Gel Pen Vs Fp: Fine Nibs!

May 5, 2012

I know that this may not be the most Kosher review, considering its the Fountain Pen Network, but as someone who fell into this fountain pen trap via the route of gel pens, I figured I ought to review a comparison.

Before I knew much about fountain pens, I loved gel pens. But not just any gel pens… as someone who has to write oodles of notes in cramped spaces, I preferred gel pens that were capable of putting down fine lines. For me, that meant the Japanese gel pens were my choice of poison. Anyways, recently, I came across a few old gel pens that I used… and thought it’d be interesting to put them up against my fine tipped fountain pens.

Gel Pens used:

Pilot Hi-Tec-C (0.25mm)

Uni-ball Signo (0.28mm)

Pentel Slicci (0.25mm)

http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/48267/2096044330049126107S500x500Q85.jpg

from L to R: Hi-Tec-C, Signo, Slicci

Fountain pens used:

Pilot Vanishing Point (Japanese F nib)

Pilot Penmanship (Japanese EF nib)

*I didn’t include my TWSBI and Lamy F/EF nib pens because they aren’t in the same league of fineness as their Japanese counterparts.

http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/51318/2380331760049126107S425x425Q85.jpg

from L to R: Vanishing Point, Penmanship

Here’s the results:

http://inlinethumb29.webshots.com/33948/2442658930049126107S600x600Q85.jpg

(sorry for the orange ink.. it was all I had).

In case you can’t read the picture, here’s a brief summary:

In the gel pen world, the Pilot Hi-Tec-C is one of the most revered pens. I found the 0.25mm to be capable of putting down really fine lines… but it was a little scratchy. The pen also tends to dry out if unused for a long period of time. One cool thing about the Hi-Tec-C line is that there is a special multi-pen model that allows you to essentially build your own multi-pen with whatever colors you like. It's a bit pricey but it's a cool concept. Jetpens is the only place I've seen that sells this build-your-own pen.

The Uniball Signo had a 0.28mm. Although technically its a 0.03mm difference from the Hi-Tec-C, it had a noticeably thicker line. However, it wrote smoother and its rounded body with rubber grip made it more comfortable to write with.

The Pentel Slicci was also a 0.25mm and put down lines that appear to be just a tad bit thicker than the Hi-Tec-C (but still thinner than the Signo). It was also smoother than the Hi-Tec-C! However, the body has a very thin diameter compared to the other pens. For someone with small hands, it shouldn’t be an issue… but if you have larger hands, it may be uncomfortable. The Slicci is my personal favorite.

To my eyes, the Pilot Penmanship, a sub-$10 fountain pen with an EF nib, put down thin lines as well. To my eyes, it seemed to match the Uniball Signo’s thickness pretty well. I would have to say the Slicci and Hi-Tec-C put down slightly thinner lines. When I flipped the nib upside-down on the Penmanship, it didn’t appear the change the thickness of the lines. It was a little scratchier though and probably not something very useful or comfortable for long-term writing.

The Pilot Vanishing Point I have contains a fine nib (haven’t tried the new EF nibs). Writing with it the normal way produced a considerably thicker line. Writing with the nib upside-down produced a nice, thin line that is on par with the 3 gel pens. I would imagine the EF nibs would be nicer if you’re going for thinner lines… but I don’t know if you’ll give up smoothness in doing so.

One last thing, the gel pens were considerably more water resistant than the fountain pens. As I wasn't using any bulletproof inks, it was kind of expected. The Slicci and Hi-Tec-C has slight smearing with water… but nowhere near the fountain pen levels. The Signo seemed unaffected! Putting in a bulletproof ink the fountain pens will probably even out the playing field.

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/48588/2090553080049126107S500x500Q85.jpg

So who wins? Well… nobody. I think both gel pens and fountain pens have their own pros and cons and you just need to use the pens best for your given set of circumstances.

Gel Pens Pros:

Thin lines at reasonable cost (none of those pens were more than $4).
Fairly waterproof
Can write on a wider variety of surfaces than fountain pens

Gel Pens Cons:

Hard to find in the USA (I bought mine though Jetpens and/or the local Asian market, which has a smaller selection). That being said, there are Western version of the Hi-Tec-C (called G-Tec-C) and the Signo.... but I remember them being a little thicker than the Japanese counterparts
Limited ink selections compared to fountain pens (though they are still available in many colors).
Personally, I find fountain pens more comfortable to hold (I use tripod grip)

Fountain Pen Pros:

fancier looking pens
more comfortable to hold (IMO)
can also put down fine lines
less pressure needed to write (though the gel pens are good in their own right… I like them more than ballpoints)

Fountain Pen Cons:

Not waterproof… unless you buy separate waterproof ink and a converter or syringe
Flipping nib upside down can be very scratchy
More expensive

Anyways, hope that helps and is of some use On a side note, I really need to get my scanner up and running :embarrassed_smile:

Edited May 5, 2012 by danahn17

May 5, 2012

Which fountain pen inks did you use?

May 5, 2012

Which fountain pen inks did you use?

The Penmanship used the stock Pilot black cartridge.

I believe the VP is filled with Pilot Iroshizuku Asa-Gao.

May 5, 2012

Pilot... Speaking of which, maybe you'd like to try Pilot Blue-Black or Blue. Nice inks... In fact, one of our own members did a review on a Pilot not too long ago. Yes, they're also water-resistant.

"In the gel-pen world" xD That makes me feel like we're talking about a distant culture or something. :ph34r:

Is that image in your avatar thing a chop? Romanisation: "an yeong jun." Or is it "yeong jun an"? What does it mean, if I may ask? My Korean has degraded over the years.

May 5, 2012

Interesting post. I love gel,rollerball, and fountain pens. It's interesting to see others views on fountain pens in comparison to the mass produced pens. What I hate about fountain pens is when you purchase them they sometimes require nib tuning. I love how mass produced pens you simply open the package and go as opposed to having to buy from a nibmiester or having to get out a loop!

May 6, 2012

Pilot... Speaking of which, maybe you'd like to try Pilot Blue-Black or Blue. Nice inks... In fact, one of our own members did a review on a Pilot not too long ago. Yes, they're also water-resistant.

"In the gel-pen world" xD That makes me feel like we're talking about a distant culture or something. :ph34r:

Is that image in your avatar thing a chop? Romanisation: "an yeong jun." Or is it "yeong jun an"? What does it mean, if I may ask? My Korean has degraded over the years.

I have a pen that's been loaded with a blue Pilot cartridge. For some reason, I never tested its water resistance... so I did after reading your post. It's on par with the black Pilot on my review (which is good enough for the most part in my book). Thanks for the heads up!

As for my avatar, yes, it's my name chop (called a "dojang" in Korean). It's my Korean name: Ahn (family name) Youngjun.

May 6, 2012

Interesting post. I love gel,rollerball, and fountain pens. It's interesting to see others views on fountain pens in comparison to the mass produced pens. What I hate about fountain pens is when you purchase them they sometimes require nib tuning. I love how mass produced pens you simply open the package and go as opposed to having to buy from a nibmiester or having to get out a loop!

That's true.. didn't even think of that! I had a TWSBI pen who's nib just was so temperamental (so I swapped it out). Haven't had as bad an experience with other pens, though I did have one Hi-Tec-C stop writing for no apparent reason.

May 6, 2012

Thanks for the review.

I have all of these pens as well and agree with most of the assessment. I used to prefer the Slicci as well (they fit into a Hybrid Technica body if you want a little bigger grip), but after discovering the inks are not waterproof, and most of the colors are very fade-prone (especially the burnt orange, pink, and purple, while the green and sky blue ones I have held up better with only moderate fading after a few months), I switched almost entirely to Signo DX, which showed no real fading and complete waterproofness pretty much regardless of the color. Add this to their feathering and bleed resistance and you have what would be a "grail ink" in the fountain pen world. I have never come across a fountain pen ink that will lay down a crisp line of saturated waterproof color without bleed or feathering in my Moleskine paper or some of the stuff I have to use at work.

I am a little confused by the "more pressure" comment, as all of my good gel pens under 0.5mm write at the touch and do not require any pressure. I do not have an electric scale to test this, but I suspect the pressure necessary to write with them is less than what is required to get my fountain pens to write. I like the nice grips I can get with fountain pens, but the gels lay down a line effortlessly.

I have largely settled into the 0.38mm variants for their slightly better reliability and better glide on softer or rougher paper, though I still keep a bunch of the finer ones around as well. Extra fine fountain pens can get very fine indeed, but they are, in my view, compromising a bit to get the fineness of line a good gel roller can.

May 6, 2012

I am a little confused by the "more pressure" comment, as all of my good gel pens under 0.5mm write at the touch and do not require any pressure. I do not have an electric scale to test this, but I suspect the pressure necessary to write with them is less than what is required to get my fountain pens to write. I like the nice grips I can get with fountain pens, but the gels lay down a line effortlessly.

Maybe I should have reworded it a little better :embarrassed_smile:

I think gel pens can be written with a light touch... but it's more comfortable for me to write with a light touch on a fountain pen than with a gel pen. I'm thinking for me and the way I write, a tripod grip on a fountain pen allows the nib to contact the paper in such a way that the ink flow is ideal.

On a gel pen, I personally feel that the nib's ideal position is a little more vertical. I can write with a tripod grip... but it doesn't feel as good to me. In fact, sometimes I use this really weird/hideous way to grip the gel pens to give me more of that vertical component Could be just me though (probably is haha). :roflmho:

But I still love my gel pens! I should pick up a few more for those occasions I don't use a FP...

Edited May 6, 2012 by danahn17

May 6, 2012

Nobody has yet mentioned the received wisdom that gel pens' ink is reputed to be very unstable.In the longevity tests I'm aware (some years ago now) of it lasted much less long than any standard FP ink.

Anybody aware of advances in gel ink technology or more recent testing? This has got to be a factor in any comparison.

May 6, 2012

Pilot... Speaking of which, maybe you'd like to try Pilot Blue-Black or Blue. Nice inks... In fact, one of our own members did a review on a Pilot not too long ago. Yes, they're also water-resistant.

"In the gel-pen world" xD That makes me feel like we're talking about a distant culture or something. :ph34r:

Is that image in your avatar thing a chop? Romanisation: "an yeong jun." Or is it "yeong jun an"? What does it mean, if I may ask? My Korean has degraded over the years.
I have a pen that's been loaded with a blue Pilot cartridge. For some reason, I never tested its water resistance... so I did after reading your post. It's on par with the black Pilot on my review (which is good enough for the most part in my book). Thanks for the heads up!

As for my avatar, yes, it's my name chop (called a "dojang" in Korean). It's my Korean name: Ahn (family name) Youngjun.

No problem! And though you say the blue in its cartridge form is already good enough in your book, I've only tried the bottled version, and I found it spectacular. Maybe it's different. It could be; some manufacturers make different versions for bottles and cartridges.

I have a name chop as well, but it's a lot less artistic-looking. It looks more... manufactured, standard, maybe even modern. They're still nifty little things though. Do you know if they machine-produce them or anything like that these days? If they do, then that's what mine might be. Maybe it's just me, but it looks a little "too perfect" to be handmade. :blink:

May 7, 2012

Nobody has yet mentioned the received wisdom that gel pens' ink is reputed to be very unstable.In the longevity tests I'm aware (some years ago now) of it lasted much less long than any standard FP ink.
Anybody aware of advances in gel ink technology or more recent testing? This has got to be a factor in any comparison.

Some of the mediocre inks out there like the Pilot G-2 have performed rather badly under some circumstances. Some inks, like the Slicci inks in this thread are comparable to most fountain pen inks in that they do fade and deteriorate rather quickly with exposure to UV, and wash rather easily when touched with water. The Signo DX inks I use are incredibly stable and I have a few samples that have been exposed to UV for a few years now and have been soaked in water several times and remain virtually unchanged. That is why I switched to them as go-to pens.