Editing The Pen Addict 213/transcript (section)

== Gel Pens ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' All right, so what I want to do, since I've been talking about not using fountain pens as much, people want to know, well, let's talk about gel and liquid and ballpoint pens again and kind of just kind of revisit where things are at in that realm. And instead of me doing my favorites or my top five or updating that, JetPens does this thing on their site where they will rank the products by popularity. I believe it's a 30-day rolling list. Don't quote me on that. I believe that's what this is. So if you go to just like the gel pens header and sort by popularity, it gives you a list. So you know what's popular on the site and what's sold the most in the last 30 days. So I took those lists and modified them to the disposable type pens, right? I'm talking like the $3 pens and less. Or, you know, under $5. I'm not talking about the other things that fall into those lists. Like, you know, you'll see the Lamy 2000 ballpoint pop in there or a Karis Customs retract pop in there. Something like that. Those aren't the ones I'm talking about. I'm talking about like the disposable gel roller and ballpoint pens here. So looking at the top five disposable gel pens on JetPens, I think this one's been at the top of the list for my entire life. And it's the UniSigno Broad White Ink gel pen. That is such a popular pen. I think they sell more of that pen than anything. It's never not number one on the list. It's not that I've ever seen because it's the only white jelly pen that works. Like there's a few, it has a few competitors, but they fail in comparison to this. So, you know, everyone who's into art or scrapbooking or sketching or drawing, even writing on dark paper, they flock to this pen and buy them by the dozens. Because it's a very wet pen. You'll blow through ink if you're using these heavily. Actually, I don't think I've ever seen that pen, not at the very top of the list. So I have one or two of them. They're great pens. I just don't use them. And yeah, but it's interesting that that pen is so popular. The next one is the one that should be probably number one. And if I was doing that ranking, it would be like the best pen is the Uni Sino UM-151, otherwise known as the DX, the 0.38 millimeter in black.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I love that you said Sino.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, I said Signo the first one. Then I said Sino, didn't I?

'''Myke Hurley:''' You've got to switch it up, man.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' I don't even, it's like, it just happens.

'''Myke Hurley:''' You've got to keep the dream alive, buddy. Like it's Sino, Sino forever.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Sino for life.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' This pen is awesome. Like everyone should own this pen.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Yeah, this is a pen that I used for years and years and years. It's like before I was a big pen addict guy. Because these are available basically everywhere and they work so well. Like they're just, it's just a great pen. You can get them in a bunch of different sizes as well, right? Like I think I got, I think I was using like a 0.5 or a 0.7 at one point.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, that one ranges from 0.28 to 0.7. So you can get, actually there's some 1.0s that aren't the DX model, but just like the white ink pen, it's essentially the same. It's a 1.0. So that one is legitimately like, should be there. Should be number one. If you discount the white gel ink, that's the pen. That's the gel, disposable gel ink pen to buy is that 0.38 DX. Next is where we start getting into the fights. Because the next two are both Pilot Hitec Cs, but neither of them are ones that I would pick. So the Hitec C pen with grip, the 0.5 millimeter black, is the third ranked pen. And then the Hitec C 0.25 millimeter black is the fourth ranked pen. I don't know why the 0.5 sells so well. I guess, I mean, a lot of people don't like the finer tips. I don't like the 0.5 Hitec Cs at all. I would use the Sino way, way more frequently than that, than the 0.5. The 0.4s and 0.3 Hitec Cs are like the sweet spot for me. But I guess the 0.5 is a more normal size that people are used to writing with, right? So I think that's why that one ends up there. The 0.25 next is the real surprise. Because if you have never used a Hitec C and didn't know what to expect, you would absolutely hate this pen. Have you ever used a 0.25?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Hell no.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, I don't like the Hitec C because I think it's too sharp and scratchy in like any width. I can't even imagine a 0.25. Like, I just don't understand how it's basically not an X-Acto blade.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah, it writes like a pencil. It's very, very dry. But I think they sell so many of them because a lot of artists use them. And engineers and drawings draw artists who need that detailed work, right? But it's not a pen that I could use on an everyday basis. But I say that saying that the 0.3 millimeter is my favorite. It writes a line that's got to be twice as wide as the 0.25, though. It's the 0.25 is, I mean, you might as well just stick a needle in your arm. That's what it's like.