That's a very nice pen and I get the appeal. However, I've recently discovered Uni Jetstream pens, and I don't see ever buying anything else. There are nicer pen bodies out there but I've never used a pen that does a better job of putting ink on paper, reliably, every time, without ever skipping in the slightest, not requiring any significant pressure, working on every kind of paper, and drying instantly. For me, it writes as nicely as my fountain pens but with all the convenience of a ballpoint. They're also about $3 each, depending where you buy them, so they're dirt cheap as far as nicely-working pens go.
Also a big fan of the Uniball, perviously was using Signo DXs, but have switched over to the Uniball One. I think that slightly thicker barrel helps with my handwriting. Also love the wire pocket clip.
I do like the Rotring pencils over the pens, but still prefer Uni as I feel less bad about losing a Uni Kuru as it is cheaper and still has knurled grip. Also has a fun rotating lead.
Pigma Microns and Uniball One are my go-to pens. Previously it was Signo DXs as well. I think I prefer the barrel of the DX, but the wire clip and general appearance of the Uniball sold me.
It feels really nice to write with. I also have a Kuru Toga I picked up at a neat little stationery store on vacation, but I was reminded when I got home that I don't care for writing with pencils. Should that change, there it is waiting for me.
The discovery of the jotter style refill led me down a path of trying many different inks for my Rotring 600. I ended up liking the OHTO ceramic rollerball quite well, partly for the ink, and also for the appearance of the nib, which I think suits the Rotring 600 nicely
I agree that, even though the Uni Pens write well, they look a tad uglier than their counterparts. I like rOtring’s heavier feel. I write with a fountain pen at most times when I’m at my desk but I always carry much simpler gel/ball pens. My daughters and I have settled on all sorts of rOtring and we are loving it.
You can buy a Uniball One-F (the premium body) and put Jetstream refills in there as a drop-in replacement.
Note though that for longevity in engineering notebooks I don’t like to use Jetstreams because of the yellowing seepage problem over time. But for everyday throwaway writing this setup is the ideal best of both worlds.
What's the timeline for this? My undergrad notes from ~15 years ago have held up without obvious degradation. Those are mostly Jetstream inks on generic paper (some Oxford notebook). I swapped to fountain pens at some point when I discovered Noodler's. Bernanke Blue dries extremely fast. Though my TWSBIs from the time haven't held up well. They were fine when constantly used but they cracked in storage.
It somewhat depends on the humidity and temperature. I have not tested for controls, but I suspect it has to do with the low-viscosity oil component undergoing some process similar to paper chromatography where upon contact with moisture it separates from the pigment seeps to the back of the page.
If you want a low maintenance option, your best choice will be fade-proof pigment inked systems.
From top of my head:
- UniBall Eye / Vision Elite's Red, Blue, Black and Green (look for fade-proof / water-poof note, or SuperINK)
- Sakura / Faber Castell / Rotring pigment inked, felt tip markers (Look for Archival Ink / Fade Resistant)
If you prefer fountain pens:
- Pelikan 4001 blue black (which is not sold in the US)
- Rohrer & Klinger's Iron Gall inks (scribosa, ebony, etc.)
- Noodler's "Bulletproof" series cellulose reactive inks.
- Lamy Blue Black
- Lamy Crystal Benitonite
- Montblanc Permanent Blue / Permanent Black
I'm sure there are many more, but these are the ones I know and had experience with.
Always use an acid-free higher quality paper. Leuchtturm 1917, Rhodia, Yu-Sari, Mnemosyne comes to my mind. Do NOT use Moleskine notebooks with fountain pens. They are not designed for fountain pens.
What bothers me is, their notebooks were fine when they first came to market. I still have their old, filled notebooks with great bindings and paper, with spotless ink retention, incl. fountain pens.
They gradually reduced their quality, and created a “higher, more expensive tier” to offer their previous quality.
Leuchtturm 1917 is a world apart when compared to today’s Moleskine.
Unironically, my favourite is the standard Bic Cristal medium 1.0mm in black, but placed inside a Bic Round Stic body that I’ve reused for many years (I prefer a plain gripless thin body, since I use a gentle finger-leverage posture for applying pressure variations which I learned from the Palmer script method)
Or, for gel-based, the Uniball Signo black ink is my second choice. I particularly like using the Signo GelStick 0.7mm which I can make line variations from hairlines to super broad strokes (again, the leverage-based force application is key for effortless pressure variation techniques)
The water safety is what nudged me off fountain pens and back to ballpoints. I use a bullet journal and don’t want water to wash it all away.
I know you can get fountain inks that are more resistant, but at that level of finickiness, I’d rather just carry a lower maintenance ballpoint, and the Jetstream is good enough that I don’t miss my other lovely pens.
PS: One time a reporter asked me what I thought of a particular food, and I described it as snacking on the wings of angels sent to earth for our dining pleasure, and they quoted me. My wife reminds me of this often.
