When Do You Use A Rollerball And When A Fp?

[Skv]

Hi all!

 

At the beginning of this year I decided to buy my first 'good' pen. It is a Monblanc LeGrand Rollerball/Fineliner.
After using the pen for about two or three months, I got more and more interested in buying a fountain pen.

 

Weeks later I bought a Montblanc LeGrand 'Petit Prince' fountain pen with a Fine nib. Since then everything started going downhill. I ended up with two MB pen pouches, 3 packages of fineliners and rollerballs, 8 different MB inks and about 20 Rhodia and Clairefontaine notebooks. (bleep).

 

Recently I find myself only using the fountain pen and my Clairefontaine notebooks. The rollerball is a bit skippy on CF paper and I do not want to carry two seperate notebooks. I have fitted the rollerball with a fineliner and that writes good on CF paper. But then again, why buy expensive paper when using a fineliner?

 

My problem is that since I bought the FP, the rollerball has little to no practical use for me anymore. Where do you guys and girls use your rollerball/fineliner for? Please inspire me, otherwise I might as well sell it. Keeping it for the sake of just having it (and letting the refills dry out in the meanwhile) does not feel right. Thanks!

[Skv]

This is basically what happened..

Edited June 23, 2019 by Skv

[pajaro]

When I worked I used a rollerball to take notes in meetings. Sometimes I use it now, retired, in the grocery store to tick off the grocery list. I like using it, but I see your point.

[Karmachanic]

Sell the rollerball. Buy a 50s MB FP. For the next six months use the two pens and existing inks to fill up a note book or two.

When the six months are up reassess.

[Skv]

Sell the rollerball. Buy a 50s MB FP. For the next six months use the two pens and existing inks to fill up a note book or two.

When the six months are up reassess.

a 50s MB? Should these be any more comfortable than my current 2019 legrand?

[Karmachanic]

a 50s MB? Should these be any more comfortable than my current 2019 legrand?

 

The nibs are more interesting

Edited June 23, 2019 by Karmachanic

[BaronWulfraed]

The only rollerball I carry is an ancient Levenger model that uses international standard fountain pen cartridges... I carry it for ONE purpose -- to write on my duplicating check book on those rare occasions I need to hand-write a check (about 2 a year -- regular checks get run off my computer, and most places I can run the debit card; paper check is used if I need to delay processing until I can boost the funds in the account and now with cell-phone app even that isn't a need*)

 

 

 

 

* Holding up the check-out line at the grocery while transferring funds on the phone, and then inserting my debit card in the reader may not be quite "cool", but...

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Just to be clear on what we're discussing, I don't really distinguish between gel pens and liquid ink rollerballs as some might. My Schmidt rollerball refills, which are liquid ink, and a Pilot G2 gel pen are pretty much the same as far as my experience with them goes. In fact, I didn't even realize that the Schmidts were liquid ink until somebody else here pointed it out to me.

 

Out of curiosity, I once got a couple of Montblanc rollerball refills. These will fit in a Pilot G2 gel pen if you trim the plastic plug at the end just slightly. But I was underwhelmed by the quality. Not bad, certainly, but nothing special.

 

Gel pens/rollerballs were a sort of gateway product for me. Compared to the ballpoints I had been using, the superior smoothness and the richer look of the inks were a definite step up. Eventually, though, I tried fountain pens, and most of the rollerballs got put away.

 

I now use fountain pens for most of my writing in ink. But I generally don't care to fill them with black or red inks, which I use only sparingly; my go to color is blue. I keep rollerballs with red and black for the times I do need them. So they don't go entirely to waste. I might go days or even weeks without needing them, though.

Edited June 23, 2019 by ISW_Kaputnik

[Skv]

I might try it with the Fineliner for a while. Not sure if that will give me a better experience than the rollerball. At least the fineliner writes like it should on Fountain Pen friendly notebooks.

[TennesseeTrash]

I keep a rollerball in my shirt pocket for when people ask to borrow a pen. Generally they just want to write down a phone number or sign something quickly, so explaining a fountain pen would take up more time than the writing task itself.

 

Other than that, I'm not getting any advantage. The ink seems to feather and bleed on bad paper as much as a fine nibbed fountain pen with a reasonable ink in it.

[1nkulus]

I keep a rollerball in my shirt pocket for when people ask to borrow a pen.

+1

 

and also use it for a quick scribble when on the move, rather than fumble around with a FP.

Always one of these three; Pentel Energel, Uni Signo/Eye, Pilot G2/C4.

Edited June 24, 2019 by 1nkulus

[DilettanteG]

In college, I finally got fed up with my cheap Sheaffer Nononsense Calligraphy fountain pen from junior high either running out or leaking on everything. I switched to a rollerball for journalling and a four color ballpoint for note taking. When I got past the penniless student phase, I bought a Sheaffer Prelude rollerball which was a gateway to a matching custom ground cursive italic nibbed Prelude from Pendemonium.

 

Twenty years later, I'm now up to about seventy-five pens over sixty of which are fountain pens. Stubs, Spensarians, Italics, Obliques, and a couple of Italifines have joined my original cursive italic. An Architect, a three tined Music nib, and a brush pen are on my wish list. The inner caps have come unglued from age on my Prelude rollerballs, which I didn't notice as I used them last when flying back from the UK about ten years ago. I stopped using them when I bought my Montblanc 147 Traveller.

 

And then there is my two hundred plus bottle ink collection. The plain black rollerballs still work, but they're just too dull to waste time on these days. I have sets with matching rollerballs and ballpoints that I carry as a loaner pen.

[Karmachanic]

+1

 

and also use it for a quick scribble when on the move, rather than fumble around with a FP.

Always one of these three; Pentel Energel, Uni Signo/Eye, Pilot G2/C4.

 

Tsk, tsk. This is why we have Vanishing Points!

[1nkulus]

Tsk, tsk. This is why we have Vanishing Points!

 

A valid point.

I tend to carry my FP's in a pen case which is in my briefcase, hence I would still be fumbling irrespective of the FP brand/model.

[Charles Rice]

Rollerball for addressing envelopes. FP everything else.

[RMN]

For me the answer is: RB never. I dislike RB.

BP occasionally, usually on very loose paper that would cause bleeding and feathering OR on paper with a glossy layer. Plus fopr guests.

MP regularly, for drawing, crosswords/Sudoku etc

FP often, for my regular writing.

 

 

D.ick

[Skv]

+1

 

and also use it for a quick scribble when on the move, rather than fumble around with a FP.

Always one of these three; Pentel Energel, Uni Signo/Eye, Pilot G2/C4.

 

 

Though I can imagine that it is useful to carry around one of these pens, I don't feel the same with my current rollerball that set me back around EUR 635,- (around USD 725). This is including pen, refills and MB Siena pouch.

 

That's a bit too much for a quick scribble when on the move. Selling feels like the best option so far. Though that will probably leave me with quite a big loss..

Edited June 25, 2019 by Skv

[1nkulus]

Though I can imagine that it is useful to carry around one of these pens, I don't feel the same with my current rollerball that set me back around EUR 635,- (around USD 725). This is including pen, refills and MB Siena pouch.

 

That's a bit too much for a quick scribble when on the move. Selling feels like the best option so far. Though that will probably leave me with quite a big loss..

 

An expensive scribble indeed.

 

When you bought the package, you were obviously in a financial position to do so. Unless that has changed, I see no reason to sell it.

Use it as a statement RB and don't bother buying another as it will last you a lifetime, lest you misplace it.

 

Which model is it?

[Frozenoak]

I don't think I've ever used a Roller Ball. However, I use a ball point for writing on glossy paper such as a calendar.

[Honeybadgers]

I hand a ballpoint Fisher AG-7 to nurses or doctors who ask for a pen when I bring a patient into the ED.

 

I also use that ballpoint when I'm working rescue at the race track since an FP won't practically fit into my sleeve pocket.

 

 

I wish I could get a rollerball insert for the fisher. I don't love the ballpoint, but I love that pen.