Saturday Night Social: Pens
When my father was in the Army he had a stash of Skillcraft pens and he would have all these pens stashed all over the house. He would bring them home from work and they would just end up in random places but mostly they would end up in his junk drawer. These are the cheapest pens you can ever find. The base is a thin plastic with thin piece of metal holding it together. However, when you go to Amazon, they are listed as "US Government Pens" and they cost about $15. You could get cheaper costing pens that work better than these.
You know, I don't really think Army supply really has these pens anymore. Nowadays, I see different types of pens. I have seen white plastic pens with "Skillcraft" on them with lids. I don't really see these black click pens all that often.
There are quite a few articles that come up on my Google page that talk about the best types of pens. What pens certain writers use. I go through the articles to judge what type of pens they use. Most of them choose gel ink pens; I like those as well. A lot of people also like to use fountain pens but I'm not a fan of those. I think I don't like those because I haven't found one that I like.
For me a pen has to feel good in the hand and the ink flow has to be smooth. I need to be able to write for awhile without my hand cramping up. I am also particular about the point of the pen. I don't like tips that create thick lines. I also don't like tips that create super thin lines.
So the pens that I like:
Pilot G2 Retractable Gel Ink Pen Extra Fine or Fine point. I really like the flow and it feels good in the hand. It also doesn't bleed though most types of paper.
Zebra Sarasa clip pens with 0.5 point. These pens flow very well and feels comfortable in my hand. I prefer the 0.5 point but these pens do come with finer tips. I personnally find the finer the tip, the lines become too thin for my handwriting.
Sakura Gelly Roll pens, any type of point. These gel pens have a unique look- there's a rounded cap that makes it stand out. I am not fan of how it feels in the hand but it's not too miserable. It's really just a bit uncomfortable for a bit. The reason why I really like these pens is the color selection. They have regular gel colors but then they have some that have a shimmer to it. They're kind of fancy and those colors look really good on black paper. (I have a journal with black pages that I use white a Gelly Roll pen and I am in love.)
I started using the Skillcraft pens out of necessity when I deployed since that was the only pens I could find in my office. I didn't want to my pens to the office because I didn't want to lose them because I couldn't buy more. I deployed during the pandemic and a tumultuous time. Our stores were closed and flights with mail was far and few between. Letters my friend sent, came to me three months later. I started to just use those pens and truth be told I like using them. They weren't super comfortable but the ink looked good when I wrote.
I think it's weird that I learned to like these pens out of necessity. It reminds me of all the pens my dad would bring home. Would I spend $15 for a pack of twelve? No, but if this was the the only pen available, I would use it and not complain. It's cheaply made but not that bad.