High-quality writing utensils?

[Lani]

Can't believe it took this thread to page 3 before anyone mentioned JetPens.

Actually, there is a large group of people who blog about pens. Top of that heap is Brad Dowdy, who writes PenAddict. In fact, he's done such a fantastic job that he got hired by JetPens to be their social media/marketing guy. Brad is a super-friendly guy and has reviewed a ton of pens.

I am addicted to retractable gel pens. If you have ANY questions about any of them (different manufacturers, pen thicknesses, etc.), ask me!

Here's a photo of the pens I keep at work (I have more at home):

[Katy]

Can't believe it took this thread to page 3 before anyone mentioned JetPens.

Actually, there is a large group of people who blog about pens. Top of that heap is Brad Dowdy, who writes PenAddict. In fact, he's done such a fantastic job that he got hired by JetPens to be their social media/marketing guy. Brad is a super-friendly guy and has reviewed a ton of pens.

I am addicted to retractable gel pens. If you have ANY questions about any of them (different manufacturers, pen thicknesses, etc.), ask me!

Here's a photo of the pens I keep at work (I have more at home):

Eeeeeeeee! Stitch!

[Badger]

The Pen Addict has a good review of the FJN.

[Fat Crip]

I used various types of Shaeffer, Parker and Lamy fountain pens, but around 20 years ago I was given a set of Mont Blanc fountain pen, ball pen and pencil. I've used almost nothing else since. Because they are very expensive, you try very, very hard not to lose them or let other people keep them. Unfortunately, seven years ago, whilst I was in hospital, my fountain pen went AWOL. To date I still don't know what happened to it. I bought a replacement for about £350 ($525), but, though its the same model with the same size/style nib (double broad) and the same ink (MB blue/black permanent) its just not the same as the one I'd been using for over a decade.

[Yonkdaddy]

You know, Fat Crip, I have a pretty nice fountain pen collection, too. I've got pens from Shaeffer, Parker, Namiki, Waterman, ST DuPont, Conklin, even a couple of Levengers. But I have 3 Mont Blancs that I keep coming back to as my very favorites. They are smooth, never clog or skip, and classic writing instruments. My very favorite is my Mont Blanc Jules Verne. All the best parts of writing with a Mont Blanc, rare, and just cool beyond all imagining besides.

[backpack]

Can't believe it took this thread to page 3 before anyone mentioned JetPens.

Actually, there is a large group of people who blog about pens. Top of that heap is Brad Dowdy, who writes PenAddict. In fact, he's done such a fantastic job that he got hired by JetPens to be their social media/marketing guy. Brad is a super-friendly guy and has reviewed a ton of pens.

I am addicted to retractable gel pens. If you have ANY questions about any of them (different manufacturers, pen thicknesses, etc.), ask me!

Here's a photo of the pens I keep at work (I have more at home):

Could you give us a list of the brands pictured?

Are any of the pens refillable and are the refills easy to find?

I would love to know about the length and girth of each brand, if you don't mind.

I have been using a Sailor Innovation gel pen as my travel pen, I love the smoothness, but it seemed to have been discontinued.

[Lani]

Eeeeeeeee! Stitch!

He's my favorite!! :-)

Could you give us a list of the brands pictured?

Are any of the pens refillable and are the refills easy to find?

I would love to know about the length and girth of each brand, if you don't mind.

Most of the pens you can see in the photo are refillable. I'll try to identify them based on which pen holder they're in. There are six pen holders, starting from the very top:

Holder #1: It's my misc bunch. It includes a few Pentel Hybrid needlepoint gel pens, as well as the Uniball Signo rollerballs.

Holder #2: Sarasa retractables in 0.7 mm size (you can see the lime green and orange next to each other). You can buy those special colors in a big multi-pack that is available in most American office supply stores, including Office Max and Office Depot.

Holder #3: Various colors of Pilot G-2 ultra fine 0.38mm as well as gold Pilot G-2 1.0mm. Both thicknesses are now available at Wal-Mart but the color ones of the ultra fine, I got at JetPens.

Holder #4: The most common Pilot G-2 0.7 mm thickness gel pens in all colors.

Holder #5: Sarasa gel pens in super fine 0.4mm point, as well as a few Pilot G-2s that I didn't have room for in holder #4.

Holder #6 (the one closest to the camera): Sarasa Clip gel pens. They come in a ton of different colors and thicknesses. They differ from the other Sarasa pens only by the clip portion. You can actually squeeze the clip open so you can get it to clip to a thicker booklet, etc. The refill ink is the same on this Sarasa Clip and the other Sarasa shown in the photo.

If you are familiar with how a Pilot G-2 feels, all of the ones shown here are about the same barrel thickness. The Sarasa 0.4mm pens are a little shorter and skinnier, but other than that there is no real difference.

I have some more pens on my desk that were not in the photo, including some retractable gel pens from the Muji store (those are hard to get), as well as Pilot G-Knock pens. The G-Knocks use the same refill as the G-2s but the barrel is less stumpy and feels more "adult" to me.

Most of these are available via JetPens.com, and they sell the refills for them as well.

Hope that helps!

[backpack]

Thank you so much Lani!

I now know what to search for and where.

[backpack]

The Innovation has been discontinued, I might just buy rollerballs refills for my existing pens.

[blackfungi]

Can't believe it took this thread to page 3 before anyone mentioned JetPens.

Actually, there is a large group of people who blog about pens. Top of that heap is Brad Dowdy, who writes PenAddict. In fact, he's done such a fantastic job that he got hired by JetPens to be their social media/marketing guy. Brad is a super-friendly guy and has reviewed a ton of pens.

I am addicted to retractable gel pens. If you have ANY questions about any of them (different manufacturers, pen thicknesses, etc.), ask me!

Here's a photo of the pens I keep at work (I have more at home):

hey lani

i know that some pens have different names depending where they are sold. so...i have this pen i bought from staples and it's called the pilot hi-tecpoint V5 RT. i can't seem to find any refills for it. do you of another refill i could use for this pen? thanks.

[blackfungi]

i am getting two of these pens. made in the united states of america. brass or aluminium. the pens take parker refills or pilot hi tec c refills. hand made from start to finish :

RENDER K- A Custom Machined Pen by KarasKustoms — Kickstarter

[AVService]

I got a few of these to give as gifts and of course 1 for myself too.

CountyComm - Embassy Pen (Rev. 2)

Nice heavy hand made pen,takes Fisher Space Pen refills and much bigger than I thought too.

The cap does not attach to the back when in use so you are holding it and sure to ask for it back if loaned out as it says in the description!

Sort of funny I thought?

Lots of other interesting items there too.

Ed

[dlg]

Can I ask a stupid question? Everyone says fountain pens should be stored "upright".

Which way is that? Nib up or nib down?

[KarlJ]

Nib upward.

[MtnMan]

Forgive the necro-posting, but I started this thread in 2011 and now I have some interesting new things to share.

A friend on Facebook posted an image of a couple of her mechanical pencils which intrigued me. I inquired about them, and she said they are the Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatic and the Alvin Draftmatic. (She said she prefers the Alvin Draftmatic, which is relatively inexpensive on Amazon. She also recommended JetPens as another source.) I like higher-quality mechanical pencil with lead refills. In the rural hills where I live, there is no good selection at any of the office supply stores, which are few and far-between. So it looks like it's likely going to be Amazon or eBay.

One thing I don't like about the looks of the Alvin Draftmatic is the skinny body. Low-quality disposable mechanical pencils may be the bane of good note-taking, but at least the current generation of them have a decent built-in grip for my hand. (I'm a south-paw, anyway.) Does anyone know where you can get those old rubber pen grip attachment thingies that you can slide onto a thin cheap pen, mechanical pencil or nice thin pen? You know, the old-fashioned pen accessory that offices used to use. Kinda like this: http://www.ebay.com/.../3-Rubber-Pen..../261398178565

Any ideas?