What's your favorite cheap pen?

Go on, plenty to look at. I could spend hours not buying anything too expensive on the Cult Pens site.

I like the zebra f-301 pens. At right around a dollar a piece they are cheap enough to not worry about them being stolen or lost or broken. I absolutely hate pens like the g2 that everyone else seems to like since it never works right on rite in the rain pads that I use almost daily, and I prefer a finer line, but you may like them. The zebra is probably too fine and “scratchy” for you.

This is true. For most resilient gel ink Zebra makes an emulsion-based one: http://www.zebrapen.com/products/emulsion. Pretty good pens otherwise, too.

I was at the UPS Store a while back and bought a Pilot B2P (Bottle 2 Pen) G2 ink pen. Supposedly made from recycled water bottles.

I like the G2 ink. It writes consistently well and drys fast IMHO. Only problem I have found is if I draw a line, some of the gel builds up in a glob around the ball and I have to wipe it off.

Otherwise I like the way the gel ink flows better then regular ink, but I have yet to find the perfect pen.

Yikes, you guys are real pen connoisseurs, so I’m a little nervous to name my fave: the Zebra f-301 Compact (key word: compact). Folds small, writes nicely imho.

http://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Compact-Ballpoint-Pen-27412/dp/B0055EB35W/

http://www.staples.com/Pilot-VBall-Grip-Liquid-Ink-Rollerball-Pen-Extra-Fine-Point-Black-Dozen/product_457102?externalize=certona

Pens have come a long way.

People are so crazy about their pens

This thread reminded me to get some of the new BLX Jetsteams with subtle “business-appropriate” shades. Very hard to find color infusions like this outside of custom fountain pen mixes.

If anyone is willing to spend a bit more, the best solution overall is the Uni Fit Style Meister 3. It’s a slim 10mm metal body for 3 of their Fit refills which come in all colors/thickness Signo Gel or Jetstream Ball or even mechanical pencil. ~$25 total, much less than prestige brand but functionally superior.

Plain and simple, available anywhere:

+1
when i find another cheap pen, i look something that can fit parker ballpoint fine refill…

The simple BIC stick pen, mentioned by several posters here were probably the most popular pen in the world. They worked great too. Does anybody remember the adds where they would shoot them through objects and they would still write? Back then, the entire head of the pen was made out of solid brass. Then they went cheap…………

I use the Pilot “Better” pen, fine point. They are made in Japan and they are very good, Now they are also being made in the U.S.A.

zebra 301 gets my vote…although i don’t write that much i keep several pens with purple ink in them…it is easier for me to see with my eye problems…

Parker Sonnet with Schmidt (1.0 ) of fisher space pen refill.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and insights.

I picked up a 0.7mm Pilot G2 today and its a lot nicer than my Muji and Uni Ball Eye Micro both in 0.5mm. I’m looking forward to my 1.0mm version arriving.

Also I just realized because I have written nearly everything in print for the last 15 years or so I can’t seem to write my “f”s very well in cursive anymore, I just about have to stop mid flow and think about it and then it doesn’t come out very good.

Maybe I’ll start writing some letters to friends and family to get back into the hang of it as I haven’t had to write a letter since taking notes school in 1996 or so.

Still interested in hearing about other peoples favorite pens as well and reading what they have to say about them.

I actually spent a lot of time there too, the pen finder thing is really helpful to narrow down choices as well.

I choose gel, retractable, black and it gives me the options I like without having to look through 100s or thousands of ones I wouldn’t be interested in.

I’m very partial to the F-301 and it’s slightly bigger brother, the F-401.

They write SO well; when someone borrows my pen, they always have to look and see what it is after using it. They’re cheap enough that as often as not I just give it to them and grab another new one from my stash.

Hmm, cut-down Zebra JK refills? I may have to experiment a bit with refills to see what fits in my space bullet pen.

This is what I carry with me (Fisher 400RB), with a purple refill inside:

It’s not a cheap pen, and the Fisher refills write as poorly as a cheap Bic, but it’s small and pretty and nearly indestructible and the ink lasts a very very long time.

I spend way too much time and money there. My current favourite is this Pilot G-Tec C4 I usually only use gel pens and like them fine tipped, but for post and packing a Sharpie can’t be beat. I bought some from Amazon that had an ultra fine point on one end and a fine marker on the other, they get a bit of use.
A black Sharpie is a must for me when sharpening knives, helps you see where you are taking metal off. and a good old pencil for freeing sticky frame-locks and liner-locks.

NASA spent millions developing a pen that would write in space, Russia used a pencil and paper. Sometimes if it aint broke why try to fix it.

I worked at NASA JSC for over 10 years, part of that time in a shuttle engineering simulator where I worked with astronauts developing and testing new flight software.

Never saw an astronaut with a "space pen". They used space pencils.

So what makes up a space pencil? Well, they'd get any ordinary mechanical pencil at the JSC supply shop, and then wrap velcro (the hook side) around the eraser end. Voila! Space pencil. The shuttle interior walls, instrument panels, and the astronaut's flight suits all have velcro pile everywhere.

I have one of these somewhere, that an astronaut left in the cockpit one day.

So I am pretty sure the "space pen" was mainly just an advertising gimmick. I don't think it was ever used.

@ 8steve88, I can’t write with fine pens, I know lots of people love them but for me they feel scratchy and when I write with them on padded envelopes they often go right through it. Perhaps I’m a little heavy handed when writing but its natural to me.

I’ve also heard the same thing about NASA spending a million dollars to make a pen that will write in space and that the Russians just used a pencil, I never questioned it but just looked it up and it looks to be partly true.

I looked in to it a little and while partially true that NASA did try to develop one they abandoned it due to the rocketing cost (pun intended).

I wonder how they compare to modern everyday pens for writing.

http://www.spacepen.com/