A Question About Multipens, And Ballpoint Refills

[Mr Nitpick]

Hello FPN

 

I'm currently studying at university and i need to take lots of notes, now taking the notes in the lecture theartre is something i've got taken care of, but i'd like to add some colour to my notes when i write them up in neat to better emphasise important points and make it easier to quickly read through my notes

 

So i'm looking for a multipen for the convenience, now i don't need much help with choosing a model of pen but i'd like the refils i use to be very bright rich colours, i'm thinking of going with black red and green and maybe blue if i get a 4 in 1, so i wanted to ask what are the best refils in your expereince for smooth writing and bold colours?

 

I'm genrally looking to use medium point refils

 

Also please tell me about any multipen combinations you use and why you like them, regardles of my specications

 

Jonathan

[FPFan]

I have the Uni-Ball Style Fit 5 color gel pen. In mine I have a 0.5mm pencil, 1.0mm red, 0.5mm orange, purple, and blue/black refills. These are very inexpensive and do a good job for my purposes. The link below is where I got mine, but I'm sure you can find a supplier in Europe for these. If not Jetpens is a very reliable retailer.

 

I like this pen as the point is clear and one can see which place the color you want is visible and the mechanisism is very simple and easy to click to another color in mid sentence. I've been using mine for about two years and it goes with me everywhere when I leave the house. It does an excellent job when a fountain pen is not the optimal tool for the situation. Plus the addition of the pencil fills a need without having to pull out another tool. A larger selection of 1.0mm points would be nice, but you know the Japanese love their fine points for there character writing.

 

http://www.jetpens.com/Uni-ball-Style-Fit-5-Color-Multi-Pen-Body-Component-Silver/pd/4476

(No Affiliation)

 

Good luck in your search.

[Mr Nitpick]

Wow that's a great looking multipen, i have a few reservations however about the longetivity of the gel refils they don't seem to last a long time according to the reviews, how long do they write for before needing to be replaced, also one review commented on the weak springs used in the pen, does this give the pen a cheap feel?

 

Jonathan

[51ISH]

You didn't mention a price you have in mind...how about these :

 

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Zebra-Sharbo-X.html

 

 

 

They have loads more choice here too :

 

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Multi-function-Pens.html

 

 

Most multi's use the same or a very similar refill if using ballpoint

 

I sort of hesitate to say....but I use a Bic :embarrassed_smile: You know the blue barrel one with the white top

 

Yes, it does look a little like it should only be used in the nursery school...but at my age the refill is more important than what people think....and if it goes for a 'walk' it's only £2 to replace it...

 

Funny, no one at work is laughing when they want to borrow a red/green pen :roflmho:

[Mr Nitpick]

Thanks for your reply 51lSH

 

£127 is more fountain pen money for me really, i should have said my budget is really about £30, although the Sharbo is definetly the most stylish looking of all the multipens i've seen. The thought of putting some fancier refils in the standard bic 4 colour pen is an interesting one, i've used them before and they have been fine, just so im certain ballpoints will last longer than gel ink cartidges?

[51ISH]

Thanks for your reply 51lSH

 

£127 is more fountain pen money for me really, i should have said my budget is really about £30, although the Sharbo is definetly the most stylish looking of all the multipens i've seen. The thought of putting some fancier refils in the standard bic 4 colour pen is an interesting one, i've used them before and they have been fine, just so im certain ballpoints will last longer than gel ink cartidges?

 

 

You really would get through Gels really quickly in my experience...and if you arn't using them...eg the green or red maybe....you may get problems with dry out. Lots of multi's seem to use fine refills...which is ok if you like that sort of thing...but personally I find fine BP's can be scratchy

 

Lamy do one a bit more expensive than you quoted but you should be able to get it cheaper...and they use Med refills and lots of people seem to like Lamy refills

 

http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Lamy-2000-4-colour-Multipen.html#a9392

 

Maybe here...never used them....just a quick look...

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LAMY-2000-4-Colors-Ballpoint-Pen-NEW-L401-Free-Shipping-/170839636212?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c6d5f8f4

 

£29.87 at todays exchange rate apparently...

Edited October 13, 2012 by 51ISH

[FPFan]

Wow that's a great looking multipen, i have a few reservations however about the longetivity of the gel refils they don't seem to last a long time according to the reviews, how long do they write for before needing to be replaced, also one review commented on the weak springs used in the pen, does this give the pen a cheap feel?

 

Jonathan

 

I haven't had any problem with the springs on my pen and I have a tendancy to play with flipping the fins as I contemplate or lissten to a speaker. I've never had it give out on me. As for the gel inks, I have spare refills and carry them if I think I'm going to run low on a particular ink. I've been satisfied with the use I've gotten from them but I couldn't say exactly how much I have gotten out of them. The .5mm point makes them last a considerable length of time, for me.

 

I've had higher priced models from Lamy, Fisher, and other manufactures who used ballpoint inks and they were nowhere near as nice as this little guy and has been a lot less trouble "to me." But this is your choice. I can only tell you I've been very happy with it and would buy another if I needed to. I have been tempted to have access to another 5 colors! That's another story.

[51ISH]

Wow that's a great looking multipen, i have a few reservations however about the longetivity of the gel refils they don't seem to last a long time according to the reviews, how long do they write for before needing to be replaced, also one review commented on the weak springs used in the pen, does this give the pen a cheap feel?

 

Jonathan

 

I have been tempted to have access to another 5 colors! That's another story.

 

Me too....but we can only use black at work

 

I sneak in a bit of red for emphasis......and green if I can think of an excuse :roflmho:

[derevaun]

I agree that the Uni Style Fit is a great choice. Its main competition is the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto, which has an advantage in that it has a stylus refill, and an eraser that advances out the front. It's not a very good eraser, but it's neat. Pilot's colors are probably a little more vivid, but Uniball has brown-black and blue-black. Uniball also has a ballpoint refill--0.7 I believe.

 

The gel refills for both systems are .5 and smaller. But they're smooth. Really smooth; smoother than any other writing instrument I've written with, outside of possibly some very wide nibs/ballpoints. IMHO Uni's gels are smoother writing than Pilot's, especially at 0.4 and finer.

[chiaroscuro]

I love multipens! 

For a cheap beater pen, you can't go wrong with a Zebra Clip-On. It's light and chunky with a rubbery grip. Four colors + a pencil + an emergency eraser + a binder clip = the perfect tool for taking notes and annotating texts.

I have several that I use at home specifically for studying and getting work done. One online seller has them for an unbelievable price -- PM me for the info. They do look a bit cartoonish for my taste, so...

 

My favorite is a really gorgeous and streamlined pen with the smoothest mechanism I've experienced on a multi-pen. I've loaded it with Zebra Sharbo refills in burgundy and dark green from Jetpens. It's a dream. Again, PM me if you'd like the info.

 

WARNING: RANT ENSUING

I won't give the info here because thrice already I've given links to products I really like only to find that someone shortly went in and bought ALL THE DAMN PENS, without so much as a thank you for the info. Of course, I could just be paranoid, but it's happened enough for me to suspect that some people on this forum have real issues with hoarding (and have no manners). In fact, in conversing with one retailer about something unrelated, it was confirmed that shortly after my reply to a thread where I alerted an FPN user looking for a pen about its availability, a sole buyer went in and bought ALL of the available stock of that item. It could have been a coincidence, but still... Whatever I recommend is something I like and probably put in some time to find and maybe even spent a good deal of money trying different things before I found what I was looking for. It's probably something I'd like to be able to buy again if I needed or wanted to. I'm sure other people would have liked to buy one too -- maybe not right then, but at their leisure -- not in a tacky, desperate scramble to be the boy or girl with the most pens. Nobody needs a dozen+ of one pen, and if they did, they could at least show gratitude for the info. We all benefit from suggestions, links, feedback, etc. -- in short, shared knowledge. That type of action provides no benefit to anyone, least of all to the person doing it (I assume he or she only has two hands, only one of which they write with at any given time), and undermines the sense of community and open sharing of information that I joined this forum for and that I assume we're all here for. 

It's a shame I should be compelled to do this, but moving forward I plan to be more guarded about the info I give out -- especially if it's a product that I don't have a backup for or that's in limited supply.

Ok, I'm done.

RANT ENDED.

 

Multipens are great and you should get one.

[Mr Nitpick]

Thanks for the responses guys, and sorry to hear someone took advantage of you well meaning advice chiaroscuro how many refils does this pen take?

 

I like the Uni-ball Style Fit Mystar 5, very similar to the standard stylefit, just with a slightly different color scheme and an eraser under the cap. I don't think these take the standard D1 minipen ballpoint refills so ill have to stick to 3 ballpoints and 2 gel catridges, i do LOVE the choice on offer though and i suppose it's not the end of the world if i have to replace the gel refils more often. Additionaly FPFan's good expereinces with the pen fill me with optimism

 

Sorry to keep coming back to this but is there a difference in the lifespan of the gel refils between 0.3/0.4/0.5?

[chiaroscuro]

It takes two D1s, plus it has a 0.5 pencil, a small eraser and a spring clip; it's similar in specs to the sharboX, but the pencil is fixed. The coating is amazing: cool to the touch, smooth but not slick and a bit "spongy". (This feels like a guessing game, lol)

 

About the Zebra Clip-On, the color refills are ballpoints, but they're "wetter" or more gel-like than most ballpoints-- longer than D1s if longievity is a concern. The colors are all dark enough for writing, yet bright enough for accentuating text.

 

Thanks for your sympathy (heh -- reading back now it seems so silly, I guess writing that made me cool down), and good luck with your search!

[chiaroscuro]

Also, Jetpens has a D1 Staedtler highlighter refill, but it's crumbly and generally awful. Lamy makes one, but I haven't tried it. I agree that it's better to get bright colors that can double as writers.

For D1s I recommend:

- Any of the Zebra 4Cs/Sharbo refills (though the two colors I mentioned are subdued), except for the 0.4mm (too sharp). Haven't tried the gel d1s

- The Monteverde Mediums. They come in convenient packs of six, in a bunch of colors and are very smooth.

- Pilot D1s are a great value but the selection is minimal.

 

I suspect that even 0.1mm increments do affect longievity, as even small ones make a big impact over time. This is true for FPs and I suspect for gel refills too.

[mAnuscript69]

http://www.sensationalcolor.com/colorpro/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/4-color-pen.jpg

You know it!

[51ISH]

http://www.sensationalcolor.com/colorpro/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/4-color-pen.jpg

You know it!

 

 

Yep, that's the one I was describing...

 

Sorry, that Uni Style fit just doesn't do it for me...what the heck do you do with the refills not in the pen? This is more a 'Gel Holder' than a multipen to me....I would rather carry 4 Jetstreams in different colours..don't seem much difference to me...of course YMMV :hmm1: