FP 101: Converters are for cool kids

And why they are a must aka literally why would you even use a cartridge

I’m a big fan of converters. Seriously. They’re super versatile, convenient, helpful when your nib is too big to fit into a bottle (looking at you, mini bottle of Colorverse ink), or even a sample vial. But they’re also a source of frustration if you’re relatively new to fountain pens — or, if you like Pilot pens, they’re a reoccurring, permanent, and unavoidable bane of your existence.

I’m the type of person who will search high and low for converters for their most used and unused pens alike. Hell, before I sold my Moonman N1, I spent months scouring the internet (and ordering, and testing stuff) for a converter that would fit that dupe of the mini Muji aluminum pen (to no luck). In my endless endeavors, I figured out some converters can be mixed and matched between pens… and no one talked about that, my friends.

So, let’s talk converters.

Pilot currently offers Con-B, Con-40, and Con-70. They stopped offering Con-50 (I will never understand why) and replaced it with Con-40 (another thing I will never understand). They also discontinued the Con-20, but then brought in the Con-B, which looks like its cousin, if not sibling. I’m assuming Pilot heard enough trash talk about Con-40, said heck, and introduced this squeezy peasy thingy that again won’t fit in your Vanishing Point, at which point you’ll wonder if you kicked puppies¹ in your previous life to deserve such fate. Now, Con-40 is, to put it mildly, the devil of fountain pens, and the only thing it’s good for is for people with anxiety who like to look at little balls moving around a little tube for grounding purposes. Very meditative. For actual inking, literally stick to refilling cartridges rather than using this thing, which is also something I hate doing. Did I really pay $150 before price increase for a Vanishing Point to have to use a syringe to fill it? Imagine filling a Raden Stripe with a SYRINGE. Please.

That is why I fully condone other ways to get your pens filled. Forget Con B for Vanishing Points. And chuck that Con 40 in the bin. What you can replace those abominations with, is the Moonman/Majohn A1 converter which looks and feels like what Con-50 wished it had been before it passed away (RIP). It holds way more ink than Con-40, has no silly ball bearing agitators, or any other agitator, and it’s super reliable. You can get it alongside a few empty cartridges that fit Pilot pens, and that actually seal. Pilot really needs to take some notes.

Nope, not the Con 50 in my VP unit. It’s the Majohn converter. The baggie comes with the little bulb that I don’t really use, and the extra empty cartridge (that fit Pilot pens) and the stopper. So if you wanna refill cartridges, you can put a stopper and go on your merry way. Far right: Con 50.

So perfect. So useful. Shower me with these.

Now, let’s talk about some Parker pens. Everyone and their grandmother has at one point had a Parker pen, and most of them good ones are — vintage. I have a Parker 45 (unbeknownst to me, my first gold nibbed pen, haha), a 50 Flighter (you read that right, 50, and not 51), and a 1938 Vacumatic (irrelevant to this post, but should I have bought it? Debatable). Well, the 45 and 50 both use those vintage squeeze converters you can’t find anymore, and, honestly, you shouldn’t even try to use them or find replicas/replacements that will fail on you in the long run. What they DO take, however, are PENBBS converters (shocker, I know), and those you can get on their official Etsy store with other pen parts for like $8/bag. They fit, and they work well.

Bonus points for Lamy converter fitting in old Parker pens. Left to right: old Parker squeeze converters, PENBBS converter in between Parker 50, and Lamy converter chilling between parts of a PENBBS 308.

Random, but I found a ‘Monteverde mini converter’ for dirt cheap that will fit most pens that take standard international converters. Naturally, there’s no need for you to use them in regular sized pens, but you will absolutely want them in some pens that won’t fit a bigger one. I used one in a Senator pen, but what’s even better — another one of them Chinese pocket pens with a weird name, like ‘Delike glass dip pen’ or some such. They do NOT fit into a Moonman N1, of course (hence my selling it and feeling like I abandoned a kitten at the side of the road).

Full sized standard international and mini converter.

Most Jinhao converters will fit any other Jinhao pen, and that’s pretty cool. Just be mindful that some of them have a bit of a wider lip (think 3.4 vs 2.6 mm), so sometimes it pays to check the small print before you commit to the whooping <$5 for something that might probe to be unusable.

Now… Schon DSGN P6. The only pen that made me cry because yes, you CAN fit a mini converter in it, like a Kaweco one or the ‘Monteverde mini’ but that will barely give you any ink. You can’t do the whole fill because when you try to screw your barrel back on, you’ll have the pen squirt on you. Uncool. All I wanted in life is a converter that will fit P6. No such thing.

In that case, and only in that case where you cannot use any converters… I would strongly suggest getting one of these:

Spring loaded syringe of sorts… got a pack on Amazon for dirt cheap.

That thing is a genius thing. Of course, you’ll have to be careful because quality control is lacking at best, and absolutely non existent at worst. But once you find a good combo, you can say goodbye to syringes (that’s so. much. cleaning good grief), because this little tool will save you quite a lot of time and effort. What’s also cool is that you can use this little device thingy to clean the same cartridge out too, just by squirting water in em.

Again, I think refilling cartridges is stupid but do I still do it? Yes. I never said I was smart.

Generally speaking, cartridges are the green way of using bottled ink; also, most of your cool inks you won’t find in cartridges anyway, so why not just go ahead and get a bottle, and a converter to match your pen (if it didn’t arrive with said pen), or, you know, listen to the all knowing banana aficionado and squirt ink with that spring device thingy.

For the newbies out there, I will say that the first time you use your converter instead of just popping in another cartridge will feel exhilarating, amazing, mind blowing; your eyes will widen, and your jaw will drop. Don’t make that fool you. There are other filling mechanisms out there that will probably knock them socks off your feet. However, please enjoy. Especially if you suffer from OCD and love finding converters to pens that only came with cartridges.

Point in question: Lamy Safari/AL. That pen SHOULD come with a converter, but in most cases, it won’t. You’ll be forced into deciding between that ugly red one or the equally uninteresting black converter. The difference will be the little notches on the red (supposedly to keep the converter in place) vs no notches on the black. I personally do not mind the lack of them as they do not really make a difference in the way I use my pens, but, as the Reddit community says, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

Luckily… sometimes, PENBBS converter will fit Lamy pens and vice versa.

Pilot Metro — doesn’t come with a converter. Please, for the love of everything that is holy and sacred, just get a Moonman/Majohn A1 converter off Aliexpress. You can thank me later. You do not need to suffer with the Con 40. Hell, I bought extra Con-50s on Aliexpress just so I would NEVER have to use the dreaded Con 40.

Close up of the devil, the Con 50, and the perfection that is Majohn A1 converter.

As I said, if you really must use cartridges (you earth killer), you can definitely skip the blunt tip syringe and hop onto the spring push thingy device that will save you the trouble. I mean, if you’re anything like me, you might not like to travel with syringes and wonder if this is the day immigration decides you’re indeed the unwanted person in their area.

Anyway. Please experiment! There’s nothing better in life than experimenting with fountain pens. Converters, nibs, whatever — you can’t go wrong. The only wrong thing is to put aside a pen because you gave up on it without trying everything possible to get it to work.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Converters are the absolute best.

P. S. The content is still and will remain free, but if you’re so inclined, you can always support my work by pledges, and in return, you get my gratitude. And some goodies ;) All donations will go towards banana addictions, and some towards pen stuff.

1. I do not condone harming animals in any shape or form. If you know someone who did in fact kick a puppy, may they have to deal with Con 40 in all of their precious pens. Including Vanishing Point.