I used to not really care about stationery. That changed when my uncle showed me his fountain pen. I had never used one before. I couldn’t believe how smooth it was. He suggested I went to stores and tried different pens. That way, I’d find what I like. And that’s exactly what I did in the last couple of weeks.

I found out exactly what I like at a price that is reasonable for me. When I now have to write something by hand, I get excited about it!

Everyone will have different tastes, but here’s what I learned for myself:

• Lamy Safari Rollerball sucks*. I thought I was getting a pen for life, but the ink flows inconsistently. This same problem has been reported by other people online. This pen was not designed for rollerball. It was designed as a fountain pen.
• InkJoy Gels are alright. They’re an improvement over normal ballpoint pens, but they’re not as good as other gel pens, such as the G-Tec-C4.
• G-Tec-C4 is my new go-to. They’re relatively cheap and the experience of writing with them is amazing.
• I rediscovered mechanical pencils. I tried one that had buttery-smooth lead. I fell in love. I won’t buy any yet, because I have pencils at home, but I know what I will eventually buy (a metallic mechanical pencil with Uni lead).
• Point balls are not my thing. I haven’t found one I like. Unfortunately, they are probably the most environmentally friendly pen that is both convenient and cheap. If someone has a good recommendation, I’m open.
• Fountain pens are amazing for writing, but they’re not resilient. I need pens that will survive my life. I fling my backpack around. I don’t want to have ink spill all over. A fountain pen is an amazing writing experience that doesn’t fit naturally in my life. I could be wrong. Are there resilient fountain pens?

*Edit: I said this because I used my Lami Safari Rollerball in smooth paper. However, what I said stopped being true the instant I tried the Lami Safari Rollerball in rougher paper. Thanks, dr_jekell@lemmy.world for the heads up!