Sheaffer Ion Blue Gel Rollerball Pen

The Red Pen appears gimmicky and futuristic - feels awkward to use at first. After pulling out the strange cap you slide the pen apart. All the strangeness disappears when your grasp of the pen feels normal after all and the act of writing is smooth and inviting. The beauty feeling in handling and using it invites some anxiety though - how long will the ink last in this thing, does its look and construction spell durability or flimsiness. I conclude, this is not a toy despite its look and feel. This is a luxury practical quality writing tool worth the money and enjoying.

I love the convenience of this pen, as it fits perfectly in a pants pocket when I don’t have a shirt pocket. Would also work well in a purse or backpack.The comfort and smoothness of writing are ideal.

The pen is a great utility because of its size and portability. The fitted refill that comes with the unit, however, is a bit too fine for my taste and it’s difficult to find medium refills. I found the imitation ones that are made by companies other than Schaefer or cross are generally of poor quality, very scratchy and or they leak. That fact, not withstanding, however, the pen was a decent buy, and I’m glad that I have it often times I’m without a writing utensil the most critical times.

Love the size and ease of opening. Can hold in your pocket. Don’t need a pocketed shirt.

I like this pen because unlike some pocket pens, it is easy to feel in my pocket. The rounder, fuller shape is perfect for that. I threw away the ring/clip. It is too tight, and I don't want it hanging around my neck, I want it in my pocket. It is very comfortable for writing. I do not use it for extending writing, just because for that I have bigger, longer pens. For my needs, a handy, very comfortable, and easy to find by touch, this is it. The mechanics are really classy too. Pull it apart and the tip pops out. It has not opened in my pocket accidentally. So, great pen. It rolls, so careful setting it down. 😀😀 🚂

EDIT 2: From four stars initially, to two stars, and now down to one. In addition to the aforementioned uselessness of the clip-on point cover, and the annoyance of the pen un-telescoping as you write with it, add this: I bought three of these pens. The first one, I inadvertently damaged in an attempt to see if I could lock it by twisting it all the way while telescoped open. Okay, my bad. The second one, however, had something wrong with the ink flow; it would peter out as I was writing (on top of trying to keep the pen from closing up). The heck with this. The third one, I just wrote off and threw out.Folks, this is not the Shaefer quality that you remember from when you were younger. This is poorly designed and made overseas like most other junk these days.I will tell you that there is a significantly better alternative out there. It doesn't telescope; the cap securely clicks on the other end so that it feels like a pen while comfortably writing; it's cheaper than this pen; AND IT'S MADE IN THE USA. Imagine that.Out of fairness, I will not tell you outright the name of that competitor pen. However, with the clues that I have given, you should be able to find it. Don't buy this piece of trash; go get that other one.EDIT: I am revising my rating from four-star to two. Reason: The pen does not stay open while writing with it. With the motions of writing, the two ends start moving together in one's hand. While the pen point is still projecting, the sensation of the pen closing and signaling that the point will disappear momentarily is annoying. And, as I said below, that clip-on point cover is a waste. I will leave it at two stars because the pen does write well but I will not be buying this pen again.To write with this pen, one must pull both ends of it to expose the writing point. Pushing the ends together retracts the point. I was skeptical, but as one writes, the pen stays open. Just as important, it seems to stay closed in one's pocket. I was fearing annoyance on the one hand and disaster on the other.It comes with a clip-on point cover which I believe is meant to be a safeguard as well as a keychain connector. Believe me, you will not be using this clumsy contraption. Soon after I started carrying this pen, my wife asked to borrow it. After my fumbling with the clip-on cover for a while, trying to get it off, she finally lost patience, said "Never mind," and rummaged through her purse for her own pen. The cover then went into the garbage.So, a charitable 4 stars (rounded up from 3.5, really) for now; nice writing quality but one full star deducted for that useless clip-on cover. If this pen ever stains my pants, or starts closing as I am writing with it, I will be back with more star deductions.

Works well. The cap seems to be on tightly so hopefully I won't lose the pen.

I love the idea of the ion pen. I bought more than 8 when they were Cross pens.The only problem with the Cross pens was the refills. Somewhere in the time line the refills would stop writing but it still looked like there was more than half the ink left.I was hoping Sheaffer had solved the refill problem. Sadly after only 3 weeks the pen has stopped writing. I just pulled the cartridge and it is gooey on the outside of the cartridge. It's not ink. I think it is the gel that holds in the ink.I'm going to see if I can let the company know.