Best pen for really, really bad paper?

[Sarra]

For my job, I have to write, pretty much all day long, on the cheapest, lowest quality, massively bulk purchased paper that you can imagine. It's so bad, that every pen I've ever owned has just stopped working. I suspect that the fibers actually jam the ball, and it's happened with BIC garbage pens, fine point ball pens, gel pens, and pretty much everything I've owned. I even had Fischer brand Space Pens jam to the point that I literally could not use them anymore.

 

I've been told to just buy BIC pens in bulk, but seriously, it sucks throwing away a plastic tube that has an ink cartridge in it that's still 80% full. It's not only wasteful, but it really sucks having to carry around a bunch of pens.

 

I also like to fidget with crap, and since I can't take folding knives to work with me (I have a bugout and an M16 that I flip almost constantly when I'm home), I've been thinking about buying a less expensive bolt action pen, and getting refills for it that work better with crap tier paper.

 

Any suggestions for a pen type? This is for government, so it HAS to be black ink. Beyond that, as long as it writes reliably until it's 95% empty, I don't care. And it's gotta go on the road with me, so fountain pens... Probably not so much.

[whm1974]

58 minutes ago, Sarra said:

For my job, I have to write, pretty much all day long, on the cheapest, lowest quality, massively bulk purchased paper that you can imagine. It's so bad, that every pen I've ever owned has just stopped working. I suspect that the fibers actually jam the ball, and it's happened with BIC garbage pens, fine point ball pens, gel pens, and pretty much everything I've owned. I even had Fischer brand Space Pens jam to the point that I literally could not use them anymore.

 

I've been told to just buy BIC pens in bulk, but seriously, it sucks throwing away a plastic tube that has an ink cartridge in it that's still 80% full. It's not only wasteful, but it really sucks having to carry around a bunch of pens.

 

I also like to fidget with crap, and since I can't take folding knives to work with me (I have a bugout and an M16 that I flip almost constantly when I'm home), I've been thinking about buying a less expensive bolt action pen, and getting refills for it that work better with crap tier paper.

 

Any suggestions for a pen type? This is for government, so it HAS to be black ink. Beyond that, as long as it writes reliably until it's 95% empty, I don't care. And it's gotta go on the road with me, so fountain pens... Probably not so much.

A M16 Assault Rifle? Or type of Folding Knife?

[Arika]

Staedtler 430

[tikker]

What kind of BIC pens did you try? BIC Round Stic (the blue translucent sticks) have served me well for many years. They had a tendency to splotch when they're about to go, but otherwise did great. Nvm, these are blue only AFAIK. Interesting that your government requires black. Here it is black or blue, with a preference for blue as it's easily distinguished from printer ink in copies.

 

[Eschew]

Hey there.

10 hours ago, Sarra said:

For my job, I have to write, pretty much all day long, on the cheapest, lowest quality, massively bulk purchased paper that you can imagine. It's so bad, that every pen I've ever owned has just stopped working. I suspect that the fibers actually jam the ball, and it's happened with BIC garbage pens, fine point ball pens, gel pens, and pretty much everything I've owned.

 

Any suggestions for a pen type? This is for government, so it HAS to be black ink. Beyond that, as long as it writes reliably until it's 95% empty, I don't care. And it's gotta go on the road with me, so fountain pens... Probably not so much.

It's Pilot G2 pens for me. Served me great from middle school to university.

• Pilot G2 Ultra Fine Point (0.38 mm): My preferred mm. Suits small, fine handwriting, but it does clog up easily.
• Pilot G2 Extra Fine Point (0.5 mm): The other choice. Serves decent for small, fine handwriting. I find it clogs up less often than the 0.38 mm.
• Pilot G2 Fine Point (0.7 mm) : Never tried these. I suppose they're an option for people that like thicker lines.

All the above are also refillable.

• Pilot G2 Ultra Fine Point Refills
• Pilot G2 Extra Fine Point Refills
• Pilot G2 Fine Point Refills: Link to a Burgundy refill. Can't find the Black on Amazon, but I'm sure it exists from other vendors.

Do note that the Pilot G2s are rollerballs with gel inks. No idea how well they'll perform on your paper.

 

If one of my pens does clog up, I tend to run it on a piece of recycled paper or notepad paper several times to get the ball rolling again. I hear a rubber surface works just as well, though I've never tried that method.

[Sarra]

7 hours ago, whm1974 said:

A M16 Assault Rifle? Or type of Folding Knife?

https://www.crkt.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=m16

 

27 minutes ago, tikker said:

What kind of BIC pens did you try? BIC Round Stic (the blue translucent sticks) have served me well for many years. They had a tendency to splotch when they're about to go, but otherwise did great. Nvm, these are blue only AFAIK. Interesting that your government requires black. Here it is black or blue, with a preference for blue as it's easily distinguished from printer ink in copies.

 

It's for verification. They actually make copies of what we write, and blue messes with our super low budget copier.

 

I wonder if I could get a bolt pen that takes G2 cartridges...

[tikker]

6 hours ago, Sarra said:

It's for verification. They actually make copies of what we write, and blue messes with our super low budget copier.

Funny how governments are always so anal about high quality copies when it's about my stuff, but whenever I receive something from them it could sometimes be the worst quality copy on the planet for all they care as long as I got it.

[Sarra]

6 hours ago, tikker said:

Funny how governments are always so anal about high quality copies when it's about my stuff, but whenever I receive something from them it could sometimes be the worst quality copy on the planet for all they care as long as I got it.

Well, it's not actual government, I work for a company that gets funding from the government. They have the capability of auditing us, and we have to verify everything we do on paper. So, we blast through forests worth of paper. And sadly, since we deal with HIPPA crap, almost all of it gets shredded in the end.

[adarw]

get a gel pen

 

[Sarra]

Just now, adarw said:

get a gel pen

 

I've got gel pens, and they jam or skip or just stop writing just the same as ball and roller pens.

[tikker]

40 minutes ago, Sarra said:

Well, it's not actual government, I work for a company that gets funding from the government. They have the capability of auditing us, and we have to verify everything we do on paper. So, we blast through forests worth of paper. And sadly, since we deal with HIPPA crap, almost all of it gets shredded in the end.

Maybe a finewriter (the things with the sort of soft tips)? Although those never lived long for me. If you're a "heavy" writer maybe trying to use less pressure is something to look into.

[Radium_Angel]

A fine(ish) point Sharpie.

Or an airbrush, and practice your calligraphy.

 

[Sarra]

10 hours ago, tikker said:

Maybe a finewriter (the things with the sort of soft tips)? Although those never lived long for me. If you're a "heavy" writer maybe trying to use less pressure is something to look into.

 

Hmm. Maybe... I'm not a heavy writer, unless the ball jams, then I can go full gorilla.

 

8 hours ago, Caroline said:

Fountain pens are sturdy, I wrote entire essays, articles, whole notebooks and more for Uni and it hasn't failed on me, I like blue ink but you can pretty much use any colour you want. As long as you don't get a 20 cent school pen it's gonna be fine.

Ballpoint pens will jam sooner or later even if the paper's good, can try heating up the point using a lighter then quicky scratch a paper but it won't last for long, it's kind of an exam trick.

 

It has to live in my pocket, and I'm out and about all day long for my job. I mean, maybe... I've never actually used one.

 

7 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

A fine(ish) point Sharpie.

Or an airbrush, and practice your calligraphy.

 

There would be many bricks getting... shat... if I brought an airbrush to work, and used that on my paperwork. lmao

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

I buy my own Muji pens to use almost exclusively at work. Rarely bother with the ones they provide at the workplace. You can buy refills as well so you just swap out the actual writing assembly rather than trashing the whole thing every time. 

[Gegger]

3 hours ago, Sarra said:

It has to live in my pocket, and I'm out and about all day long for my job. I mean, maybe... I've never actually used one.

I'd say the Kaweco Sport is pretty solid pocket fountain pen - though shitty paper can get stuck in fountain pen tines you can pretty easily get the fibres out with a verrry thin brass sheet, though the Sport will run you around 25-30 USD

 

But if size isn't a huge issue something like the Platinum Preppy ($3-4 typically) is excellent, cheap starter FP, or the Pilot Varsity (also about $3) - this is technically a disposable pen but you can hack it to refill, see Google

 

And depending on how absorbent the paper is it might bleed and/or feather (those tendril-y bits you might see with especially wet inks) a lot, might want to be intentional with your ink choices - I have heard very good things about Noodler's X-Feather Black

 

Another thing to note is nib size, a finer nib (within the same line/style of nib) will write thinner/feather less but it's going to dig fibres up more...because...physics?

 

edit: forgot to mention, can put ink in a plastic lab vial or something and then you have a pen and ink that typically lasts me a few days with prolific multi-page notetaking

[Imbadatnames]

I’ve just used Uniball Eye pens since college as they’re water and fade resistant. Also very solid and will write on anything that’s not glossy. 

[tkitch]

you want a non-ball pen it seems.

 

https://www.staples.com/Pilot-Razor-Point-II-Fine-Line-Marker-Pens-Super-Fine-Point-Red-12-Pack-11011/product_64111

 

https://www.staples.com/Pilot-Fineliner-Marker-Pens-Fine-Point-Black-PIL11002/product_902991

 

there's a number of brands like these.  The only risk, if you push too hard you can utterly wreck the tip.  

[Jtalk4456]

this was my choice until a kid threw it in the wash XD

but it's metal, sturdy, writes well, and best of all it's refillable.

[bondoao1]

I have found that the Staples Sonix Gel pens work best for me on cheap bulk buy paper.

 

Link here

[Sarra]

I ended up buying a Pilot G2 pen, and as of now, the only problem I've had has been minor ink dripping. When writing, I sometimes have to wipe the little drop off the tip, but other than that, it hasn't jammed up or started skipping, though it's started writing lighter at times. I think there's actual junk in the tip, but it's still writing, so I'm not gonna flip my lid over it.