# Are modern pens basically useless junk? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2024, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178 "2024-12-05T05:28:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/1 "2024-12-05T05:28:20Z")
I just tried three Bic pens from a package. The first two wouldn’t write. I tried scribbling on paper to prime it. 🖊 My luck with pens is terrible. When find one that works. It won’t work for long. Sometimes it fails after laying on my desk for a week or two. I don’t write pages of text anymore. My biggest use is jotting down notes while I’m on the phone, signing checks, or addressing a couple envelopes. Remember when everyone had a old coffee cup as a pen holder? There would be a handful of pens in it. Most of the time they worked when I randomly pulled one out. It’s been over 20 years since I ran a pen dry. You could see how much ink was left. Today it’s rare to use even a half-inch of ink before the pen fails. What has been your experience with todays pens? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/1))_ **I buy a smaller box with a dozen pens.** [![](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/aaff3dec-bf8d-43b0-a66d-4f73605b1a85.bd01569388d2996baa20ff73a20f5e67.jpeg) ](https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/aaff3dec-bf8d-43b0-a66d-4f73605b1a85.bd01569388d2996baa20ff73a20f5e67.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/2 "2024-12-05T06:08:26Z")
I used to pass over the Bic pens in favor of the blue medium point Paper Mate. Then I got a batch that dried out after a couple of years. But the most recent Paper Mates, which are thicker, work fine for me. I’m a fan of cheap pens. Buy 60. If someone asks to borrow your pen, just give it to them. Leave them around everywhere. Flood the zone. [![](https://newellbrands.imgix.net/cc9f41c0-789e-38e7-ac32-189f3c1a6c18/cc9f41c0-789e-38e7-ac32-189f3c1a6c18.jpg?auto=format,compress&w=1188) ](https://newellbrands.imgix.net/cc9f41c0-789e-38e7-ac32-189f3c1a6c18/cc9f41c0-789e-38e7-ac32-189f3c1a6c18.jpg?auto=format,compress&w=1188) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/3 "2024-12-05T06:16:05Z")
I’m the same. I scatter pens around the house, my car and office. When I need a pen, I need it now! Its extremely frustrating to try several duds when someone on the phone is trying to give me a appointment date. I write it down and enter into my calendar later. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/4 "2024-12-05T06:18:08Z")
Not that I’ve noticed. We have a half-dozen inexpensive pens in the house at any given time, and I don’t recall a recent time in which we pulled out a new one and it didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/5 "2024-12-05T06:39:33Z")
I’ve been using Uniball Roller Grip pens for years. They feel good in my hand and produce a nice smooth line. I haven’t noticed any decrease in quality. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/6 "2024-12-05T06:42:24Z")
We’ve had some comments in the past extolling the virtues of the Pilot G-2. My absolute favourite pen is the Pilot G-2 with an 0.7 mm point and blue ink. I love this thing. For some reason related to god-knows what marketing policies, it’s not available in stores anywhere in Canada that I know of, but can be ordered online. I’ll soon be ordering a second box. It’s now the only ballpoint pen I ever use. If anyone knows of anything that’s just as good, I’ll be glad to hear about it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/7 "2024-12-05T06:45:04Z")
I bought a Fisher Space Pen from the planetarium gift shop when I was in Chicago earlier this year, because I occasionally have to work inside a freezer and blowing on the tip of your pen to thaw out the ink gets tiresome when you’re trying to take notes and figure ouf what products you need to order in. It is now my all-purpose pen and I’m never going back. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/8 "2024-12-05T06:49:22Z")
I use Parker Jotter stainless steel ballpoint pens. They work reliably, and refills are easy to get. The one I have now has lasted for months. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/9 "2024-12-05T06:59:29Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > When I need a pen, I need it now! Which leads to a funny habit a lot of us have without really realizing it. As mentioned above, it’s common to have like a ceramic mug or something on one’s desk with 20-30 pens in it. If you have an immediate need for a pen, you grab one out of the mug. You try writing with it. It doesn’t work. So … _you quickly stick it back in the mug_ and pull out another one. Which means, over time, the mug will eventually contain mostly nonfunctional pens. 😃 Related to the topic of the thread, I think this habit used to be somewhat justifiable, back when pens were just intermittently finicky instead of being cheap and crappy. The pen might not work _right now_ but maybe it’ll work later so put it back and try it again. I’ve had to adjust this habit, personally. Now, if a pen doesn’t work, I don’t put it back in the mug. I set it aside while I take care of whatever the immediate writing requirement might be. Then I try the uncooperative pen again. And if it’s actually dead, _I throw it away._ My mug is no longer stuffed with dead pens. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/10 "2024-12-05T11:04:33Z")
Great - now you made me waste 10 minutes testing every pen in my mug. I threw most of them away, of course. The only non-functioning one I kept has a cool NY subway map on it, and it used to belong to my dad, so I’m keeping it. Besides that, my mug has two functioning Uniball gel pens, a cheap functioning ballpoint that makes a satisfying click when you press its button, two small box cutters, and a tester. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/11 "2024-12-05T11:34:41Z")
Disposable pens are disposable, what do you expect? Since I write with vintage fountain pens almost exclusively I’m not really in any position to comment cogently, but what I do know is that if you want a pleasant, reliable writer, you’ll have to pay money for it. Pens come in every price range, but a twelve dollar pen will write better than a two dollar pen. Once upon a time, a good pen was built to last the lifetime of a person and you only had one, and took care of it. People bequeathed such pens to their heirs. We think about objects differently now, but it isn’t necessarily an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/12 "2024-12-05T12:00:15Z")
I’m satisfied with the good old Bic Cristal. > **[Bic Cristal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bic_Cristal)** > > The BIC Cristal (stylised as BiC Cristal and also known as the Bic Biro) is an inexpensive, disposable ballpoint pen mass-produced and sold by Société Bic of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It was introduced in 1950 and is the best-selling pen in the world, with the 100 billionth sold in September 2006. It has become the archetypal ballpoint pen and is considered ubiquitous, to the extent that the Museum of Modern Art has made it a permanent part of its collection. Its hexagonal form and de In... Of course, basic ball-point pens have to be held vertically, and stored point-down, in order to write correctly, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the OP’s problem. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/13 "2024-12-05T12:04:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > We’ve had some comments in the past extolling the virtues of the Pilot G-2. My absolute favourite pen is the Pilot G-2 with an 0.7 mm point and blue ink. I love this thing. I use the [Pilot Acroball.](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FACLNEA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) I’m still working on the box I bought in 2021. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/14 "2024-12-05T12:55:04Z")
Back in my days of needing to write much with pens, I liked what seems to be the Zebra F-301. > **[Amazon.com : Zebra F-301 Ballpoint Stainless Steel (Black) : Ballpoint Stick...](https://www.amazon.com/Zebra-Ballpoint-Stainless-Retractable-Pen/dp/B001CRVUPE)** > > Zebra Pen F-301 Retractable Ballpoint Pen is sleek, sophisticated and easy to sanitize. This hard-working metal pen brings industry-leading precision and stability to your writing. The refillable F-301 has a metal plunge, clip and cone for an... ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/15 "2024-12-05T12:58:01Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I’m still working on the box I bought in 2021. Heh. Ever since college my preferred pen was the Expresso Medium, which had a conical fiber tip, available in several colors, but it’s been discontinued for decades. Eight or nine years ago, in desperation, I found someone who had a stash of them in original boxes so I bought a gross - about half of them had dried beyond recovery but I’ve been nursing the survivors along. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/16 "2024-12-05T13:25:39Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > We’ve had some comments in the past extolling the virtues of the Pilot G-2. I bought some a few years ago. It’s a “gel” type pen, and I don’t like gel pens. I prefer ballpoint. I’ve been using [Paper Mate Profile](https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-89465-Retractable-Ballpoint/dp/B001E695FK/?th=1) ballpoint pens. They’re comfortable, don’t smear, and work well. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/17 "2024-12-05T13:32:08Z")
Our pens are in an old coffee cup in the kitchen. They work just fine. Pen Island dot com has great deals. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/18 "2024-12-05T13:46:08Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Back in my days of needing to write much with pens, I liked what seems to be the Zebra F-301. They were my go-to as well. It was nice you can buy them in 1 or 2 paks, not just a box of 12 or 20. When one pen lasts 5 years’ of writing, not much need to buy even two, much less a more-than-remaining-lifetime supply. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/19 "2024-12-05T14:02:50Z")
I’m a Pilot G-2 fan. But just to be sure - you know that most pens these days are sold with a little cap on the tip that you have to remove before you start writing, right? StG ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/20 "2024-12-05T14:10:23Z")
I’m a uniball fan. And i like thin pens, not those big fat clunky things that are claimed to be more comfortable. And i like a fine line. These days, I buy the Uni-ball Signo DX 0.38mm pens, and I’ve been quite happy with them. They sometimes get fussy before they are empty, and then i toss them. But when they are working well they were beautifully smoothly. And as a lefty, i appreciate that they don’t smudge. My husband buys cheap biks, and while they have a fatter line and don’t write as fluidly as my expensive pens, they work fine. I haven’t noticed any decrease in pen quality. Ball point pens have always had a chance of drying out if you don’t use them for a long time, and i guess if you rarely use a pen, it’s likely to dry out before the ink runs out. But that’s always been true, in my experience. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178.md?page=2)