Parker Reflex Blue

[DLHollis]

For my first review on the FPN I figured I should start with the first fountain pen I ever owned - or at least, a surviving incarnation of it. At some point when I was around ten or eleven I decided that I had spent enough time writing with the Berol 'Handwriting' pens that seemed to be obligatory for all schoolchildren at the time, and started bugging my mother for a fountain pen. Well, first I may have 'borrowed' a Parker Vector that spent most of its time, boxed and unused, in the sideboard. That Christmas, my mother apparently convinced that this was not just a temporary fancy on my part, I found a black Parker Reflex under the tree.

 

 

The Nuts and Bolts

 

The Parker Reflex was produced between 2000 and 2007 and, as a fountain pen, came in four different colours: black, blue, green, and red. The blue, green, and red iterations are all slightly 'sparkly'. It is a lightweight plastic pen and is 5 and a half inches in length capped, a little over 5 inches uncapped, and just over 6 posted. Between the barrel and the section is a silver band, which is either plastic or very thin metal. The section itself features a cross-hatched rubber grip. The steel nib is slightly hooded and embellished only with the word "Parker" immediately above the hood. The cap features what I think of as the classic Parker clip, echoing their logo, and both the top of the cap and the end of the barrel in matte black plastic for a very austere hint of detail.

 

 

The Memories

So: first, the experience as I remember it. I loved that pen. Indeed, I loved it to death. I write with my third finger bent and the fingertip pressing against the very end of the grip. This meant that my fingernail was positioned just where the rubber meets the hard plastic section below the nib. Over the course of a couple of years of schoolwork, this meant that I slowly wore a hole through the rubber layer. For whatever reason, this resulted in the pen leaking out of that hole whenever I held it. I had inky hands a lot. The cap also split, as the snap cap essentially relied on it being just a little too tight when closed, and the plastic gave up after a while.

I'm not quite sure how many Reflexes I've got through over the past thirteen years or so, but it must be at least three, maybe as many as five. I know I've owned one in every colour apart from green (and a tiny, nostalgic part of me is tempted to go on ebay after finishing this to correct that omission). The one I'm holding today is blue, but I think it may be my second blue one. Who knows. I guess that says something about the Reflex - it's not a pen to get heartbroken over when it breaks. I think they probably cost around £10 new when they were still on sale in brick and mortar stationers.

 

 

The test

I don't think I've written with my Reflex for at least three or four years, and here's another insight into the Parker: it's not really the kind of pen you consciously put away, cleaned out. So there was a bit of gunk to wash out when I picked it up today, and though I've inked it with Diamine Imperial Purple there was clearly enough black ink left in the feed for it still to be showing very dark. In spite of this mistreatment, though, after a few false starts the ink is flowing well, which is quite impressive.

So: my thoughts today. Firstly, the looks. It's obviously not a great beauty. I now own flashier pens (thanks to a Jinhao phase...) and lovelier pens. But I must admit that there's still a small teenage part of myself that quite enjoys the faintly glittery blue finish. I remember thinking it was the coolest looking pen ever (certainly compared to those Berol Handwriters...), and I guess that's what matters.

 

Secondly, and most importantly, the writing. I'm fairly sure I have a M nib on this one (I can't find any indication either way anywhere, but I've always preferred mediums), but it lays a fairly thick line - certainly thicker than, say, a Monteverde M. I wouldn't say it's a scratchy nib so much as a noisy nib. Writing is very comfortable, with no need for unecessary pressure, but on the paper the nib sounds more like a pencil than the fountain pens I've become accustomed to. For some reason the grip feels oddly cramped, and it can't just be size, as I frequently use pens that are just as slim without them feeling the same: something about the proportions or the curve of the grip doesn't feel as comfortable as I'd ideally like. Writing with it has also reminded me that I had really quite large handwriting when I was at high school, and I think the line it lays down kind of encourages that, which is interesting.

 

And finally...

Well, having spilt much proverbial ink on the Reflex, what more can one say about a discontinued, ten quid student pen? Just that, really - that it was and, if it were in production, still would be a great pen to give to a twelve year-old for their first fountain pen. I think in the early 2000s, and certainly compared to the Vector, it had a nice clean, 'youthful' look that certainly appealed to my teenaged self. It's not a stylish writer but it's a neat, serviceable one, and it got me through many thousands of words of handwritten school exams. For old times' sake, I might keep this one inked up for a little while.

 

[The Blue Knight]

My first fountain pen was a reflex too I think in 2002 maybe. I remember it being very comfortable I do mean to buy another (i think the old one died a long time ago) at some point however they do have a tendency to crack around the lower portion of the cap though.

[inkstainedruth]

When I started journaling (about a decade or so ago at this point) I bought what I think was a Parker Reflex, because I thought something fun like a fountain pen would make me more likely to write daily until I got into the habit. When the rubberized section wore down to the metal, I bought a second one as a replacement; but when the same thing happened to the second one, I couldn't find them at Staples any more. But I needed something that would take the Parker cartridges and ended up "upgrading" to a Vector.

I don't have the other pens anymore -- I either tossed them in the trash or put them into a "Pick a Prize" raffle. But I liked them, and they were blue, and serviceable, and I wasn't sure I would like the Vector at first because it had an F nib and the Reflexes both had M nibs.

Thanks for making me think back to where I had begun.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[bone215]

oh gosh

my first fountain pen?

Sheaffer cartridge pen somewhat pre 1965!

[bone215]

nice review by the way

good to remember those old pens

[overwriter]

Though I had inherited my grandfather's hoard this was the first fountain pen that I bought myself. I liked it, still do and it encouraged me to dig out my grandfather's pens.

 

This is how it all started. Maybe I shouldn't like it.