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The Best Pens for 2023: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

jetpens.com

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Re: The Best Pens for 2023: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#201
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you're into pencils, have you tried the Pentel GraphGear? Or, my personal favorite, the Rotring 800?

I don't like pencils, for my vision the color is too low contrast with the paper compared to black ink, or even blue ink, and for that reason I prefer a .7 nib to a .5, the thin lines also result in less contrast (they also make a scraping "sound/sensation" on the paper). but I didn't comment just to say that, but I selected your comment as a representative sample for a broader comment: hey everybody, could you tell…

I like the rOtring 800 because it's heavy in my hand but the actual lead-on-paper "feel" is extremely smooth. Contrast depends entirely on the lead you put into the pencil. For max contrast there are versions of the 800 with thicker tips, (iirc) even going up to the regular pencil nibs that you can sharpen (if you know what I'm talking about, I don't really know how to properly explain it).

Basically, I like it because it's a high quality writing utensil that I won't get worried about.

A lot of people don't like the 800 because of the retractable tip, but as someone who has this pencil in their backpack all the time (and who has had the non-retractable version unfortunately ruined in a backpack) it is an absolute necessity.

Re: The Best Pens for 2023: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens

#202
post #112

Wow, I'm shocked at the level of depth in this site. I thought for sure something like "best pens for your lab notebook" would be SEO drivel, but they actually test against things like alcohol and acetone, and consider writing on vials and containers and such.

Hi, writer of the Best Pens for the Lab blog here in an unofficial capacity—I made an account to respond to this comment! For the record, it's a real joy to get to put information online that's actually in the realm of thoughtful and helpful. The Best XYZ title format is a SEO choice, though, totally correct there ;)
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