What Are The Best Ballpoint Pens? Share Your Thoughts!

[torstar]

Is there a refill that's comparable to a BIC 1.6 that will fit inside a Cross? As far as ballpoints go, I haven't found anything better than a blue BIC Cristal, but I'd like that experience in a more elegant and somewhat thicker shell.

 

I like that thought, but the BIC pen spins perfectly around my thumbs and other tricks during boring meetings.

 

A little microsurgery can make it fit, the only enemies are radically shaped tips and too short.

[max dog]

I heard a silly rumour that Cross are too thin.

I love dispelling myths:

[torstar]

Either the Bic Velocity or the Uniball Signo cheapie refill fits perfectly into the pull-up Cross rollerball three from the bottom.

[IvoryParker]

Is there a refill that's comparable to a BIC 1.6 that will fit inside a Cross? As far as ballpoints go, I haven't found anything better than a blue BIC Cristal, but I'd like that experience in a more elegant and somewhat thicker shell.

I digress a bit, what other types of pen shells will take a bic cristal refill besides cross.... many thanks

[Stephen2020]

http://www.penlibrary.com/images/Eversharp/eversharp_324_1.JPG

These 1940s Eversharp Fifth Avenue take a Bic Crystal, actually Bic to the rescue because to find a working original refill is extremely rare.

[Studio97]

Montblanc broad point and cross broad point refills and a Bic 1.6 refill. I have been particular about pens all of my life. Growing up as a kid we had coffee cans full of old found pens. None of them worked,,,,at all.

[torstar]

Montblanc broad point and cross broad point refills and a Bic 1.6 refill. I have been particular about pens all of my life. Growing up as a kid we had coffee cans full of old found pens. None of them worked,,,,at all.

 

Teachers in the family would collect decent pens student left behind for a bankers box full when they retired and brought it with their belongings....

[thx1138]

Mine would be

Duofold black GT

Ellipse black GT

Grain dorge 75 in gold

180 flat flighter GT

Retro 51 Hexomatic.

All with blue medium easy flow 9000

Edited February 2, 2017 by thx1138

[Dorf]

My favourite is Montblanc meisterstuck classique, and Cartier Roadster.

http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b542/oslo-fjord/20170109_235540-1_zpselveoyzl.jpg

[flatline]

I managed to acquire a Caran d'Ache 849 this weekend. It's a very comfortable pen to use. The lack of a tactile click is kind of bothersome, but doesn't lessen the writing experience any.

 

The "Goliath" refill it has is blue. It says "medium blue", but it puts down a slightly finer line than the fine point Fisher refills I generally use. On smooth paper, it takes less pressure than the Fisher, but puts down a lighter blue line with less contrast than the Fisher. On regular paper, it feels just like the Fisher and puts down a very similar line (slightly lighter blue...not enough to matter to me).

 

I do plan to use the goliath refill up and then swap it for a Fisher. I do a fair amount of writing on a clip board, so the pressurized refill actually does mean something to me. Writing up against a wall, the goliath refill dries up on me after a line or two.

 

The other reason that I'll switch to Fisher is that I already have Fisher refills in my stash, waiting to be used. The goliath refill is almost twice as expensive for a refill that feels about the same but lacks the benefits of being pressurized. By the time I've used up all my Fisher refills, perhaps writing horizontal won't matter to me and I'll be glad to have the extra capacity of the goliath, but I already get 2 or 3 years out of a Fisher refill, so that seems unlikely to me.

 

Anyways, the 849 is a great little pen and I have nothing but positive feelings about it right now. And I look forward to eventually using it as a host for my Fisher refills.

 

--flatline

Edited February 6, 2017 by flatline

[Left FPN]

I believe Waterman refills are the best. As a plus, the ballpoint refills and rollerball refills interchange.

They may well do but they stick out too far on one and not far enough on the other.

[Kolyd]

My only ballpoint in use is one of the new Parker Jotters, I use a Fisher Space Pen refill in black F. I also carry a Lamy Pico also in black F for friends to borrow.

[flatline]

I recently received a Pilot s20 pen. It uses the same "Center of Gravity" refills as the Dr. Grip ballpoints. I did confirm that it will not take a cut down Energel or similar refill. The hole in the point is too narrow.

 

The s20 looks nice and is comfortable to hold and use. I'd recommend it if you like the looks.

 

--flatline

[digonline]

Hello. I'm in the distinct minority on this site because I not only like ballpoints, but I only use fine point oil-based ink. I have tried most of the hybrid inks (Jetstream, Vicuna, Acroball, Surari, etc) and find them unsuitable for my writing style (I'm a southpaw and I write microscopically). The 0.7 sizes are basically gel pens, and the 0.5 and 0.38 are too scratchy. It's a golden era for people who like thick, dark lines, but it's a challenging market for those of us on the opposite end of the spectrum. It's hard to find quality "off the shelf" fine points in stores so internet shopping is a must.

 

Some favorites in no particular order off the top of my head:

• Sailor G-Free 0.7. I've read some negative reviews on this pen but this produces an amazingly consistent thin dark line for only $5.
• Sailor Reglus 0.7. The grip is a little smaller than I'd like but it writes very nicely.
• Pelikan K14 Stola I with fine point cartridge.
• Pelikan K16 Stola III, also with fine point cartridge.
• BIC Atlantis Exact. This pen was a revelation. It writes amazingly well for $1. I only bought it because of my incurable habit of buying most fine point pens I see. The pen is homely and not terribly comfortable, but the cartridge works nicely in their Atlantis Ultra Comfort or Atlantis Metal. Fantastic bargain.
• Pilot Opt 0.7. Another amazing bargain for only $3. This produces a brilliant thin dark line.
• Uni-Ball Pure Malt with fine point cartridge. At $15, it's a relatively inexpensive wooden pen that is comfortable and writes nicely. Also a fun conversation piece, as it was made from Japanese whiskey barrels.
• Lamy Noto with a Lamy fine point.
• Schneider Slider Rave XB with the Schneider Express fine point cartridge.
• Zebra F402 0.7. I have been a Zebra fan for almost 30 years, beginning with the F301. I've used the F701, but the F402 is my favorite because of the grip. It's also a rare winner you can buy in practically any store for only a few dollars. This would be a contender in the bang for the buck contest.

Other random thoughts....

• There is a lot of love for Jotters, but I don't share that sentiment. I've tried several different Parker ink cartridges (all fine point) and they write poorly to the point of being unusable. And in my experience the metal barrel Jotters are too slick for optimal control. The grip is thinner than I like, but the plastic barrel Jotters are tolerable. I inserted a Schneider fine point cartridge in one and am actually growing a little attached to it.
• Lamy. Ugh, mixed feelings with these pens. I bought a Logo and Logo M+ (metal and plastic) and the cartridges rattled and wobbled badly in the barrels. I got a 2000 and was shocked that the clip was very loose. I purchased an AL-Star and it was fine, but the peculiar grip (shared with the Safari) doesn't work for the way I grip a pen. The Lamy fine point makes a consistent thin line but it's fairly drab.
• Schmidt fine point. This is decent ink but I think Schneider is better.

I'm more concerned with how well something writes rather than how elegant it looks. Regarding all of my assessments above, please keep in mind that what we're discussing here is entirely subjective! We all hold a pen differently and write differently, so naturally we are frequently drawn to different qualities and characteristics. I'm not saying that my favorites are the best pens, but rather the best for my needs. If you also value fine point ballpoints with a thin, consistent, dark line, then I offer these as some worthy of trying.

Edited February 14, 2017 by digonline

[sidpost]

 

If we are talking strictly ball pens and not rollerball, gels, and hybrids then the best refill I have used by a country mile is the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000. I am not sure a ball pen can actually get any better.

I freaking love the style of the Caran d'Ache 849 (hard to put in words how smitten I am with this pen) and have a few of them in different colors for when I need a ball pen. But I am not crazy about the refils. The newer ones are much better but still not great but I just love the 849 style to death.

The Caran d'Ache 849 and the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 are almost the same size and shape but the top of the Caran d'Ache 849 is smooth so the knock mechanism can work. The Schmidt is has the grooves. You can get the Schmidt into the pen but it turtleheads a tad and the knock doesn't really work. I suppose it could be cut down. The Schmidt lays down a much darker line and is smooth as a ball pen is likely to every get.

When I first popped out the 849's cartridge I thought, "Ah, I bet this is made by Schmidt," but sadly it writes nothing like the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 which is nice and dark and skates across the page.

 

 

 

So close. I think you could probably cut it down (that plastic is very hard) or just remove all the plastic and make a spacer. But that refill in that pen housing would be as good as a ball pen could be for me.

 

http://cl.ly/image/3U2j290G3k2b/SchmidtEasyFlow.jpg

 

Do the Schmidt Easy Flow 9000 refills work if you sand the top smooth? Is the length a problem if you smooth the top off?

 

Or put another way, what refills work best for the Caran d'Ache 849 that are easy to source and work reliably without excessive expense? Are Pilot G2's or Pentel Energel's an option? What refills have the correct 'throat' to not wiggle the point when you write?

 

TIA!

Sid

[milkb0at]

Some favorites in no particular order off the top of my head:

...

What an interesting and refreshing take on the ballpoint options. Thanks for that. I don't think I've tried many of those and don't even recognise the names of some of them. More pens to try!

 

As you say, it shows the great variety in preferences that people have. It also shows how inventive and creative the "cheap pen" market is. I bet way more R&D and clever science goes into the cheapest BIC than 99.99% of expensive fountain pens.

[rochester21]

The best ballpoint pens by a stretch are the Parker Jotter, followed by the 45/75 series. Very simple and elegant at the same time, i can`t figure out how you could break one of these. Quality of the refills is about average. The Jotter is actually amazingly simple, elegant, comfortable and cheap.

 

For a better writing experience, a roller serves the purpose better, although the refills are expensive. I`m thinking Pelikan R300 or similar. Parker roller refills are also pretty good.

 

The problem with Cross and other manufacturers is that 1.i couldn`t tell how to access the refill inside the pen and 2.in some parts of the world it`s not easy finding a Cross or a Pelikan/Montblanc refill. Parker-type refills are always easy to find

Edited February 15, 2017 by rochester21

[sidpost]

Pen refills can be problematic even in major areas of the USA if cost prohibitive shipping fees are included in your decision. In my case, $2.49 for a Pentel Energel refill and $9.95 for shipping. Some days, I wonder about going back to a good old mechanical pencil with common everyday lead refills (0.5 or 0.7) that are so easy to find everywhere.

 

I lucked out and found a Pentel Energel RTX pen for sale locally and harvested the ink cartridge for my Alloy RT and put it back into service.

 

Parker GEL refills are ~$10 at my local shop. Thankfully, I have Amazon.com and Ebay for cost effective Pilot and Parker options.

[flatline]

The best ballpoint pens by a stretch are the Parker Jotter.

 

I actively dislike the metal jotter because it's too narrow and slippery to hold comfortably.

 

I don't mind the plastic jotter, though.

 

--flatline

[flatline]

Some days, I wonder about going back to a good old mechanical pencil with common everyday lead refills (0.5 or 0.7) that are so easy to find everywhere.

 

I've been pleased in the last couple of years to see 0.9mm lead become locally available. I still order my 0.3mm lead online, though.

 

--flatline