How often do you use your MB fountain pen?

[techjunkie25]

Hey all,

I’m interested to know the frequency in which you all use your Montblanc fountain pen.
I use my 146 all day at my office taking notes and signing the occasional document.

When I leave, the 146 comes with me in my shirt pocket.
It seems as of late, my MB comes with me everywhere. From jeans and T-shirt going to the grocery store, to suit and tie/tuxedo for special occasions.


What say ye all? How often do you use yours and does it come with you 24/7?

Obligatory pic. My 146 and my Leuchtturm 1917https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220116/cd2b1c488ae263d400885319e6d20490.jpg

[scrivelry]

Since I don't have an MB, and I don't expect to ever have one, I am obviously the perfect person to answer this, right? (Choke cough choke)

This seems to me what most people would have done back in the days of having one or maybe two fountain pens - carry the one they had or their favorite of the two they had, everywhere they might need a pen. (None of the people I've been able to speak to in my family had a fountain pen before my mother used one with a cart in College - probably a Wearever or a Scripto or a Sheaffer School pen - they had pens at the office, if they worked in an office, and dip pens and ink at home. So they didn't carry any pen around at all.)

The question arises today because, of course, an MB is a nice piece of change and anyone who owns one seems likely to be able to afford another pen to carry around to places where the MB is not crucial for the sake of being an MB, which is sort of what makes this a valid question. But frankly, if you like it, if it is the pen that makes you smile when you write and it performs well for you, then why not carry it everywheret?

I personally am prone to misplacing things. It is worse when I am under any stress. I tend to keep my more expensive pens at home so I won't lose them. But someone who is better at keeping track of things than I am does not necessarily need to feel that way.

[techjunkie25]

Since I don't have an MB, and I don't expect to ever have one, I am obviously the perfect person to answer this, right? (Choke cough choke)

This seems to me what most people would have done back in the days of having one or maybe two fountain pens - carry the one they had or their favorite of the two they had, everywhere they might need a pen. (None of the people I've been able to speak to in my family had a fountain pen before my mother used one with a cart in College - probably a Wearever or a Scripto or a Sheaffer School pen - they had pens at the office, if they worked in an office, and dip pens and ink at home. So they didn't carry any pen around at all.)

The question arises today because, of course, an MB is a nice piece of change and anyone who owns one seems likely to be able to afford another pen to carry around to places where the MB is not crucial for the sake of being an MB, which is sort of what makes this a valid question. But frankly, if you like it, if it is the pen that makes you smile when you write and it performs well for you, then why not carry it everywheret?

I personally am prone to misplacing things. It is worse when I am under any stress. I tend to keep my more expensive pens at home so I won't lose them. But someone who is better at keeping track of things than I am does not necessarily need to feel that way.

No, I appreciate the thoughts for sure. Let me not misrepresent myself, the only reason I have a MB is because for one, I grabbed it preowned and the other I got new, but for an amazing price, WELL BELOW retail. If the new one had been full retail, I wouldn’t have bought it. I just don’t make the kind of money where I am willing to throw almost 1k at a pen, regardless of make or prestige.

I find myself extremely lucky and thankful that I’ve come across the pens I have, at the prices that they were.

I do enjoy using my mb 149 and 146 quite often, however, I do have my TWSBI diamond 580 that I’m quite fond of as well as a Lamy safari, these have all been carried extensively before my luck and wallet ran into the Montblanc side of things.
I do, however carry a pilot custom 74 in medium that I believe to be just as smooth as the MB. There’s just something about the Montblanc, a charm about it basically being the same pen that it was when it was created, a certain classical aesthetic and feeling that keeps drawing me back to it.


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[pajaro]

I use the pens infrequently. I do use a 163R rollerball with a porous point refill every other day or so. The fountain pens maybe once a week. I just don't need them very much.

[penwash]

While I do have an 146, my favorite MB is by far my two 344.

Which I would probably use more often if I am not constantly rotating between the vintage pens I source and restore :)

[Robert]

My first MB was the 149 with Fine nib that I bought new from Fahrney's for (I think) $125.00 in the mid 1970's. It was my daily writer at work, through law school (wrote the essay portion of the Texas Bar Exam with it) and for my first few jobs post law school. It was damaged in the 1990's through my carelessness (dropped nib-first onto a hardwood floor), and I figured it was a goner. It sat it various drawers for many years thereafter, until I discovered this site and the existence of nib meisters, specifically Mike Masuyama, who restored the nib. It writes beautifully now, though I seldom use it . . . and will never sell it.

[kazoolaw]

Working remotely, I use a 149 and a WE daily. When working out and about the 149 is in the rotation. Before I cracked the cap (operator error) a 256 was in heavy rotation, as was a 14 with a stubbed nib.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Until my Montblanc 146 Rose Gold Anniversary edition (Broad nib) sprung a leak a couple of months ago, it was one of my every day carries. I bought it used on this forum.

Sadly, after reading concerns on this board about timeliness and quality of the Jewelry Repair Service, I've deferred getting it fixed.

Meanwhile, my first Montblanc, a Classique cartridge filler (Fine nib) that I bought at the Navy Exchange in San Diego in 1991, gets daily use addressing envelopes and writing entries in my observing log.

[tde44]

I've used my 149 at least a few times a week ever since I got it in the mid-1990's.

[bunnspecial]

I always have at least one inked.

Right now it's what I call my favorite 146-transitional W. Germany serial numbered model, split ebonite feed, M two-tone nib. I've had it longer than any of my others save for a 24, and from about 2017 to really last year it was more or less the only pen I used.

Once it's empty, I'll probably pull one of my 149s back out for daily carry.

Pens in this category are pens I pull out multiple times a day most any time I need to write something(unless it's a dedicated writing session, then a different pen, Montblanc or otherwise, might get used).

So, the answer for me would be nearly every day, and sometimes multiple different MBs in a given day.

[Boston Brian]

I use my MB 146 everyday, it was a gift from my wife, purchased in Harrods in the late 1970,s It has a broad nib.

[jar]

It's been about four or five years since I used one of my Montblanc fountain pens and all but one of the newer generations have gone off to Forever Homes. Maybe when I empty the Aurora 888P this time I'll pull out one of my 234½s or maybe a celluloid 14x.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Aaron at Pentiques fixed my leaking 146 90th Anniversary Edition with Rose Gold nib, and I use it daily to keep the MB Lucky Orange ink flowing.

He returned the pen to me within two weeks, and I highly recommend Aaron's repair services.

- Bob

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[Chuck Naill]

Hey all,

I’m interested to know the frequency in which you all use your Montblanc fountain pen.
I use my 146 all day at my office taking notes and signing the occasional document.

When I leave, the 146 comes with me in my shirt pocket.
It seems as of late, my MB comes with me everywhere. From jeans and T-shirt going to the grocery store, to suit and tie/tuxedo for special occasions.


What say ye all? How often do you use yours and does it come with you 24/7?

Obligatory pic. My 146 and my Leuchtturm 1917https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220116/cd2b1c488ae263d400885319e6d20490.jpg

That makes it all the more special to use it as you describe.

[rkesey]

Beautiful pen! I only have one MB, a little 22 from the 70s. (Hope to add a 146 at some point, and maybe some day one of the lighter LEs--a Schiller or Fitzgerald or Kafka or Poe...) I like the nib a lot, but I was going to sell the pen since it's a little small for my taste; then a kind PIF here landed me a really nice leather notebook cover with a pen loop, and the only pen to fit it perfectly was the 22, so now it goes everywhere with me.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Beautiful pen! I only have one MB, a little 22 from the 70s. (Hope to add a 146 at some point, and maybe some day one of the lighter LEs--a Schiller or Fitzgerald or Kafka or Poe...) I like the nib a lot, but I was going to sell the pen since it's a little small for my taste; then a kind PIF here landed me a really nice leather notebook cover with a pen loop, and the only pen to fit it perfectly was the 22, so now it goes everywhere with me.

Very nice. When you have a chance, please tell us what notebook, and notebook cover those are. Thank you

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have a Generation, a 132 (I THINK?) and a kugel nib official tester 145… or whichever model is a screw-in cart-filler. They were all secondhand, so I'm not too certain of the numbers.

All write well. I use the Generation in the summer with a light blue ink. And I should probably use the 132 more often but I have too many pens filled already.

One day I might find a 149 or 146.

[rkesey]

Thanks! Took me a long time to find the right sizes and shapes, but now I'm good to go. It's a Roterfaden "Taschenbegleiter" WK12 cover, for A6 notebooks. Currently I've got a single Masuya Monokaki in it, but it has two sets of holder prongs, so once that one's full I'll switch to two thinner notebooks--I've got some Apica CD-10 and some Kokuyo Systemic notebooks waiting in the wings, and then if I'm feeling spendy I'll try Apica Premium CD. What's your set-up?

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Thank you, rkesey.

My EDC is a [Black Ice] Rhodia Dot pad No. 12 in a leather Rhodia cover that I bought from Vickerey.com. It's usually in a side pocket in my cargo pants. If traveling, it goes in the camera bag or a vintage Banana Republic correspondent's bag.

When Rhodia Drive interviewed me a few years ago, I mentioned the No. 12 Dot Pad. The link to R Drive no longer works, so I reposted the interview on my blog (https://www.bobsoltys.net/musings/rhodiadriveinterview).

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Yes, that's a slide rule (https://www.bobsoltys.net/sliderules) in the green sheath.

[rkesey]

Very nice--and that Leica makes for great company, I'm sure!

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Very nice--and that Leica makes for great company, I'm sure!

It's another every day carry. It's taken a lickin' and it keeps on clickin' (https://www.bobsoltys.net/leica)

[although]

I've got a 146 and a 149. Both are great writers! No special treatment, they get used like any other. But, they are competing with about 80 other pens to get in the rotation, so they can go months in storage... I'd say that they get used a bit more than the average pen in the collection though.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

A former high school classmate gave me a chrome Cross ballpoint pen one year for Christmas.

I left it on a counter at a city office while looking at papers I was signing. When I noticed it was not in my shirt pocket, I went back and happily learned they had put it aside in case I returned to retrieve it.

As a Navy officer, our working uniforms had flap pockets with pen loops, so losing the Montblanc Classique and MB rollerball was not a concern.

Since then, I've managed to hang on to my Montblancs and Pelikans. Perhaps the money I invested in them motivates me to keep better track of them.

[Cyril]

Thank you, rkesey.

My EDC is a [Black Ice] Rhodia Dot pad No. 12 in a leather Rhodia cover that I bought from Vickerey.com. It's usually in a side pocket in my cargo pants. If traveling, it goes in the camera bag or a vintage Banana Republic correspondent's bag.

When Rhodia Drive interviewed me a few years ago, I mentioned the No. 12 Dot Pad. The link to R Drive no longer works, so I reposted the interview on my blog (https://www.bobsoltys.net/musings/rhodiadriveinterview).

67768
Yes, that's a slide rule (https://www.bobsoltys.net/sliderules) in the green sheath.

I am glad the way you are equipped !!

This is the die-hard-Killer machine !!!!:rockon:

[dneal]

Some years ago I figured I'd figure out the MB thing. I got a 145, 146 and 149 (the last two from the split-ebonite feed era). I got rid of the 145 (too small), even after I had Pendleton Brown grind a butter-line stub, and 149 (too big). The 146 was just right, and it's constantly inked and used every day - as mentioned in this "reviews, revisited" thread (https://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/36347-Pen-reviews-Revisited?p=352518&viewfull=1#post352518).

[fountainpenkid]

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[Cyril]

I have to clean and ink up my pens and I have few with some ink. It is fortunate Mont Blanc pen have less drying ink if you leave with for a long period !!!
That has happened to me several times.

[Barry B. Gabay]

Daily. I always have a 149 filled & on my desk. At the moment, it's a one from 1981-82 (one-piece barrel, spit-ebonite feed, and two-tone 14C nib) with a fine nib, filled with Montblanc Toffee Brown ink.

[kazoolaw]

Pretty much daily.
Now that I usually work from home the WE edition is on my desk, inked with Toffee Brown and ready to go.
An MB 149 was in more frequent use when I went to the firm's office.
Once in a while another MB finds its way to an ink bottle and then to paper.

[FredRydr]

Daily, too. My classic-shaped Montblancs are among my most reliable writers with great capacity.

These three are always inked and ready to go on my desk with three colors of ink (L to R): a '69 149 EF filled with current 60ml MB Royal Blue, a '77 146 EF Arabic/Hebrew* nib filled with old-style 50ml MB IG blue-black, and a '73 149 EF filled with old-style 50ml MB black.

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* so-called "architect" by some.

[lchiu7]

I was going to forum to ask the same question. Hopefully even though the OP is almost a year ago, people will still read this. I was given the MP 149 as a birthday present by my kids :-) Clearly I had raised them right. Anyway up till then my daily driver was a Pilot Custom 823 which I like a lot. But having been given the MP I switched to it and as people know, not only is it a great pen, it writes really well. In fact I now use it every day. It never leaves my desk as my daily writing is almost all just keeping a journal into which I write about an A4 page a day. It's not that I live an exciting life that is worth chronicling but writing a journal each day provides a reason to write something each day to stop my penmenship from going to pot!

I would think the pen and nib would handle this relatively light writing load but was interested in other people's view. Note unlike some other posters on this thread I would never consider taking the pen on the road. There are better suited pens for that.

[jdwhitak]

I've been using fountain pens since 2008/2009. Just got my first two Montblancs this year. A 149 and a 146. Of the two I much prefer the 149 and I've been using it pretty regularly. Unfortunately, it started leaking where the nib assembly meets the section. I sent it off to Montblanc for repair last week.

One thing about the 149 is that helped me realize a preference for larger pens. I'm in the process selling my smaller pens and the 146 will probably go on the selling block as well.

[welch]

I use a 146 about every other week, and one of four or five Parker 51s every day. The 51 just fits my hand, although the 146 writes beautifully.

[Dave Quail]

I use my 146 around twice a week. I only use FP's, and usually use one of my Lamy FP's as an EDC.

[Wonner]

I am a writer and prefer to write by hand rather than on computer. I write 5-6 days per week and always have 3 pens on my desk, a MB 149, MB 146, and a Sailor 1911L. I rotate between the three, often in the same day.

[Gulfcoast]

I use a 149 daily as a signature pen. Write a lot with an old springy 146 from back in the day.

[23019VC]

I am about to buy a 146 for daily use. I am debating between F and M. I think medium is what I will get - I will use it mostly for short notes and signatures. I have been using a cheap FP I got on amazon to see if I would enjoy one and I have been loving it. I have been looking at my local MB store to buy one. I’m looking at solitaires on ebay to get a “higher end’ MB for a “standard” price. I located a Ceramic Prisma 146 NIB. I’m about to pull the trigger. Do most of you think a M nib would be better for signatures and notes? For cheap pens and ballpoints i have always used fatter tips like .7 - 1.0. my secretary buys me G2 1.0 mm for throw away pens…. I hate.5 and other “thin” stuff.

[JulieParadise]

An M should be a good daily driver, not too thin as this is obviously what you gravitate to, not too thick to use it for writing on ruled paper.

I would only get a B nib if I knew that I'd only use it for bold and swooshy signatures. B or broader nibs are loads of fun, but, to be honest, not really all that practical. I do play around with my ca. 40 pens and also use any other size, but based on your initial description of your anticipated use ... an M should be your best bet.

[FredRydr]

I am about to buy a 146 for daily use. I am debating between F and M...Do most of you think a M nib would be better for signatures and notes?...
This is too subjective to expect right or wrong answers to come from others. The adage I oft repeat: Try before you buy! If you want to reduce the risk of buyer's remorse, especially with expensive pens, find a way to test the different nibs. If you will have your 146 shipped to you, your seller might allow a return or exchange if you ask in advance, depending on the type of seller. You haven't noted your location in your profile, but if you can get to a pen show, there's no better way to find the nib you like. If you are buying new, try a pen shop or boutique with a selection of testers.

The 146 is a solid choice, and there are plenty of used examples out there to choose from at predictable pricing.

[23019VC]

I have never thought about a pen show that would be a really good idea. I actually am not too far away from Los Angeles. I am in the Riverside County area. I just looked online and there’s some big pen show coming up very soon in Los Angeles. Maybe I should check it out

[Jon Szanto]

I have never thought about a pen show that would be a really good idea. I actually am not too far away from Los Angeles. I am in the Riverside County area. I just looked online and there’s some big pen show coming up very soon in Los Angeles. Maybe I should check it out

Next week, in fact. (https://capenshow.com/) As Fred says, there is absolutely no substitute for trying them out for yourself. The drive, parking and admission will add a bit to your bottom line, but it will also add greatly to your knowledge and potential for a good decision.

[FredRydr]

AND, there'll be plenty of used 146s to choose from, which in my opinion will more likely offer the nicer 20th century nibs at half the price of new pens. Besides, the Montblanc warranty on new pens has lost its shine (see other threads). AND, if you want the nib adjusted, you will meet at the show the nibmeisters who can do that for you. ADVICE: hold on to your money until the show, and if you cannot find the pen you want (I'd be shocked), only then buy that 146 unseen. WARNING: You may fall in lust for something completely different, but I would stick with the 146 because they are so easily re-sold. Introduce yourself to Osman Sumer and tell him you're a beginner and you want a 146. He sells very high-end vintage Montblanc, but he'll give you advice and point you in the right direction. Pete Kirby (Pete's Pens) will have Montblanc. And so will others on the list: https://capenshow.com/exhibitor.html Have fun! (I'm envious.)