Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Hip Hip Hooray for the Pentel® EnerGel® Deluxe RTX Needle Tip Retractable Liquid Gel-Ink Pen!

My fellow pen enthusiasts (and all others), I write ALOT!  But apparently not when it comes to this blog that I set up a couple of years ago thinking that I would be writing extensively about my love of writing utensils.  It just so happens that I was inspired to write about the Pentel EnerGel Needle Tip Retractable Gel Ink pen, when yesterday, I happened into a Staples where these pens were hanging in the pen aisle in abundance.

My love for this particular pen, which I had seen around but had not given much attention to, grew deeper, when I used it while at an automobile detail business to fill out a carbon form in triplicate.  The gentlemen behind the desk swore by this pen for his daily paperwork flow, and when I got my hands on it to fill in my part of the required forms, I immediately understood what drove him to covet this pen.

The metal needle point tip, combined with the squishy (yet, not too squishy) grip, paired with the liquid gel ink, plus the added convenience of the retractable point, make this pen pretty darn dreamy!

When it comes to a quickly accessible; (i.e. non-fountain pen) task, one that requires the fast and no nonsense capturing and writing of ideas, although I am admittedly a hard and fast Pilot pen enthusiast, I give the gel ink flow of the Pentel EnerGel Needle Point "Fine" pen an 8++++ for always being there when you need it.   In the world of writing utensils, there are fewer things more frustrating than attempting to write out a letter, and having your chosen writing tool go dry on the page...and it does not matter how many times this happens to me, for some reason, I never quite believe that the ink has in fact ran out, and I continually attempt to get the last dregs of ink supply from the oblivious tip of the pen.  After inspection of the ink cartridge, if there is visible ink, I have even utilized fire to liquify and therefore coax any decent remaining supply of ink from the well.  Le sigh.

And so in closing, if you are seeking a smooth and silky black gel ink writing experience, after the Pilot series of pens, I vote for the featured pen of this post.  Surprisingly, I am seeing fewer of them hanging in the standard office store aisles which is why I grabbed up a few of them during my last visit to Staples. A close runner up to the Pentel and Pilot offerings is a fabulous gel ink pen from Muji U.S.   If you can get your hands on a Muji Gel-Ink Ballpoint Pen, 0.38MM, then you will have discovered yet another intensely special writing experience of the black gel ink variety.  While not quite as "liquidy" as the Pilot ink delivery system, the Muji is a very handsome pen featuring an opaque body where one can monitor ink levels, at a glance.

I would love to hear from anyone else regarding their chosen amazing black gel ink finds out there in pen land!  Is there really anything better than a fine point Pilot pen for the speedy ink across the page experience?