens, which I like. However, my last few haven't really done well with me; two Kawekos, a Platinum, and a Lamy Safari, and before that, in school (AHEM years ago!), a Parker 25.

The Lamy and the Platinum still work fine, I just can't get comfortable enough with them: They're too light, and there's no real feedback when I have them in the hand (I prefer a pen with a bit of heft in it). The two Kawekos jammed up all the time, which was a pity, as others have had good results with the brand. The Parker 25 was lost in the mists of time.

So, the London Pen Show.

The show was small, well attended, and for a fiver admission, well worth the visit to Hammersmith in west London on a damned chilly morning, at yougottabekiddingme o'clock in the morning?! I work LATES, for pities sake! What's the "morning" thing?! 😂

Anyway, I was up at 7 in the a.m., on a train by roughly 9 (again, in the "ayem"), and at the show by just after 10, whereupon I linked up with my brother-in-law, neice, and some of their friends.

My niece is an admin of a UK facebook group, the "Fountain Pens UK" group; she's also VERY knowledgeable about how these pens are made, and how to repair and maintain them. She also knows a number of people in the trade, and put me onto Gravitas Pens, and their very compact 'pocket' model, in this case, a brass body with a medium nib.

I tested one at the table Gravitas had at the show, and WOW, did it feel NICE in the hand. It also writes cleanly, with a decent flow of ink to the nib, giving clear, consistent lines. I was impressed - so I bought one (you KNEW that was coming, didn't you? 😉).

Also, have a look at that photo, at the cap at the bottom of the shot. Notice the logo Gravitas uses: It's VERY much like the old British Army "Crow's Foot" (a.k.a. the "British Broad Arrow Mark"), that used to be plastered/stamped/printed on pretty-much every bit of Army kit in inventory until well into the 1980s 😂

I also picked up some ink, and a few notebooks for the pen (well, you KNOW it's rude not to, and all that 😉😂

Anyhow, I now have a decent fountain pen, which didn't cost a mint, and got home happy, satisfied, and yawning like a very tired thing (late shift worker, remember?).

All in all, not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday 😀