When your favorite inexpensive pen runs out of ink, do you toss it and go buy another one? I know I do this sometimes without even thinking, especially since more pens are so easy to come by around here.

But the reality is, that’s just like throwing away money.

(Not to mention, you can’t really recycle pens at this point.)

The beauty of refillable pens is that they are, well, refillable. Once you buy the pen, you never have to replace it unless something breaks. When it inevitably runs out of ink, you just pop in a new ink fill and go right back to writing, drawing, doodling, etc.

Think at how much money you save by refilling, instead of replacing.

We’ll use the Pilot G2 0.7 mm as an example.

It costs £1.48 from Tiger Pens, US$2.74 from Amazon (at 2 for US$5.49), and US$1.40 from Jet Pens.

Let’s say you are an extremely industrious writer, and you go through one G2 per month. In the UK, you could spend up to about £18 a year replacing your G2. In the US, as much as US$33.

Now, refills.

They are £1.15 at Tiger Pens, US$.65 at Amazon (at 2 for US$1.29), and US$.83 at Jet Pens (at 2 for US$1.65). Twelve refills per year would cost you about £14 in the UK, and up to US$8 in the US.

UK savings = £4 a year. US savings = US$25 a year.

And it’s not as if refills aren’t readily available. Tiger Pens sells about 80 different types of refills, or a total of 248 when you take into account the individual colors. Zebra, Pentel, Uniball and Pilot are the top sellers, as you can probably imagine.

Pilot alone offers 23 different refills in an array of colors, including 15 color choices just for the G2.

Admittedly, figuring out which refill goes with which pen is slightly more complicated than just buying a new pen. But, retailers do their best to make it easy.

At Tiger Pens, all ink pen refills are grouped together by brand and ink type. Staples has an online refill finder. And Tom, over at Goldspot Pens, has even created a special site called, appropriately enough, RefillFinder.com for some of the higher-end pens.

It can’t get much simpler than that.

Oh, and we haven’t even talked about the less tangible benefits, such as being able to put a refill from one type of pen into the barrel of another in order to match the best-writing fill with the most comfortable barrel.

For example, I recently put an extremely smooth Pentel Vicuna refill into a very comfy Foray Onpoint to make what I consider a nearly perfect ballpoint pen (well, as close to perfect as a ballpoint can get).

(UPDATE: Speaking of Tom and Goldspot, he tweeted a link to a blog post that is directly related to this post: Using a Monteverde refill to improve a Lamy ballpoint.)

Plus, we all get attached to certain pens, even the inexpensive ones, that we use them so often, they eventually they begin to conform to our hands. Think about that one pen you reach for all the time, and how it seems to nestle right into your hand, as if made for you.

I have multiple Pentel EnerGels in my collection, but there is one retractable that is like that. I’ve used it so much, I can pick it out of a handful of matching pens just by touch. That one will get refilled over and over because it is never going in the trash.

The bottom line is, there are lots of good reasons to refill your favorite pens instead of replacing them.

And look at it this way…if you take a couple of extra minutes to buy refills instead of replacements when your pens run dry, you will eventually save enough money to buy yourself a nice, expensive new pen.

OK, now it’s your turn. Tell us what pens you keep refilling.

Great news for our UK customers who love fine-point pens!

We now carry the Pilot G2 in 0.38mm and the Pilot G-Tec-C Hyper Fine Gel in 0.25. The G2 is available in standard blue, black and red, and the G-Tec-C is available in the same colors, as well as green.

We’re extremely excited about the arrival of these pens because these point sizes are very difficult to find in the UK and have to be specially imported.

But, for now, we have a supply of them, and they’re in stock and ready to ship.

Happy shopping!

The Pen Warrior knows how much I love my Pentel EnerGel pens, so when he told me recently that he was sending along a new EnerGel  he thought I would like, I got excited.

This new pen, the EnerGel-X retractable, is the pen that Pentel is putting up head-to-head against the Pilot G2. To celebrate the launch, the company has rolled out a huge promotional wave – everything from giving away a car to hosting a special VIP lounge at Lollapalooze earlier this month.

The tagline for the EnerGel-X is, “The future is smooth.”

With all that hype in mind, I happily opened the package from the Pen Warrior and took out my new pen.

First impression was that it was almost identical to the G2, with the exception that the G2 has a tighter plunger and a better grip. Pentel’s grips tend to be kind of “meh,” and this one is no exception – just a straight rubber sleeve with some rolling grooves cut into it.

OK, so the G2 had the slightest of advantages there.

But then, I sat down to write.

To me, the EnerGel has always been completely under-rated. People talk about how smooth and reliable the writing experience is with the G2 and the Jetstream and the Signo, but those have always felt like ballpoints compared to my liquid ink EnerGel Deluxe.

And the 0.7 mm EnerGel-X feels just as good.

The pen floated across my notepad, even when held at extreme angles. Writing was effortless, the black lines extremely clean, even on the cheap paper.

At one second of drying time, there was some smearing. At three seconds, the smearing was slight. And at five seconds, virtually non-existent.

The only complaint I had was that there was some blotting at pause points, even though I was writing extremely fast. According to Pentel, the ink is a combination of liquid ink and gel ink that they call “RollerGel,” and seems to flow a little heavier than necessary.

Just to confirm my feeling that this pen was a far superior writer to its competitors, I grabbed a G2 Mini and a Jetstream RT that I had handy.

To be fair, both of those are excellent pens and have more than earned their outstanding reputations. But, both tips dragged significantly in comparison to the EnerGel-X. The lines also seemed less vibrant, although neither blotted as much as the EnerGel-X since their inks are thicker.

My final assessment of the EnerGel-X was that it is a work in progress. As it is, it may be the best writer of its kind on the market. All it needs is a better grip and a little tightening of the overall construction. If Pentel nails that down, this pen may very well eclipse the G2 and the Jetstream.

If you haven’t had a chance to try one yet, I’d highly recommend it.

In the argument over the best gel ink pens, the Pilot G2 and the Uni Jetstream usually get the most attention. But there’s an overlooked contender that, in our opinion, could beat them both for writing quality and comfort.

That’s the Pentel EnerGel. And, in the EnerGel family, there are two versions that compete for best of the best.

The Pentel EnerGel BL27 is the basic 0.7mm metal tip model, offering a slim aesthetically pleasing capped barrel in a pen that delivers dark, even lines. It’s big brother is the Pentel EnerGel Deluxe BL57, which is everything the basic model is and then some.

Appearance

Both pens boast sleek metallic designs that give barrel and cap a slightly futuristic look, making them appropriate for use in any setting, whether at home or the office. The EnerGel has a slimmer, slightly sexier profile, while the EnerGel Deluxe is the more solid-looking of the two.

The EnerGel Deluxe has two curving inlays of black plastic at the top of the silver cap, adding to the pen’s forward lean. That gives it an edge in appearance over the base EnerGel, which has grooves cut into the cap in the same spot. The clip on the Deluxe is also a little more attractive, since it is tapered, compared to the straightforward blunt clip on the EnerGel clip.

Both pens also are made of about 50 percent recycled materials.

Comfort

The Deluxe has it all over the basic EngerGel in this area.

The EnerGel has a thin, short barrel that does not fit nearly as well into the hand, especially if the cap is not posted. It also has almost no grip to speak of, making it an uncomfortable pen for extended use.

Meanwhile, the Deluxe has a comfortably thick barrel that is weighty and well-balanced, and it offers a rubber grip that, while not as substantial as we’d prefer, serves as a much better cushion than on the base model.

Performance

There is considerable difference in the writing experience between the EnerGel and the EnerGel Deluxe. Where the smoothness of the base model is slightly above average, the Deluxe is remarkable, providing an incredibly frictionless writing experience thanks to its easy-flow tip and combination liquid/gel acid-free ink.

Like the base model, it lays down bold dark lines with little bleeding, even on cheap paper. There is almost no skipping or clumping, and little to no blotting at pause points in the writing. That said, the Deluxe does write slightly wetter, so there is the possibilty of smearing, as you can see in the writing sample.

The Deluxe is likely to run out of ink before the EnerGel, but where the Deluxe has the major advantage is that it’s refillable, while the base pen is not. And, for those who prefer larger pen tips, the Deluxe also is available 1.0 mm, instead of just the 0.7 mm tip.

With the advantage in appearance, comfort and performance, the Deluxe is clearly the better choice of pen, especially when the difference in price typically is a matter of pennies.

If you’ve never tried a Pentel EnerGel, we highly recommend you put down your Pilot for a bit and give one a workout. You might find that it quickly becomes a favourite.

If you’re a fan of the Pilot G2, or just of crazy kids, check out this boy’s home-made TV commercial.

He says he made it as a “school project for propanganda and pursuation.”

“Are you ready for some serious awesomeness?”

• Normally, we view over-priced pens with a certain amount of disdain. But this pen is just too cool for us to do much sneering. Why? Because this Dunhill Sentryman is covered with a coating of space rock! According to Luxist.com, the pen:

…features an innovative lacquer finish containing authentic crushed black diamonds and meteorite stone for a stunning effect.

The meteorites apparently come from a well-known field of rocks that crashed in Argentina. Of course, the price reflects the fancy design. It goes for US$1,100.

• The newspaper in Pueblo, Colorado ran a nice little profile of a local pen enthusiast who has become something of a self-educated expert on inks.

John Bosley was a college student looking for some variety in his note-taking when he bought his first fountain pen on eBay. That blossomed into a fountain pen and ink obsession, according to the Pueblo Chieftain.

Bosley says his favorite pen changes from day to day, but his favorite brand is Esterbrook.

“It’s kind of the Bic of the ’40s and ’50s,” he said. “Probably anyone who was alive then has heard of and used Esterbrook. They don’t get much respect, but they just work so well. I kind of got addicted to them — I’ve got 50 or so.”

And as Bosley realized immediately after purchasing that first pen — an antique from the 1940s — you need ink. Good ink is beautiful. It comes in many colors. To use only one hue would be wrong, wouldn’t it?

Bosley started a website called Vintage Inks and has even been invited to the Smithsonian Institution for an event organized by Pen Collectors of America.

It’s always good to see pen collectors get some recognition.

• Anyone planning to attend the Stationery and Office Products Shows in London on April 13tand 14th? You might want to stop by the Zebra Pens display to have your handwriting analysed.

“We could not resist the idea of sponsoring this new attraction at SOPX” says UK sales & marketing manager, Martin Notley.  “Just as a person’s handwriting reveals a lot about them, so does their choice of pen.  Zebra pens epitomise style, fun and good taste as buyers will be reminded at the show!”

Everyone who signs up for the handwriting analysis will be entered into a drawing for a free bottle of champagne. Cheers!

(Register for free entry to the shows here.)

• This is easily our favourite video of the week. From the guys at Instructables.com, it shows you how to make a Pilot G2 into a Montblanc rollerball in 2 minutes.

The only question: Does the Montblanc refill write well enough to make this worth the effort, minimal as it is?

If you’re a person who enjoys good pens – and really, who doesn’t? – then it’s a shame not to do as much writing as possible. A great way to do that: Start and maintain a journal.

Every day, you’ll get to spend a few minutes savouring the feel of your favourite pen in your hand, laying down fluid, sleek lines of ink on richly textured paper. Those are sensations we get to experience too infrequently these days as it is. Plus, your writing, both the content and appearance, will get better with all that practice, guaranteed.

Besides, our brains are like hard drives. They can only store so much data before it starts getting corrupted. Go ahead, try remembering what you were doing on Feb. 8, 2000. Better yet, try remembering what you were thinking and feeling that day. Not there, is it? That’s the beauty of a journal. It keeps all of that information right where you can easily access it, and pass it on to your loved ones, if you wish.

If you’re unsure of how to get started, not a problem. We’ve got some suggestions.

1. Find yourself the right journal. You might be more likely to stick with your journaling if you had to spend a little money on the journal. Any stockist or office supply store will carry them, or you can order online from any number of outlets. In fact, there are so many choices, it might be easy to get confused.

We recommend that you start with one of the two most popular types, the standard Moleskine or the Rhodia webnotebook. The Moleskine is available in black and red, and the Rhodia in black or orange. Both have elastic closures, inner pockets and hard covers (although the Rhodia “leatherette” is a little sturdier and has a better feel to it). You can get them with ruled or unruled pages.

The Moleskines are a favourite of people who journal, but the Rhodias seem to have a reputation for being a little bit nicer all around. The Inkophile has written a brilliant Moleskine vs. Rhodia review that may help you make your choice.

2. Choose a comfortable, smooth-writing pen that you can use for extended periods. Personally, I recommend the Pilot G2 Pro in black with 1.0 mm refill. It feels good in the hand and writes a thick, bold line, giving the words in your journal a sense of gravity. The broad tip writes a little wetter than usual, but dries relatively quickly. Overall, the G2 just can’t be beat for smoothness and reliability. (Note: I wrote this before discovering my current favorites, the Pentel EnerGel and Stabilo EASYgel.)

That said, however, there are many other pens that would do quite nicely, including a few Uniball models. Particularly, the Uniball Signo 207 in .07 mm or the Uniball Jetstream Premier in 1.0 mm. The nice thing about them, aside from the great gel writing experience, is that they use Super Ink, which is supposed to be acid-free and fade-resistant, so your words will stick around and hopefully still be legible many years from now. Sandscribbler has written an excellent, comprehensive review of journaling pens at his site (you’ll see he’s no fan of the Jetstream, though).

You also might want to add a little colour to your journal from time to time, and Uniball has a some nice pens for that, as well. When I’m writing something I want to emphasize, I’ve got a pack of Signo Gelsticks that I use. The pens come in purple, pink, orange, red, green and two shades of blue.

If you’re a fountain pen person, you may want to stick with the Rhodia webnotebooks because the Moleskines have a reputation for feathering with fountain pen ink. They also tend to have bleed-thru with wet pens, as Inkophile’s review demonstrated. You can check out Journaling Arts for a display of Fountain Pen Friendly Journals.

3. Create a journaling routine. Now that you have your supplies, you need to set up a time and place to do your journaling. Having a set routine will help ensure that you stick to it. The key here is to make it easy because the easier it is to do, the more likely that you are to actually do it.

Choose a place to keep your journal (and make sure your pen stays with it) so that it’s always in the same spot, somewhere you’ll see it before you go to bed and close to where you will do your writing. At the same time every day, turn off your cell phone/TV/computer, put on something comfortable, make yourself a cup of tea and go to your writing spot to spend a few minutes gathering your thoughts and putting them down in your journal.

Remember, don’t treat it like a chore. This is something you want to do. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day…you’ll start to dread it.

4. Write, write, write. The first thing you need to write in the inside cover is your name and the date you started the journal. When you get to the last page, go back and put the ending date. That will help you keep them organized when you start filling up journals.

For your very first entry, you might want to explain a little about where you are in your life at that point, why you’re starting starting a journal, and what you hope to accomplish with the process. That way, anyone you allow to read your journal in the future will have a better understanding of the context.

Then, not sure what goes in your daily entries? Start with the 5 Ws – who you saw and spoke to that day, what you thought and did, where you went, when you did it and why. Obviously, you just want to pick the significant moments, rather than a chronicle of your entire day. Finally, add an H, for how you felt about the events of the day.

At some point, you’re going to sit down to write and realize that you’re stuck and don’t know what to say. When that happens, write that you aren’t sure what to write, then keep writing down whatever pops into your head, until you get unstuck. Sometimes you have to prime the pump to get it flowing.

There’s no set length for how much you have to write. The story takes exactly as long as it takes. Just say what you have to say, then stop writing. It might be a few paragraphs, or it might be five pages. Sometimes, the most powerful feelings can be described in a sentence. When Teddy Roosevelt’s wife died, he wrote only a large X and the words, “The light has gone out of my life,” in his journal.

Again, if you miss a day, or several, or even a few weeks or months, don’t get down about it. Just go back to your journal, write a little recap of what’s been happening while you’ve been gone, then keep going day to day.

Hopefully this is enough to get you started. Good luck, and happy writing.

We’d love to hear from any of you who are just start journals, or those who’ve been journaling for years.

Have you ever considered how you sign your name, or the pen you use to do it?

If you’re like a lot of us (including me), your signature is an illegible scrawl that you scratch out in a hurry when you finish a letter, fill out a document, or write a check. You’ve written your name so many times in your life – hundreds, at least, probably thousands – that it’s just a rote process.

Does it really matter what it looks like?

Maybe, maybe not. But there are people who believe signatures communicate a great deal about you, either positive or negative. And, you have to admit, your name is just about the most personal thing you can ever put down on paper.

So, if you’d like to start making a statement with your signature, there are three things you need to consider: the ink, the pen, and the style.

Ink

Let’s just go ahead and take ballpoint ink out of the equation right now. It’s bland and sticky and too easy to smudge. Plus, the pressure you have to apply to put ballpoint ink on paper will make ugly indentions you might not want on business documents or correspondence.

For a bold, professional signature, you want to use a good quality gel ink (one that’s not prone to skipping) or a liquid ink of the type found in rollerballs and fountain pens. If you use a liquid ink, make sure to sign your name in a smooth, flowing hand, without hesitations, to avoid leaving blots in your signature.

For professional documents, go with black or blue ink. Black is the preferred colour for many companies and government offices, especially on legal documents, and, in some cases, is actually required. However, since it can be difficult to distinguish between an original signed in black ink and a photocopy, blue will help you easily tell the difference.

If you’re concerned about the security or longevity of your signature, Uni Super Ink – which comes in black, blue and red – is marketed as a safe ink because it’s supposed to be resistant to tampering, fading and running. For fountain pen users, Noodler’s Ink offers several “bulletproof” inks that are known for being all but impossible to remove from paper.

The colour of ink you use for personal documents like letters or journals obviously matters far less. Actually, branding experts even recommend selecting a vibrant colour as a way of establishing your own brand identity. I have a friend who uses only purple ink when she’s writing to friends, so it’s always easy to recognize something from her, whether it’s a letter or a CD she’s labelled.

Pen

Use a pen with a medium or broad point for a strong, confident signature.

A fountain pen is an excellent choice for producing a professional signature that has a little extra panache, especially if you use a pen with an italic nib or one with a nice flex nib like the Namiki Falcon. The general consensus seems to be that your signature almost immediately becomes more legible when using a fountain pen. And, you have a broad range of colour choices, even within black and blue.

But, if a fountain pen isn’t practical for all the writing and signing that you do, then a good gel with a broad point will do just fine. You might try a Pilot G2 or a Uni-ball Gel Impact, both of which are available with 1.0 mm points. They both offer clean, rich lines and smooth writing for a flowing signature. Just be mindful that broad points lay down more ink, so they dry a little slower.

Style

For your signature to make any sort of statement, it needs to be written in a way that other people can actually read it.

Greg Fox at the DonorPower Blog wrote an interesting piece a few years ago examining the signatures on the fundraising letters he receives from various organizations.

He did not have kind words for those who signed their letters illegibly, writing that potential donors might actually be turned off by that kind of sloppiness.

Signatures like these say, “I’m an Important Person. I’m Too Busy to sign my name so you can read it.” That creates distance between the signer and the donor – and distance is the last thing you want.

He’s got a point. A scrawled signature does have a certain impatience about it that some recipients, either business or personal, could take for  arrogance or indifference toward them.

If you’re a person who scrawls, you’ll have to practice to improve the legibility of your signature (and maybe improve your handwriting in general). You’ll also have to remember to slow down when you sign your name, at least until you get used to doing it neatly.

Obviously, your signature should be in cursive, following the basic styles you learned in school, but you also can give it certain flourishes to add your own personality. You can loop the tail of the last letter back to underline your name, or make the first letters of your first and last name bigger than all the other letters, whatever you want.

Now, there are all sorts of handwriting analysts and “graphologists” who claim that your handwriting secretly reveals hidden aspects of your personality. While they have little evidence to support those claims, it can be instructive to see what some of them have to say about certain signature styles.

Understand Signatures in Handwriting Analysis

From an article by self-described handwriting analyst Elaine Ness:

…if the text and the signature styles are different it suggests that a person’s public life and private life are different. A clear text in the body of writing shows a desire and need to get across ideas; if the signature of the same writer is unreadable then there is reluctance to reveal oneself personally even though the ideas expressed may be very clear.

That actually makes sense.

Continuing:

A highly embellished signature, especially if larger than the body of writing, can indicate underlying feelings of inadequacy. Showy writing reveals a need to be noticed. (Usually extroverts.) As you might guess, it is common to see public figures sign their names just that way. Conversely, tiny unobtrusive signatures, especially when smaller than the text, show a feeling of not wanting to be noticed.

And from graphologist William Keller:

That elaborate, showy signature you practiced in high school or college could be a negative factor in your success. If you are promoting a conservative, forthright image and sign sales letters or literature in a large, sweeping, and barely legible fashion, it sends a confusing message to the recipient.

Nothing screams “unprofessional” like a signature that uses little hearts to dot the I’s.

Bold, in-your-face signatures reflect pride and confidence that may be over the top and interpreted as written by a vain, egotistical person who feels superior to the reader. Remember, the message may be subliminal; the receiver may not consciously realize why he or she is not entirely comfortable with your presentation.

He makes sense, too.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, if you have written a powerful letter to recruit well heeled supporters into a risky, but potentially highly rewarding venture and then, sign your masterpiece with a tiny, left-leaning signature, this could be seen as a lack of confidence. You may well have neutralized many positive points of the letter.

Odd, though, that he seems to saying that you should adjust your signature to fit the message. You’re better off finding one stylish, neat signature and sticking with it.

Hopefully that covers just about everything you need to know to get started shaping your new power signature. Have we left anything out? Let us know if you have any questions, and we’ll see if we can come up with some helpful answers.

Trying to choose the right pen, but confused by all the different labels: ballpoint, liquid ink, gel, hybrid, rollerball? Yeah, we don’t blame you; it can get a little overwhelming.

But that’s good, too, because it means you have plenty of options when looking for a pen to fit your needs. All you need is an idea what the different pens do, then you can decide which one works best for you.

We’ll try to help you out with that.

Let’s start here: What all the labels basically come down to is ink. Even more simply put, thick ink or thin ink. Thicker inks dry quickly, last longer and make neat, but uninspired lines. Thinner inks dry slower and run out faster, but make sharper, more vibrant lines.

Pens generally are classed by the types of ink they use and the delivery system.

Ballpoint pens – These use a thick, oil-based ink that is essentially a paste. A ball at the tip of the pen picks up the paste and presses it onto the paper. The ink is carried in an alcohol solvent, which dries quickly, leaving the ink stuck to the paper.

Obviously the advantage to ink that dries quickly is that it’s less likely to smudge. And, because the ink is thick, less of it comes out as you write, so ballpoints tend to last a long time. The ink is also far less likely to bleed through the paper.

However, the thick ink is more prone to clumping and takes more writing pressure to apply to the paper. Since you have to press harder, it makes for a less comfortable writing experience.

Examples of ballpoint pens are:

• Uni-ball Power Tank
• Pilot Dr. Grip
• Papermate Phd

Rollerball pens – These use a thinner, water-based ink that comes out as a liquid (which is why you also see them referred to as liquid ink pens). The design is basically the same as a ballpoint: a ball held in a cone-shaped or pronged tip that picks up the ink and rolls it onto the paper. The solvent, water, is slower to dry than alcohol.

Since the ink dries more slowly, it is more prone to smudging, especially for lefties whose hands drag over the lines as they write. The thinner ink also flows out of the pen at a faster rate, so the ink cartridges have a much shorter life than ballpoints. And paper absorbs the ink more readily, so bleed-through is a concern.

The main advantage of these pens over standard ballpoints is that the ease of flow makes writing extremely smooth, and the richer saturation is just more attractive.

Examples of rollerball or liquid ink pens are:

• Uni-ball Jetstream
• Pilot VBall
• Stabilo ’s move easy

Gel pens – OK, this is where it can get kind of confusing because this ink is used in both ballpoint and rollerball pens. The ink is a water-based gel that isn’t quite as thick as typical ballpoint paste, but isn’t quite as thin as rollerball liquid. It’s delivered the same, via a rolling ball.

The idea of gel ink is to achieve a balance so that it dries quickly and is less likely to blot or smudge, but still flows freely enough to write more smoothly than a standard ballpoint. Because gels use pigments, rather than dyes, there also is more variation in the colours available.

Gel pens, like liquid ink rollerballs, create bold, rich lines and tend to write quite comfortably. But the thicker ink also tends to clump occasionally, like ballpoint ink, and doesn’t always coat the ball evenly, leaving skips in the line.

Examples of gel pens are:

• Pilot G2
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip
• Uni-ball Signo 207 Premier

So which one is best for you? That really depends on the type of writing you do the most, and what your priorities are when choosing a pen – the cost, the writing experience, or the way it looks on paper.

Expense: Ballpoints use less ink, which means buying fewer refills, and they’re less prone to dry out when not in use. They’re dependable, inexpensive everyday writers that will get the job done.

Feel: Rollerballs float across the paper nearly as smoothly as fountain pens for the most graceful, comfortable writing experience. You can use them for long periods of time without cramps or fatigue.

Appearance: Gels produce the cleanest, most precise lines without sacrificing vibrancy. They’re perfect for adding bold signatures to documents, for writing journal entries, or for artwork.

Your best bet probably is to start out with a good ballpoint or gel pen and try using it for a while. You can always trade up if you want a smoother writing experience and don’t mind the added expense. But we’re betting that once you pick up the right gel pen, you’ll be perfectly happy to stick with it.

That’s our take – but we want to hear from you. Which pen is working best for you right now?