Petit1: Idle-Time Champ Still Going Strong

The Petit1 at left is my all-time idle pen champ! The Preppy
at right is a close contender.

Last winter I was on a personal quest to find a fountain pen that could stay idle the longest while filled with ink and without drying up. I wrote a series of blog posts about my test results:

Beating the Idle Fountain Pen Blues: The Pilot Petit1

Product Review: Pilot Metropolitan

Pilot Metropolitan: Idleness Update

Fountain Pen Idleness Updates: Pilot Metropolitan and Petit1

Cheap, Idle Pen Throwdown: Petit1 and Preppy with Carbon Ink

I didn’t intend further testing, but today it happened inadvertently. Both a Pilot Petit1 and a Platinum Preppy have been filled with waterproof Platinum Carbon Black ink ever since my test in February, standing nib end up in a cup, completely forgotten. Today, June 21, four months later, I suddenly noticed them still in the cup, so I gave each a scribble, expecting them to be completely dried up. The Preppy stuttered a bit at first, just like it did during my February test – but after that, it was as smooth as ever. The Petit1? Smooth from the very first scribble, no stutter at all. I’d say that’s stellar performance for a fountain pen that costs less than 4 bucks! Both the Preppy and the Petit1 have idle times that are practically indefinite, and I’m declaring the Petit1 the all-time champ!