# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/41 "2024-12-05T17:04:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I just tried three Bic pens from a package. The first two wouldn’t write. I tried scribbling on paper to prime it. I’ve noticed the same thing. The quality, much like the quality of a lot of consumer goods, has plummeted. Even if they write, they don’t last very long. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/42 "2024-12-05T17:05:53Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I write with vintage fountain pens almost exclusively Hello from another FP enthusiast (both vintage and modern). To echo other posters, if OP wants something that will write reasonably reliably, they need to spend for at least a slightly better pen than the cheapest possible disposable stick pen. There is a lot of work being done on quality ballpoint refills that will work in relatively cheap click pens. Also, look at Japanese pens and refills, because Japanese consumers of pens are very demanding of reliability. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/43 "2024-12-05T17:46:59Z")
For over 40 years I’ve used BIC pens swiped from hotels and conference centers. They seem as good as any. My wife bought me some for my birthday, but mostly because I don’t go to hotels nearly as often now that I’m retired. They sometimes don’t have a full load of ink, but that’s fine. The pens in the coffee cup sometimes go dry, but that’s not because of quality, but because my wife has some sort of phobia about putting their caps back on. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/44 "2024-12-05T17:49:54Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The pens are almost entirely giveaways from businesses. I’ve never paid for a ball-point pen in my life, all I ever had were giveaways or presents. And I’m not even the kind who steals pens… > [@arles](#): > > I’ve found that when the pen doesn’t write that it is the ink at the tip that is dry. Rather than scribbling on paper, try scribbling the pen on the bottom of your shoe. Or if writing in a spiral notebook, scribbling on the coated cover of the notebook. In my experience this works 99.3% of the time. I do exactly the same for reviving pens, but I also put a little saliva on the tip before. Maybe that’s just superstition, but it always works. ---
**Author:** ![Cee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cee/32/18345_2.png) [@Cee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cee)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/45 "2024-12-05T18:31:28Z")
There’s a lighter trick I found on YT that works pretty well. Keep the flame a bit under the pen for a couple seconds and it’ll work like new. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/46 "2024-12-05T19:25:42Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m satisfied with the good old Bic Cristal. Same here. Use one several times a day. Pretty much always have one within reach when working at home. NEVER a problem. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/47 "2024-12-05T19:55:59Z")
I voted No but do remember now that the Sharpie SGel 1.0 mm pack I got recently had 2 DOA. I really like these gel rollers but 2 of 8 is far too many. > [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I have ditched disposable pens for fountain pens. They are wonderful to write with and the choice of ink colours is incredible. I’ve gotten into fountain pens (and inks!) over the last two years or so, mostly for drawing but some writing, too. They’re great but definitely in addition to other pens and not instead of and are certain to be a a pain in the ass at times. Tools are like that. _furrows brow at string trimmer weed wacker_ But my primary is a Lamy Safari (the transparent Vista type) medium with a Noodler’s bulletproof black. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/48 "2024-12-05T20:36:14Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. Ballpoint pens hate me and will usually fail within a few words. (I touch my hand to the paper and I think skin oils interfere with them.) Have you tried non-ballpoint types? Mostly I use Pilot Precise rollingballs. They don’t last all that long, and they spring leaks if allowed to freeze, but they’re otherwise reliable, and the black ones produce a relatively waterproof ink (the blue ones will run if the paper gets wet later on.) They’re no good for carbon copies, but carbon copies have pretty much disappeared. > [@Ulfreida](#): > > 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. This is true. I do feel kind of bad every time I throw one of my rollerballs out. But I know that I won’t take enough care of a really good one, especially since I’d have to carry it around in the field doing farmwork (or the cat will knock it off the desk and the dog will eat it), and I can’t afford to buy extras. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/49 "2024-12-05T21:01:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I bought a Fisher Space Pen This one. It’s the only pen that really, truly works 100% of the time, on any kind of paper, at any angle, at any temperature, without needing to scribble anywhere to get started, and so on. Every other pen dies when it hits some part of the paper that’s a little too smooth or has some invisible finger oil or something on it. It’s infuriating. They aren’t _cheap_, but you can get ones in a normal plastic housing for about $15. You pay more if you want chrome plating, etc. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/50 "2024-12-05T21:38:05Z")
I was given a Fisher Space pen decades ago at work. I think I got a dud. And it was one of the nice ones with the chrome plating. But it leaked like a sieve. I ended up junking it. The pens I most use now are the freebies I would pick up at the vet’s. I don’t know what brand they are, but they fit well in my hand, write well, and are refillable. Plus, they have a pleasant association with the nice people at the vet’s. When I was in college I had a rapidograph that I used for drawing. Then, I broke it and never replaced it. I really liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2024, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/51 "2024-12-05T21:52:36Z")
They definitely shouldn’t leak. They’re pressurized though, so if there was a defect I can see why they’d leak worse than a normal pen. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/52 "2024-12-06T03:44:55Z")
I think modern pens are the best they’ve ever been. But I haven’t used cheap Bic pens since high school; the pens I buy run to $1-$3 each. Pilot (just the gel kinds), Energel, Uniball, and Sharpie gel pens are all great, and as a left-hander I appreciate the fact that the inks in all of them dry rapidly, so I don’t end up with smeared pages and inky hands anymore. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/53 "2024-12-06T07:10:03Z")
I’ve used a wide variety of cheap, or at least cheapish ballpoints and found them _generally_ dependable for the cost. I have found though two things anecdotally that _may_ contribute. 1. I live in a really dry climate (to the point that anything hitting 20% or higher humidity inside is rare and uncomfortable) and in said climate, cheaper ballpoints often fail at first - the ball doesn’t rotate, or the ink is otherwise dry, and needs to be used on an eraser or a lower gloss paper. 2. Sometimes these pens have been (based on mnfc date) sitting around a Looooong time before I get them. Like, in one case, a year or more. And those older pens seem to be far more failure prone. At least, again, the cheapos I tend to buy. Something that may be related though, is that most of the posters here skew older. When I was on campus last (about 2 years ago as wife was finishing her PhD) at least 50-60% of the students were taking notes on tablets or laptops (or pretending too 😉 ). Especially in a lot of lecture classes being taught straight from PowerPoint slides that the students had access too, they could type right into adjacent comment fields, to the point that it didn’t even make a lot of sense to have a spiral notebook or the like to jot notes into. Personally though, I’m not confident enough to normally take notes or write in ink, so I’m predominantly a automatic pencil person, .7mm by preference, because I have a heavy hand and snap .5 leads all the time. Pens are for signing checks, holiday/birthday card, and filling out mail in ballots. But I type faster than I write, so I too would use a tablet with a BT keyboard or my laptop if I was taking a lot of notes. 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/54 "2024-12-06T08:57:34Z")
I have been using blue Pilot G-2s for as long as I can remember. I have them all over the place at home and in all my bags. Recently, at work I wanted to make a note of something. I had left my pen back where I was sitting. So I just grabbed a pen out of the nearby stores cupboard, It was a red Pentel Liquid Gel Rollerball Pen 0.7mm Ball Metal Tip Pen. It is equally pleasant to write with. ---
**Author:** ![Strenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Strenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strenger)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/55 "2024-12-06T09:12:28Z")
I was just complaining about this at another forum not too long ago…there are some real crap ballpoint pens out there. And yet the shades of ink are tantalizing! No, they’ll jam/seize up with one wrong look. AFAIK, these types can’t be repaired or disassembled…maybe with a dremel rotary tool and just cut it open? Doesn’t seem appealing to me as an activity. Count me in with the Pilot G2 (in 0.7) gel revolution! However, at work I use waterproof paper notebooks, which won’t take gel pens…so I transitioned to ballpoints for probably the first time in my life. (No, one doesn’t need a “Rite-in-the-Rain” branded pen nor a Fisher [sp?] Space Pen to write under normal conditions on waterproof paper…but for some reason certain ballpoint cartridges in different colors are more susceptible to smearing/bleed through). So, I’ve become a Rotring 600 man lately…they’re pretty pricey for a ballpoint pen, but if any error in the mechanism occurs, they can be completely disassembled and fixed…yet I’ve never needed to fix one yet. It is odd (for me) going to ball point pens, after so many years of loving my Pilot G2s, and my 2mm lead holder/“clutch” pencils, each one fitted with about every degree of lead softness that exists, and my stick erasers and little stand-alone sharpener for them. (I stick with Koh-I-Noor and the classic Staedtler Mars Technico models in various lengths [for various Koh-I-Noor models). Still prefer pencils for annotating various printed matter, in general, but am happy to have a Rotring 600 with a magenta cartridge, and one in basic black. It makes for a nice presentation when taking notes at various meetings, for my own benefit… And they’re nice and sharp with the ballpoint pen retracted, so as to discourage any workplace sneakthieves! No, the pocket clips are nice and tight, so haven’t lost one yet (except, of course on my messy desk at home). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/56 "2024-12-06T21:16:05Z")
> [@Strenger](#): > > (No, one doesn’t need a “Rite-in-the-Rain” branded pen nor a Fisher [sp?] Space Pen to write under normal conditions on waterproof paper…but for some reason certain ballpoint cartridges in different colors are more susceptible to smearing/bleed through). Pencils work, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/57 "2024-12-06T23:28:24Z")
Ball points, fountain pens? Feh, modern nonsense. A real writer uses a dip pen. Why take shortcuts if you actually enjoy writing? ---
**Author:** ![Strenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Strenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strenger)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/58 "2024-12-07T01:01:01Z")
Very true…but using 6B or something…you get some smudging! Maybe I should get a can of that fixative spray visual artists sometimes use. And don’t get me wrong…I still use gel pens at work and at home…just not for times I need the waterproof paper. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/59 "2024-12-07T01:06:17Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Back in my days of needing to write much with pens, I liked what seems to be the Zebra F-301 I’m a huge fan of Zebra pens. I’ll buy my own before I’ll use the crap we stock at the office. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178/60 "2024-12-07T01:09:00Z")
I voted “as good as ever” because I have not yet experienced any problems with new pens. Where the problem lies is I simply NEVER USE THEM any more. The occasional check (yes, I’m a dinosaur), Or filling out a form. But if I use a pen twice a month, that’s a lot. So, the pens we own have been sitting around for years, and ink does eventually clog things up. If I dig a “new” one out of a package we bought when the kids were in school, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if it failed. If I pull one out from a pen holder, heaven only knows how old it is (I’ve got some souvenir-type pens that are decades old). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-modern-pens-basically-useless-junk/1011178.md?page=4)