Awesome Pens (Not Fountain Pens) + Pencils For Rapid Handwriting

[Zipzap]

I started a thread in the "Penmanship" sub-forum about obtaining a rapid and legible handwriting method as soon as I could, and I got some great feedback from many experienced people! However, I was still stuck on the question of "which pen/pencil" do I actually use? I'm noticing that majority of the members on this forum are big fans of fountain pens. I personally haven't used one, but it seems like the way you hold them and how the ink flows makes it great for writing that's very smooth.

 

So far, these are the two recommendations for a "beginner" like myself in regards to pens:

-Lamy Safari

-Pilot G2

 

The Lamy Safari is a well-liked fountain pen, but the Pilot G2 is the only one recommended to me that's not a fountain pen. I guess the reason I'm tending to shy away from fountain pens is because they're known for being pretty expensive and hard to maintain depending on the one you get. :roflmho:

 

While I have nothing personally against fountain pens, the Lamy Safari will run me at a good $25-30. As much as I'll be using it my whole life, I'm also trying to look for non-fountain pens that will do the job just as well. I'm also looking for pencils that will write well (I prefer mechanical to traditional ones). I'm a university student in sciences and I require a lot of handwriting with my courses (taking notes, test writing, etc.).

 

To make a long story short, what are your recommendations for well-writing pens and pencils? I don't mind the recommendation of fountain pens, but I would also like the option to choose from many pens that aren't fountain pens. Thanks!

[professionaldilettante]

Maintianing a fountain pen is not any harder to keep than a mechanical pencil. You need to reload it every once in a while, but other than that, there are a few things that occasionally might need to be done, but they aren't hard. I'm just surprised that you're here, but you're not a user/collector of FP...

To tell you a secret, I started fountain pens in college too, because I was writing so many notes I was getting a callous from using cheap Bics and other pens. I switched to G-2's then fountain pens, and found I could write faster, and more legible, cause my hand didn't need to expend all the extra pressure needed to get a cheap pen/pencil to write, instead, that energy went into forming letters. I started with a Lamy Safari, and I still have it after 4 years. I think you'd find more info for other instruments at other forums, cause we are a bit biased. I have only touched a pencil when I need to do scantrons, and other than that, it's FP all the way. you can do the math though, if I can burn through a Pilot G-2 in a week, and they cost me $2 each, in year, I can run 100$ into those things. However, for $100, I can get a Safari, and use that for as long as I can without loosing/breaking it, as well as more than enough bottles of ink for at least 2 years. So yeah, economics.

Edited March 17, 2012 by professionaldilettante

[coleam]

For pencils, the biggest thing is the lead rather than the pencil itself. For fast writing, a softer lead (2B or 3B) in a wider lead size (0.7mm or 0.9mm) is good. Just find a pencil body that's comfortable for you to hold. A leadholder might be another possibility. It's not exactly a mechanical pencil since it needs to be sharpened, but they're better than stick pencils.

 

For pens other than a fountain pen, a nice rollerball would probably be best. Refillable would be even better since you'll save a ton of money in the long run. The Noodler's Konrad rollerball is pretty good and only costs $20. Add in a couple bottles of ink and you'll have enough to keep you going for several years. The tips are easily replaceable if you get a bad one or the ball falls out, and cheap as well (50 cents each).

 

You really can't beat the smoothness of a properly set up fountain pen nib though. A good one will literally skate over the page on a film of ink, requiring no pressure to write and always leaving a consistent line.

 

As for why we all like fountain pens, this is the Fountain Pen Network after all - what did you expect?

Edited March 17, 2012 by coleam

[Kristal]

My favorite would be Pilot V5, writes really smooth but it tends to feather/bleed on cheap paper. If you like Pilot G2 then you can also try Uni ball Signo, I prefer the latter but they're pretty much the same. For pencils, I like 0.7 over 0.5. I have a Pilot Color Eno and just use non colored lead with it.

[htom]

Uni Ball Vision Elite. Several ink colors, two sizes, ~0.7-0.8mm ("bold", sometimes) and ~0.4-0.5mm ("fine" or "micro".)

[comfortableshoes]

If you want to buy a cheap fountain pen you could try something like a platinum preppy, at about $3.50 it's about the same price as a G2 and you save on the cost of ink either through refilling carts or by converting it to eyedropper. Gouletpens.com sells them pre-converted complete with o-ring.

 

The platinum preppy pens, while cheap, write relatively well and hold a ton of ink when converted.

 

I use G2's when I'm at work and I don't want to explain my fountain pen use to my coworkers. They are good pens.

[Rutha73]

I really like the size and feel of the Pilot Dr. Grip. It takes G2 refills that you can get in 1mm, .7, .5 and .38mm. I just saw that they have a mech pencil in the same body. I have 2 Dr. Grips that I have had for 6-7 years and they still work great. I can't tell you anything about fountain pens as I am totally new to that and all I have so far is a Zebra V-301 FP and it was about $3, so I suspect it's not a very good pen.

[max dog]

Before fountain pens, a Cross Classic Century ball point was my main writing instrument for 15+ years at work. Small, light, I sure took a lot of fast notes with it in meetings. The mechanical pencil version of it is awesome too. Just the right size as an every day companion.

[MaikeruS]

I'm a massive fan of the fine Uni rollerballs, although these may not be everyone's cup of tea due to the really fine line. A vintage Parker 51 or 45 will write excellently and are relatively inexpensive on eBay, especially when you think that you could burn through a disposable rollerball that costs $4-5 in a week.

 

Otherwise, there's a Noodler's rollerball that uses FP ink if you like that, and.there are plenty of rollerballs made by FP companies. I personally can't advocate BPs, as I get cramps in my hands if I have to write for long stretches with one,

[novarider]

Uniball vision rt It's a retractable rollerball. It can be hard to find sometimes but its a great pen.

[bjcmatthews]

I find that the jet stream rollerballs/ballpoints with a refill of 7mm is the way to go. lay down an incredibly vivid and smooth line. However, the finer ones tend to glob ink if you write cursively with them.

[terminal]

The Lamy Safari is a well-liked fountain pen, but the Pilot G2 is the only one recommended to me that's not a fountain pen. I guess the reason I'm tending to shy away from fountain pens is because they're known for being pretty expensive and hard to maintain depending on the one you get.

 

I think there are a lot of criticisms one could level against fountain pens for every day use... but I don't think it's accurate to say they are expensive and hard to maintain. In the past, that may have been more true, but these Lamys are pretty amazing in terms of reliability and cost. I can prove it too because my young daughter uses one...

[JOBPM]

Pentel's Graph Gear 1000 is a very nice mechanical pencil. They're relatively cheap and I've found mine to be very reliable. The retractable tip is a really nice feature. My only real rub (ohoho!) with the the 1000 is the miniscule eraser. I use it for drawing, so I always carry it with a pink pearl. Can be had for about 7 bucks and comes in various lead sizes.

[OakIris]

I'm noticing that majority of the members on this forum are big fans of fountain pens.

Ummm, you do know that this is The Fountain Pen Network right? Sorry, I just found your comment a bit amusing.

 

I think you should take the advice of others in this thread about trying out a fountain pen to see if you like it. You also said:

As much as I'll be using it my whole life

I am interpreting that to mean that you want a pen and/or pencil that will last your lifetime. A really cheap fountain pen, roller ball, pencil will probably not last you a lifetime, so you might want to invest up front in a well-made, sturdy - and nice looking - fountain pen, pencil, or roller ball so that it will last for years as well as being a pleasure to write with.

 

My preference is for vintage fountain pens; they were built to last, otherwise they wouldn't still be working wonderfully 60+ years after they were originally manufactured. As far as maintenance is concerned, if the pen needs to be restored, that is usually a one time expense, usually involving the replacement of the sac and, if necessary, fixing or replacing the nib. Then the pen with new sac is good for another 20+ years before it needs to be re-saced again. An occasionally flush with water is usually all it needs, unless you frequently change ink colours/brands.

 

I'm afraid I know nothing about roller balls, but I do happen to like good mechanical pencils. One that I recommend you look into is the Pentel Sharp Kerry. Here is a picture of the pencil from JetPens:

http://static1.jetpens.com/images/a/000/002/2620.jpg

The pencil has a cap - the pencil is shown with the cap posted on it in the above picture - so you can actually cap the pencil and put it in your trouser pocket without worrying about damaging the lead guide or about damaging yourself by getting poked by the guide. It comes in .5mm and .7mm sizes, various colours, is very well-made, a pleasure to write with, and can be had for <$20 at most places. As JOBPM mentioned in his post about the Graph Gear 1000, this pencil, like almost all modern mechanical pencils, has a very inadequate eraser, so carrying a regular eraser is recommended.

 

Dave's Mechanical Pencils is a great place to find out about other good mechanical pencils: Dave's Mechanical Pencils

 

 

Hope you can find the pen and pencil that are right for you; perhaps you have a shop near you where you can actually try before you buy.

 

Holly

Edited March 18, 2012 by OakIris

[Zipzap]

All right, I should first off apologize for even questioning why people are big fans of fountain pens in a forum called "Fountain Pen Network". I didn't realize the irony of what I was saying until you guys brought it up! :roflmho:

 

It looks as if I was also ignorant about the maintenance of a fountain pen in comparison to something like a mechanical pencil. Thanks for the comparison, professionaldilettante! Out of curiosity, which other forums would have information for other writing instruments? :hmm1:

 

In regards to pencils, I can sympathize with using the 0.7 mm lead size. I've never heard of a 0.9 mm size existing, but from writing with mechanical pencils for a good part of my life I can tell you that 0.7 mm definitely feels "sturdier" during writing and less likely to break, allowing me to write faster without interrupting to re-click more lead. I'll also consider the possibility of a lead holder, they sound interesting to use!

 

So to cap, there's been a lot of great recommendations in this thread! I'll sum up all the recommended stuff that you guys have given me!

 

For normal pens (i.e. ones that are not fountain pens):

-Pilot G2

-Noodler's Konrad rollerball

-Pilot V5

-Uni Ball Signo

-Pilot Color Eno

-Uni Ball Vision Elite (0.7-08 or 0.4-0.5 mm)

-Pilot Dr. Grip (1, .7, .5, .38 mm)

-Cross Classic Century ball point (and mechanical pencil version)

-Vintage Parker 51 (or 45)

-Uniball Vision RT

-Any jet stream rollerballs/ballpoints with 7 mm refills

 

Fountain Pens:

-Lamy Safari

-Platinum Preppy

-Zebra V-301 (?)

 

Mechanical Pencils:

-Mechanical pencil version of Cross Classic Century ballpoint

-Pentel Graph Gear 1000

-Pentel Sharp Kerry

-(I'll need to check out that great site that OakIris recommended)

 

Out of curiosity, would you guys know of any good multi-pens that I can write with (i.e. the ones that have 3-4 pen colours in a single pen)? I'm a big sucker for those, and they help make my class notes visual and easy to memorize off of thanks to the "colour hierarchy" that I establish.