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Open Thread: What’s Your Favorite Pen?

favorite pens

When I was a kid, I loooooved going back to school shopping. New pens! New folders! All that crisp, white, lined paper… It seemed like everything had possibility and promise. (Yes, I was a dork.)

These days, I still love getting new supplies, but it seems like too many of them let me down — I've literally thrown about 5 different brands of pens across the room because they work inconsistently, or stop working. And a good pen is really important.

{related: the best office supplies to get for yourself}

To be clear, all I want is something that I can pick up from my pencil cup or my desk, and use it for something simple like signing my name or writing a brief note, WITHOUT having to scribble somewhere else to make sure the ink is flowing. Is that really too much to ask? (Let's not even get into something more arduous, like taking notes for an extended period or writing a letter… sigh.)

So I thought we'd have an open thread: what is your favorite pen? (Pictured: Ball point pens by Caran d'Ache, available at Amazon. Hat tip to Daily Candy.)

Some of the favorite pens and other writing utensils that readers have mentioned in the past include these…

My favorite used to be the Pilot Precise V7 Fine Point Blue Rolling Ball. I liked the bright blue color (more royal than navy, but still “plain blue ink”), I liked that you could buy them in bulk for a reasonable price, and I liked that you could see how much ink is left. Maybe it's just my bad luck, but it seems like every pen in the last pack I got was a dud.

Next, I really really liked the DIVOGA retractable gel pens, which I received for review from the company — they wrote fantastically, beautifully smooth, AND they looked pretty? Sign me up. Perhaps my ink supply is getting low on all of my pens, but it seems like I spend half my time drawing circles on scratch paper, trying to get a steady flow of ink — but it seems a bit suspicious that all 3 died at once.

I've had inconsistent luck with the Pilot G2 (but it's currently my go-to pen that I keep in my purse). I also was really excited to try the Sharpie Liquid Mechanical Pencils, which promised to write like a mechanical pencil but turn to a permanent ink after 24 hours — and found that it just works like every erasable pen I've tried (which is to say, poorly).

So readers: what are your favorite pens? Which brands do you swear by?

Update: It looks like the top pens recommended by the most readers are:
– uni-ball Vision Elite
– Pilot Precise V-5 Retractable
– Pilot G2
– Le Pen

I'm going to try them out and will try to do a follow up report. :)

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177 Comments

  1. I can’t believe I’m the first to cast a vote for Paper Mate’s Flair pens. I love my Flair pens. There’s something about writing with a felt-tip pen that I find quite satisfying. Plus, they come in a million colors. Ever since I discovered that I could special order them at work, I haven’t been able to write with anything else.

    2. I love these too! My work won’t order them any more, so sad. I used to have them in black, blue, green, red, purple, pink …

  2. I know a lot of people swear by the frixion for their calendars for its erase-ability. I like the Pilot g-2, but I find they run out of ink so fast.

    1. I completely agree. The idea of a pen that erases cleanly is amazing. Now they just need to find a way to fit more ink into that barrel.

  4. I have been waiting most of my adult life for this question. (No – I am not kidding…though I sort of wish I was.)

    The day before taking the bar exam, I went to Staples where I engaged in an extensive product comparison right in there pen section. My results for smooth writing, comfortable grip, and smudge free paragraps (I am a lefty so that last part is important.)

    The Big Atlantis Ball Pen. 1.0 mm. Retractable.

    I prefer black, but blue is just as wondeful. This pen is legit. I have our receptionist special order them for me.

  5. Ok, I love office supplies as much as the next Type A-er, but I love a free pen. =) *currently writing hundreds of flash cards with my free Lexis pen*

  6. A slim Cross ballpoint, or a Parker Jotter–both are refillable and use high quality, smooth ink that doesn’t dry out or smear, can be used on checks and i find very comfortable to write with….

  7. My current favorite pen is my recent indulgence: a Michael Kors Very Hollywood scented pen. It’s so girly I could die. It sometimes gets dull sitting in a cube so the happy melon colored pen with gold trim is always a great pick-me-up. The scent makes me want to write old fashioned memos instead of typing/emailing them!

    A bit of a splurge at $25, but well worth the daily smiles it brings to my face. http://www.michaelkors.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod6670001&parentId=

      1. It’s black. I think that’s the best part– I can use it all the time without feeling too much like a teenager!

  9. I’m surprised this has only come up once (that I could see): fountain pens!!

    (Okay, I might be a little obsessive about this… I collected fountain pens for a long time and own probably 150. So you might gather that I REALLY like fountain pens! I got stopped once going through security and the INS – back when it was still the INS – because the guards wanted to know what all the metal sticks were in my bag, and when I explained they were pens, the guards were pretty baffled about why someone would have 15-20 pens with them at one time….)

    I like too many to come up with one answer, but I like Lamys and Pelikans a lot – the Lamy Safari is a great starter pen. Or, there are a ton of Chinese-produced pens for cheap that are great value, too (for ex. Hero pens).

    Having said that, I do have a deep fondness both for Sharpie pens and for the plain old Paper Mate sticks (in part because my dad used to work for the company that owned Paper Mate, and got to a lot of their products home. Remember when Eraser Mate pens came out? We got a ton of those for free, which was way cool when I was in junior high).

    I have never managed to get on very well with gel or rollerball pens – I find them either too stingy with the ink and scratch, or too generous with the ink and blob.

    Anyway. I could go into WAY more detail, but that’s probably already a lot more than is necessary!

    1. Oh, I would love to be a fountain pen fan, but as a left-handed writer it would just get too messy (see my question below).

      Re Eraser Mates – I remember really wanting one when they came out but my teacher wouldn’t allow them because she wanted to encourage tidy writing and wanted to see any mistakes we made – so we weren’t allowed to erase or use white-out! I was so jealous of my friends who had them.

      1. I know of lefties who use fountain pens – some manage it with very dry-writing pens and fast-drying ink. (You can also get “oblique” nibs designed for lefties.) But a lot of them sort of “hook” their hands over their writing, so they don’t smudge (which I imagine would be a pain to learn to do if you don’t already write that way), so yeah, it’s not ideal.

        1. Ditto most what Anna D. said!
          I’m a lefty underwriter and I routinely carry and use a dozen or more fountain pens. I rarely have issues with nibs or ink, and I use everything from very fine to very broad, including italics, obliques and flex nibs.
          As far as ink, there are literally hundreds, and I’ve only had a few that are really unusable for writing. The Fountain Pen Network forums are an excellent resource if you’re curious. There are many threads about left-handed users.

          1. Hmm, I will have a look because there is something so very satisfying about using a “proper pen”.

    2. Oh! I was like “Where are the fountain pen fans?!?!?” I love them. My favorite “workhorse” pen is the Pilot Vanishing Point, fine. I usually use Nantucket Blue ink from Noodlers, but also love a deep black.

      WHen I don’t have a FP filled, I always go for the fine-point Sharpies. I can’t wait to get a real job so I can afford more FPs!

    3. Oh, thank you! I thought I was the only ‘Ette who still used fountain pens. Call me old-fashioned, but you will pry my Lamys and my Parkers from my cold dead hands.

      That said, although I love fountain pens, they’re not very easy on my wrists. On a daily basis I like either Pilot V7s or Uniball Eyes in micro. Plus they come in all kinds of funky colours, which I adore.

  10. I rotate between Pilot V Razor Points and Sharpie Fine Points. The Pilots manage to somehow get a bit dull after a while, but I love them while they last. I especially like getting the package with all different colors because sometimes a girl just needs to write with a purple pen.

  11. Jimnie Gel Roller. Blue Ink. Medium Point. They don’t smear or take forever to dry.

  12. Any other left-handed ‘Ettes here? Any tips for pens that do not smudge on your hand? I am pretty much resigned at this point to always having pen smudges on my hand, but if anyone has any great ideas, I’d love to hear them. After all, pen smudges are really not all that professional when in meetings…

    FYI, generally speaking I am a Uniball fan, but when forced to write quickly I do get smudges from them.

    1. I’m with you. I feel left out when people are recommending all these liquid ink pens.

      For me the only thing that works is ballpoint pens, specifically PaperMate PhD (natch – starting using it while working on my master’s and it kept me inspired :-) ).

      I love the big barrel of this pen (I have RSI), and the fact that it’s refillable. I hope they never stop making ’em.

    2. Agree. As a lefty, I cannot do any liquid ink. Papermate ballpoint all the way!

    3. I’m a lefty, and I use Pentel’s RSVP pens. I do get smudgedwhen I write too quickly, but usually it works jsut fine!

    4. The uniball vision elite works pretty well for me but I do get the quick-writing-smudge problem as well. I used the papermate felt-tip pens before switching (involuntarily) to the uniball – I really think felt-tips are the best as the ink soaks into the paper so quickly (and you feel like you’re coloring with markers all day – fun). But alas, the supply people will not order those for us anymore.

  13. Here is my pen: the Muji Gel Ink Markable Ballpoint Pen 0.38mm. Available in stores or here: http://www.muji.us/store/stationery/pen-pencil/gel-ink-markable-ball-poing-pen-0-38mm.html

    Seriously, the best pen ever, in so many colors (only a few of which appear to be available on the website). I have it in blue, black, red, and “black brown” (my favorite). What is funny is that the “markable part” is apparently so that “you can customize it by attaching a name tag or favorite charm through the unique hole. ” I never even noticed the hole or knew that is what it was for until I pulled up the pen online for this thread, but that seems like an interesting idea.

    I have moments of dread where this pen will get passed around with a sign-in sheet in a conference room or borrowed by someone who is in my office and I panic that I won’t get it back. I’ve been with so many pens, but this is my favorite, and I keep coming back to it.

    There needs to be a pencil thread next!

    1. I just pulled out my entire collection of muji pens to see this “hole” – it seems only the ones with shiny bodies have it. I have several pens with matte bodies and with hexagonal matte bodies, none of which have this. Interesting. They used to have a very dark blue color that I loved.

      Alison, I’m guessing you are in NYC – if you haven’t already been there, check out the pen section in the basement of Kinokunia! It’s like heaven!

  14. I like the Uniball pens with a fine or micro line but I’ve also had good luck recently with the Tul pens from OfficeMax (mostly the stick ones with free flowing ink, but I do have one retractable one in teal that I use for certain things). Of course my all time favorite pen was a handout at a professional convention. It was ballpoint, which I usually don’t care for, but I never had any problems with writing with it until it died, and it was retractable but retracted by twisting the bottom of the barrel so I didn’t have to worry about nervous clicking. It also had a really nice weight and shape to it.

    When I am buying pens I typically prefer stick pens that aren’t retractable since with pens that retract by clicking the end of the pen or a button, I am likely to start clicking them “on and off” without realizing it. Fortunately, I recognized this problem back in high school so I don’t think anyone in my professional life has had the opportunity to be annoyed by nervous pen clicking. My one pen that this could be a problem with is only used for special purposes (making corrections or writing notes on print outs) or when I am alone.

  15. Any reqs for the lefties? I like gel pens, but they tend to smudge as I write. Takes me back to HS when erasable pens were all the rage. I hated them. I had blue hands all through HS. ;p

  16. Staples brand Optiflow -Blue with a fine point. Smooth ink flow, with just the right width to make my horrific handwriting passably elegant script. I used to use a similiar Pilot version but found a lower quality there where the Staples brand seems pretty consistent.

    If I need a ballpoint, my go-to is the cheapy I ordered from Vistaprint with my company name and logo on them. Like the older Bic sticks, but with smoother, less clumpy ink. Blue, of course.

    1. Yay that someone else loves these. I’m shocked they took so long to show up in the thread.

      Had surgery for carpal tunnel and these are the only pens I will use. Light, but thick, and the ink comes out easily without having to push too hard. Only think I don’t like is that they run out pretty quickly.

  17. I want to thank all the Corporettes who responded for feeling so strongly about pens. This post has made me feel much less mentally ill. :)

  18. My office orders ball point pens in bulk from Office Despot. I bring my own because I prefer gel. I bring a handful to all meetings and people have begun to pick on me for it. So what! (I hate to use my laptop in mtgs – all my clicking makes others’ talking hard to hear.)

  19. One of my all-time favorites is the Uni-Ball Signo DX 0.38mm in blue black ink. Super clean, sharp, and very fine lines.

  20. Somewhat related question — any thoughts on whether colored pens are unprofessional or should be avoided? I’m the only female attorney in a small firm, and we spend a lot of time reviewing/revising each other’s documents. One of the other attorneys close to my age has taken to revising documents in green instead of red, and I do like that it makes his changes distinctive. Everyone associates him with the green ink. I’d like to try a different, non-red color, but have been concerned that going with a turquoise (I’m partial to the Pilot Precise line, but can’t imagine using pink or even really purple) would be perceived as…I don’t know, girly somehow? Maybe I’m better off sticking with the blue and red.

    2. Okay, my mindset is that of a fountain-pen crazy woman, so this may not be helpful, but maybe brown or blue-black? You can get fountain pen ink in those colors, but you could probably also find them in gel rollers or Le Pens at art supply stores. (A slightly high-maintenance option, I realize, but a nice burnt sienna can be really lovely.) (For more high maintenance: you can also get roller-balls that use fountain pen ink cartridges.)

    3. Hmm, maybe you can find an orange ink that really pops?

      You might have luck by looking for refill cartridges at an office supply store, getting one in a color you like, and getting the matching pen too.

  21. I LOVE Pilot G2s. Comfortable grip, retractable, and at least in my experience (although that probably includes 20+ packs), great ink consistency. And you can see when the ink runs out. Granted, having worked in Operations/Office Management, I tend to form weirdly strong attachments to office supplies. Of everything (notepads, notecards, folders, staplers, etc), these pens are my take-to-a-desert-island favorite.

  22. Pilot Better Retractable, fine. It is a beautiful pen and always writes! I just wish it was easier to find.

  23. I am partial to the Pentel Energel retractable .7 pens, regular old Bic Round Stic pens in blue ink (of course), and my Cross Tech 3.

    I handwrote the bar exam when I took it and I had something like 17 black pens in my ziploc baggie – I used a different one for each essay to avoid hand fatigue!

  24. My Zebra Jimnie Gel pens – I love them!! We stopped ordering them at work for awhile to save costs, and I begged my boss to bring them back.

  25. I’ve always liked fine point (0.5mm) pens, until I discovered there’s 0.38mm and even 0.28mm! Hello, Uni-Ball Signo UM-138 and Uni-Ball Signo (DX) UM-151, respectively.

    These are #1 pen of choice since they come in vibrant, but still functional, colors and pt size 0.38mm and 0.28mm! The refillable colors are your more basic black, blue, red, but also include variations like blue-black. There’s even a build-your own multi-pen version, 3 or 4 colors, or even a mech pencil as one of the slots.

    These pens write very smoothly tend to last til the very end of the inkwell level has disappeared. Def recommended :)

    Although…in some diary-type journals, like recycled fiber ones, all my gel and roller-ball pens don’t show up well enough. For those, I use the Sharpie pens, which are amazing and really don’t bleed any more than a fountain pen does.

  26. I’ve always said – The best pen is a free pen. I collect them from conventions, etc., and rarely purchase my own. That said – always a click-y pen, I’m not a fan of stick pens because I lose the caps.

    Pens I do purchase: felt-tip pens! They write so well and are super dependable, the best for note-taking. And they come in a million colors, which is great for when you’re a nerd and love to color code.

  27. I’m so surprised that with over 100 comments, no one has yet mentioned the “Pentel EnerGel Deluxe RTX Retractable Liquid Gel Pen, 0.5mm, Needle Tip, Blue Ink”

    I buy them at a big box office supply store and my family FIGHTS over them. They also come in 0.7mm tips, but I don’t like those as well. I keep a red and a blue in my bag at all times, and several more at my work and home desks. I may actually start hoarding these!

    And, they seem to be airplane safe.

  28. So many votes for the Pilot V5 & V7, but none for the Pilot VBall? It’s even better than the V5 & V7 (which I will use in a pinch.) Comes in black, red, green, purple, and the blue that Kat describes – in between royal & navy. The pen’s appeal spans generations and industries as well – my retired professor father & my artsy sister love these pens, too.

  29. A Sensa Cloud 9 ballpoint pen, refilled with Cross refills in blue–medium or thick. Comfortable no matter how much I’m writing, always works. I actually have three of them now. I had one for 5 years and lost it during a trial. I swore it was bad luck to lose it, and then we lost the case. :( So no I stock up.

  30. I LOVE the Uni-ball Signo retractable, preferably in Micro, blue or black ink. I hand wrote my bar exam using these last summer.

    http://www.amazon.com/uni-ball-Retractable-Micro-Point-61255/dp/B0015ZZ7P2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1310657341&sr=8-2

    They come in all different colors too, but I’ve only found the colors in Medium point. These are affordable and always write smoothly on the first time. (They also claim to prevent check fraud by not washing off!) Like the G2, but look fancier, write better and don’t smudge! LOVE LOVE LOVE these pens.

  31. tried and true: the papermate write bros. med. pt., the version without the special grip

  33. I used to really enjoy the Pentel Gel Ink pens, but in the last year I have converted entirely to fountain pens. If you want to try a fountain pen on the cheap, try the Pilot Varsity series, which you can usually find at Office Despot (sic) and the like. I did, and became really enamored of them. I now have many types, some as cheap as $7.00 and some rather more. The choices in inks are fantastic, and I love that they are refillable and nondisposable. They last and for me, anyway, they hugely improve my writing.

    Check out the Fountain Pen Network (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/) for all the info you could ever want about FP’s. It’s really a delightful community too, much like this one.

  34. a quick addendum – I am a left handed over-writer and find the Noodlers “Eternal” and “Warden” inks dry very quickly, even on nice paper like moleskine journal paper.

  36. Favorite right now is the muji gel ink ballpoint 0.38 mm but its only available online, in Japan, and in NY. They have a variety of colors. I also love the signo dx 0.28 mm series and 0.38 mm series. Jetpens.com has a great selection for lawyers too and lots of the signo dx’s for sale :)

  37. Absolute best pen in the world – after fountain pens – is the cross brand rollerball. And nice designs on them and refills aren’t too expensive.

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