PILOT VBall Liquid Ink Rolling Ball Stick Pens, Extra Fine Point, Black Ink, 12-Pack (35200)

As a writer, you rarely think youre going to rave about a particular product and then write a review about the dumb thing. But thats just what I am doing for the Pilot V-Ball, Extra Fine, UPC # 35200, Black pen. I have used one for over ten years and usually I cant find them in the stores and thus have to order them. Its OK and heres why. I am a consultant and keep a number of billable hours logs: Telephone incoming and outgoing time, client activities, and just jot-`em-down entries. What got on my nerves with other pens, was the resulting glob of ink if you held your pen too long in one spot; the uneven distribution of ink; the long drying time so that you wind up with an ink stain on your hand. I also write with my hand on the page and a glide stroke across it. Old habits die hard. You can hold this pen in one place as you ponder, its OK. The ink is as even on the beginning of the sentence as it is on the punctuation at the end. And the drying time is so fast a second after you write, the ink is dry. The most important aspect of this remarkable pen is the ability to lay the ink down in such a thin, tiny line that I get more compulsive-obsessive notes in the nooks and crannies of my logbooks. So there. An ode to a pen. If you like just a wonderful pen - this is it. Oh yes, for all you folks who still write longhand for the feel of it, and then the computer - this is still it. Escriba Ahora. Kathleen Rand Reed

Love these pens. Im always writing and going through pens very quickly... These pens last so much longer than others.

I’m a total pen snob and can never find the perfect pen. ☹️ Sadly, this one didn’t make the cut!

These pens. Their flow and smoothness is incomparable.

I love this pen. It writes very well. And I feel it moves very smoothly. I love writing with it. It is very easy to use.

Ive been a professional writer for 30 years, and for my money, this is the best pen Ive ever used. Skip free and so extremely fluid, its more like writing with a brush than a pen. And from a design perspective, the V Ball is simple, attractive, functional and very comfortable - a solid performer. Show me any Waterman or Mont Blanc that even comes close, and Ill buy it. But in the interim, at less than two bucks a pop, the Pilot V Ball sets the gold standard for everything a great pen should be.

They are smooth and i always love using them

love these pens

Such great pens. I dont know why they arent more widely available. Smooth, reliable writing. Liquid ink is great for doodling. Time will tell if I should have got the fine instead of extra fine, but these seem to do the trick. I tried some of the Pilot Precise whatever pens and was initially impressed, but they didnt hold up well. These are what I used to use all the time and Im glad to see that I can get them on Amazon, as I can never find them in the store.

I bought a box of these pens on Amazon about a month ago along with a couple other types of Pilot blue-ink pens. My initial impression after using a couple of each is that the new V-ball is excellent to start. The writing quality is smooth and skip-free. This is important to me. Ink flow is crisp and appropriate. Im a physician and my use is primarily in charting on patients. The ink allows you to write quickly and there has been no smudging thus far. However, on both of the V-balls Ive used, after about a week, the ink overflows into the cap. Not enough to get on clothing, but enough to get ink all over your hands during use. The pen still writes fine once you wipe off the excess ink from the pen tip, but its enough to make me want to pick up another pen instead. This may be because I tend to take my pens home with me (in my coat pocket) and its hot outside and in the car. Im not sure. But it is an annoyance. **update March 8, 2012** After using several more of these pens, each one has had the same outcome: they write GREAT to start, then start bleeding. I suspect that this is because I carry the pens in my pocket and write throughout the day. Im not sure if the body heat does it or if Im sometimes putting the pens in my pocket tip-down, or what, but half-way through the box theyve all done the same thing. It has gotten a little less problematic at the end of the pens life. But you will have to clean out the end of the cap to see this. Alcohol swabs work well for this purpose. I will go through a pen in roughly 2-3 weeks usually and I have yet to make it all the way through one of these without having to throw it away due to concern over my clothing. And blue fingers become normal during use.