I heartily agree with their fountain pen choices. The Pilot Metropolitan is insanely good for a cheap pen that you can take anywhere and the TWSBI GO is my go-to daily driver. It leads me to believe that the rest of the reviews are likely good.
I bought a moonman m2 a long time ago and really love it but also if I travel with it I end up bringing a whole cleanup kit because even with care I tend to have at least once where ink comes out into the cap.
Is this just a fact of life with fountain pens in general? I love the writing but keeping them clean & operational has been non-trivial for me.
If you drop one or bang it hard you'll usually get some ink in the cap yeah. Finer or more recessed nibs reduce the effect. Pilot also has a line of retractable fountain pens that almost completely eliminate it.
The pressure changes when flying can force ink out the nib as well. I've heard people say you can prevent it by having the reservoir completely full but I fly with it empty or usually just leave it at home.
Not in my experience. Though ink seepage definitely seems to be related to how it's stored (and probably shaken). I've had one seep when stored point down, and dozens not seep when stored horizontally or point up.
That said, I don't travel with them, practically speaking.
it seems to depend on the pen for me. some deposit substantial ink in the cap and some don't (except flying, that's always gonna be a mess unless you prepare).
In the early 1900s, three Japanese fountain pen companies were founded: Sailor (1911), Namiki (1918), and Platinum (1919). Namiki changed its name to Pilot in the 1930s, but some Pilot pens are still sold under the Namiki brand.
I have pens from all of these companies and they are some of my favorite brands.
