I have several Rotring 600 (and 800) pencils. They're great and super grippy. If you have sweaty/slippery hands while writing, the Rotring 600 pen might be right up your alley.
As pencils go, though, lately I've been fond of the Uni Shift 0.9 mm. It's inexpensive; retracts for pocket carry; and I've never broken a lead with it. My only real complaint is that the eraser is minuscule and can't be reliably adjusted once the initial usable part is gone.
Hah, that is indeed a fine looking writing instrument. I have the fountain pen from the same range. It has a similar hinged pocket clip and the machining is beautiful.
I’ve found many interesting products via HN recommendations. Do you have any more interesting pens?
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.
The rotring 800 0.5mm pencil has been a workhorse for me. My conditions were that it can handle being carried at all times and not stab me in the leg.
It's even survived going through clothes washing machine. The one part I had some minor annoyance with is the ring below the control to adjust tip retraction would loosen up when carried awhile. I originally used a bit of superglue which came out in the wash. Now I've added some loctite so it will probably never loosen again. Other than some finish wearing off it's been great for years.
Edit: oh I use pilot neox F graphite in it. Feels like writing with HB but it doesn't break as easy as I write with pretty heavy hands.
I've been using the rotring 800 mechanical pencil for a while now ... until it randomly broke down (no, I did not treat I strangely in every way or form). I'm using the - much cheaper - Kuru Toga Advance now ... which rotates the graphite slighly whenever I lift the pencil from the paper, leading to a sharper tip and thus a sharper script.
Plus, I am a lot less concerned with losing a 5 dollar pencil as compared to a 50 dollar pencil.
I'd like to try this, but it is quite expensive compared to Zebra Sarasa or Pentel Energel. The metal body is interesting, I wonder how different is the weight and feel to pens with plastic body.
I still think that fountain pens are the pinnacle of writing stationery. One lasts generations and there's no consumables that need recycling or disposing of, if you use a rechargeable cartridge and buy ink bottles.
Oh hell no. I used fountain pens, good ones, for nearly 20 years. They leak, blob all over the place, are difficult to refill, require cleaning, end up with servicing problems when you really need to write immediately. Also difficult to draw complex diagrams with. Absolute self inflicted pain and misery.
I use Muji gel pens now. None of those problems and you can take the cartridges back to them and they recycle them. And the pen bodies themselves last functionally forever.
Totally agree. I used a fountain pen all the way through school and university.
My all time favourite was the Parker 25 in stainless steel, with a medium nib and blue-black ink. Sometimes I would go for purple if I was feeling a bit raunchy.
I know a lot of people liked the 105, and I had one, and a bunch of others, but there is something about the utilitarian functionality of the 25 that I really have a soft spot for.
I think there was a year or two where I may have flirted with ballpens, but not seriously.
Also even used Rotring and Staedtler Mars technical drawing pens on and off for regular writing. That was always fun in the middle of a lecture with ink everywhere.
It's such a shame I don't get to write on paper that much these days. No real need. Such a beautiful experience though.
Well, there are the bottles ink comes in --- I left behind a drawerful of empty Sheaffer bottles at a previous job which I've always regretted.
Agreed, except I have _not_ been able to get my Aurora Hastil to write/fill reliably for a couple of years now, despite cleaning, and I can't send it in to the manufacturer since the tip was ground to a chisel italic by Gretta Lostkemper (who used to oversee custom grinding at Sheaffer). Guess I need to get an ultrasonic cleaner and try that....
Fountain pens are great but that's only half the equation. You need to consider paper as well.
Because I'm usually using low quality paper, I mostly use ballpoint pens so that I can write on both sides of the page. Fountain pens can feel scratchy on cheap paper and the ink bleeds through.
Fountain pen requires some skill to write well. It's amazing in the hands of those who knows calligraphy and just creates extra smudges for those who are more used to normal pens.
I've only had bad experiences with Parker pens and refills, they just don't flow and fill the line as nicely and constantly as Pilot Hi-Tec and other Pilot pens.
I paid more than 20€ for a Parker pen with refills and it was worse than a 3€ Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint (which is my current favourite, I have it in black, red, green, blue and pink colours).
Most of the best pens refills are made by japanese companies (eg. Pilot, Zebra, Uni-ball, etc.) and Parker style is nonexistant in that country. If you look at any "top XX best pens" lists online, the vast majority is not avaible in Parker. And when they are, they usually have fewer color and size options.
It's very disapointing to see brand new nice pen designs that only support Parker refills.
I am going to derail the conversation from the pen and into the refills.
As a left-handed that refuses to twist their hand to avoid smudging everything: what refills brands offer the best dry time to avoid black or blue smudges?
I have some Zebra SARASA dry X20 pens that dry instantly. Even if I quickly scribble a bunch of circles then immediately wipe my hand over it, the ink doesn't smear at all.
I had Rotring 600 pencil - absolutely loved it, best I’ve ever used.
But, its tip is very fragile so after it bent I got a Pentel Orenz Nero , it’s close enough, has retractable tip and lead auto advances. It has become my current favorite.
> I had Rotring 600 pencil - absolutely loved it, best I’ve ever used.
> But, its tip is very fragile
I came here to say this. I have a rotring 600 mechanical pencil with non-retractable tip, and it bends if you even look at it funny. It can be straightened again if you insert a sewing needle so it was not a big deal, but it was unexpected how easy it bends.
Heck, I have to treat it even more carefully than my smartphone. Not that I treat it rough or anything, but I have to be very conscious of where I leave it, lest it rolls off and falls off a height of a few centimeters.
Other than that I don't regret buying it, it's been a few years and it still feels nice to use.
I use a Rotring 600 3-in-1 and it's excellent. Although I prefer the way Uni Kuru writes as it rotates the lead as you write making everything very even. Having a very good pencil + two coloured pens in your hand is just awesome.
11 years ago I bought a Faber Castell - Essentio Ballpoint Pen, Carbon Black - #148888 [0], 22€ at that time, and I absolutely love it. I use it every day, just for writings something on post-its or on labels.
One of the few grips that don't get sticky over the years, feels good in the hand and looks nice. The clip is of metal which does stick to magnets, so it's easy to attach to places like a monitor or a lamp.
I am probably an uneducated cretin, but I have my preferences anyway.
I am in Denmark, and in Denmark, you can get "sharpie pens" () from the brand LYRECO, which I am very fond of, particularly of their high quality and durability.
There is a personal story (for me at least..) regarding them.
More than a decade ago, I worked for many years for a specific company, which had its good and bad sides. One major upside, was that their employee equipment supply included LYRECO pens. So I basically had free access to black/red/blue LYRECO pens.
I am not a career criminal as such, but simply through basic negligence, occasionally one of those pens would wander in my pockets, briefcases or binders, back to my residence, through no active ill will, and be left lying around some random place. Mind you, these are "cheap" sharpie pens, so I am probably not going to jail anytime soon because of this.
However you choose to interpret or describe it, in the end some number of those pens, larger than 1, but less than 10, ended up in random places in my house/possession.
Up until now, this is not a particularly ravishing story. But this is about to change (?).
The issue is, those MF's won't stop writing! They ended up in my possession by now more than 10 years ago, but when I pull one of them out, they still write!
So, a sharpie-style (sort of) pen, that still writes well more than 10 years later!
Of course, they eventually dry out, when I exhaust them of ink through use.
But the 10 years of age has not dried them out. And further, they appear very well provisioned with ink.
This story could end here, but there is another twist:
Of course, I quite love these pens, and I really would like my own supply.
But here is the kicker: They are not available to civilians/consumers :-(.
LYRECO only wants to trade with companies.
So to be able to buy my own, I would have to start or register a company.
(In particular, to fill out their online order forms, I have to fill in mandatory fields with numeric codes only companies have).
So, at various times, I have filled out most of their online ordering forms,
and stared longingly at the empty fields I have no numbers for.
I have also, on other websites, started to fill out the registration form to start my own one-man company. But never completed it, both because I don't have a valid business case other than "I'd really like some of those pens, man!",
and because having a registerered company requires you to follow certain procedures, like filing specific tax forms regularly, IE I could get into trouble and bother
by making a "fake company".
The last issue is, that I also am paranoid, speculating that maybe the late-stage capitalism monsters have arrived at LYRECO's offices in the intervening 10 years,
and whispered in some guy's ear "You know.. we don't really have to make our pens THAT GOOD, we could ship shit instead and charge the same!"
() I don't know what their actual type is. They are filt pens I guess, with the 'filt' sticking out of what I assume to be a steel tube.
I think the Rotring 500 pencils are better than the 600s. They're very similar except instead of a full metal body, only the grip is metal, and the rest plastic. This makes them lighter, and moves the center of gravity closer to the tip, which makes them easier to control.
Still raging that a Rotring Quattro is the only pen which I have lost (twice!) since I was a junior in high school over four decades ago. Did finally manage to get a replacement for the second one I lost, but if anyone ever sees a special edition Rotring Quattro as sold by Levenger w/ rubber coating for sale, let me know.
That said, these days I just carry a Skilcraft B3 Aviator as a slimmer, more pocketable multi-pen option (though I'm on my second, broke the clip of the first and haven't worked out how to disassemble and replace it).
I used a Trio-pencil extensively during my educative years. Beauty in writing and diagram drawing made it enjoyable and helped to focus. I still have it. With a nice patina. Still functioning.
Along these lines, does anyone have recommendations for a nice (as in: overpriced and pretty, just like with OP) setup for drawing/sketching diagrams, as a programmer might need to to do map out a problem?
I'm thinking ~pencils~ (edit: felt-tip pens) in various colors, and good paper.
As a regular user of the Rotring 600, I recommend getting the EasyFlow 9000 refill for super smooth writing. It’s true that a ballpoint pen is just a vehicle for the refill, but the Rotring 600 is a pretty nice vehicle.
All that said, I reach for my Lamy Safari first. I also have a Pilot Vanishing Point as my “grail pen”, and while it’s a cool fountain pen, I don’t love the feel on paper.
53 comments
[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 64.4 ms ] threadAs pencils go, though, lately I've been fond of the Uni Shift 0.9 mm. It's inexpensive; retracts for pocket carry; and I've never broken a lead with it. My only real complaint is that the eraser is minuscule and can't be reliably adjusted once the initial usable part is gone.
https://unsharpen.com/pen/lamy-unic-ballpoint/
I’ve found many interesting products via HN recommendations. Do you have any more interesting pens?
It's even survived going through clothes washing machine. The one part I had some minor annoyance with is the ring below the control to adjust tip retraction would loosen up when carried awhile. I originally used a bit of superglue which came out in the wash. Now I've added some loctite so it will probably never loosen again. Other than some finish wearing off it's been great for years.
Edit: oh I use pilot neox F graphite in it. Feels like writing with HB but it doesn't break as easy as I write with pretty heavy hands.
Plus, I am a lot less concerned with losing a 5 dollar pencil as compared to a 50 dollar pencil.
I use Muji gel pens now. None of those problems and you can take the cartridges back to them and they recycle them. And the pen bodies themselves last functionally forever.
Genuine question: don't you need to dispose or recycle the ink bottles?
My all time favourite was the Parker 25 in stainless steel, with a medium nib and blue-black ink. Sometimes I would go for purple if I was feeling a bit raunchy.
I know a lot of people liked the 105, and I had one, and a bunch of others, but there is something about the utilitarian functionality of the 25 that I really have a soft spot for.
I think there was a year or two where I may have flirted with ballpens, but not seriously.
Also even used Rotring and Staedtler Mars technical drawing pens on and off for regular writing. That was always fun in the middle of a lecture with ink everywhere.
It's such a shame I don't get to write on paper that much these days. No real need. Such a beautiful experience though.
Agreed, except I have _not_ been able to get my Aurora Hastil to write/fill reliably for a couple of years now, despite cleaning, and I can't send it in to the manufacturer since the tip was ground to a chisel italic by Gretta Lostkemper (who used to oversee custom grinding at Sheaffer). Guess I need to get an ultrasonic cleaner and try that....
Because I'm usually using low quality paper, I mostly use ballpoint pens so that I can write on both sides of the page. Fountain pens can feel scratchy on cheap paper and the ink bleeds through.
I paid more than 20€ for a Parker pen with refills and it was worse than a 3€ Pilot V5 Hi-Tecpoint (which is my current favourite, I have it in black, red, green, blue and pink colours).
It's very disapointing to see brand new nice pen designs that only support Parker refills.
As a left-handed that refuses to twist their hand to avoid smudging everything: what refills brands offer the best dry time to avoid black or blue smudges?
Seems it’s laughable to some out there, but’s been trusty for me!
https://pilotpen.us/Product?0=40&1=36&cid=271
But, its tip is very fragile so after it bent I got a Pentel Orenz Nero , it’s close enough, has retractable tip and lead auto advances. It has become my current favorite.
Fun fact: Orenz Nero is a palindrome.
> But, its tip is very fragile
I came here to say this. I have a rotring 600 mechanical pencil with non-retractable tip, and it bends if you even look at it funny. It can be straightened again if you insert a sewing needle so it was not a big deal, but it was unexpected how easy it bends.
Heck, I have to treat it even more carefully than my smartphone. Not that I treat it rough or anything, but I have to be very conscious of where I leave it, lest it rolls off and falls off a height of a few centimeters.
Other than that I don't regret buying it, it's been a few years and it still feels nice to use.
Ok you win.
One of the few grips that don't get sticky over the years, feels good in the hand and looks nice. The clip is of metal which does stick to magnets, so it's easy to attach to places like a monitor or a lamp.
[0] https://www.fabercastell.com/products/essentio-ballpoint-pen...
Up until now, this is not a particularly ravishing story. But this is about to change (?). The issue is, those MF's won't stop writing! They ended up in my possession by now more than 10 years ago, but when I pull one of them out, they still write! So, a sharpie-style (sort of) pen, that still writes well more than 10 years later!
Of course, they eventually dry out, when I exhaust them of ink through use. But the 10 years of age has not dried them out. And further, they appear very well provisioned with ink. This story could end here, but there is another twist: Of course, I quite love these pens, and I really would like my own supply. But here is the kicker: They are not available to civilians/consumers :-(. LYRECO only wants to trade with companies. So to be able to buy my own, I would have to start or register a company. (In particular, to fill out their online order forms, I have to fill in mandatory fields with numeric codes only companies have). So, at various times, I have filled out most of their online ordering forms, and stared longingly at the empty fields I have no numbers for. I have also, on other websites, started to fill out the registration form to start my own one-man company. But never completed it, both because I don't have a valid business case other than "I'd really like some of those pens, man!", and because having a registerered company requires you to follow certain procedures, like filing specific tax forms regularly, IE I could get into trouble and bother by making a "fake company". The last issue is, that I also am paranoid, speculating that maybe the late-stage capitalism monsters have arrived at LYRECO's offices in the intervening 10 years, and whispered in some guy's ear "You know.. we don't really have to make our pens THAT GOOD, we could ship shit instead and charge the same!"
() I don't know what their actual type is. They are filt pens I guess, with the 'filt' sticking out of what I assume to be a steel tube.
I see no reason to go evangelical/Apple about it.
That said, these days I just carry a Skilcraft B3 Aviator as a slimmer, more pocketable multi-pen option (though I'm on my second, broke the clip of the first and haven't worked out how to disassemble and replace it).
I'm thinking ~pencils~ (edit: felt-tip pens) in various colors, and good paper.
All that said, I reach for my Lamy Safari first. I also have a Pilot Vanishing Point as my “grail pen”, and while it’s a cool fountain pen, I don’t love the feel on paper.