I don’t think I found the vBall retractable to be the same. (Or, it might have been the same, but I didn’t like using a retractable pen!) The rolling barrel one for sure is different.

Here’s a link to the Pilot rollerball one in the post: http://www.amazon.com/VBall-Liquid-Rollerball-Extra-PIL35470/dp/B001B09HSY%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAJU4EJZVEHPCETCAQ%26tag%3Dwhsbene-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB001B09HSY

Here’s a link to the Uniball Vision Elite: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JKR4DM?ie=UTF8&tag=whsbene-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000JKR4DM

Do you find the Pilot vBall retractable to be the same as the one you reference? I haven’t had problems finding those, but the V5 don’t look like the picture you showed. The V5s I’ve found are these
http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Precise-Rolling-Barrel-12-Count/dp/B00006IEBI

Sorry if this seems a bit anal, but hey, you started it!

God Bless

I find that this works great–the line is clear without being too thick, and it doesn’t bleed through the page (at least, in my experience it hasn’t).

These are great for office use, but here’s another “pen” question for you. What do you use for studying/marking up your Bible? What type of pen is best for that?

Thanks!
Kevin

It is ballpoint pens that are dry ink. My main point when I say to stay away from Bic pens is to stay away from the Bic ballpoint pens.

Bic may make some rollerball pens in addition to the ballpoint pens that they make. I actually have never come across those. In general, when I think of Bic, I think of their ballpoint pens — and I myself would be skeptical of any other kinds of pens they make also!

Matt

I looked at a Bic Pen in my drawer and the tip looks like a roller-ball. Is there such a thing as dry ink pen? I searched online for “dry ink pen”, but found nothing. Aren’t Bic pens really rollerball pens?

I prefer the 01 size. They are smooth writing and archival ink. I use one with my capture journal, and one with my sermon/conference notes journal.

The fact is I spent years questing for the ideal pen for my needs, and ultimately realised until recently that the best fit was the humble Bic ballpoint. Why? Well,

1) I also have small handwriting, although not unusually small. As a result I can write at my most smoothly and legibly with a pen which produces a fine line. Rollerballs seem to often seem to be marketed on the basis of how fine their point is – which they need to be, because unlike a dry ink pen, the ink spreads out when it hits the paper. So they don’t produce a particularly fine line. I’ve tended to get a much better result with a fine (ie. orange body) Bic ‘biro’.

2) They are easily replaced. Bics sometimes do skip (although how frequently depends to a great degree on writing style and whether they have been left unused for a long time). But whether they ultimately die through frequent skipping, or from their ink supply running out, a new one need never be far away. Whilst there are more durable and expensive refillable ballpoint pens around, many manufacturers don’t do a point size below ‘medium’ or vendors do not sell the ‘fine’ refills. Plus, I often lose pens. Having 3 or 4 spare new biros in my bag is no great hardship, nor is a pen which starts skipping, when I have some more to hand.

Some may consider point 2 rather wasteful, but actually I tend to find the useful lifetime of a pen which is not enjoyable to use is considerably shorter simply because I’ll replace it with another one and leave it to collect dust at the bottom of a drawer. A Bic will usually last me weeks if not months of daily frequent use. And it works out very well financially.

I think the biggest drawback of a Bic is the risk of leaking, so it’s important to be careful not to leave it in trouser pockets etc.

There are some other good fine ballpoints around – I know Staedtler do one. Having said all the above, about six months ago I stumbled upon the Pilot G-Tec C4 mentioned by Stuart above and find it’s a brilliant pen; the only rollerball I’ve used (and I’ve used many) which actually does produce a fine line (despite being a 0.4mm point, the resulting line is supposedly 0.2mm). That’s my pen of choice nowadays, although I still have a few orange Bics to hand – for emergencies

I too use a Pilot G-Tec C4 0.4mm with red or light blue ink. Or a pencil.