I always have a hard time finding a good pen due to moderate dysgraphia and oversensitivity to and/or mild neurosis about how the tip feels on paper. So it’s often some random brand I’ve never heard of that ends up making the grade when I purchase a new batch, assuming I have trouble finding more of what I had recently used up. But on the flip side once I find it I remain loyal to my find to the bitter end. Currently I love my Copic Multiliner 0.5s. I write almost exclusively on acid-free sketch paper, incidentally.
I’ll throw on the uni-ball pile as well. Sharpies too when I need something thicker and bolder.
On a related note; what’s up with the states not having any ball-point size smaller than a 0.7? Is it just me? I’m used to writing in pen-sizes of 0.38 or at best, 0.5. Anything larger, and it feels like it’s cluttering up my page with these huge letters.
It was a hell of a time finding a stationary store that carried any pen of 0.5 or smaller and in the end, I had to import boxes of them from Korea and Japan. What’s up with that?
Just a few days ago I picked up a few different types to try stuff out.
I like a gel pen labeled ‘CornerOffice’ (I’m not sure if that’s the brand or what…)
I also bought some extra-fat pens - Bic XXL. They’re pretty nice.
I bought a Paper Mate X-Tend Multi that lets you twist it to choose between black ink, red ink, and pencil point/lead. Unfortunately, the ink rollers aren’t that great IMO, and I can’t easily distinguish between black and red looking at the rollers - I sort of have to doodle a bit to see which is which. All in all, I don’t think this thing is a winner.
I hate fountain pens, too messy and I don’t use the right angle for them anyway.
Ballpoints are pretty much all the same to me, the fancy expensive kind seem no better than plain old bics to me.
What I like, though, are “flair” thick felt tips. Nice bold stroke, and you can even fill in colored sections with a little care, but still draws a reasonably clean line if you don’t look too close at it.
Important note: in almost all push-button ballpoints, there is a little flanged plastic cylinder, usually colored white beneath the button assembly in the screw-off cap. If you place that between your teeth and close your lips, you can make a really high pitched whistling noise that is very difficult to locate the source of. So if you happen to be in third grade, this is useful information to know.
All hail the necro. I’d like to recommend the following:
The Pilot Precise V7 Fine Rolling Ball
The Uni PowerTank 1.0 for you hard core upside-down writers.
And not to make too fine a point of it (uh-huh-huh-huh) The Pilot P-500 Extra Fine at .05.
The first one is my go-to pen for general writing. The second has a hard press, but it does the job. The last is a bit sharp on the paper and is not as smooth and flowing as it might be, but it’s precise and a definite winner.
I’m a bit of a writing utensil nerd myself, but I tend to lean towards mechanical pencils. My favorite writing instrument of all time is the Lamy 2000 .05 pencil. It looks fantastic, feels fantastic, and paired with some Pentel or Caran d’Ache (not that I can ever find it) lead, writes fantastically. If it weren’t for the fact that the eraser blows horse shit, it would be perfect.
Being lefthanded, everything smears, but I prefer rollerballs when it comes to pens, although I adore my Namiki Vanishing Point, as it’s the only fountain pen I’ve found that works well for me. I really wish that fountain pens were more usable for me, especially since I own a Stipula Ventidue, mainly for the titanium nib and massive, clear ink reservoir. The limited fountain penning that I engage in usually involves Noodler’s American Eel ink, because that shit just lays down so smoooooothly.
Finally, I love Rhodia pads. I’m in absolute heaven when I’m working problems for math classes with my Lamy on a 16.5" x 12.5" Rhodia. I just wish the pads weren’t so goddamn expensive.
I do like Rhodia pads, but I wouldn’t describe using them as actually blissful. Too expensive, as you say, but at least they are better than cheaper alternatives. Also, that dull orange color is ugly.
I like a good quality fountain pen, unfortunately as a programmer, disposable ballpoint Bics are more practical for scribbling diagrams and scribbling flowcharts. They also don’t set me back a lot of cash when someone in our daily scrum grabs it off my desk to fill in a task and doesn’t bring it back.
I might buy a nice pen when I get my own office.
Arise, pen thread!
Today at the thrift store I picked up this calligraphy set for $2.60. So stoked!
It only came with the red and brown Skrip ink cartridges. But so awesome! I’ve calligraphied my shopping list and doula bag packing list. Yay!
Why are F-nibs so thick?
Any new pen finds from you guys?
Picked up a Dr. Grip Center of Gravity. It feels heavier than the Dr. Grip because of the counterweight. I like how it moves thought, as if it was a well-balanced blade.
I love the feel of the pen, hate the size of the nib and the ink. Way too thick, and a bit messy. Very smooth for a ballpoint, though.
I’m still loving the Pilot G-2s, which a bunch of Qt3ers recommended. They can be a pain to find around here for some reason, though. I bought a few similar pens like the Uniball Signo 207, whatever Zebra’s version is called, and even Staples cheap copy. They all have the same problem though, when you write on the back of the page the ink on the front of the page transfer onto the page underneath.
Still looking for a G-2 Pro, as well.
My ideal pen has been a Dr. Grip (haven’t tried the center of gravity ones) with a G2 05 (extra fine) cartridge. I have to do a lot of writing during the day, and the narrower G2 barrels just weren’t comfortable for long stretches.
Has anyone tried the G6 yet? I’m intrigued.
I bought a pink Parker Jotter a couple of weeks ago simply because it was a pink Parker Jotter.
My new cheapo Uni Jetstream 0.7mm has displaced the G2 as my favourite pen. The 0.7mm is actually finer than 0.5mm from other brands; it’s super smooth; and it never gathers ink gunk at the tip. It works with the way I hold the pen, which is at about 70 degrees from the desk. Some gel pen makes me hold the pen at almost 45 degrees before it works properly.
That’s not gel ink, though. It doesn’t bleed on you?
Anyone try any other G-2 clones, like the Bic Velocity?
I hate the Velocity. The ink doesn’t even compare to the G2.
EDIT:
Gah, wrong pen. The Velocity is ok, actually. I was confusing it with it’s rolling ball non-gel ink twin, the Pro+, which sucks.
Also, I just checked, but one of my favorite non-G2 pens in recent memory? Yeah, a Jetstream. I think this is a 1.0.
Finally: a number of my servers are using a gel ink pen (a click retractor) that writes superbly. I’ll try to “borrow” one tonight to get the name on it.
I am crushingly disappointed. The pen itself seems fine, and I like the weight. The disappointment is because I can’t use my standard G2 05 hack and put a G2 cartridge inside the Dr. Grip with this model. The inside of the pen has been modified to use a shorter cartridge, and there is a plastic ring on the inside that blocks the standard G2 cartridge. Thinking I might get away with swapping in a G2 mini cartridge, I tried it, but there was defeated because the Center of Gravity uses a tapered front that doesn’t fit with the mini cartridge (and is about 0.5cm off in length). I even tried swapping the back of a regular Dr. Grip with the front of a Center of Gravity, but they’ve altered the threading between the two models, and this won’t work either.
The ink and the tip on this are much worse than the G2, so this one is a miss. Pity, because the extra weight at the front is actually quite nice.
I’m a pen freak. In my backpack:
– Pilot Vanishing Point, fine nib, Noodler’s Eternal ink, Glacier Blue
– Lamy Vista, XF nib, with Noodler’s Legal Lapis
– G2 Pro with black extra-fine refill
– G2 Pro body with blue Pilot Precise v5 RT cartridge
– cheap-ass mechanical pencil
As soon as my Noodler’s black Bulletproof ink comes in I’m going to start carrying my Lamy Studio (XF nib) filled with it and I’ll replace the G2 black refill with a blue one (also extra-fine).
As far as the G2 Pro body with the Precise refill: I love the tips of Pilot Precise v5 pens almost as much as I love the G2 tips and ink. I absolutely at the body of the Precise RT, though. It’s really ugly and feels bad in my hand. By pure accident I discovered that its refills fit in a Pro body. So now I get the best of both.
Cool. The problem is finding G-2s around here. Wal-mart is constantly sold out, and both the Staples around here don’t carry them. I really don’t like the Zebra Sarasa, and Staples’ own G-2 clone is pretty weak.
I’ll keep an eye out for the Jetstream. I know I’ve seen the Jetstream Premier (comparable to the G-2 Pro, I guess?) but not the regular versions.
Again, is the Jetstream or the Signo 207 Uniball’s G-2 clone? I didn’t mind the Signo, except the ink transferred off the page really badly.