Pens and ink

Brief descriptions of some of my favourite pens

Fountain pens

Pelikan M800 - My favourite fountain pen for many years.
First only bought because I wanted another pen, so I could have more than one ink colour in use at the same time.
Pelikan M200 - Writes very well, fits in smaller pockets than the M800.
Mont Blanc 149 - Large comfortable and good writer.
For eleven years, this was almost the only pen I used. I also used only one ink colour for most of that time.

Ballpoint pens

Ballograf Opus and Opus2 ballpoint - Feels very right.
Takes either the Ballograf propietary refill or a standard G2. The blue one is Opus, the black one Opus2 (which you can see written as "Opus 2" or "Opus II", but I think the manufacturer knows best).
I think the one with the slightly wider grip is a bit more comfortable to write with, but the other fits better in some pockets; So I like both equally well.
Ballograf Epoca ballpoint - Used one of these with wood lower part and with gold plated upper part for 5+ years in school. All the time with a black/fine refill. Well, not one refill, but a lot of them.
Pilot Fumi Raku - I make an exception to not using twist mechanisms, partly because this pen can take Pilots B (1.2mm) and BB (1.6mm) ballpoint refills. Also my Nanbutetsu ("southern iron") looks very nice and fits my hands well.
The BB is smoothest, but possibly the B is a better compromise between writing feeling and line quality.
Fisher AG7 Astronaut Pen - Very practical, well made with attention to detail.
I like the blue bold refill the best.
Ballograf Rondo - Inexpensive, good quality.
The one at the top is an old variant which isn't exactly like the ones made today. Middle is a limited edition called Flower, bottom a colour variant of the limited edition Retro.
Caran d'Ache Ecridor "Type 55" ballpoint - Nice looking, solid feeling.
Ballograf Limited 100 - Made in 2008 to celebrate the 60 years anniverary since they made their first ballpoint pen.
Bic M10 Clic - Cheap but writes well. I use both blue and green.
Parker Jotter - Once had to have one of these sent to me from Sweden, when I was working in a country where twist mechanisms dominated.
But I seem to have lost that specific pen! It was black.

Rollerball pens

Lamy Dialog 2 rollerball - Well designed, comfortable and good refill (at least the black). The clip retracts to lie flush when you twist it into writing mode. ("Design" or "style"? I haven't decided what I think.)
Bic Exact-Tip rollerball - Preferably the blue, but the black is OK too.
Zebra DX-7 rollerball - Usually black, blue is OK too.
Mont Blanc 162 - Very good rollerball refill, maybe the best. I can't decide if I like blue or black more.
The pen itself feels nice too, but I really bought it for its capacity to take the specific refills.
Rotring Core Rollerball - Looks unusual, but very good user, not just for rollerball refills but also ballpoint and fibre tip. Often hanging from a cord around my neck.

Pencils

Faber-Castell E-MOTION - Very nice 1.4 mm mechanical pencil.
Rotring 600 mechanical pencil - Handles well. I use it with 0.9 mm.

Other pens

Fjäder - Lightweight assymetrical ballpoint pen. Name means "feather".
Mine is the colour "Hav" ("Sea") and comes with a stand.
It's manufactured by Ballograf (text in Swedish).
Uni Kuru Toga - Mechanical pencil with automatically rotating lead to keep the tip conical.
Bic Orange Fine - For the price it can't be beaten as a disposable ballpoint, and it's not just the price which makes it good.
Pilot Dr. Grip Gel - This was my most used gel pen. But very often with a ballpoint refill in it.
Today one has a Schneider green medium.
The other has a Fisher Space Ball ballpoint refill made in 1997 which still works just fine and is my largest capacity refill.
Rotring Newton ballpoint - Well made solid pen. One of mine managed to get through a washing machine in working condition. Doesn't look as nice any longer though.
Mont Blanc Noblesse - Best narrow fountain pen I've ever had.
Parker Reflex - Comfortable to write with, but protrudes a little too much over the clip for some shirt pockets, in other it makes it easer to pull up.
Fisher Stowaway - A tiny ball point pen. Interesting design with the barrel also being the ink container. Carried it around a lot, but then I discovered the ink had dried. Didn't replace it.
Parker Frontier - Good size and balance. But I don't like the clip design.
Zebra Jimnie Retractable - Not perfect, but very good refills. Now long since spent.
Niji J-Clear III - Comfortable writer, not so good in the pocket. Long since spent.
Pilot G-2/G-2ex - Mine have gotten old and are now retired. (The soft part of the G-2ex got sticky and I don't buy new gel refills so the G-2 isn't very useful.)
Pilot BPS-GB Extra Broad - Very smooth writer.

Facts and opinions

A small pen database to compare sizes and balance.
What ballpoint ink was compared to to make it allowed for documents between 1964 (and maybe earlier) and 1991.
Which ballpoint refills fit in what pens?
Some thoughts about retraction mechanisms.
Ink water and light fastness testing:
- My tests 2002 - 2012
- What you should look for if you want ink which is made to an archival standard.
How much does it matter what material a nib is made of?
Fitting a Pilot extra broad ballpoint refill into other pens and why.
How you can use a Dr. Grip Gel with ordinary ballpoint refills.

Favourite inks

Haven't updated these lists in a while...

But I can now (2009) say that I won't buy any more gel refills. I like hybrid ink so much more. It even writes better and with a better feeling than many rollerballs.

Bottled ink for fountain pens.
Refills for ballpoints, rollerball and other types.

External links

Discussion fora

Haven't time to follow these nowadays.

Information sites

PenHero.com - Gallery, articles and a bit more.
Penoply - Lots of fountain pen information, with a focus on vintage pens.
Glenn's Pen Page - About pens, ink, stores and companies.
Ink recipes - List of ink colours you can mix by different contributors.
Inks, etc. - From the Household Cyclopedia. Recipies for making different kinds of ink.

Miscellaneous

Pen Photography - A series of articles.

Blog - >Writing instruments<

You can use Google to search the rest of the web for information: