The Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 (sometimes referred to as the EF9000 or the EF9K) is a top choice for people who want to upgrade the ink in their Parker-style G2 pen. While it’s not sold in many pens, the EasyFlow 9000 is considered by many to be an excellent refill thanks to its versatility, vibrant colors, smoothness, and distinctive feel.
The EasyFlow 9000 is sold in fine, medium tip sizes. It’s sold in blue and black. For some time the broad size has been difficult to find and seems to be out of production but it can still be found on Ebay and from some niche sellers. The medium tip is a 1.0 mm and writes with a wide, generous line.
Schmidt notes that the EasyFlow writing technology (ie: its ink) is combines the advantages of a ballpoint with those of a rollerball. This is one of the reasons we categorize it as a hybrid ink, despite Schmidt not using that specific term. The company also notes that it is a G2 standard pen refill that uses the “D” style as per DIN ISO 12757.
This is one of our favorite refills. It fits in a huge numbers of pens, like the Rotring 600, it has really bold colors, and it has a distinctive feedback when writing. We highly recommend checking it out.
The downside is that the broad size is hard to fit (they are no longer in production) and the drying times are OK, but not great.
EasyFlow 9000 Skipping
Many people have criticized the EasyFlow 9000 for its intermittent reliability and skipping. The refill works great most of the time but people have found that some of the refills will die early in their life, either by stopping writing entirely or by starting to skip.
So of our EasyFlow refills that we’ve been testing lately have a tendency to write very well when the pen stroke is in one direction but poorly in the opposite direction, making for some dark lines and some light ones.
It’s been impossible to narrow down which EasyFlow refills are problematic, as the problem is not limited to any specific size or color. And the reports of problems are relatively common online, but purely anecdotal.
The consensus thought online seems to be that some batches of EasyFlow refills are reliable and some are not, but at Unsharpen we are more concerned about the age of the refills. EF refills are sold through third parties and distributors in the US so some refills might get right from the factory to users quickly while others might sit for a year or more before being sold. This could explain why some buyers will get a 4- or 8-pack of EasyFlow 9000 refills and have none of them write as well as they should.
Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 Hybrid Refill Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Schmidt |
| Pen Type | Hybrid |
| Rating | |
| Sizes | Fine, Medium, Broad |
| Ink Colors | Blue, Black |
| Max Body Width | 5.9 mm |
| Acid-Free? | No |
| Erasable? | No |
| Pressurized? | No |
| Archival? | No |
| Fade Resistant? | No |
| Fraud Prevention? | No |
| Quick Drying? | No |
| Non-toxic? | No |
| Water-resistant? Waterproof? | Waterproof |
| Ink Base | Oil-based, Water-Based |
| Refill Length (cm) | 9.8 cm |
| Tip Shape | Conical |
| Tip Material | Metal |
| Refill Standard | Parker-style G2 |
| Quantity Sold | 1 |
| Similar Refills: |