I don't think ballpoint pen belongs to history only because you don't use them.

I use BIC ballpoint because they are the only ones who don't die when I carry them in my backpack. All others just cease to function for unknown reason or leak.

Try a Uni-Ball Jetsream, especially the capped version.

It’s a ballpoint, with all of the advantages, that writes smoother than any gel.

There is a bit of a learning curve as it glides so freely across paper.

> It’s a ballpoint, with all of the advantages, that writes smoother than any gel.

Gel pens are ballpoints. What do you mean by "ballpoint" here?

> Try a Uni-Ball Jetsream

I would never choose to use one of those, since they aren't available in 0.5mm. 0.7mm is too thick.

Jetstreams come in a lot of forms, including 0.5mm and 0.38mm I believe.

Not according to Uniball's official website they don't.

https://www.unibrands.co/collections/jetstream?filter.v.opti...

The Jetstream Edge pen uses the same SXR refill size as the 4 colors of refills for the SXE3/MSXE5 multicolor pens; while their website only lists 0.28mm and 0.38mm refills as compatible, the SXR-80-05 refills are also compatible. But I suspect the reason they’re not formally listing 0.5mm support is because the lower-capacity SXR runs out of ink too rapidly when used in single-color 0.5mm, and so that’s why they cap the pen at 0.38mm. Recommend avoiding these as an option.

However!

The SXN-150 and SXN-155 lines deliver normal capacity 0.5mm Jetstream pens; and their SXR-5 refills deliver single-color 0.5mm Jetstream through the SXR-5 refills.

https://www.mp-uni.com/vn/en/product/jetstream-sport-sxn-155...

https://www.mp-uni.com/sg/product/refill-sxr-5/

You can search for the often-dehyphenated SXR-5 compatibility to see what pens they fit besides the official SXN-150 options (like, for example, the Pentel Energel body); MP’s own website isn’t listing the options properly on the refill page — they only list the SXN-155 and not the SXN-150, for example — so some footwork would remain to identify precisely which official model numbers are associated with the 0.5mm refill.

(Note that I found it rather difficult to locate the SXN-155 by model number for shipping to the United States; the UPCs for whichever models you want, e.g. 4902778040737, were much more efficient.)

0.5mm: https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-Lite-Touch-Ink-Ballpoi...

“Gel pens” are technically ballpoints, true, but when one says “ballpoint” it’s usually taken to refer to an oil based ballpoint like a Bic, whereas gel ink writes quite differently.

Just checked, their website lists 0.28 mm, 0.38, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 mm, with examples of each. [0]

What pens do you find best and what is your use-case?

[0] https://www.jetpens.com/blog/Uni-Jetstream-A-Comprehensive-G...

> Just checked, their website lists 0.28 mm, 0.38, 0.5, 0.7, and 1.0 mm, with examples of each. [0]

Except that you forgot to check their website. Jetpens is a reseller.

Uniball only acknowledges 0.5mm for Jetstream pens that include multiple ink tubes in one cylinder.

My use case is that I carry a pen around in my pocket in case I need to write something down. More rarely, I might actually write something down. I don't like writing in thick lines.

The pen I'm currently carrying is one of these: https://img.alicdn.com/imgextra/i3/682114580/O1CN01nP4t8J1jh...

> Except that you forgot to check their website. Jetpens is a reseller.

I'm not sure what's your point. Uniball doesn't sell 0.5mm on their website, fine, but jetpens does. Is your point that Jetpens are selling fakes? Seems pretty unlikely.

>Except that you forgot to check their website. Jetpens is a reseller.

if you're dead set on making sure brand sites match the actual brand offerings then I hope you have the luck to avoid most obscure engineering brands in your life.

it's absolutely the norm in say, hydraulic pumps, that when an offering isn't available on the website you call the company and they say 'Oh yeah, we have those -- theyre not on the site because no one wants one.."

They’re so good. I was always a pilot g2 guy but I picked up one of the jetstreams at a 7-11 in Japan for like a buck and it’s just the perfect pen.

I agree that gel writes better but you are wrong about ballpoints. It's like saying i don't write spanish so that means it's useless.

Thick gel pens soak through the paper so they're not great and the thinner nibs break easily or they pierce the paper.

Most times you pick up a pen it's to jot down a quick note or number, a ballpoint makes more sense for that.

Gel pens smear when used left-handed. They are unusable for 10% of the population.

My uniball Jetstreams don't smear, I don’t even know if they are gel or not but they’ve been perfect. I’m left-handed too if it wasn’t obvious :)

I'll give them a try, thank you for the advice.

<10%.

Not all lefties write with that weird over-rotated grip. I can write with a fountain pen without fear of smearing.

They also smear when used in low temperature. Learned that the hard way when making notes outdoors, at sub-zero degree Celsius temps.

Other than that, gel pens are perfect to me.

Quick-dry gel formulas are the new wave of gel pen and they are pretty easy to use as a lefty. Bic actually has my favorite of them, the Gelocity. It's very good if you like the Bic ballpoint's oily rolling action and want that as a gel.

I love staedtler fine liners - no pressure required, dries right away so no stains/smears, doesn't bleed through most papers, is waterproof

I like a regular Bic because I never deal with bleed-through on the low quality paper I use. I just got a generic gel pen literally yesterday to give it a go and I immediately had to shelf it after I tried it due to the bleed.