# Calling pen nuts. Whats a good parker refill?



## [email protected]

The parker gel ones write great but they last a day... Mayby 2 at school. What's a good smooth writing refill that will actually last?


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## Marduke

The longest lasting Parker size refill would be the Fisher PR refill for it. It will last MANY times longer. They can generally be had for ~$3-4.

Make sure you get at least one that comes with the Parker adapter. 

I keep a blue one in my stainless Jotter and love it.


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## Retinator

I never tried Parker's gel refills yet.

The Fisher (I use an X-750) refills are very smooth, better than the Parkers.

I used to use gel but find them not so good for coated (glossy) paper.

I do prefer gel for the solid intense colors, but always come back to ballpoint.

But yup, gel doesn't last, and water based ink even less.


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## Tac

I'd have to go with the Fisher refills as well. I used my Jotter as my main pen for a while,and the Fisher refill I tried lasted a _while_. I only use my IM and Executive now, sometimes the Vector. I just love rollers. (Yeah yeah, the Exec is a BP, but it's smooth as butter.)


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## Monocrom

Smoothest writing ballpoint refills are the standard versions from Parker, Waterman, and Cross.

Will last you much longer than gel refills, and only about half a notch below the smoothness of gel. 

I used to make my living as a Sales Associate in a high-end pen shop. (Best job I ever had).


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## AlecGold

There is just one refill that rules them all, it is almost unobtainable, I had to threaten the custom rep at the factory (with 15 roses at her office  ). They are made by a company in Germany the make refills for all kinds of pen-manufacturers. They also make 1000-and-1 parts for them, like the inner of a mechanical pencil, fountain pens etc. Look at their website. Even most pen-shop owners don't know this company as it only delivers to other pen manufacturers... 
http://www.schmidttechnology.de/en/schreibgeraete/produkte/easyflow/c_1_9.htm
The easyflow 9000 is the refill that is used by SureFire for the SureFire ballpoint. The last a pretty long time, though not as long as a Goliath from Caran d'Anche and they write super, super smooth, better than any gellpen I've come across. 
And I'm more of a pen nutter than most :$


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## Monocrom

AlecGold said:


> There is just one refill that rules them all, it is almost unobtainable, I had to threaten the custom rep at the factory (with 15 roses at her office  ). They are made by a company in Germany the make refills for all kinds of pen-manufacturers. They also make 1000-and-1 parts for them, like the inner of a mechanical pencil, fountain pens etc. Look at their website. Even most pen-shop owners don't know this company as it only delivers to other pen manufacturers...
> http://www.schmidttechnology.de/en/schreibgeraete/produkte/easyflow/c_1_9.htm


 
Schmidt? Everyone knows Schmidt. 

If I walked into a pen-shop, and the clerk never heard of Schmidt, I'd ask how he was enjoying his first day on the job.


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## AlecGold

Serious? Overhere it is unobtainable, I've had to order from the Netherlands at a guy in Belgium, who could order them in Germany. Took only 14 days to get it, but overhere it is really, really hard to get.

anyway, I really like their easyflow 9000's, but I guess I made that clear already


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## Monocrom

AlecGold said:


> Serious? Overhere it is unobtainable, I've had to order from the Netherlands at a guy in Belgium, who could order them in Germany. Took only 14 days to get it, but overhere it is really, really hard to get.
> 
> anyway, I really like their easyflow 9000's, but I guess I made that clear already


 
Wow! I didn't know things were that bad in the Netherlands.

Yeah, I'm being serious. Schmidt refills are common as dirt here in America. You won't find them in the stationary section of a big name Pharmacy. But you'll easily find them in pen-shops and even in some of the bigger office supply stores.


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## AlecGold

Nah, we have excellent penshops here, it is just that Schmidt doesn't have a market/products here. 
I've bought a nice Sailor with naginata togi nib and a Visconti Wall Street LE


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## Monocrom

Thanks for the clarification.


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## AlecGold

but now I'm curious: what do you think of the Schmidt Easyflow 9000?


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## Monocrom

AlecGold said:


> but now I'm curious: what do you think of the Schmidt Easyflow 9000?


 
It's a good refill. But the majority of my experience with BP refills is with Parker, Waterman, and Cross. And I mean their standard BP refills for their pens. All are incredibly smooth, with Cross out in front. Of the three, only Cross stains my fingers on a continuous basis, due to how smooth the ink flow happens to be.


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## JML

Monteverde's Soft Roll ballpoint refills and the identical Office Depot Foray ballpoint refills for the Parker/DIN standard are superb. I haven't tried the Schmidt Easy Flow version under their own name, but I believe they're all made by Scmidt. These are made in Switzerland with thixotropic ink and write much smoother than older ballpoints and last far longer than gel refills. They don't smear. They don't dry out. They also don't leak silicone fluid, which many gel refills will do (esp. the Parker gel refills).You can get them online, or just go into your local Office Depot.

The same ink is available in refills for other pens, such as ballpoint and rollerballs from Cross, Mont Blanc, Waterman, etc. I have the mini-DIN Monteverde Soft Roll refills (same size as the Lamy and Rotring mini-refills) and they're also great.

Don't get the Monteverde in colors other than blue or black, because those are made in China.

A similar refill is made by Schneider, in Germany.


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## Monocrom

Always avoid the MontBlanc refiils sold in the office supply, chain stores.

M.B. sells their ballpoint and rollerball refills to the high-end, dedicated, pen shops. But many refills produced fail to pass inspection. (They have a strong tendency to leak). These "factory seconds," for lack of a better word, are then sold to the office supply stores at a discount. Discount then passed along to the customer. That's why M.B. refills cost more at dedicated pen shops than at the chain stores.

Technically, both types of places are selling M.B. refills. But one type sells the good stuff, while the other is selling those that failed to pass inspection. No other pen company does that. For example, if you buy a Waterman BP refill at Staples, it's the same one (quality wise) sold at Joon's Pen Shop.


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## BIGLOU

Sorry to go off the OP request but after years of searching for the best pen I found that the Pilot pens are the best. Not only I'm I a flashaholic but also a penaholic. I do a lot of writing at work and and I am very happy with these. The models I get are the Pilot G2 or the G-knock, but I swap out the stock refill UPC #77240 (refills on left) with a Pilot fine point 0.7 mm needle point refill Pilot UPC #77245 (refills on right). I know these arent like executive pens like Parker and Cross but I recommend you guys check these out. People are always like "Oh man this pen writes freaking awesome". Made in Japan so you know it good stuff. LOL.


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## Monocrom

Gel-ink was created because, other than Pelikan, no one was able to make a truly smooth, quality, rollerball refill. While worth the money, not many folks will pay for a Pelikan RB refill. (Not many folks know that Pelikan even exists.)

One of the pens I use at work is a G2 limited, in silver. A nice pen. Refills easy to find, and are indeed quite good. 

Sadly there is no, good, cheap, ballpoint, alternative as far as refills go.


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## xevious

A ballpoint that lasts a long time but has skipping/starting problems is not worth the aggravation. A good writing experience is preferable over duration. I second Pilot G2 refills. Either that, or Schmidt capless refills (which write like firm fine nibbed fountain pens).


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## JML

Pelikan rollerball refills write beautifully when first opened up, but they dry up quickly. They're not the "capless" refill types that were developed later, and which last longer than the previous generation of refills when exposed to air. There's no aftermarket refill that can be used in place of a Pelikan rollerball, unfortunately; the closest is the G2 and clones, but the Pelikan neck is thinner, and the G2 and clones won't fit in Pelikan pens unless you enlarge the hole in the pen, which most Pelikan owners would never do. 

The G2 is OK, but nothing to write home about (pun intended). The Schmidt, Monteverde, and other gel rollers write far nicer, IMHO. 

The Parker, Visconti, and Monteverde gel refills, using the Parker/DIN shape/size standards, usually leak silicone fluid from the BACK end of the refill (the Parker are the worst offenders, by far). And they don't last very long, which is the nature of the watery ink.

The newer generation thixotropic ballpoint refills by Schmidt, the Easy Flow (apparently repackaged by Monteverde as Soft Roll and Office Depot as Foray) are superior in many ways to anything else. There's also another similar refill from Schneider. You really need to try these. They last a very long time, don't smear or blob, are smoother than any regular ballpoint, and don't leak silicone.

Schmidt also offers pressurized ballpoint refills in various sizes, like the Fisher refills. I'm not sure if they make them or if they are rebranded Fishers.


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## JNewell

I have had good luck with the Parker gel refills. I just bought some Itoya gel refills, which are very, very nice to write with. I haven't tried the Schmidt EasyFlow refills - need to do that.


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## Stranger

>Parden me for jumping into this thread. 

>I do a great amount of journaling and have recently found a new LOVE in writing intruments. Never owned a high-end ballpoint pen.

>I visited the Schmidt site posted earlier but couldn't find prices or order forms. Can anyone help point me torward a good pen, that I can buy ?


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## pck50

Fisher, Will do excellent!


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## goodfellas

Of ballpoint pens, how about a Cross Classic Century? I got like four of them, among other ballpoints. But I love Cross ballpoint pens the most. I like Parker pens too. Both of them are great because you can easily find the refills. As for roller ball pens, go with either Cross (Classic Century or Century II, both of which use a dark gel ink), or Waterman (which allows you to use Pilot G2 or similarly shaped refills). Of all my pens, the ones I use most often are the Cross Classic Century ballpoint (broad tip), Cross Century II rollerball, Waterman Laureat rollerball (discontinued; I put a Pentel Engergel refill in it), and a Waterman Expert II (I put a Foray gel refill for Pilot G2 pens in it). Also, I tend to use very often a rollerball made from www.djbpens.com (a promotional pens site with some very nice pens that can be customized). The model I use is the Portofino. Again, this can take G2 or similarly shaped refills too.


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## Monocrom

A.T. Cross was excellent . . . before they decided to **** away their good name by having their pen lines cheaply made in China. Vintage Cross? Definitely worth it.


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## ico

Just received a fisher pen I bought last Feb. On initial testing, it is smooth like my Parker does but I can only test it when in class since I don't write very much at home, well except for home works which I don't have as of the moment.

I'm fine with my Parker before but I have gone through 3 refills which had the problem of not writing the first time from a rest and would sometime skip. When I get it to write, it will write smoothly. Say I'm finished for today, when I try it a gain later or tomorrow, I have a hard time making it write again. BTW I'm using the ordinary jotter from Parker.

Would a Cross refill also fit a Parker Jotter BP?

Another question is about the claim of Fisher that their PR pen would write up to 15,000 feet with a single refill(depending on writing style). How long would a Parker refill be compared to Fishers'?


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## Monocrom

ico said:


> Just received a fisher pen I bought last Feb. On initial testing, it is smooth like my Parker does but I can only test it when in class since I don't write very much at home, well except for home works which I don't have as of the moment.
> 
> I'm fine with my Parker before but I have gone through 3 refills which had the problem of not writing the first time from a rest and would sometime skip. When I get it to write, it will write smoothly. Say I'm finished for today, when I try it a gain later or tomorrow, I have a hard time making it write again. BTW I'm using the ordinary jotter from Parker.
> 
> Would a Cross refill also fit a Parker Jotter BP?
> 
> Another question is about the claim of Fisher that their PR pen would write up to 15,000 feet with a single refill(depending on writing style). How long would a Parker refill be compared to Fishers'?



The older Parker refills were much better than the current versions out today. Most likely a cost-cutting measure which translates into use of inferior inks. I recall years ago having an old Parker refill that sat just underneath my desk lamp. Sat open and exposed for nearly 7 years. One day, I ended up needing it. (At the time, I collected pens. So generally just grabbed another one if the one I was using ran out of ink.) That old refill performed as if I had just bought it that day, and taken it out of the packaging. That's how good they used to be. 

Nowadays, I recommend going with the Parker-style refills made by Hauser, with the "Hauser" name printed on the refill. I found them initially at Office Depot. Very smooth writing, with quality ink that doesn't skip. A year or two from now? Who knows . . . Maybe the Hauser branded refills will also become junk. Parker isn't what it used to be. 

Cross is one of the very few companies out there that have not standardized on a Parker-style refill for their ballpoint pens. A Cross refill will not remotely fit properly inside a Parker Jotter. 

Can't help you with regards to how long a Parker refill will write compared to a Fisher refill. For the average person, a quality ballpoint refill will last 3 to 5 years. Once again, this is average use. I once had a standard Cross ballpoint refill last one month. But that was with extremely heavy use at an 8 hour job that required absolutely constant writing. 3 to 5 years is a realistic average for most folks.


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## ico

The quality about Parker is true I guess. My sister had one when she was still in college(10 years ago) and she just replaced it one or 2 years ago. My very first lasted 2 years, I guess that is still good but the new refills I buy are crap which doesn't last even a year. They still write but not as smooth nor consistent as new so I just threw them away.

I'll try to look for those Hauser brand. There is only 1 pen shop I know and it is also somehow far from where I live.


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## flashflood

Monocrom said:


> The older Parker refills were much better than the current versions out today. Most likely a cost-cutting measure which translates into use of inferior inks.



Yep. The big slip in quality happened in 1993, when they were acquired by Gillette (which also makes the low-end PaperMate). It was heartbreaking for those of us who really care about great pens -- something akin to watching Surefire be acquired by Ultrafire.

We seem to have a lot of pen experts here, so let me ask: for someone who thought the pre-1993 Parker Jotter was perfection, what would you recommend today?


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## Monocrom

flashflood said:


> We seem to have a lot of pen experts here, so let me ask: for someone who thought the pre-1993 Parker Jotter was perfection, what would you recommend today?



In the same price range as the older Parker Jotter? Honestly . . . nothing!

I did once encounter a few of the older Jotters in a window display at a Tourist / Stationary store close to Madison Square Garden here in NYC. Tried to buy a couple of them. But the clerk was behaving like a complete dumb-***. Kept telling me he had plenty Jotters up front. Yeah, I know. All of them the current version. He was lazy, simply did not want to reach into the display and pull them out. My blood pressure started going up, so I walked out. For me, it wasn't worth the headache that was coming on.

There are probably still a few New Old Stock (NOS) Jotters lying about in small Mom & Pop stationary stores. For some, it would be worth tracking them down.


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## Slazmo

I've got a huge colour range in the Parker pens and to be honest the refills here in Aus are lacking... I purchased all I could of the old ink style refills as I herd that Parker were only going to bring into Aus the Gell refills...

The Gell refills only last typically 4 months or less of intermittent writing each day - nothing reliable within regards to the ink refills. I love my EDC Parker and am going to regret the day that I have to resort to the Gel refills! Nothing nice about carrying a pen and a refill on you every day to have it bust open in your pocket if it bends or pop's open!

Other than that, we dont have much in the way as speciality pen shops where I am on the Gold Coast, only one but the owner is a really crabby old asian guy that detests me asking about Parker I'M and Urban's and their refills - as he says "they're rubbish"...

So I'm going to have to look for something that'll replace the OEM Parker refills, even if I have to buy online.


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## Monocrom

Try Hauser refills. They're currently the best ones in terms of ink flow for a ballpoint refill that will fit inside a Jotter. (May have to order them online though.)


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## tam17

Never had any issues with original Parker Medium blue refills. Twin pack usually gets me covered for the next 2-3 years


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## Quality Pens

The best refill for a Parker style pen is the Schmidt 9000. This refill gives you the ultra smooth rollerball experience in a ballpoint pen. Use this side by side and you will be sold on the Schmidt 9000. As a pen maker this is what I put in my pens. I also use it in my personal pens.



Slazmo said:


> I've got a huge colour range in the Parker pens and to be honest the refills here in Aus are lacking... I purchased all I could of the old ink style refills as I herd that Parker were only going to bring into Aus the Gell refills...
> 
> The Gell refills only last typically 4 months or less of intermittent writing each day - nothing reliable within regards to the ink refills. I love my EDC Parker and am going to regret the day that I have to resort to the Gel refills! Nothing nice about carrying a pen and a refill on you every day to have it bust open in your pocket if it bends or pop's open!
> 
> Other than that, we dont have much in the way as speciality pen shops where I am on the Gold Coast, only one but the owner is a really crabby old asian guy that detests me asking about Parker I'M and Urban's and their refills - as he says "they're rubbish"...
> 
> So I'm going to have to look for something that'll replace the OEM Parker refills, even if I have to buy online.


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## okester

Here's a comparison of some refills which might be of interest to you, just fyi... Some Parker style refills were tested for their smudginess by Jack Roman for his Ultimate Titanium Clicky Pen on ks recently, if that helps (sometimes, the criteria for a good refill is based on its smoothness and that it dries relatively quickly)...
​


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## bestexecutive

Parker Pens create an elegant writing experience! It is very nice..


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## tm3

interesting thread. i'm going to try to get some of these refills to try in the jotter as i really like its size and operation.

there must be some individual taste differences as i find the stock parker refill pretty bad, and cross refills are not much better. both have relatively poor flow and are kind of "pasty."

it would be nice if the uniball jetstream or the G2 fit the jotter.


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## Jumpmaster

The Parker Quink gel refill is the smoothest I've used. Dries a bit faster than other gel inks.


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## zold

Monocrom said:


> A.T. Cross was excellent . . . before they decided to **** away their good name by having their pen lines cheaply made in China. Vintage Cross? Definitely worth it.



What year did Cross sell out?


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## Monocrom

I don't know the exact year. But it wasn't very long ago. Same story with every brand based in America that switches operations to China. They go with the bottom-of-the-barrel, lowest price; and quality plummets. Same story every time. Yeah, you can find companies in China willing to make quality products for you at a good savings. For some bizarre reason, the only thing former American companies want is whoever offers to make their goods cheaper than dust (forget dirt).

Name an American company that relocated manufacturing to China, it's the same story.


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## BauXite

I like the Parker Quink flow refill. The Schmidt 9000 is my next choice, but they don't last long. A lot of people recommend the fine Fisher Space pen refill which would be third on my list.


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## Jumpmaster

Fisher pressurized refills always get globs of ink on the end. They used to not do this (like twenty years ago), but lately, all the ones I've had are a mess and do not write smoothly.

I highly recommend everyone try the Parker Quink gel ink refills. Worlds better than Schmidt, Fisher, etc...

For writing on Rite in the Rain paper, I always use a fine-tip Sharpie...works the best out of any others I've tried and I have seen tests where people have subjected the ink (after writing on RITR paper) to soaking and the Sharpie seemed to not run or bleed much at all. The others did not fare as well.


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## techwg

Jumpmaster said:


> Fisher pressurized refills always get globs of ink on the end. They used to not do this (like twenty years ago), but lately, all the ones I've had are a mess and do not write smoothly.
> 
> I highly recommend everyone try the Parker Quink gel ink refills. Worlds better than Schmidt, Fisher, etc...
> 
> For writing on Rite in the Rain paper, I always use a fine-tip Sharpie...works the best out of any others I've tried and I have seen tests where people have subjected the ink (after writing on RITR paper) to soaking and the Sharpie seemed to not run or bleed much at all. The others did not fare as well.


For me, the only time I get any blobs of ink on the end is if I write at a very shallow angle. Maybe such a thing is fine with a fountain pen, but when using a ballpoint pen it is best to write more upright. I have no issues with blobs of ink when I write normally, upright.


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## Jumpmaster

techwg said:


> For me, the only time I get any blobs of ink on the end is if I write at a very shallow angle. Maybe such a thing is fine with a fountain pen, but when using a ballpoint pen it is best to write more upright. I have no issues with blobs of ink when I write normally, upright.



I'm not talking about it getting globs on the end while writing. I'm saying they get globs of ink on the end while just sitting there being stored with the cap on...at ANY angle. Every time I open up one of my space pens to use it, it has a bunch of ink on the end and it doesn't matter what direction it's been stored in...it's because it's a pressurized cartridge. Doesn't really have much to do with angles.


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