Pen recommendation for the picky

[wooderson]

For as long as I can remember, I've been fussy about my choice of writing materials. Always mechanical pencils over #2s, and there's not a ballpoint pen on Earth that doesn't suck. Used to freak out a little if an essay test came up and all I had on hand was a Bic - my hand would cramp up before I was halfway done, every time.

Got two Tombow Ultra rollerballs for Christmas - almost perfect. Solid without being heavy, well balanced, no weird artsy ridges to get in the way, the padding area is in just the right spot, and the 'fine' refills flow as well as any I've tried. ~$45 online, made in Japan.




Tried to get into fountain pens a couple of years ago, but had a bad habit of throwing them into my bag carelessly, or leaving them at the perfect drying out angle on my desk.

[BridgeWalker]

Thanks for the tip. I've been thinking of a decent rollerball for the range bag.  I'm usually a fountain pen kind of girl, but the range bag is not so fountain pen friendly, ya know?

[wooderson]

I had several good books discover fountain pen unfriendliness.

[roo_ster]

I hear you.  I got hooked on Pilot retractables in high school.

These puppies in fine, black ink:


When in college and I took lots of notes or had essays to complete, I slipped the following on it:


Nowadays, at work, I don't write as much on paper and do without the triangular grip.  It works better, as I can keep t in a front pants pocket with no snag.  Matter of fact, I really don't like rubber-y grips on the front end of retractables, nowadays, because they catch in my pocket lining material.

Also, I only buy retractables and avoid cap-type due to losing caps or the pen body loosing itself, getting caught in pocket material, and giving me a good ink blot in my pants.

This very day, however, I cam carrying a Cross chrome ball-point:


It is one I gave my grandma Bertie for a Christmas gift some years back.  When she died last year, my dad found it and its pencil cognate and brought them to me.

It is not as smooth-writing as a Pilot, but it does pretty well and is very slick in the pocket.

[K Frame]

I used a combination of Pilot ballpoint pens and Sheaffer fountain pens in college.

These days I like the Pilot rollerball series of pens; I have Pilot Precise V5s on my desk right now. I had to make a stink to get the pens that I wanted when I first started working here. Now everyone is ordering the things.

[Dannyboy]

I've been using Pilot G-2 gel pens for the last few years.  It's gotten to the point that I almost can't write with a standard ballpoint.

[Sergeant Bob]

I've been using Pilot G-2 gel pens for the last few years.  It's gotten to the point that I almost can't write with a standard ballpoint.

I've tried just about every brand of pen I could find and I finally settled on the G2. I don't think spending a lot of money on a pen will get you a better writing instrument as a pen is only as good as its filler. The G2 is comfortable, light and cheap enough I don't worry about losing one.

Keeping track of an expensive pen is one more detail I don't need in my life.

[geronimotwo]

the 'fine' refills flow as well as any I've tried.

i prefer pentel's "rolling writer" which is a medium point. i find them to be the smoothest, probably because i write with a heavy hand, and the mechanics of the medium ball roll better.

[Manedwolf]

I can't even recall the last time I wrote anything but a signature.

Everything is electronic for me. Keyboard, PDA, phone, iPod. Texting thumb, not pen.

[MillCreek]

A Lamy Safari makes a great inexpensive improvised kubotan that can be taken through the airports and courthouses.

[Perd Hapley]

Can the G2 be had in a non-retractable version? 


George Costanza - "I'm afraid I'll puncture my scrotum!!"