So, I selected Fisher, Schmidt, and the Goliath by Caran d'Ache. Why? 1) Mostly, any pen that I have which can handle a 'Parker' style refill I'll refill next with a Fisher. I just trust the Fisher refill in a broader range of circumstances. 2) There are some, both bp and rb, for which a Fisher just wouldn't work out. Schmidt makes a refill for most any pen... 3) I have a number of Caran d'Ache type 849 pens. These take the 'Goliath'. Have yet to find a Fisher refill or Schmidt that works in them. L'chaim! Moshe ben David
Interesting topic. I've been kind of lukewarm to EDCing a pen, at least on body (have several in my bag), but I'm warming up to it. I don't write much on paper, just some notes. I'm thinking that would place my preference more toward the Fisher pens as I (think I) value robustness and dependability above writing comfort. I wont touch the poll as I have no experience, just sharing my thoughts.
Fisher and Schmidt. I have a couple of Zebra F701's with the Fisher Space Pen refill that I like to keep in my EDC/Outdoors kits along with a Rite In The Rain notepad. Schmidt refills for my Retro 51 pens. I didn't pick a 3rd since my favorite refills after these two would be a tie between Uni-Ball and Zebra (I like the Sarasa refills). I just picked up a Ti Arto not too long ago. That should be a good reason to try out refills from some of the manufacturers listed in your poll.
For gel pens, I'm very fond of the Energel .5 needle point refills. For ballpoints, I use the Fisher fine point blue pressurized refill. For anything that takes a Pilot G2 refill, I like the Pilot Precise v5 refill. I can't stand G2s so I switch them to a rollerball. --flatline
Parker Quinkflow fine and medium refills with black ink are great. The intensity of the blue ink is too weak. Monteverdi Parker style gel refills are good and blue/black ink is available. Schmidt ballpoint refills are available in broad, which Parker Quinkflow refills are not.
Schmidt makes the best classic ball point refills I have found. Great ink colour and it flows so well. They also are one of the only classic pen refills that performs well in the fine widths. Mostly I use very fine refills (under 0.5mm). OHTO makes some great needle points but my go to refill is Pilot G2 gel at 0.38mm. Uni-ball also makes some great refills (Signo) down to 0.18mm but they are a lot harder to get in Canada. I think all my pens in my standard rotation are currently loaded with Pilot G2s at 0.38mm in various colours.
This poll is invalid without Uni. Their Signo gel and Jetstream refills are the ones I keep coming back to. Their Power Tank pens are also good "write anywhere under any condition" Fisher alternatives. Just about perfect.
Ink refill in my world is called a convertor or ink cartridge. The ink is the thing: Diamine, Kaweco or J Herbin or Noodlers. Feed into and EDC fountain pen like a Kaweco Sport or a Lamy CP1 and you will be glad. tbzbbt
I went with Fisher, Parker Schmidt. Start at bottom, I am not that familiar with Schmidt, but I like it. One of my all time favourites is the Parker gel. I can write the neatest with it, no idea why this is but? But also it smudges(very little, just enough to give ledgers pages a dirty look) so I have to give the nod to either Fisher fine blue or Parker fine quinkflow blue. Somebody said they didn't like the colour of the parker blue, some do seem very faint.. I have found a heavier pen helps. But day in day out always seems to be a fisher in my hand ,usually a capomatic. also I have two benchmade 1100s. they come with either a medium or a bold blue refill, Mine anyways. these two pens seem to write so nice compared to other fishers that it has to be the weight of the pen
You might want to do some research on the Parker Gel refills. A few years back there was chatter on several websites/forums (see especially Fountain Pen Network) that Parker Gel refills were oozing some sort of clear lubricant. I went through my collection and confirmed this was the case even though my pens are stored indoors and don't experience extended extreme temps. I ended up pulling all Parker Gel refills out of pens and much effort cleaning up. I have no idea if this problem was ever fixed by Parker or not. I just don't use Parker Gel refills as a consequence. Just don't want to deal with this again. YMMV... just be cautious! L'chaim! Moshe ben David
Thanks for the heads up @Moshe ben David. I've just checked the Parker refills in my jotters purchased 3-4 years ago and found the oozing clear, sticky substance coming from the ink plug end of both gel refills and (to a lesser extent) one of the ballpoint refills. It's a highly viscous material that is used to stop the ink from spilling out the end. You can see this in many refills that have a plastic tube. Last year or so I 've been moving to Schmidt for the parkers anyways... but glad to discover this mess. Now to clean up my SS Jotter's :| Thanks Rf
Interesting. None of my Parker ink refills seemed to have the problem. I purged all Parker gel refills from pens and my personal inventory. Schmidt are a good way to go. I also have a selection of refills from Levenger; I suspect Schmidt manufactured them. Once I use these up -- assuming I ever do -- I'll probably just standardize on Fisher refills with the fine point. Unlike the Fisher medium point, the fine point don't seem to 'blob'! L'chaim! Moshe ben David
Agreed! The Fisher Fine are a fav and have replaced all the med refills that came in my Fisher space pens. No blobs woo hoo! Fisher-Schmidt-Pilot-Uni RF
G-2 in O.38 or 0.40, or Hi-Tec C in 0.40mm black ink. Medical records won't let you use any other color ink. These 2 refills work well with 3 Copy Carbonless Paper Exam Sheets.
Always have a black G2 or G2 Mini with (trimmed) 0.38 refill near by. For the Skilcraft B3's black position I found Uni makes the D1 Jetstream SXR-200-05. A super upgrade over the stock med refills RF
