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Comment by exmadscientist | Hacker News Reader

The modern version of this is the Pilot G2. Scatter 'em around everywhere! 80% as good as fountain pens at 1% of the fussiness.

I have a Lamy 2000 (well, more than one...) that I adore for writing anything with any actual length. But I still scatter those G2s around.

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I used to be a fan of Zebra Sarasa (retractable, not one of the variations) which I thought was better than the G2, but it wasn't always reliable (maybe they changed something), was more expensive, hard to find in stores (G2 are everywhere though), and accumulates a glob of ink when you draw a line across the page, which ends up wherever you next write something. I happen to have a G2 next to me so I'm testing it for the same problem now, and ended up with a glob somewhere along the long line. I cross things off of todo lists a lot or draw dividers between sections of the page so that happens all the time. Still, it might be a good compromise for the pressure issue for writing sentences.

Not that I'm that price sensitive, it is kind of nice: Sarasa ($2+ each, if you can find it), G2 (~1.25 each), Cristal ($0.10-$0.25 each)

The G2 definitely does glob. That's one of its bigger faults. (Others being that I, personally, prefer a line width between the 05 and 07 options -- obviously this is world-stoppingly critically important -- and that really old ones, I mean really old, tend to get disgusting sticky grips.)

Mostly they're just nice for being fairly rugged and reliable in a way most nicer pens just aren't, for carrying loads of ink, and for being ubiquitous. They're far from perfect. They're just... Good Enough™. And that's good enough!

I do one slightly different, if they carry the G2, they likely also carry a pack of retractable Pilot Precise V5s in a 4 pack of black. I prefer V7s or V10s, but even a v5 in black has a better/softer grip than a G2, does not glob like a G2, has a cool needlepoint that plays nicer for fine writing than a G2, and has a stronger clip than a G2.

The downsides are A) nontransparent barrel B) people tend to steal them more than G2s and C) 80% as available as a G2

The V5 is a great pen! They used to be my daily driver, and if you want what they do well, they're hard to beat. (Fountain pens can and will, but they're fussy, and everyone knows it. They're basically V5s on steroids: same highs, same lows, just more of them, with more choice and customization possible.)

But I would never call them "robust". Unfussy, yes. But a G2 glob is just a minor annoyance. A V5 leak, and they do leak, is a real problem. They're also prone to quick deaths if they roll off a table. G2s don't care about such minor mishaps.

So the G2 is my vote for "sprinkle everywhere".

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