Pens 101: A General Overview of Pen Types

Welcome!

This blog post may seem a bit odd since it’s about, well, pens. We all know what they are and what they do, but the reality is, there are a lot of people (maybe even yourself) who haven’t used an analog pen for writing in a long time in this digital age that we live in.

Pens come in so many styles, colors, and materials that it can be incredibly overwhelming, but we know from firsthand experience that choosing the right pen that fits your preferences can elevate your writing experience and motivate you to do more of it. And that’s a good thing!

We’ve started this pen guide to help you on your analog journey, starting with, of course, an overall introduction to the different kinds of pens out there. In future blogs, we’ll do deep dives for each pen type, but for now we’ll do a general overview of all the types to introduce you to the world of writing tools.

Let’s get started!

Fountain Pens

Fountain pens are the evolution of the ink & quill method of writing. They predate all the other pens on this list and while the invention of the ballpoint pen caused their popularity to decline, they’ve recently seen a resurgence due to several reasons including high customization and a unique tactile feel. Fountain pens use water-based inks for writing contained in either ink cartridges, converters, or just in the pen directly. Thanks to capillary action, the ink flows out of the pen through a steel, gold, or titanium nib onto the paper.

Pros

Smooth Writing: Less pressure is required to write with fountain pens than ballpoint pens and you’ll find a smooth writing experience.
Customization & Variety: The body of the pen can be customized in any number of ways and purchased either by a large manufacturer or independent makers.
Endless Ink Color Options: Fountain pens inks come in so many colors and have so many properties such as sheen, shimmer, and shade that your options are practically limitless.
Nib Customization: Nibs come in a variety of materials, sizes, and special grinds to truly customize your writing to your preference.

Cons

Expensive: While there are many pens you can purchase for below $50, the range of price for fountain pens can go up to thousands of dollars. Most signature pens from fountain pen manufacturers are between $100-$500.
Requires Maintenance & Care: Filling a fountain pen with ink can be messy, and if you want to use another ink color, you’ll have to clean out the fountain pen nib and converter if you’re using one, which can take a bit of time.
Long Dry Times: Fountain pen ink is water-based and can take a while to dry and is prone to smudging.
Less Convenient: Not all papers will work well with fountain pens and sometimes you’ll open a pen to find out that the nib is dry and needs some time for the capillary action to kick in.

Best For: People that want a highly customized writing experience. Great for journaling with fountain pen friendly paper.

Popular Fountain Pens: Lamy Safari, Kaweko Sport, Pilot Custom 823, and the Sailor Pro Gear.

Fountain Pens Available at the Outpost Stationery:

Ballpoint Pens

This is the most ubiquitous and recognizable type of pen on this list, and it quickly replaced the fountain pen as the most popular writing tool when it came out in the 1950s. It’s called a ballpoint pen because this pen uses a ball-and-socket mechanism to allow the oil-based ink in the body to get to the page. Technically, all the pens in this list are ballpoint pens, except for fountain pens, but when folks use the term “ballpoint pen” it specifically applies to pens that use oil-based ink and the ball-and-socket mechanism. Think the classic BIC Cristal pen.

Pros

Cheap: Even now you can purchase ballpoint pens for as cheap as $0.05 each vs 500x the amount for a cheap fountain pen.
Waterproof: The oil-based ink ensures that whatever you write won’t get smudged away with rain or coffee spills. Most fountain pen inks were water-based and not waterproof.
Quick-Drying: Quick-drying means no smudges (perfect for left-handed folks) and no waiting for ink to dry before you turn the page in a journal.
Convenient: Fountain pens require a good amount of maintenance, while you can just grab a ballpoint pen and write.
Won’t Dry Out: A ballpoint pen won’t dry out as fast as other types of pens due to the nature of oil-based ink. Plus, as a bonus, oil-based ink can also handle extreme weather conditions.
Mass Produced: Ballpoint pens are cheap to produce due to the small amount of plastic required and low cost of materials.

Cons

Requires firm pressure to write
Ink isn’t vibrant or dark
Lines aren’t as smooth as other pens
Limited ink colors

Best For: Everyone. This is a general workhorse pen that can take on any challenge.

Popular Ballpoint Pens: BIC Cristal, Paper Mate Inkjoy, and the Zebra Z-Grip.

Ballpoint Pens Available at the Outpost Stationery:

Rollerball Pens

Rollerball pens use the same ball-and-socket mechanism as the ballpoint pen, but the difference here is in the ink. Rollerballs use water-based inks with dyes (like fountain pen ink) which means they can deliver a different experience for writers.

Pros

Finer, darker, and more vibrant lines
Wider variety of ink colors
Less pressure on paper to lay down ink
Smoother ink flow

Cons

Not waterproof
Ink takes more time to dry on paper, meaning more smudges can happen
Ink will dry out if you do not use the cap
Potential bleed-through* on low-quality paper
Ink is runnier, meaning the pen’s cartridge will run out faster

Best For: Rollerball pens are great for people that experience hand cramps and that want the smooth feeling of writing with a fountain pen, but in a more convenient package.

Popular Rollerball Pens: Pilot Precise, Uni-ball Vision, and the Retro 51 Tornado.

Gel Pens

Gel pen ink is thicker than oil-based ballpoint ink and is made with a mixture of water, powdered pigment, and thickening agents. Gel pens still use the ball-and-socket mechanism that ballpoint and rollerball pens use to deliver ink, but the unique properties of gel ink allow for a variety of benefits:

Pros

Incredibly vibrant ink
Smooth lines
Waterproof (thanks to the use of pigments)
Big range of pen tip sizes
Wide range of ink colors and properties
Can be used on black and dark paper

Cons

The pen may skip more often than ballpoint and rollerball pens
May not work on certain papers
Dries slower than a ballpoint pen

Best For: Gel pens are great for color coordinating notes or journal entries due to the incredible range of colors available. They’re also great for artists and people who prefer to write in darker paper.

Popular Gel Pens: Pilot G2, Pentel EnerGel, Zebra Sarasa Clip, and the Sharpie S-Gel

Gel Pens Available at the Outpost Stationery:

Hybrid Ballpoint Pens

As discussed earlier, all these pens can be considered ballpoint pens since they all use the same ball-and-socket mechanism to deliver ink to paper. The biggest difference is in the type of ink used.

Hybrid pens take the best features of the ballpoint pen and combine it with the best features of a rollerball pen. The hybrid ink in these pens is less viscous than ballpoint pens but more stable and quick drying than rollerball ink. This allows for smoother and more vibrant ink. The ink also contains pigments which mean that hybrid pens are also waterproof.

Pros

Smooth
Vibrant & dark ink
Dries faster than rollerballs
Waterproof

Cons

May feel too slick for some
Runs out of ink faster than ballpoint pens
Limited line width variations

Best For: These are excellent writers for everyone as they combine the best properties of ballpoint and rollerball pens.

Popular Hybrid Pens: Uni-ball Jetstream, Pilot Acroball, Pentel Energel-X, and Zebra Blen

Writing Samples

In these writing samples, we're using the following pens:

Fountain Pen: Franklin Christoph Model 02 Black Brass Fountain Pen with a Broad Stub Italic Gradient Nib
Ballpoint Pen: BIC Cristal
Rollerball Pen: rOtring Rollerball Pen 0.7mm width
Gel Pen: Pilot G-2 Premium Limited in a Black Matte barrel 0.7mm width
Hybrid Pen: Uniball One 0.7mm width (please note, I mistakenly used this GEL pen instead of the Uniball Jetstream, which contains hybrid ink. Oops!)

See below for a pic without the pens.

Conclusion

We hope that you find this guide useful and in future blog posts, we’ll do deep dives into each type of pen, go into their history, and pass along our recommendations. Thanks for reading!

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