My Parker ball point pen of the last few years came to an unfortunate end after my nearly 3 year old got hold of it last night.

So what’s good as an everyday work pen around the £30 mark? Recommendations welcomed!

I know its personal preference. I’m a picky bugger about what I draw and write with, and I just buy a job lot of these

Still haven’t found anything better at any price point

Plenty of these.

How about another Parker 🙂

I’m with binners.

Best pens in the world.

https://www.penshop.co.uk/pens/parker/roller-balls/parker-im-rollerball

Sheaffer 300 ball point hits that price, is what I have.

Pro’s – good weight, (actually, heavy, suppose that depends on you preference)
– nice writer
– refills last ages.
– spring action pocket clip so its not going to get bent.
– Good diameter, feels nice in the hand.

Con’s – metal barrel, mine’s been dropped a couple of times. Has a dent and a bit scratched, but I work in an industrial setting, might not be a problem in an office.

Nice pen link.

30 quid? 117 bic black

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BiC-Cristal-Medium-Biro-Ballpoint/dp/B00WKKMSQC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1508228846&sr=8-7&keywords=bic+cristal+pens

pretty much a lifetime supply of quality pens right there.

I’m struggling with your definition of quality there jekkyl

I try my best not to judge people on randomly selected personal criteria, but if I see someone using a Bic biro, then quite frankly they’re little better than animals

Bic is good if you actually want an expressive, uneven, blobby line 🙂
I’ve got a whole sketchbook full of Bic biro.

Normally, I use something similar to you/bikebouy though. My current fav is a Uni Pin Fineline in 0.4. It glides better than some.

LOL. I use a bic everyday 😆 , it makes marks on paper, it is black. This is as much as I want from a pen.

I use a Cross ATX. I like the size and weight but this is not to everyone’s taste.

RRP is ~£50 but I think some online retailers sell these within budget.

I trust your Bic sports the requisite level of teeth marks, where you’ve been idly chomping it, you savage? 😉

Kaweco Sport rollerball £16

Binners, how’s the black on those rotrings? I’m using those staedtlers just now, which are good, but find the black is pure K, about opposed to a deep supported black. So looking for something a bit deeper.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46kXH6GGtT0[/video]

😀

Give them a go. I do have quite a lot of Staedtler pens, but much prefer the Rotrings. Here’s one of my recent scribbles. The ink needs to be properly black as the image needs to be live-traced before I colour it up in Illustrator

I’ve had a Cross pen for over 30yrs. More or less this model.

Cross Classic Century Ballpoint Pen – Lustrous Chrome

😆 will do, ta.

looks a good live trace!

Bics are great, I always have one on my desk, not to write with though, the caps are ace for scooping earwax out in satisfying lumps.

No recommendations on ball points though, I’m a FP man, or a cheap clicky freebie pen for quick mark ups.

Quite happy with Pilot V-Ball 0.7. Cheap and good to use.

Lamy Safari ?

With a black M63 medium refil.

Cross

Best pens in the world.

I have a Cross click, mine is fully murdered out unlike this one but that’s the closest I could find.

Cross Click Ballpoint Pen – Classic Black

I have changed the cartridge to a slim gel rolling ball refill much nicer than the straight ball point.

Fancy technical drawing stuff I used to use rotring, but that’s about the most I’d ever spend on a pen, and last time I used one was back in school days!

I just use the freebies that come with the charity begging envelopes 😀

Well, and I get a free sample pen for my company from time to time from companies trying to flog me pens. Got some reasonable ones through that.

I’m loving E+M stuff at the minute.

But, as ever, it’s also hard to see past Lamy at that kind of pricepoint.

They look like someone’s tried to do a sort of New Age version of a Fisher Price ‘My First Pen’ 😆

binners – Member
They look like someone’s tried to do a sort of New Age version of a Fisher Price ‘My First Pen’

Heehee. True, but I really like their stuff. This is my current go to all-round writing/drawing implement…

I do like that one. Not sure how well I’d get on with one though. Are they ball-points?

Incidentally…. owners of above-Bic-standard pens…. how many times a day do you say ‘Oi! Pen?!” as someone wanders of, or tries to wander off with yours?

I find that if I use something that’s very esoteric no one will dream of walking off with it.

Out of budget but i love my cross townsend, now got the whole set. Writes beautifully. Look on edmonds the jewellers website for good prices.

I try my best not to judge people on randomly selected personal criteria, but if I see someone using a Bic biro, then quite frankly they’re little better than animals

Maybe, if your workspace is a nice comfy office, or at home, but my workspace is someone else’s car, anywhere across the south of England, and as far as I’m concerned a bag of ten Zebra Z-Grip pens costing bugger-all works just fine, as does a bunch of Bic Crystals. It’s a device for making black marks on paper, not for showing others just how superior you are.
It’s bad enough keeping track of my suction screen-mounts for my phone that I buy the sodding things in bulk, without worrying about a £30 pen!

I find that if I use something that’s very esoteric no one will dream of walking off with it.

Oh, to live in the paradisical universe you inhabit…

I think someone dropped their sense of humour in someone else’s car as well.

Superior? Really?

binners – Member
I do like that one. Not sure how well I’d get on with one though. Are they ball-points?

The first two I posted are ballpoints, that last one is a 5.6mm lead holder, but I like it so much I use it for writing notes at the minute too instead of one of my many ‘superior’ pens (unashamed Cult Pens addict that I am).

E+M also do a ballpoint ‘refill’ for clutch pencils that lets you convert them to a pen. Which is nice.

Ooooooooo….. I do like a nice pencil too. My dad was a draughtsman so I grew up with these lying around everywhere

Still got a full set. I spent my childhood drawing stuff with them. Obviously it didn’t do me any harm 🙂

Loving this thread. You can’t beat a bit of pen porn

Countzero – chill out dude. Go easy on the grumpyflakes! Making black marks on bits of paper is how I earn a living. They’re my spanners. Yet the ones I posted at the top of this thread, which are by far the best you can buy IMHO, and what I use every day, cost less than 3 quid apiece. Bargain! 😀

I am mainly using this

Fisher B4

Very clicky!
Can be had for £30

I like my rotoring pencil. 20 – 25 quid. Lots of good design in it.

…they make a matching pen but I’m a commitmentphobe.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rotring-1904255-Rapid-Mechanical-Pencil/dp/B00JXIRDSW/ref=sr_1_7?s=officeproduct&ie=UTF8&qid=1508273580&sr=1-7

Coincidentally I was listening to a podcast this morning about the history of the bic / biro:

https://www.theallusionist.org/ballpoint

Years ago I used to chase women, take drugs and dance until the sun came up, nowadays I listen to podcasts about pens…….

@binners them rotrings, the 0.3mm yeah?

I’m always on the lookout for a decent pen (and work doesn’t really provide). Takes me back to my drawing board days with proper rotring ink pens….

I’ve a full set of them pentel self propellers too, the 0.5mm still in everyday use 25-30 years later 🙂

Due to an assumed mental breakdown of someone in WHSmith head office, I picked this up for £32 earlier this year.

Some of those pens look lush, but (professional artists/graphic designers/etc notwithstanding, I get that) I can’t get my head around paying for a pen in a world where we are literally awash with freebie promo pens that write nicely and feel nice in the fingers. 17 years writing every day in my job, always with free pens.

But now; I’m tempted. Damn you STW!