5 ms·

zebra sarasas (cobalt color) are my faves! they smear less than other gel pens like the G2’s, which is good for lefties. great to know they’re an ISO standard s

zebra sarasas (cobalt color) are my faves! they smear less than other gel pens like the G2’s, which is good for lefties. great to know they’re an ISO standard size (parker-style G2).

drivers99 7y ago
+1 for Zebra Sarasa. (I was excited to see it mentioned as well.) I'm a fan of them (for 15+ years) since someone I knew who owned an office supply store introduced them to me. They look a lot like G2's but if you look closely at a G2 you see a brown smear of color at the top of the refill which Sarasa doesn't have. However, I cross out things often (to do lists), and sometimes draw a line across the page (as a divider), and if you do that, you will get a big blog of ink on the next letter you write. Another issue I've had is that some batches I've gotten were unreliable. I recently got into fountain pens (which I thought this article would mention; figuring out refills was confusing for me at first). I have a cheap one (as far as fountain pens go, $18 but it's refillable (Sheaffer VFM)) and it's really great: no more blob issues at all.
- clairity 7y ago
  yah, blobs seem to be an issue with many ink pens, gel or otherwise. when i need to draw lines, i usually pull out a tissue or napkin to dab off the extra ink after each line.
  - elSidCampeador 7y ago
    You might wanna try out Pilot Vpen [1] - its a disposable fountain pen available in a couple of colour options. I've been using them for 3 years now without issues, and no blobs form (generally, unless the paper was a tissue paper or smth) [1] https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Vpen-Disposable-Fountain-Pen-Black-Medium-Nib/pd/6673 https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Vpen-Disposable-Fountain-Pen-B...
    - pivic 7y ago
      Have you tried the Pilot 78G? It's a quite reliable and yet cheap fountain pen: https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2013/11/27/pilot-78g-fountain-pen-review https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2013/11/27/pilot-78g-fountain...
      - npongratz 7y ago
        Are the 78Gs still manufactured, or have they been replaced with the Metropolitan? I haven't directly compared the 78G with Metropolitan, but I've been disappointed with how wide my Metro writes despite having a fine nib.
jacobolus 7y ago
You got it backwards. The linked article says that the Zebra Sarasa is a “Pilot-style G2” refill, not “Parker-style”.

zebra sarasas (cobalt color) are my faves! they smear less than other gel pens like the G2’s, which is good for lefties. great to know they’re an ISO standard size (parker-style G2).

drivers99 7y ago

+1 for Zebra Sarasa. (I was excited to see it mentioned as well.) I'm a fan of them (for 15+ years) since someone I knew who owned an office supply store introduced them to me. They look a lot like G2's but if you look closely at a G2 you see a brown smear of color at the top of the refill which Sarasa doesn't have. However, I cross out things often (to do lists), and sometimes draw a line across the page (as a divider), and if you do that, you will get a big blog of ink on the next letter you write. Another issue I've had is that some batches I've gotten were unreliable. I recently got into fountain pens (which I thought this article would mention; figuring out refills was confusing for me at first). I have a cheap one (as far as fountain pens go, $18 but it's refillable (Sheaffer VFM)) and it's really great: no more blob issues at all.

clairity 7y ago
yah, blobs seem to be an issue with many ink pens, gel or otherwise. when i need to draw lines, i usually pull out a tissue or napkin to dab off the extra ink after each line.
- elSidCampeador 7y ago
  You might wanna try out Pilot Vpen [1] - its a disposable fountain pen available in a couple of colour options. I've been using them for 3 years now without issues, and no blobs form (generally, unless the paper was a tissue paper or smth) [1] https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Vpen-Disposable-Fountain-Pen-Black-Medium-Nib/pd/6673 https://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Vpen-Disposable-Fountain-Pen-B...
  - pivic 7y ago
    Have you tried the Pilot 78G? It's a quite reliable and yet cheap fountain pen: https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2013/11/27/pilot-78g-fountain-pen-review https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2013/11/27/pilot-78g-fountain...
    - npongratz 7y ago
      Are the 78Gs still manufactured, or have they been replaced with the Metropolitan? I haven't directly compared the 78G with Metropolitan, but I've been disappointed with how wide my Metro writes despite having a fine nib.

jacobolus 7y ago

You got it backwards. The linked article says that the Zebra Sarasa is a “Pilot-style G2” refill, not “Parker-style”.