Fountain Pens, Ballpoints, and Rollerballs

While I love to have and use a fountain pen, I must admit that ballpoint pens are a superior technology. Ballpoints don’t clog. Their ink doesn’t dry out if not used. They won’t leak onto your clothes. They write on more types of paper. And other advantages I cannot think of right now.

But some things about ballpoint pens peeve me. My biggest peeve is the tiny globs of ink that don’t just look bad but cause sticky smears. Next the writer must put pressure on the tip. They just don’t glide across the surface like fountain pens. And most of the times, you must make a quick scribble just to get the ink flowing. Finally, when writing in cursive it is harder to join the letter tails if, like me, you use your palm to lightly support your hand and shift its position every two or three letters. While some brands are better than others. Bics are the worst. Cross IMHO makes the best. Cross tips write immediately (no scribbling) but they still form those annoying globs.

Fortunately there is another option: rollerballs using liquid ink. These are the best option for Super Big Fat Pens for aesthetics, convenience and function. From a purely aesthetic perspective they rival fountain pens. No globs. They come in a wide variety of colors and the slightly delayed dry-time allows you to seamlessly join letter tails. For convenience, no more scribbling to start the ink flowing. Be careful though, an open tip will bleed out against a porous material just like a fountain pen! Most importantly though, rollerballs meet the functional needs of people with arthritis because they require little to no pressure on the tip and glide easily across the page.

Having evaluated a wide number of ink cartridges I have settled on Montverde as the superior choice for my customers; although, I would love to hear back from you.