What Are The Best Ballpoint Pens? Share Your Thoughts!

[Princeps Anglorum]

I am not one of those people that just HAS to use a fountain pen every time I write anything though a fountain pen is usually my first preference. If I need to jot something down quickly or take a phone message at home I usually go for a traditional (soft) wooden pencil. But I do usually carry a ballpoint when I am out and about as a back up and for things like taking a quick phone message when travelling or loaning to someone who has need of a writing instrument. On those occasions I tend to go for a Parker Jotter. I find it suits my hand and as an earlier contributor noted can be used with a decent refill that is key to a good writing experience - as I like a broad I usually go for a Scmidt refill. Its i also inexpensive. I seem to have acquired quite a few over the years. I have found Watermans and Sheaffers that I like but hate their refills. At the cheap disposable end of the market, BIC crystal and Zebra I find are okay. I also use a Papermate PhD multipen for business trips to cut down on the number of items I need to take.

[MHBru]

I have two ball points that in use regularly. Mont blanc and a pelikan k800. Love them both for traveling (my m800s never leave the house) or for purposes not well suited for my fountain pens

[MHBru]

I have two ball points that in use regularly. Mont blanc and a pelikan k800. Love them both for traveling (my m800s never leave the house) or for purposes not well suited for my fountain pens

[Corona688]

UNI-BALL micro.

[Princeps Anglorum]

As a postcript to my earlier post, I have just acquired a couple of OHTO Rays Flash Dry Gel Ballpint pens and replaced the extra fine gel refill with something more to my liking and have been quite impressed by what is a decent pen for the small ticket price.

[MYU]

OHTO makes some very decent writing instruments. I have one of their aluminum "Slim" pen & pencil sets. Very nice quality.

 

 

The ballpoint writes very well. I am guessing that instead of a steel ball, there's a ceramic one used instead.

[DrSam]

Going back to the original poster's situation as a student, I used the good old cheap Bic four color pens. I liked having the mulicolor option, but the clips are worthless (I had to use a lighter to bend the clip in so it did not fall from shirt pockets). Then I found the Rotring Quattro multipen that was actually a much better pen, multicolor and a pencil, and normal size. I used that pen for almost 6 years in undergraduate classes, but with an added rubber grip. I still have it stored in a box now. For a while after graduating, I used various ball pens, writing pages of documents in triplicate until I eventually could not write, and had to inject methylprednisilone into my radial tendon sheath. That was a major consideration as to why I use the fountains pens now. If I need to write in triplicate, I have a Montblanc "Hommage à W.A. Mozart" that was a gift, and it does well for small jobs where a ball pen is needed.

[dadoody]

My favorite cheapo disposable ballpoint is papermate's inkjoy

[Snowyfox]

My favorite cheapo disposable ballpoint is papermate's inkjoy

 

Which one, though? 100? 100? 300? 550? 700? RT of any of those? Gel?

Edited April 16, 2018 by Snowyfox

[IvoryParker]

The Pilot Acroball OILGELROLLERBALLPOINT (aka hybrid) is a good everyday pen

[MYU]

OHTO makes some very decent writing instruments. I have one of their aluminum "Slim" pen & pencil sets. Very nice quality.

 

 

The ballpoint writes very well. I am guessing that instead of a steel ball, there's a ceramic one used instead.

Sorry, the image site I used was forced to change their URL top level domain, which broke those images above. Here they are, corrected:

 

 

[vibin247]

I use Uniball Jetstream 1.0 in black for work, and I have a Waterman Hemisphere Blue and Carene Blue ST for my hobby writing. They're definitely the smoothest BP writers I've experienced thus far, and put down a line I'm pleased with. I never really liked rollerballs, although if you need a bold line, they'd be my first choice.

[markofp]

The Pilot Metropolitan ball point, which takes the Dr. Grip Center of Gravity refill, is a solidly made all-metal twist-open ballpoint that writes beautifully. Only drawback: the refills are 1.0mm only, which makes it halfway to a rollerball. Still, it's become every-day carry for me and I highly recommend it. Usually US$12 - 16.00, well worth it.

Edited May 21, 2018 by markofp

[gammada]

I use only two ballpoints: a Caran d'Ache 849 Brut Rose and a Pelikan Colani. However, tthe key to both of them is that I replaced both of their refills with Schmidt's EasyFlow 9000.

 

In my opinion, the only ballpoint refill that its really worth it!

[neoply]

In fact, I am picky about the pen and I saw a coupon being cleared on Offers, then I searched the keywords as Ballpoint Stylus Pens, then a bling pen is seen at my sight.

As my brother's birthday is around the corner on June 12th, I want to send her a gift. To start with, I feel hesitant about what I should send her.
I want to give her a pen with practical functionality, in fact that pen can meet my need. So I would like to buy it. It can work not on ipad as a stylus but on paper as a pen.

I just need to pay 3 euro to get a bling pen.

Here is Offers website: https://www.offers.com/search/?query=Ballpoint+stylus+pens

It looks amazing. As I don't receive the pen, I can not wait to use it.

 

[IndigoBOB]

The rOtring Tikky with a Schmidt easyflow 9000 is very good.

[Honeybadgers]

The Fisher AG-7. No contest. It's been to space.

[ballboy]

I noticed myself gravitating more and more to ballpoints for the simple reason that they rarely have to be refilled and are convenient to use in any circumstance. Not to mention, I keep coming across more and more paper that's not fountain pen friendly and it'd be quite costly to get fountain pen friendly (or even rollerball friendly for that matter) papers for all my tasks. The ballpoint solves that issue. And I think Parker QuinkFlow refills solve it best.

This is a reality Im facing up to as well. Only two fountain pens can write well enough on my Rhodia and Clairefontaine; these being the PARKER 25 steel nib and Pilot Capless with its smooth broad 18K; other gold nib pens slipped n skipped or slowly dried out like water across a desert.

 

Luxury ballpoint alternatives would either be a PARKER Premier or budget Pilot/Uni gel packs.

[Zookie]

Pentel Energel 0.3 needlepoint.

[1nkulus]

Any metal pen body accepting Uni-ball or Parker G2 refills. Uni Jetstream refills have good colors and a 0.3mm line width.