pens

[NYCfixie]

Is that orange pretty accurate, as far as color is concerned? Love that.

Did you get any of the gel refills? I generally don't care for ballpoint, but wonder if the gel might help with that....

@dgaddis beat me to it sharing that the stock picture is true to life and the orange is really that bright (I am a Syracuse alum - Go Orange - as well as my wife, brother, and now nephew).

I do not like old "paste style" ink ballpoints (think cheap bic pens, cross pens, and even original Parker refills) but some of the new hybrid and gel inks that come in the Parker G2 style refills are really great. I stand by my recommendations from late last year...updated comments in bold.

I really like the Uni Jetstream SXR-600-7 in the Schon for EDC quick notes and the Schmidt 9000 EasyFlow in the Towbow is fantastic for longer writing periods. The Schneider Slider 755 in XB is another good option and writes very smoothly similar to the Schmidt EasyFlow. The Parker QuinkGel and Schneider Gelion are great too but I am still not yet sure I am sold on Gel ink in a Parker G2 style refill (becasue the Pilot G2 Gel refills are so good); it is very similar to rollerball ink so I might as well just use one of my many rollerball pens.

Most importantly, I am trying to minimize the amount/type of refills I keep which is why I have resisted getting pens that use Pilot G2 style refills*:
- Cross ballpoint (sort of the C1 standard but not really)
- Cross slim ballpoint/rollerball (interchangeable but still proprietary size)
- Lamy ballpoint
- Lamy rollerball
- Montblanc ballpoint
- Montblanc rollerball
- Montblanc LeGrand rollerball
- Parker G2 ballpoint (paste, hybrid, gel)
- Parker rollerball
- Retro 51 rollerball (European style)
- Waterman rollerball (not quite the same as the European size so they do not work)

*I have started gifting pens to others to help limit refills I keep "in-stock" at home.

[j44ke]

My wife picked up a Yard-O-Led roller ball pen. I thought I wasn’t going to like it, but it is nicely balanced and does all the things it needs to. I replaced the fine line ink cartridge with one from the Japanese company, OHTO - one of their ceramic roller ball refills with a 1.0mm point. Super nice ink and smooth ball. I’d recommend the OHTO cartridges. They make quite a few different shapes for a variety of pen makes.

https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-C-310P-...m-Black/pd/973

[NYCfixie]

My wife picked up a Yard-O-Led roller ball pen. I thought I wasn’t going to like it, but it is nicely balanced and does all the things it needs to. I replaced the fine line ink cartridge with one from the Japanese company, OHTO - one of their ceramic roller ball refills with a 1.0mm point. Super nice ink and smooth ball. I’d recommend the OHTO cartridges. They make quite a few different shapes for a variety of pen makes.

https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-C-310P-...m-Black/pd/973

Ceramic rollerball refills are nice especially with good ink from a brand like you mentioned. The refill you linked is "Euro Style" which fits several manufacturers' pens (but people should do their homework because not all that claim to be Euro are the same size - think BB standards).

This is the link for all Ohto refills from JetPens:
https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-Pen-Ref...aNameSort&so=1

And a handy guide for Euro size refills:
The Ultimate Guide to Euro Format Rollerball Pen Refills

[gt6267a]

My wife picked up a Yard-O-Led roller ball pen. I thought I wasn’t going to like it, but it is nicely balanced and does all the things it needs to. I replaced the fine line ink cartridge with one from the Japanese company, OHTO - one of their ceramic roller ball refills with a 1.0mm point. Super nice ink and smooth ball. I’d recommend the OHTO cartridges. They make quite a few different shapes for a variety of pen makes.

https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-C-310P-...m-Black/pd/973

In high school, I bought a Montblanc rollerball and used it regularly through college and my first job. Thought I lost it through multiple moves. Bought a house and unpacked all my stuff in 2015 / 2016. Found the pen in a bag with a bunch of other pens and things. It now lives in my office and I use it in rotation with a few fountain pens.

My son is writing a little and he noticed me using it. He borrowed it to write a birthday card and asked to keep the pen as his own. After that big time no, he asked for one as a birthday gift. After another big time no, we went shopping on Jetpens to find a kid friendly version.

After cruising every pen on their website together, irrespective of price, the Ohto Liberty Rollerball was selected as the closest version of daddy’s pen. For $16 its pretty great. Having his own pen has inspired more writing which makes the purchase certainly worth it. We have red, blue, and black ink to match the mood.

The yard o led looks nice.

[rwsaunders]

It only took one blown ink cartridge in my shirt pocket while flying many years ago on a cross country flight, to seek out a pen that wouldn't tie-dye my clothes.

https://uniballco.com/products/visio...39362313421006

[j44ke]

It only took one blown ink cartridge in my shirt pocket while flying many years ago on a cross country flight, to seek out a pen that wouldn't tie-dye my clothes.

https://uniballco.com/products/visio...39362313421006

Interesting. I had problems with fountain pens but never with others. Uniball has a great brand name.

[dashDustin]

I had taken a Kara's with a threaded cap and G2 refill to a race once, where I was working neutral. I always wear Dickies or Red Kap shirts, with a pen pocket. And I always carry a pen in that pocket.

This particular race was cold, though, so I clipped the pen to my pants pocket. At some point, it un-threaded, and fell down to the depths of my pocket. And sat there. For hours. With the ball pressed against the pocket lining. Get home, and go to grab my pen....blue ink everywhere. Pants were black, so I didn't notice, but now my hand, pocket lining, leg, boxers...all covered in blue ink. That pen has since been relegated to desk duty.

[NYCfixie]

I had taken a Kara's with a threaded cap and G2 refill to a race once, where I was working neutral. I always wear Dickies or Red Kap shirts, with a pen pocket. And I always carry a pen in that pocket.

This particular race was cold, though, so I clipped the pen to my pants pocket. At some point, it un-threaded, and fell down to the depths of my pocket. And sat there. For hours. With the ball pressed against the pocket lining. Get home, and go to grab my pen....blue ink everywhere. Pants were black, so I didn't notice, but now my hand, pocket lining, leg, boxers...all covered in blue ink. That pen has since been relegated to desk duty.

Not sure what model but I had seen this on the Render K v2 product pages some time ago regarding v1 of the pen:
"...Via user feedback, we realized that in certain carry circumstances the cap would come unscrewed, particularly in tight-fitting pants."


And I do not remember if you stated/wrote you liked the Tactile Turn or Karas (push button, not bolt) pens better. I think you shared that one used an inferior mechanism.

[Chik]

My wife picked up a Yard-O-Led roller ball pen. I thought I wasn’t going to like it, but it is nicely balanced and does all the things it needs to. I replaced the fine line ink cartridge with one from the Japanese company, OHTO - one of their ceramic roller ball refills with a 1.0mm point. Super nice ink and smooth ball. I’d recommend the OHTO cartridges. They make quite a few different shapes for a variety of pen makes.

https://www.jetpens.com/OHTO-C-310P-...m-Black/pd/973

Ha! Thanks for this tip. I've been wondering if there is a better alternative for my Omas rollerball, so I'll have a nose around the OHTO assortment.