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A ballpoint refill writes exactly the same, whether it is wrapped in an 18k gold Montblanc, or duct tape.

I have had good results with Schmidt's refills, and very limited, but good, performance from Jetstream brand. So, find a pen that is comfortable to you, then go to these people for the refill.

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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A ballpoint refill writes exactly the same, whether it is wrapped in an 18k gold Montblanc, or duct tape.

 

 

I like that. The truth of ball-pens has been written into stone.

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I've noticed how so many ballpoints I have will only take the type of refill they are sold with, but once empty I cannot find the replacement refills. I think I can spot a pattern here.

To me the latest type of inks are so much richer and smoother, but the refills don't last too long.

Several companies around the world have obviously done a good deal of research into inks and it shows.

It would be good to see the pen bodies imporoved too as so many of the popular 'school/student market' pens are very poor designs, at least to my eye.

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If someone asks me for a ballpoint recommendation, I always tell them to find a pen that they find comfortable to use and put a space pen refill in it.

 

There are better ballpoints than that, but not enough better to be worth the hunt. Especially since even the best ballpoint compares poorly to the excellent and inexpensive gel pens out there now like the Inkjoy and the Energel.

 

--flatline

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One type of ballpoint that surprised me with it's very consistent line, and rich ink is the Sheaffer K refill, the only (slight) downside is that it won't fit Parker style pens, but why would it?

A problem that affects almost all ballpoints is the breakup of the line when drawing loops or circles, and random 'blobs' of ink when changing direction.

There is a similar thread to this at the moment, about ballpoints/rollerball refills, so I did some tests of many of the ones I have, and the 'winner' was this Sheaffer K, and very similar was the Uniball Powertank.

 

As 'flatline' mentioned in the post above, it's clear that the older technology in ballpoint inks is being replaced by the latest hybrid types, as would be expected. What was 'standard' in the 70s and 80s now seem quite second rate.

Ballpoints are still popular not for how they write, but for the way they generally work for many months or years without trouble, don't leak, are lightweight to carry around and relatively cheap. But not writing quality.

Edited by Mike 59
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The "ballpoint pen", a revolutionary and affordable technology with a useful life counted in years, indeed decades, easy and unfussy, that has served us very well. I think the pragmatic approach to ballpoints is what I call the ubiquitous Parker-style refill. And, to put a finer point on it [reasonable pun] the useful Parker Jotter click technology rotates the tip to promote even wear. All that said, competition is a good thing, but I do not care for short lived and "disposable" attributes.

CFTPM

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For me the Jotter is awesome. So inexpensive, yet stylish. You can impress all your friends with it (honestly, computers have taken over the world, though I do like my Mac.). One thing I learned is that you should never drop your Jotter tip downwards, otherwise you're in for a broken surprise 😢

Edited by CaptainRollerball
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I don't use ballpoints that often, but when I do, it's usually one that takes a Jotter refill.

The Inkjoy line is nice too, but I stick to the higher numbered models.

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