Thursday 5 March 2015

Another Parker 51 Pen Tube Giveaway

Pen tube. Want one?
[UPDATE: The FPGeeks forum is back up and running!]
[The purpose of this post was going to be a short announcement of a PIF (Pay It Forward) giveaway on the FPGeeks forum, which went live there last night. As luck would have it, today the forum is down along with the rest of the site, and going by the Reddit discussion around this surprise, when it is back up is anyone's guess.

This is my first PIF on FPGeeks after being given my first pen wrap there, and it means a lot to be passing on something to that community in my own small way. Hopefully, the forum (which so far as I can see is not the source of contention anyway) will be back up soon; if not, I'll post it on the fountainpennetwork, where most of us also have membership.]

Anyhoo: the giveaway is of another soft-on-the-inside, hard-on-the-outside Parker 51 (or 61) daily carry tube. This version is a slight improvement over the one PIF'd on FPN a few months ago. The ethos remains the same:

  • hard exterior, soft interior protection for a daily carry pen,
  •  small enough to toss in a day bag with the rest of your gear,
  • but strong enough to ward off damage.

The major change... 

is in the cap, which is put together in a way that looks neater, makes better use of the available space, and now presents the 51's celluloid cap jewel with an uninterrupted expanse of 100% silk. It's kitted out with a nitrile rubber O ring for added security too.

The hard shell of the Diamine screw cap contains an impact
absorbing cushion of 6mm thick soft foam,
lined in 100% silk.

Everything else...


is as before:
The outside is a rigid PET plastic preform (approx 3mm thick), which is an excellent hard barrier against crushing, bending, twisting, scratching and cutting forces. Hostile synonyms are no match! Shattering - pah! Smashing -pishaw! Spiflicating - pish tosh!

Size comparison with Parker 51, 61, and a pair of specs.
Background - a nifty new 4 pen cloth wrap from alc3261.

The inside is lined with 3mm thick non-toxic, UV resistant closed cell soft foam (60 on the 00 shore scale), to absorb the stress of impact strikes and abrasion. To protect the 51's delicate celluloid jewels against the
concentrated force of end on strikes, the top and bottom get 6mm of foam, lined in 100% silk.

The sole in-focus photo I managed to snap
of the tube's soft foam interior lining.


BIG THANKS...

to Diamine Inks for the supply of speckled style caps, hugely appreciated guys & gals.

Last group photo before they go their separate ways
(one is already en route to Alabama).

Superfluous photo slideshow:

I do hope the FPGeeks forum makes a speedy return. If you think you'd find this PIF useful, here's a direct link to my ill-fated post, assuming the forum comes online again soon: