I wasn't sure where to post this….but I have a watch that I'm happy with for the next 5-10 years, and now I feel like I need a pen. Any suggestions on the best pen you've ever owned? It doesn't have to be too fancy, just something writes really well and looks reasonably at home in front of my moleskin notebooks.
Best Pen You've Ever Owned
Lcomoprode on 04/06/2020 - 19:33
Comments
Pen
TL-027
Those gel clickies, the quality jap made ones
Jap
I'm not personally offended as I'm about as white as you can get. But might be worthwhile reflecting on the type of human being you want to be by using a racial slur to try and appear edgy or ironic, or whatever it is you're trying to do.
@apiecost: Im actually Japanese myself - I don't find it offensive at all. I think more than words is people's attitude and actions towards you. If you meet a friendly person and they say I have a jap friend, I don't get offended by that. Each to their own.
A red and white, twist top, Viagra pen a rep gave me once. The ball point was so smooth.
I used to work in admin in a major public hospital back in the bad old days when pharma reps would come in and give the admin staff a metric shit-tonne of branded office supplies. I swear pharma rep pens were some of the best pens I'd ever used. Occasionally if I need to get a script from the chemist, they sometimes have nice pharma rep pens to sign with. I have no idea why they were so good - probably a lot more money to blow on pens than the government but we all had a suspicion that they were only 1/4 filled or something as they never lasted as long as regular pens.
Four pen or FRO
I stocked up on Zebra Fude brush pens when DAISO stocked them back in 2016-2017.
Springy resin-core tip that doesn't fray and fluff like other felt pens. Super fine are my daily driver, and with a little practice writing is very enjoyable.This is THE pen to get
https://www.montegrappa.co.uk/products/chaos-gold-fountain-p…
Endorsed by "He who mumbles"I usually carry a fountain pen and a gel pen, generally have this gel pen in my pen case
https://tactileturn.com/products/bolt-action-pen?variant=323…
Just bought myself a pen the other day!
Not a pen aficionado, but someone at work commented that it was nice to write with, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Pilot G-2
Whatever John Wick uses
Zebra Jimnie Gel Rollerball, in medium. So smoooth and feels great in your hand. I could write all day using these, shame it's not available locally
Parker Jotter ballpoint (owning since 2013) never gets dry, writes every time. Feels good in hand, and I like the quality of the spring, the best I have seen in that price range (few weeks back there was a sale in Woolies on these pens).
Does montblanc fountain pen count?
Penthouse
.7mm Cross Gel Rolling Ball - feels rich, silky but with just the right amount of resistance for me - lovely to write with. I'll bet it's a very personal thing though.
A free pen is a good pen.
But, it's always a black pen!
MUJI pen. Not overly expensive, writes well, and doesn’t dry up even if you leave the cap off.
Uni-ball Signo for me.
Why? It's free from work. I think they are the only Pens that I've finished the ink before losing them.
They don't last long even though I don't write much.
Free is free.
"someone else's pen. always"
i remember once i had a pen brand called "Richard's pen", that was a good pen. I liked using that pen. Coincidentally there was a guy mad about something. His name was Richard. He probably didn't have a "Richard's pen". There was also a sandwich called "Richard's sandwich" that also went missing. Anyway later I found a label maker which was labelled "brother". I immediately gave it to my brother. Some people are just careless.
This got me through Uni most of my early career. Super smooth and nice inking, and comfortable to use.
Pilot BPS-GP Medium 1.0 Ballpoint
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/pilot-bps-…
These days… WTF is a pen? (I work in IT)
DATS mate
Best (the one I more frequently use) is the Artline 200.
Light, easy to carry around, writes great.
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/artline-20…
Pilot Metropolitan Fine Fountain Pen
Cross Classic Century Lustrous Chrome Ballpoint Pen from Amazon. Use it every day and its great.
Yep, me too, mine's about 30 years old and still going strong.
I've never owned any particularly fancy pens, but I do really enjoy using my Xiaomi rollerball. The gold variant is particularly striking in person.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Xiaomi-Aluminum-Rollerball-Pen-Sil…
Pineapple Pen
PEN15
An excellent model.
Nothing less that the $1860 Hermes pen:
https://www.hermes.com/au/en/product/nautilus-fountain-pen-H…
Kidding, just whatever I can swipe from the office stationery cabinet.
I really like these ones, use them daily and seem to get okay 'milage' out of them
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/uni-powert…
I got a box of 100 BIC pens for $5. It should last forever.
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/parker-jot… I own 2 of them, 1 I keep in the car and 1 I always keep on me since staff always steal pens where I work.
Edit: to add, I've been using the same pen for a few years now. Replaceable ink is nifty and I do get a few compliments from customers saying it's a nice pen.
I've got this and I'm extremely happy with it. https://countycomm.com/collections/pens/products/aluminium-e…
Lamy Safari
Parker Jotter which I used for about 20 years
and a Papermate Pacer executive mechanical pencil for about 30 yearsI also like the uniball air. It writes really well but the ink tends to seep through a bit, even on paper reasonably thick.
I use the kuru toga pacer and honestly love it, owned 3-4 in the last 7ish(?) years.
Pilot BP-145 in .5mm
Simple, reliable, inexpensive.
Metal clip doesn't snap like plastic ones.
Uniball Signo RT 0.38
Ball: Pilot G2
Fountain: Waterman Hemisphereblue byro
i cant remember the full name unfortunately, it was a fountain pen from parker that accepts cartridges. Used continuously for 3+ years.
My favourite pen is the Baron Fig Squire.
Minimal style, nicely weighted, writes really well. Looks great with my Moleskines :)
Uni-ball Laknock. I remember for HSC (long time ago), I bought a bunch of good pens and tried them all to see which one writes the smoothest (hence fastest) for those crazy essays, and this one was the winner for me.
Sell me this pen…..
Xiaomi pen, bought a few when they were popular on this site. Feels great to write with.
Staedtler. There is something comforting about them. Same as the bics. I used to also like Reynolds - they were French. And of course Parker pens are great. I tried papermate but they can be hit and miss
Uni-ball Signo
Great smooth pen
Parker Vector - Roller Ball
Parker Galaxy - BallHave owned both of these for ~2 years. Use either one almost everyday. Fairly inexpensive given the quality, well built. Also, they look awesome next to my moleskine. ;)
Out of curiosity, which watch OP?
Edited - I use Ultra Fine nib on the Roller ball, and Fine on the Ballpoint.
Montblanc JFK fountain pen
If you're just an every day pen, I've found this one to be the best and most reliable:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Zebra-Sarasa-Retractable-Rubber-0-…
Yes they are amazing too, rare offline though.
Pentel gel pens.
What's the watch?
I bought a Tactile Turn about a year ago (link below). They're made in USA - a solid piece of machined titanium with a really unique bolt-action mechanism. They take a Pilot G2 Gel ink cartridge which are absolutely beautiful to write with. I use it in my moleskin journal and they go so well together. They're not cheap, but if you want something which will last and you enjoy using, it's a perfect fit.
looks interesting. will keep that my list
LAMY
Sailor Pro Gear with a medium nib.
Atlas Chooti for any of my Lankan mates out there
Aliexpress AU $1.96 29%OFF | 1Pcs Mini Metal Ballpoint Pen Rotating Pocket-size Pen Portable Ball Point Pen Small Oil Pen Exquisite Brief Free Shipping
https://a.aliexpress.com/_dYtPziK
This is the best pen i can recommend … Small in size, easy to carry in pocket, car etc,writes perfectly smooth with nice grip. Cant recommend it enough.
Parker IM ballpoint pen
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/parker-im-…Been using for 54 years, amazingly fluid.
Damn … is it still going strong ? 😀
Oh Shiet.. I mean 4 Years.
Chinese made Hero 329 fountain pen, cheap but well made Parker 51 clone, been with me since high school. The fine nib is versatile especially on thinner more fibrous paper on which a normal fountain pen with more flow would cause your writing to bleed. Doesn't leak, built in bulb-type reservoir means no mess refilling without faffing around with expensive cartridges.
Hate ballpoints of any kind (including gel ink) with passion, if I can't use a fountain pen I'd happily use a felt-tip fineliner, a basic Artline 0.4mm will do.
Can confirm. Super smooth and reliable.
Thank you, got one myself.
For me the ef is scary good. Always starts first time, good ink flow, and very well balanced. It's pretty much all metal. There are nib units on sale as well on AliExpress if you want to swap between f and ef
I bought one of these on 2 Aug 2012. Have been using it since.
https://www.lamyshop.com.au/au_en/fountain-pen-lamy-safari.h…
Pentel Energel
5% gold Cross pen made in America.
For the money I've never found anything as smooth as these Swiss pens
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/caran-d-ac…These are good if you need to fix mistakes
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/pilot-frix…MontBlanc Meisterstück Platinum
Moleskine are the Beats by Dre of the notebook world. Rhodia or Clairefontaine are much better options.
Lamy Safari
Pilot 823. Hands down best pen ever made. I own many more expensive pens but that is the one to have. Better than Pelikan, Montblanc, Visconti, sailor, nakaya etc etc.
I love the Pilot Soft Medium tip. It's like a dream to write with.
Hope to own that one day. There's a lot of cool custom nib work being done as well!
I tried all the nib variations when I was in Japan. Out of the box SM just glides on my Custom, love it. Have both a metal and a resin Falcon in SEF, one day I will get around to adding a bit more flex to them (have to add that the metal Falcon has a lot more satisfying hand feel than the resin). Still trying to decide if I should hunt down a 1920's pen back when flex was a thing.
Waterman 52 1/2 is my favourite vintage flex but they're pretty pricey. A good Wahl from the same era is almost as good.
Once you've tried those, the Falcon just doesn't cut it.
Objectively comparing, my Falcon with flex is probably a lot more difficult to use compared to vintage flex, it's just got a lot more bite to it and doesn't suck up ink like vintage does.
Flex nibs https://imgur.com/a/6uYombK
@Dsquall: I know what you mean about the Falcon, as you say has a bit of a bite even on good paper.
Am only just starting to look at vintage pens, where do you get yours from?
@runtoparadise: It's been quite a while since I picked up mine, Fpgeeks classified section is a good place to start. eBay has some but they will often cost you quite a bit and are marked up. There used to be people who would also take modern bodies, Pelikan usually and stick vintage nibs onto them and make it work.
@Dsquall: I agree with dsquall with the falcons.i started out with the SEF and found it just dug into most of the paper I'd use. Was hard to find paper if performed well on. ended up grinding it down to a soft italic nib
You should try the 823 with the FA nib. It's got decent flex :) got mine from Tokyo pen shop quill.
The only problem is that I've lost interest in buying new pens because it satisfies me in every way.
@uedamasaki: Ahh, 823 with the fa nib. I forgot that was a thing, thanks for reminding me! I should look into it. I always wanted an 845 with the urushi finish.
I've always heard mixed reviews on the FA nib and was hesitant to pull the trigger. Does it just work with the 823?
@Dsquall: Yeah, it's a custom thing from Tokyo pen shop quill. Not going to give you as much flex as a vintage flex, but at the same time still practical for everyday use with good line variation.
Works flawlessly for me!Haha yeah, I wonder if they do the 845 with a FA nib. I like the transparency of the 823, but I imagine the urushi feels nicer to hold
@uedamasaki: I'd managed to finally get the pen upgrade-itis under control for quite a few years as my 743 SM really does it for me. However I feel now after reading all this I want to get a #15 FA. Unless I want another 743 it seems might have to contact Tokyo pen shop quill for a custom 823.
A nice watch is not like a nice pen. A nice watch is strapped to your body, a nice pen will be pinched or go missing within 6 months.
Currently own:
- Caliarts ego 2
- Moonman T1
- Moonman m2
- Moonman C2
- Hongian dark forest
- Ohto horizon gel
- Jetstream prime
- Sarasa Grand
So far my favourite fountain pen is the Moonman m2 and for non-fountain it would be Jetstream. Hoping to try out the pentel energel and pilot acro ball soon!
Does a Samsung "s pen" count?
It helped an old friend sign PDF copy of his bank's mortgage form so it's done some big things…
Apple