# Pen you use



## ship

For me the pen I have is important as I think crap anything that's like less than .7 in width and thus quality in seeing what I'm writing. Mine these days a black painted though more with wear brass pen from Parker that's wide ball and have to pull the cap to use style. Hate clicker type pens, this much less a normal bic style width of ink in use. Used to love similar Parker more store bought pull cap pens but rare to find in going cusion grip as most norma good pens. Never got into the comfort grip.

Hate the us of crap pens, just no use for them. But in my back pocket it is a Sharpee and pen always. Either the Parker or the Ushio swag pen of late of similar quality. Think its been since like '86 I last used other than a wide ball or at least medium roller ball pen. 

This a normal thing for my liking a wider flow of ink and better quality of pen? Others perfer a quality pen?

Heck, even for hand drafting, I have this steel drafting pencil which is heavy to hold but I prefer over any normal plastic pencil - this even over those I used as a Freshmen in Highschool back in '82 I still have, use and only added to.


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## MarshallPope

I am a Parker fan as well. However, I usually just buy the stainless steel Parker Jotter, since it is cheap ($10) and quite sturdy, as I tend to either lose them or abuse the crap out of them, and these can take it.


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## zuixro

My current favorite is the Zebra F-701. It's about 6 dollars from any office supply store. Made of stainless steel, it feels indestructible. Anything from the Zebra F series is good (the only one I haven't tried is the 402). They're all stainless steel and have very good ink. With the 701 you can replace the ink cartridge with one from the Fisher Space Pen (thats on my list of to do's. They also have mechanical pencils with similar construction (the M-301 I believe).


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## len

At home it's all Cross. I like thin pens. On the street I like Pilot G2. I have a habit of putting them in my mouth and if I drop them on the floor or ground, welll, they go in the garbage. 

I would like to have a vintage Waterman from the 1930s. Some collectible ones can run to the thousands of dollars.


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## mnfreelancer

Three Sharpies on me at all times. Two are standard marker type, one in black and one in blue. I have a blue "dull" sharpie and a black "sharp" sharpie. The third is the "extra fine" variety in black for paperwork/writing on skinny board tape / service notes etc. I have a throwaway ball pin in my kit that I rarely use and a selection of throw-away pens in my clipboard for myself/clients to use on general paperwork.


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## cdub260

Generally, I just use whatever's at hand, mostly pens I've picked up at conventions. That said, with the problems I've been having with my hand and wrist for the last year affecting my ability to maintain a grip, I've developed a preference for pens with a larger diameter. They're much less painful for me to use.


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## gcpsoundlight

Sharpies all the way!


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## avkid

I almost always have a Delta Elite ballpoint in my right front pocket.

I bought a set of 2 about 3 years ago, amazingly I still have both.
(it seems that if your pens look expensive they get returned)


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## Anvilx

Piolet V7 roller ball is my prefence, though I can manage with a V5 or a G2.


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## soundman

Blue Pilot G2 .07 Just over a buck a peice so I am not crying when I loose them.

I can't stand sharpies for anything but labeling, anything detailed looks terrible.


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## lieperjp

Lately I've been using two Acme Designer Line pens I got from my work. They're heavy, but with the .7 insert it's nice. I surprisingly haven't lost them yet. Mostly because they sell for $80 each but I got them for free 

For sharpies I LOVE the double tip sharpies. I've got a whole bunch of them in different colors. It's nice not to have to carry a fine and an ultra fine marker around... just one will do.


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## erosing

Being a lefty, the way I write, everything smudges, I found the Pentel Energel to be the best for my everyday/work writing needs, 0.5mm, so wonderfully smooth (they also come in 0.7). I buy them in bulk now. Sharpie pens also work very well for me, but I haven't found them in the color I write checks in yet.

For special occasians/home office use I like my Cross pens, 2 rollerballs 0.7 mm and 1 gel roller ball.


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## Lightingguy32

I am a fan of the Zebra F-301, Stainless steal casing, retractable, and refillable.


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## erosing

I actually have a new pen I was given as a gift by the s/o, it's the Retro 1951 Tornado (solid black), that I really like as a letter and desk pen, very smooth, mine is 0.7 but I believe you can get refills in 0.5 too. It's a very solid pen, unfortunately a bit too pricey for me to carry around all the time. 

For anyone like me that likes a good fountain pen, they have some that look good as well.

Anywho, Retro Front if you want to check them out.


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## banjokeith

Uni-ball Signo 207 Micro!


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## wah0808

+1 for the Pentel Energel, I use the 0.7 myself. Very smooth, no smudge, relatively cheap when bought in bulk.

Arez said:


> Being a lefty, the way I write, everything smudges, I found the Pentel Energel to be the best for my everyday/work writing needs, 0.5mm, so wonderfully smooth (they also come in 0.7). I buy them in bulk now. Sharpie pens also work very well for me, but I haven't found them in the color I write checks in yet.
> 
> For special occasians/home office use I like my Cross pens, 2 rollerballs 0.7 mm and 1 gel roller ball.


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## gaffmaster

I have at least one Pilot V5 on me at all times, and usually two. 
I absolutely love them, which is usually how I end up destroying them. I always try to use them to stab small holes in things or to get a start on opening boxes. It works for a while until I break them.


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## ship

Noting some pencils above I think, my favorite pencils - before I got into inking my drawings, was a I think .3 Pentel that I used for 4h layout and bought back in like 1982. Very light weight and proper for layout lines. Second favorite is the steel I think Koi-Nor .5 pencil I used normally for like #B o 2B lead in finilizing my drawings. Heavy pencil and heavy lead. I loved the added weight of the pencil in finilizing my drawings. This given I went to inking my drawings instead of going to AutoCadd in being left behind by technology. Some great inked drawings but now left almost 20 years behind in following up with training in like Auto Cadd reliece#12. One of them things I will get back to one of these days.


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## Theresa

Pilot G2 in funky colors (pink, purple, teal, brown)
Click Sharpies

Watersoluble colored pencils for sketching/painting

Wacom Intuos for everything digital (mouse and drawing/painting)


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## sk8rsdad

Sarasa Zebra 0.7


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## ledstixx

STAEDTLER pigment liner 0.5


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## Jay Ashworth

Ok, lessee... (the holster isn't on me at the desk just now, so this is from memory)

New black fine sharpie; blunted black fine sharpie, cyan sharpie, brown sharpie, black 1/4" chisel marker, and 3 or 4 kindergarten diameter pencils -- I find if I loan those out to actors at readthroughs, I'm more likely to get them back.  Oh, and a flat contractor pencil, though I don't need that much either.

When I need to be carrying ballpoints, they're generally black rollerball/gel pens, though no particular brand jumps to mind just now.


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## bdkdesigns

Well, this is quite the thread bump but I'll play along. Tul Fine Ballpoint Pen. Gel pens don't tend to mesh well with me since I'm left handed and always end up smearing the ink because it doesn't dry fast enough.


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## chausman

Pentel R.S.V.P fine point all the way. 

I don't recommend it for lefties though, it doesn't always dry very quickly. Otherwise, it's the best pen I've ever used. Otherwise, any normal sharpie. Not a fan of the fine point sharpies though. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## dvsDave

Bic Velocity Bold 1.6 for my everyday pen, I have a weakness for pens on Kickstarter, all metal pens with high quality click or other types of mechanisms.


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## techieman33

Zebra F301 for everyday use. And a Sharpie pen for writing on console tape. As a left handed person I have to be a lot more careful in pen selection than you lesser people that use your right hand.


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## zmb

Pilot G2 07. Use them everyday as a college student, except this next week being on break. Definitely not suitable for lefties being a gel ink.
Amazon.com: Pilot G2 Retractable Premium Gel Ink Roller Ball Pens, Fine Point, Black Ink, Dozen Box (31020): Office Products

Could we have an admin/mod create a "Laptop You Use" thread too?


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## techieman33

This thread reminded me of something on lifehacker, you use a pilot g2 pro and mont blanc refills. Convert a $3 pen into a $200 pen


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## MarshallPope

I've recently fallen in love with the Pilot Precise v5 Retractable pens. The shape and grip feels great in my hand; they aren't too top-heavy, and they write a beautifully smooth, sharp fine line.


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## erosing

zmb said:


> Pilot G2 07. Use them everyday as a college student, except this next week being on break. Definitely not suitable for lefties being a gel ink.
> Amazon.com: Pilot G2 Retractable Premium Gel Ink Roller Ball Pens, Fine Point, Black Ink, Dozen Box (31020): Office Products
> 
> Could we have an admin/mod create a "Laptop You Use" thread too?



Lefty here, they (.38, .5, and 1.0) work fine for me as the ink dries plenty fast; it's been my daily driver for 7/8 months now.


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## Floobydust

Black Industrial Sharpie and Uni-ball Signo 207 with me at all times.


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## avkid

Pilot G2 07 and a fine tip black Sharpie in my front right pocket at all times.


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## kevlar557

Uni-ball Jetstream 101, black industrial fine point sharpie, black ultra-fine retractable sharpie, and a Extron tweaker is always in my pen pocket.


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## Timothy A. Samuelson

Blue Pilot G2 .07. That's what's usually tucked into the breast pocket on my shirts. My bag has more colors of these, a bunch of sharpies in different sizes and colors, and a lot of carpenter's pencils. I tend to lose them constantly because I tuck them into my hat, sweat, take my hat off to wipe sweat, and lose my pencil.


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## MarshallPope

That's why I keep one of these clipped to my collar whenever I'm in the middle of a build.


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## ered

My personal favorite is my Cross 5mm Fountain pen, a little bit more costly but well worth it in my opinion.


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## TheTheaterGeek

I use exclusively Pilot G-2 0.38.

I think they mimic the feel of a sharp pencil. I love them except they are pretty pricey so I have to keep an eye on them, less a sticky handed student takes them.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017TMMLS/?tag=controlbooth-20


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## josh88

I've been using a uniball vision that I found somewhere, I'm pretty possessive of it now, writes like a dream.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IE8J/?tag=controlbooth-20


Via tapatalk


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## ship

TheTheaterGeek said:


> I use exclusively Pilot G-2 0.38.
> 
> I think they mimic the feel of a sharp pencil. I love them except they are pretty pricey so I have to keep an eye on them, less a sticky handed student takes them.
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017TMMLS/?tag=controlbooth-20



Great 0.38 concept in tip in having a very fine point for rough drawings/sketches that don't bleed.... I'm old now and like something larger than 0.50mm in size for a pen these days, or something I can realistically write on a box or napkin with. Still with my Parkers, one was black but due to wear is just brass now, the other a spare for when I mis-place it. 0.7mm tip, Medium flow [HASHTAG]#2KD[/HASHTAG] ink refill. Heavy enough that you know when it falls out of your pocket, but also heavy enough that it doesn't work its way out of your pocket during the day.


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## MichaelPHS

I have a mass collection of pens of varying lifespans, most generic biros, both cap and click. At the moment I am running down a pair I got for 99p from a stationary shop here as I needed a couple carabina clips which these came with (for costume purposes before anyone faints from shock). My default pen though is usually a sharpie as its always in my back pocket.


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## garyvp

Namiki Floating Point retractable fountain pen - 1990's vintage…..I still use fountain pens and these are the most convenient.


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## gafftapegreenia

Only the finest, the pens from Barbizon in Atlanta, aka, the Bic Grip Roller.


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## TheaterEd

ETC gave me one of these in a swag bag and ever since I hooked it onto my lanyard it has been getting used daily. 




As far as pens go, I'll use whatever I can find at the moment. I lose pens so quickly that I can't afford to be picky. My preference is for the retractable ball-point type pens though.


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## AxlD1234

i have a question for all my Theater people/ People that have to work in the dark. i saw a pen that has a light on the end of it (you press down to write and the light turns on) anyone know what the brand of pen is that does that?


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