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Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

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Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#111

Post by whalesalad »

buescher wrote: post #37
whalesalad wrote: post #31

Honestly these are the best pens that I have ever used: "uni-ball Roller Rollerball Pens Fine Point Micro Tip, 0.5mm" in either black or blue. https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/149765/uni-ball-Rolle... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006IE8P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... Never see them on any of these top lists though =(

They were even better when they were first released, in the eighties if I remember correctly. I think they miss the top lists because they've been superseded by fancier Uni-ball pens.

I prefer the thin body of these versus the fancier uni-ball pens, personally. Also love to fidget with the metal arm on the cap.

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#112

Post by Kon-Peki »

whalesalad wrote: post #31

Honestly these are the best pens that I have ever used: "uni-ball Roller Rollerball Pens Fine Point Micro Tip, 0.5mm" in either black or blue. https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/149765/uni-ball-Rolle... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006IE8P/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b... Never see them on any of these top lists though =(

Those used to be my favorites, but the quality seemed to have gone downhill and they started to come with less ink in them. I moved on to the Uni-Ball Deluxe, but then it seemed like the same thing happened. So I got a budget fountain pen - nobody can retroactively shaft me on ink quantity or build quality.

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#113

Post by Rebelgecko »

throw0101d wrote: post #15

One thing about gel pens, and other 'fancy' ink, is that it tends to be quite runny and can take a while to dry on 'waxy' papers (many index cards, shipping labels). Not sure which listed category of ink/pen would work best on those (besides a plain old, cheap Bic® pen, which works fine.)

I've bought many of the ones they recommend as southpaw friendly. Those in particular seem to dry very quickly.

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#114

Post by huimang »

polygotdomain wrote: post #100

I always feel that fountain pens should come with bigger caveats than they're typically presented with. I absolutely love them (more than you'd even guess), but if someone is just going to "pick up" a fountain pen and just start writing they might be in for a bit of shift. Writing with a fountain pen isn't really the same as writing with a ball point, and there will be some adjustment that goes along with it. If you'…

Also the cons.

- Traveling and shaking a vessel filled with ink doesn't end well.

- Getting ink on your hands when refilling the pen becomes annoying, quickly.

- Your notebook choices now become limited to ones that don't bleed. I already have notebooks that I've been using for years and don't want to change.

- Not all pens are suited for every language. If you get a pen with a wider nib (like a parker or american ones in general), it's very easy to blur on Chinese/Korean/Japanese etc. This is fixable with a smaller japanese nib but not really an issue with ballpoint pens.

--

Whenever I'm in Japan I usually stop by a store like kingdom note and I've picked up some pilor & sailor pens. I'm happy to use them at my desk, but I just stick to ballpoint pens like the Calme 0.7 when out and about.

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#115

Post by NoZebra120vClip »

Graziano_M wrote: post #77
vel0city wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because writing with my right hand is even more painful. Trust me, if writing with my right hand was a pleasant experience, I'd do it in a heartbeat. This isn't just some "I identify as a lefty; therefore, I do things left-handed" kind of thing. In fact, most other activities I do, I do right-handed. Swing a bat/club? Right-handed. Throw a ball? Right-handed. Use a computer mouse? Right-handed. Shoot a rifle? Right-h…

Same. One huge advantage you and I have is that we can write notes while we use the mouse to navigate the computer. Came in handy a lot in college.

In the mid-90s at work, I was known as that guy who used a left-handed mouse at all times (I am right-handed.)

I would swap L/R button functions on the Sun4 3-button optical mouse and set it to the left of the keyboard. This is a comfortable and natural position, especially considering the placement of the numpad.

Very soon, the word was out in the office, and NOBODY attempted to borrow my workstation!

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#116

Post by wintermutestwin »

wizardwes wrote: post #85
wintermutestwin wrote: post #26

What a great site! I realize that it is a store, but content like this is valuable: https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Pilot-FriXion-Erasable-Pens-A-C... I recently found these erasable pens and they are incredible tech. The friction of rubbing the rubber eraser on the ink heats up the ink and causes the ink to turn invisible. It leaves no ink residue on the eraser.

Of note, any heat will erase these, even including leaving them in your car. For anything that you need to make sure that what you wrote is still there when it is next read, I wouldn't trust these. Also, IIRC, extreme cold can bring the ink back, so I also wouldn't trust these to hide sensitive information. tl;dr only use erasable pens for the least important writing, never ever use them for signatures.

Good point, but I'll note that I actually use these for court stipulations (i.e. very important writing). My use case is for documents where the document will be photocopied after signed by all parties and the photocopy becomes the filed document so this alleviates the concern.

>Also, IIRC, extreme cold can bring the ink back, so I also wouldn't trust these to hide sensitive information.

Oh fun - I put an erased paper in the freezer and will report back!

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#117

Post by polygotdomain »

huimang wrote: post #114
polygotdomain wrote: post #100

I always feel that fountain pens should come with bigger caveats than they're typically presented with. I absolutely love them (more than you'd even guess), but if someone is just going to "pick up" a fountain pen and just start writing they might be in for a bit of shift. Writing with a fountain pen isn't really the same as writing with a ball point, and there will be some adjustment that goes along with it. If you'…

Also the cons. - Traveling and shaking a vessel filled with ink doesn't end well. - Getting ink on your hands when refilling the pen becomes annoying, quickly. - Your notebook choices now become limited to ones that don't bleed. I already have notebooks that I've been using for years and don't want to change. - Not all pens are suited for every language. If you get a pen with a wider nib (like a parker or american on…

I don't disagree that those are potential cons, but it also highlights how much versatility you can have with a fountain pen. For instance, there are ones that travel very well with shutoff valves to prevent ink leakage. There are options for filling that can all but eliminate getting ink on your hands. Nibs can be tuned and ink choices can align with what paper you write on, so you don't absolutely have to change the notebooks you use.

You highlighting the language issue is interesting because it makes the assumption that one can get the line width they'd like from a ballpoint pen, which personally, I didn't. Ultimately you need to choose what works best for you, and the language you write in is certainly a consideration. I'd much rather have the option, than be stuck with "one size fits all" of most ballpoints. So saying that's a con is a misnomer for me.

All that being said, a fountain pen is not a tool for every use case. I was a lot happier when I realized that a ballpoint or rollerball is far better suited for tossing in a bag or having at the ready when traveling.

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#118

Post by wizardwes »

wintermutestwin wrote: post #116
wizardwes wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of note, any heat will erase these, even including leaving them in your car. For anything that you need to make sure that what you wrote is still there when it is next read, I wouldn't trust these. Also, IIRC, extreme cold can bring the ink back, so I also wouldn't trust these to hide sensitive information. tl;dr only use erasable pens for the least important writing, never ever use them for signatures.

Good point, but I'll note that I actually use these for court stipulations (i.e. very important writing). My use case is for documents where the document will be photocopied after signed by all parties and the photocopy becomes the filed document so this alleviates the concern. >Also, IIRC, extreme cold can bring the ink back, so I also wouldn't trust these to hide sensitive information. Oh fun - I put an erased pape…

Fair enough. I'll add the bit that they're fine if you don't need the ink to be anything more than short term. Excited to hear how the experiment goes!

Re: Best Pens for 2024: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#120

Post by nunez »

chrismartin wrote: post #67

For those asking "why handwriting in 2024?", the paper has no notifications or web browser to distract you. It's just your own thoughts on the page. Being more effortful than typing, information becomes more disfluent, which helps you reason about and retain it. I find it a great tool for planning, consideration, and reflection. I find Jetstream ink to be the nicest for everyday writing. Like gel ink, it's very low-d…

> For those asking "why handwriting in 2024?", the paper has no notifications or web browser to distract you. It's just your own thoughts on the page.

Unfortunately, many (MANY) people have terrible (unpracticed) handwriting and view the activity as a means to an end rather than something worth doing for fun.

Everyone comments on how good my handwriting is. In response, I usually say that I "stole" someone's handwriting back in the 5th grade. The truth is that I really liked their handwriting and copied theirs over and over until I matched (and eventually exceeded) theirs years later. Same with cursive (which I can still write).

Conversely, most folks do handwriting drills in kindergarten/1st grade (US) and stop there.

I think everyone can learn how to write well, but it requires a ton of practice. Given that everything is done digitally these days, many would rather just type it out.

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