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I have used a standard Lamy fountain pen for 11 years in school, and later several higher-end products (ball pens and fountain pens). But a few years ago I disc
by lqet 2y ago
I have used a standard Lamy fountain pen for 11 years in school, and later several higher-end products (ball pens and fountain pens). But a few years ago I discovered that I really like writing with the Bic Cristal [0]. It's reliable and writing feels very smooth (even better than with some Lamy products I own). I also like that it has exactly the same shape as a classic pencil. Of course it is also very relaxing to know I can get a pack of 50 for 14 EUR. You can gnaw away on it, roll over it accidentally with you chair, lose it, break it in half - doesn't matter, because you can easily afford to have 20 of these on your desk at any time.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Cristal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Cristal
- s0rce 2y agoI also realized I like smooth ball points, used to use the finer Pilot gelpoints in school. The Caran D'ache ballpoint is quite nice for a more luxury product https://www.carandache.com/us/en/ballpoint-pen-ballpoint-pen-849-colormat-x-blue-p-11354.htm https://www.carandache.com/us/en/ballpoint-pen-ballpoint-pen...
- onemoresoop 2y ago40 for a pen seems excessive for a regular budget even if 40 is not a lot of money anymore
- dqv 2y agoYes, like the GP says, it's a luxury pen. They didn't buy it for purely utilitarian reasons. They might like that it has an all-metal construction or that it weighs 88g. They might prefer the ink formulation used for the cartridges. They might like how the pen works in their preferred notebook. For many people, tactility (and other sensations too) is just as, if not, more important than, utility.
- onemoresoop 2y agoOnly if this pen were a daily driver and not just kept in a case because, well, it’s expensive and we collect stuff..
- s0rce 2y agoIts a totally usable pen everyday if you want. I don't think most people spending $40 on a pen put it in a display case, its not a $4000 pen.
- sushid 2y agoI feel the same way but with cheaper Japanese ball pens, my favorite being. I do have to disagree that a Bic Cristal feels "smooth" though. I think it doesn't glide as well as your average Japanese offerings although it does dry exceptionally well. Personally I'm partial to the Zebra Sarasa Clip [0]. [0] https://www.zebrapen.com/pages/discover-sarasa-clip https://www.zebrapen.com/pages/discover-sarasa-clip
- bayindirh 2y agoAs far as I have experimented, nothing can replace a good fountain pen for me. Being able to use one for decades and use a bottle of ink for 4-5 years is also a great plus for sustainability in my book. If I can't use a fountain pen, I fallback to a Uniball Elite or Uniball Signo 0.7/0.38. On the ballpoint department, you can't get my CdA 149 from my dead, cold hands. If you really want to use a smooth Bic, try Cristal Soft. If you want something flies, try Uniball JetStream.
- JadeNB 2y ago> I feel the same way but with cheaper Japanese ball pens, my favorite being. Torture for a pen enthusiast! Your favorite being what? Is it the Sarasa Clip you mention later?
- throwpoaster 2y agoThe Bic Cristal is my all-time favourite pen, to the point where I don’t really understand why other pens exist. I was recently thinking of getting a Mont Blanc for fancy business writing (contract signing), but went with the Cristal. Not kidding. The one flaw: no upside-down writing.
- ykonstant 2y agoYou mean a Mont Blanc ballpoint pen? Because I wouldn't use fountain pens with their water-based inks for signing contracts (even inks that claim to be waterproof).
- slavik81 2y agoNoodler's archival inks would be fine for that purpose. Bulletproof Black reacts with the cellulose in the paper so it will not wash out.
- kstrauser 2y agoI was curious so I tested it myself: https://honeypot.net/categories/ink/ https://honeypot.net/categories/ink/ Noodler’s Baystate Blue is at least as waterproof as the paper it’s on.
- ykonstant 2y agoArchival is not just about being waterproof, that's the problem.
- throwpoaster 2y agoI was going to go fountain, yes. Excellent “tip”, thanks!
- bayindirh 2y agoWater based inks come in tons of flavors. You can have washables (most of your royal blues), "permanents" (most blue blacks and special formulations) which leave a faint mark you can't remove (GvFC inks sans Royal Blue, Pelikan 4001 Blue Black, etc.), pigments which cling to your paper like their life depend on it or you can go full send and get "cellulose reactive" inks which will not leave your paper unless you destruct the said paper. Many "permanent" inks on permanent rollerballs and gels (e.g. Uni SuperInk) is also water based, yet they don't and won't leave your paper, because they're made of UV resistant pigments.
- SoftTalker 2y agoThey seem prone to leaking. Like they develop some kind of siphon or capillary flow of the ink out the open end of the ink tube.
- criddell 2y agoYou aren’t buying them from Amazon, are you? I’ve never had a genuine Bic do that, but I’ve had some cheapo bootlegs leak.
- thfuran 2y agoHow can you tell it isn't actually a Bic?
- SoftTalker 2y agoNo this goes back decades. Ever since I can remember.
- lqet 2y agoInteresting, I never had this problem with a Cristal. With cheap marketing pens, sure, after some use, they leak and smear, and some of them seem to have only small amounts of ink in them.
- khazhoux 2y agoI had to look up the name, and then realized (ha!) it's the pen I grew up on, across two countries. My body is probably full of microplastics from chewing away at them.
- detritus 2y agoI bought my daughter a set of multi-colour Bic Cristal pens and, aside from a weird plug that had to be removed from each tip (intentional? dried-up ink from the manufacturing process?) the textural quality of the ink is wonderful. I don't know what it is or how it's different from normal Bics but they are a pure joy to write with. So I bought myself a set and now write in pink at work... .
- __rito__ 2y agoYes, the "plugs" on top of every tip of pens are very much intentional. They are found on every new ball pens and refills in India. I don't know the exact purpose of their existence, but I guess it has to do with leakage of ink. I never thought I would see this question here! I now write with FPs exclusively, but removing those beads from newly bought pens were special experience to us as little kids! We fondly associated them with the joy of new pens. We used to call them "pearls".