Not the perfect pen
Somewhere out there exists the perfect pen. The pen that is elegant yet rugged, compact yet full size, cheap yet high quality, envied but will never be stolen, and never runs out of ink. I have not yet come across it, but until I do, these are the next best thing. They are the best pens I've ever used. I'm a pen nerd, always have been. I have been through a rotating supply of different pen types over the years due to workplace, school, or what was available to sign forms. I spent years having to fill out forms by hand because my previous employer didn't trust anything typed. I've tried every pen Staples offered, branched out into artist pens for a time, I literally make my own pens in my workshop. So while I'm not an expert, I have had enough pen-based experience to state that these pens are freaking amazing and I never go anywhere without one. These pens are a good bit shorter than my usual preference, but that's okay because it means they're short enough to fit in my jeans pockets. This might not sound like that big a deal, but I wear women's jeans, so the pockets dimensions are laughable. They also fit in most of my shirt pockets and I can clip them to a hem, sleeve, or buttonhole without them getting in the way of what I'm doing. Speaking of the clip, it's a nice clip. Springy, but not so springy that it works itself loose all the time. Strong hold, yet not so strong that I have to wrestle it onto my shirt with two hands. I just slide it on and then go about my business and it's always there. I really like that it's a stainless barrel because it holds up to a lot of abuse better than plastic. I have a gajillion cracked plastic pens, some of which wind up leaking. I have yet to have one of these break at all and definitely no leaking. My pens get beat up like crazy during the course of a typical day and these are the only ones left standing. And if nothing else, the pen is sturdy enough to jam in a zombie's eye during the apocalypse. I love that it's a click pen because I am always losing pen caps or wind up with the one pen whose cap doesn't sit tightly enough on the pen and it just slides right off as I'm writing and rolls under a desk, never to be seen again by mortal eyes. Click pens are one-handed, which is useful when I'm already trying to balance a clipboard full of paperwork in one hand. The click on these pens are satisfyingly clicky and springy enough I can fidget with them without engaging the click when in a quiet area. I am ambivalent about the grip. It probably is part of the overall greatness of this pen and I don't notice because it's so unobtrusive. Some pens have big grips that are either squishy and difficult for me to keep a hold of, or made roughly so I wind up with part of my fingers grated off from all the rubbing. I can write a long time with these pens; usually my hand cramps from hand writing in an age of typing everything before the pen itself does anything. The price of these pens is low enough that I can buy a large pack and seed them around my home and office, in bags and pockets, so I always have one available and don't have to worry about losing a pen. I'm sure there's a perfect pen out there that costs a whole lot, but I wouldn't buy it because I would lose it. I don't have to worry so much about losing this one because they're fortunately inexpensive. Also, they're refillable, so if I ever run out of ink, I don't have to throw out the whole pen. I have yet to run out of ink, though, but that's probably because I'm always using whichever of these pens are available rather than one dedicated pen. Of course none of that matters if the pen doesn't write well. Fortunately, this one writes wonderfully. The ink is smooth, there's no globs of ink sputtering out at the beginning, nor have I had it dry up so much that I have to lick the end to get it flowing again. The pen glides across the paper without that scratching sound or feel that's giving me the nails-on-chalkboard shivers just thinking about it. Aaaaand these pens also come in a mechanical pencil variety, which I haven't tried yet, but am excited for the next opportunity to do so. Now, that being said, if you have large hands, you probably won't like this pen. It's small and slim and people I know with large hands generally haven't liked using them. If you like squishy pen grips, you might not like this one because its grip is definitely not squishy. If you like tall pens, you might not like this one because it's shorter. If you dislike click pens, you definitely will not like this pen because it's clicky. Otherwise, I love these pens and if Zebra ever stops making them, I will just have to go back to chiseling on stone tablets or using some cheap disposable that leaves ink globs in my pockets. Read more
