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Fpr “Himalaya” Flex Versus Ultra Flex?

NewPenMan

By NewPenMan
in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop

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NewPenMan Vintage

NewPenMan

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SBRE gives a glowing review with video proof of this pens fine writing and flex. The Himalaya he reviewed was regular flex. There is available an ultra flex - the nib with the half-moon cutouts to allow the nib tines to spread wider and/or with less pressure.

 

Can anyone testify as to how this ultra flex nib writes?

 

Thank you!

Edited by NewPenMan

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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omarcenaro Extremely Rare

omarcenaro

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Has anyone here compared the two in the #6 nib size? I would assume the main difference is the amount of pressure needed to flex would be less on the ultra.

None of us knows how long he shall live or when his time will come. But soon all that will be left of our brief lives is the pride our children feel when they speak our names.

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Enkida Extremely Rare

Enkida

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I've only got the old 5.5 nibs, but I had a flex and two ultra flexes. My gut feeling is that while the flex is a perfectly good nib, if you're buying this pen to flex it, which you probably are, then just go straight to the ultra flex. You don't need as much pressure to get line variation and that is always a good thing, in my book.

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Events may be horrible or inescapable. Men always have a choice - if not whether, then how they endure.


- Lois McMaster Bujold

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omarcenaro Extremely Rare

omarcenaro

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I've only got the old 5.5 nibs, but I had a flex and two ultra flexes. My gut feeling is that while the flex is a perfectly good nib, if you're buying this pen to flex it, which you probably are, then just go straight to the ultra flex. You don't need as much pressure to get line variation and that is always a good thing, in my book.

Thank you so much for that information. That's what I was needing. I going to order now a FPR Himalaya Fountain Pen (#6 Nib) Ultra Flex.

Edited by Ozzy1

None of us knows how long he shall live or when his time will come. But soon all that will be left of our brief lives is the pride our children feel when they speak our names.

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Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

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Ultra Flex is much better for flexy calligraphy type writing. Much more flexible. Great nib in general.

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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omarcenaro Extremely Rare

omarcenaro

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Sounds good. I am all in. I ordered the pen and some extra nibs for some nib swaps on some other pens. Plus they gave me a free pen and shipping was free.

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None of us knows how long he shall live or when his time will come. But soon all that will be left of our brief lives is the pride our children feel when they speak our names.

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Honeybadgers Donor Pen

Honeybadgers

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I personally hate the ultra flex. I find it extremely mushy.

 

If you want a cheap, ready to go pen SPECIFICALLY for flex calligraphy and don't plan on using it for normal writing, I think it'll do well. But If you also want to use the pen for daily writing, the basic flex nib is the way to go.

 

I don't have the FPR #6, but I suspect it's the same nib as the noodlers #6 (the #5's are the same, just with some better tuning on the FPR nib) and the #5 noodlers/FPR nib is MUCH more flexible than the noodlers #6. The noodlers #6 flex is surprisingly hard, and the #5 in the creaper/regular himalaya is a solid "firm" vintage semiflex.

 

The himalaya itself, however, is a stellar pen. I love my ebonite #5 one to death. I suspect once you get yours, you'll want another.

 

If you decide you find the FPR ultraflex too mushy and want a nib that will keep up better and still have good snapback, PM me. I make custom steel flex nibs very cheaply.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Intensity Collectors Item

Intensity

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I'm personally a fan of the ultraflex nib for regular writing. I write with a light hand, and so there's only a subtle amount of line variation produced with ultraflex nibs and a lot of character, with quite thin hairlines on something like crossed "t"s. I enjoy the effect of that variation + extra ink flow. It produces the look of vintage dip pen writing you might see on correspondence documents from 100+ years ago without any effort on my part, especially when using various brown-toned inks, including olive-green-browns.

Edited by Intensity

“I admit it, I'm surprised that fountain pens are a hobby. ... it's a bit like stumbling into a fork convention - when you've used a fork all your life.” 

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Jamerelbe

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Put me down as another fan of the #6 Ultra flex (I have 2) - it requires *much* less pressure to spread the tines, and requires quite a light touch to write "normally". The regular flex nibs feel almost nail-like by comparison...

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Honeybadgers Donor Pen

Honeybadgers

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I'm personally a fan of the ultraflex nib for regular writing. I write with a light hand, and so there's only a subtle amount of line variation produced with ultraflex nibs and a lot of character, with quite thin hairlines on something like crossed "t"s. I enjoy the effect of that variation + extra ink flow. It produces the look of vintage dip pen writing you might see on correspondence documents from 100+ years ago without any effort on my part, especially when using various brown-toned inks, including olive-green-browns.

 

I just don't like the feel of the flex. it's got poor snapback. It's why I designed my custom nibs to have the same flex, but actually snap back like a gold nib.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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lysander Near Mint

lysander

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I agree on the feel of the FPR ultra flex #5.5 nib.

What's more mine has a tendency to be too wet when flexing which makes it overall hard to get controllable lines.

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Enkida Extremely Rare

Enkida

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Hmm. I don't like my ultraflex for flex writing that much, but I had always chalked that up to not actually knowing how to flex write, other than "don't put pressure on the upward strokes" as a general rule of thumb. Trying to use that rule with the normal flex nib gave me hand fatigue, and it was much less with the ultra-flex. What I do find is that I agree with Intensity about the way it writes for normal writing; I always thought I had a mid-to-heavy hand pressure when writing, but I find it easy to write with the ultra flex nibs and get pretty much the same result as I do with my normal steel-nibbled Pelikan M200s, which have a bit of bounce to them too - though I wouldn't call the Pelikans flex nibs at all. The main difference is that the FPR pens are gushers no matter whether you use pressure on them or not, so I think it's especially great for inks that you want be applied very wet to the page - the dip pen with out the hassle of dipping. This is true of both the flex and ultra flex nibs.

 

I still say, if you're trying these pens out to flex, go with the one that is easier to flex. Flex writing isn't meant to be a struggle, as far as I know. Well, maybe to get it to be aesthetically pleasing. :lol:

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Events may be horrible or inescapable. Men always have a choice - if not whether, then how they endure.


- Lois McMaster Bujold

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NewPenMan Vintage

NewPenMan

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Good observations, Enkida

 

There are loads of videos showing enviable flex-pen skill, often with the ahabs and konrads..maybe a matter of practice, practice, practice? < Im thinking of myself with that comment..Im not even close to having enough skill to write something of presentation quality in flex hand.

Edited by NewPenMan

Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 66 and Pocket 40: both with Matsuyama CI | Karas Kustoms Aluminum, Daniel Smith CI | Italix Parson's Essential and Freshman's Notator | Pilot Prera | Pilot Metropolitan | Lamy Safari, 1.1mm italic | Muji "Round Aluminum Pen" | Waterman Phileas | Noodler's Konrad | Nemosine Singularity 0.6mm stub | ASA Nauka, acrylic and ebonite | Gama Hawk | Wality Airmail | Noodlers Ahab | TWSBI GO | Noodlers Charlie | Pilot Plumix |

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