Ask The Desk: Platinum Carbon Ink & Student Pens

Jill asks:

Does the Preppy handle the Carbon ink? Are there others or only the desk pen that can handle Carbon ink?

Short answer: YES. I have put Platinum Carbon ink in the Preppy with no issues. You can even use the Platinum Carbon cartridges in the Preppy. Easy peasy!

I’ve also put Platinum Carbon and Platinum Pigment ink in Lamy Safaris. I am not Brad Dowdy and do not practice vigilant pen maintenance. I am slack beyond words about cleaning out many of my pens. Especially the ones that have Platinum ink in them because they tend to be daily carry tools for drawing and I don’t like to have them out of circulation for the cleaning, drying and refilling window. I even let Platinum Pigment Brown dry out in a Lamy Joy, just to see if I could clean it out. And I could. Took a bit of rinsing but because I could disassemble the whole pen ad nib unit it was not a big deal. So, I think you’re safe to go forth and torture that Preppy! Throw everything you’ve got at that $5 pen!

Samuele would like to find the best non-fountain pen for a student. His criteria is very specific:

1. not to expensive * (students are poor)
2. refillable with g2 standard ballpoint refill * (everybody love standards and disposable pens are a huge waste, standards also guaranteed fine size like 0.7 that are important if you do serious math with long apex and pedix etcetera)
3. it should be not to heavy, to reduce the fatigue *
4. a good comfortable design (like lamy) but that meet the comfort of the people who doesn’t write with in the good way (not like lamy safari or pelikan twist)
5. not too thick or too thin
6. a good grip possibly
7. happy color to contrast the grey of math (lamy safari rules here)

I have two recommendations for you, Samuele. Both of these are under $20 and are available in bright colors, accept Pilot G2 refills and are lightweight.

First up is the Lamy Tipo which is plastic with a rippled plastic grip. At $12.50 it’s a bargain priced pen and according to JetPens, it accepts around 100 different refills.

Next is the Pilot Metropolitan Rollerball. Bright colors? Check. Lightweight? Aluminum. Check! Pilot G2 refills? Check. Price? 13.50.

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7 comments / Add your comment below

  1. One of Israel’s bookstore chains has a special sale on the Lamy Tipo, and sells them at NIS 10, which is a little under USD 3. That’s right, less then THREE BUCKS.

    I bought more Tipos than I have use for…

  2. Another great thing about the Metropolitan is that you can have it engraved to personalize the pen to the student. I don’t know that JetPens personalizes, but Vanness Pens does and some others. I had a local engraver put a friend’s name on the pen as a graduation present.

  3. Hi Samuele, If you must have Pilot G2 refill compatibility, get the Pilot G2 Pro, not the usual G2 with the see-through barrel. The G2 Pro build quality is better plus the barrel & grip are wider. The G2 Pro doesn’t use much metal, so it’s still light enough to use for extended periods. Compare the G2 & G2 Pro here:

    Regular G2:

    https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-G2-Gel-Pen-0.38-mm-Black/pd/268

    Pilot G2 Pro:

    https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-G2-Pro-Gel-Pen-0.7-mm-Gray-Body-Black-Ink/pd/7243

    Pentel Energel refills are superior to the Pilot G2 refills in all ways, especially in smoothness and fast dry-times (good for lefties). But I’m not keen on the Pentel pen designs compared with Pilot. A Pentel Energel refill “will” fit in a Pilot G2 or G2 Pro, and some people are just fine with how they work. But I suffer from pen O.C.D. so the fact that the tip diameter on the Energel refill is narrower than the G2 refill so it sort of rattles a bit – Bothers Me! Also the Energel refill is slightly longer than the G2 refill, but if that bothers you it’s easily fixed by trimming the end a bit.

    Have Fun, David

  4. “I am not Brad Dowdy and do not practice vigilant pen maintenance.” This cracked me up, having seen pictures on his IG of like 20 pens sitting on a surface waiting to be cleaned…

  5. My question is why do sell the brown ink for the platinum preppy fountain pen but not the pen. I see they have something like a highlighter. I love the pens but I would love to have a brown one

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