Bexley Pocket Pro Fountain Pen Review

For a style of pen so common in standard pens, it is difficult to find a pocket fountain pen that checks all of the boxes. The Bexley Pocket Pro does all of that, and then some.

The key feature of most pocket fountain pens is the ability to post to a full-sized writing length when in use, but remain small and compact when its time to stash it in a pocket or bag. At 4-1/2” inches when closed and a full 5-3/4” when posted, the Pocket Pro is right on the money. The 4-1/4” unposted writing length works for quick notes as well.

The first surprise I encountered was when it came time to ink it up. I unscrewed the barrel to pop in a short international cartridge only to find a converter in place. I rolled my eyes at this because my experience with other similar converters has been poor, but this one pulled in a good 3/4ths fill right out of the gate. The only thing to be aware of is the converter post doesn’t lock in place, so don’t bump it when reassembling the barrel.

Bexley’s steel nib was another big plus for me. It is firm, which I enjoy, and without knowing this for a fact, I assume it was tuned before shipping. It writes flawlessly with the perfect amount of ink flow. It’s also nice to see a #6 sized nib in a pocket pen.

The acrylic color of this model is called Old Amber, although my son has taken to calling it the Tiger pen. It is a great look, as are the other four colors available. The clip is a nice plus too. It slides on and off, so there could be some movement if your are clipping it to a tough spot. In general, I find it stays put for most basic uses.

I’m picky when testing and analyzing pens, but as I have used the Bexley Pocket Pro over the last few weeks I am hard pressed to find anything I would change. Maybe a same-colored section instead of black? An all-steel colored nib option? That is nit-picking at its finest. Even the $99 price tag is right in line with where it should be.

I’m glad to see another quality entrant into the world of pocket fountain pens. Well done Bexley!

(Federalist Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Bexley Phoenix Fountain Pen Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Bexley Phoenix collection includes four colors: black with a clear barrel, red with a clear barrel, blue velvet with a blue translucent barrel, and cappuccino with a bronze translucent barrel. The caps on these pens are marbled acrylic, and the piston knobs are black, except for the cappuccino's which is caramel.

Goldspot Pens kindly loaned the Bexley Phoenix in Velvet Blue for review. The retail price for this pen is $219.00, but it is currently on sale at Goldspot for $164.95. The pen is 5.3 inches capped, 5.125 inches uncapped, and 6.45 inches posted.

The nib is a two-tone, custom-engraved, stainless steel nib that comes in fine, medium or broad. The nib on the loaner pen from Goldspot is a fine.

And the nib is the best part of this pen. It is large and writes smoothly. It's a very firm nib (no flex or bounce). But it isn't scratchy nor does it exhibit hard starts.

The marbled blue cap with a black top section is elegant, and the steel accents complement the silver swirls in the marbled acrylic.

The clip is unadorned except for a small "B" stamped at the top and the ring is plain. The clip is flexible enough to attach to a pad of paper or a shirt pocket.

Unfortunately, the pen's design begins to fall apart once you remove the cap. The grip portion of the barrel and the piston are black. The mid-section of the barrel is translucent blue, allowing you to keep track of your ink level. This unusual combination of a marbled acrylic cap with a demonstrator barrel doesn't work well. When I look at the pen, I think "someone put the wrong cap on this pen."

Then there's a section I can't quite describe. It's opaque, and it looks like a wad of wet Kleenex was stuffed into the barrel.

I have no idea why the pen was designed with this element which, frankly, I think is ugly. Had the designers simply used the marbled acrylic or translucent blue, the pen would be more attractive. Maybe they were trying to hide the piston mechanism. But this strange opaque white section ruins the appearance of the pen, especially since it isn't uniform but mottled.

In the photographs, it looks like this section is textured on the inside, but you can't see that with the naked eye. It may be a trick of the light or an aberration the camera picked up.

In addition, two holes, which I assume are necessary, mar the appearance of the barrel.

Appearance isn't the only problem with this pen. The piston does not turn smoothly at all. You can feel the piston bump along as you turn it–gallumpf, gallumpf. It's quite disconcerting. I don't know if the barrel is misshaped or if the piston is not perfectly round. I've owned Pelikans with hard-turning pistons (something easily fixed with a little silicone grease), but I've never felt a piston "gallumpf." Maybe this is simply how Bexley pistons turn. If so, I don't like their pistons.

Whatever causes the Bexley piston to stutter doesn't seem to affect the seal. However, I discovered that the pen won't fill unless you have the entire nib submerged plus a little of the grip. Since the nib is so large, you'll need to have deep, full ink bottles or figure out a way to angle bottle so the nib is completely submerged. That's what I did to fill the Bexley with Diamine Denim.

My son demonstrates the tip fill

I am not impressed with the Bexley Phoenix fountain pen. Although it is a smooth writer, the design of the pen is disappointing, and the piston mechanism, at least on the loaner pen, is bumpy. I've not tried other Bexley models, but I would not recommend this one.

Pros

• Smooth writing, large steel nib
• Piston filler

Cons

• Unattractive design, especially the opaque white section
• Rough piston movement
• A bit difficult to get a good fill

Bexley Sleeve Filler Fountain Pen Review

Bexley is a brand I was familiar with in name only until my friends at Vanness Pen Shop gifted me this beautiful Bexley Sleeve Filler last year. Not only that, they added a few tweaks just for me that had me grinning from ear to ear.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, Bexley has been making pens since 1993 and have an excellent reputation in the market. Their designs harken back to the heyday of fountain pens in the US in the early-to-mid 1900's. My tastes lean towards more modern styles, but seeing a pen like this makes me wonder what else I am missing.

The main feature of this pen is, of course, the filling mechanism. The rear of the pen - aka the sleeve - unscrews to reveal the filler bar and ink sac. You dip the nib into an ink bottle, give the filler bar a couple of presses to intake the ink, twist the sleeve back down, and you are ready to write. It's a very simple system that is implemented well and works perfectly. I was actually surprised at how much ink I was able to drawn in with only one or two presses.

As nice as this Bexley is, what Vanness did (without my prior knowledge or input) to make this pen special for me was really great. First off, Vanness has the ability to engrave and customize pens in their shop, so they borrowed the logo from Nock Co. and zapped it onto the end of the pen. Secondly, they had local pen maker Shawn Newton, who has worked on several of my pens, grind the broad 14k nib the pen comes with into my favorite cursive italic grind.

How awesome is that?

The pen looks cool, writes great, is personalized, and has a great story behind it. I'm so thankful to have met Lisa and Wendi from Vanness Pen at last years Atlanta Pen Show and really appreciate what they did for me with this pen.

The Arkansas Pen Show runs today and tomorrow, so if you are in the area stop by and tell them hi for me and check out their goods (which may or may not include Sailor Bung Box ink!) You can also see what else they have to offer online at Vanness1938.com.