The Integrity 5Th

[eharriett]

Ive had a passing on and off curiosity with these newer Parker pens. Not quite a fountain pen, or a rollerball, or anything. And the prices have come down on them enough that I might be interested in trying one out finally. Any thoughts on them?

 

Additionally, looking them up, I saw they had a number of colors of inks when they came out but now all Im finding is boring black or blue. Did they stop making the other colors?

[peroride]

This would deter me

https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2016/7/14/when-promises-are-not-delivered-the-parker-5th

[eharriett]

Read that. It did not, me.

[peroride]

I'm all in for innovation and wished Parker would continue the 51, 61 ... progression.

 

Seeing the Ingenuity was a sign of outside thinking but I cannot get pass the cons: proprietary refill and no change in writing experience; it does look fancy pantsy though:

• SBREBrown: independent review
• Goldspot: Retail review

In the foray of non-FP

 

I got a Noodler's Brush Ahab thinking I was going to get rollerball tips but the Ahab dries out so quickly that I abandoned that idea.

 

Next up was a Yookers Metis which works great but so finicky about priming the felt tip that it took a backseat to regular fountain pen use.

 

I finally settled on simpler innovation (clutch in section) that covers all means of rollerball/ballpoint and fountain pen: Big Idea Design Ti Ultra It knocks off the con of proprietary refills by taking them all in and fulfills fountain duties as well

 

I'd love to see companies look at innovation from mechanical pencil design like my Platinum Pro Use 171 with spring dampening

 

Hey Newell, royalty-free 8th technology idea from peroride:

 

Parker 81: same superlative Parker 51 hooded nib/collector/breather tube section married with a piston dampener (think mountain bikes or spring based Pro Use 171 ) you could even throw in the old P75 rotational nib as a marketing gimmick along with parts from the Rubbermaid skunkworks labs to lighten the load

[donnweinberg]

I have one of the Parker "5th Generation" pens, and I consider it to be an overpriced felt-tip pen. The fake FP-like hood serves to prevent bending the refill's tip too much. It's a fine felt-tip, but I felt that the fake hood was a "trick" to give the pen a more FP-like look and justify the higher price. I'm a Parker fan, but I'm not impressed with this model.

[Parker51]

I once had one as when they first came out they were not clearly identified as a felt tip pen with a fake nib. They appeared to be a Fountain Pen and so my wife purchased one for me for me. We were both rather disappointed once I opened it up (she had not seen it up close, only online and it came gift wrapped from the Department Store she ordered it from). The pen was returned.

So, I can tell you it is a felt tip pen that uses proprietary felt tipped units and it has a clearly visible fake nib.

[eharriett]

I contacted Parker a bit ago. The stopped making every color refill for it except black and blue. That makes it a hard pass for me. Everything else can be great, but I gotta have more than black and blue.

[Matlock]

When they first came out I tried one and, although it wrote well, I was not prepared to pay that sort of money for a felt tip pen. Quite some time later I purchased one on line for a song and used it for a while but found the refills dried up rather quickly. However this all reminds me of a time, back in the early 1970s, when I was working in London and one of my colleagues came in with a Parker 45 Fibre Tip pen, quite cheap and it wrote well. Another of my colleagues said that he was going to get one and popped out to the local W.H.Smith, he came back with a couple of refills saying "I'm not paying that sort of money on a pen when the refill is just as good". He never did buy a pen but just used the refills. So if you like the idea of a fine tip Parker 5th, just buy the refill.

[donnweinberg]

I agree with eharriett that by limiting the Parker proprietary refills solely to black and blue, there now is absolutely no reason for me ever to purchase another 5th-G, and very little reason even to use the one I have. I'm keeping it in my collection, though; maybe they'll be popular oddities in 30 years (when I'm probably gone anyway).

[Parker51]

I have a Parker 45 felt tipped pen with three refills, all supposedly in different colors. I haven't bothered to see if it will write yet.

[mikerph]

I have the identical pen mentioned in the article above. I tried to use it at work- I could only get 1-2 weeks use out of a refill, and the fiber tip would wear down with use broadening the file and almost becoming italic. The refills were expensive and nothing else would fit the pen.I retired it. i have a feeling that the 5th system will go away and be another short run experiment that will be collectible in the future like the VP and T-1.

[amberleadavis]

I tried one back when Paradise pens was still in business. What a disappointment. It was a fake fountain pen.

[Matlock]

I have the identical pen mentioned in the article above. I tried to use it at work- I could only get 1-2 weeks use out of a refill, and the fiber tip would wear down with use broadening the file and almost becoming italic. The refills were expensive and nothing else would fit the pen.I retired it. i have a feeling that the 5th system will go away and be another short run experiment that will be collectible in the future like the VP and T-1.

 

I fully agree except that, perhaps you should wash your mouth out when comparing the 5th with the VP and T-1

[PAKMAN]

I tried one out at Vanness Pen Shop when they first came out and really disliked it.

[welch]

I never thought it was a fountain pen, although I hoped for something more than another a fiber-tipped pen. The weight, finish, and price make it seem to be some sort of a gift pen in these days when few people have seen a fountain pen, and even fewer have used one.

 

I found that:

 

- the filler can be flipped over, which slightly lengthens the time before it gets worn to a sliver. The advertising blurb that it "quickly adjusts to your hand" is bunk, or an advertiser's way of covering the fact that the tip wears quickly...unlike, say, the original Sanford Expresso.

 

- When I used one, I would dunk it in an ink bottle, which seemed to put in more ink. That might also a way to get more colors.

[Matlock]

Another example of a company coming out with the answer to a question that no one has ever asked. I wonder how many Parker actually sell?

[thx1138]

I have a couple and quite like how they write. Not a fountain pen by any means but a reasonably nice fibre tip. One has been going for a couple of years on the same refill and still works like new.

[Scrawler]

When Parker first released the Integrity 5th Ernst Bittermann and myself received early examples to review. My review is is a PDF somewhere on this site, but you can read Ernst's review here: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/206347-parker-ingenuity/

 

They should remove the "nib" and stop trying to pretend it was anything but a decent fiber tipped pen. The refills threatened to become expensive. You are tied to a manufacturer for refills and at their mercy if they stop production. I eventually gave my test example to a guy who needed something to use while inspecting building sites who wanted something that looked like his perceived status.

[amberleadavis]

Scrawler, "perceived status" is a very witty phrase. Thanks for the link to the great review.

[cabbie]

We had a fancy demo station for these when I worked at Paradise Pen. They drew a lot of attention for walk-ins. Neat idea but only available in higher end models that made it cost prohibitive for most. It was a good ice breaker though to talk to customers about fountain pens or rollerballs. I have one but can't ever remember using mine.

Sitting in my collection and waiting to be a future novelty like Liquid Leads.