The perfect writing tool (to write on paper. directly.)

[wing]

I actually found a pen I like once.

Uniball Jetstream. Found it in my brother's room while dad and I were dumpstering his things (he moved out, decreed "I don't have anything to take with me" and left us with a 30ft dumpster worth of his crap. Which we dutifully photographed and sent him a picture with the caption "YOU DON'T OWN ANYTHING!?" and attached an itemized list of notable items which I pilfered.

[Amnesiasoft]

I did have this one pen that was black pen, red pen, .7mm mechanical pencil, and a stylus. It was pretty nice...

[fryersoncaptain]

For me, it's the Zebra M-301.
I especially like how the grip is firm, instead of all spongy like on some other pencils.
This alone offsets the (nearly exorbitant) price.
The only problem is that I can never find them in stores, unless I look really, really hard. Typically, whenever they pop up at the chain store that's walking distance from my house, I buy up as many as I can afford. Unfortunately, other people in my neighborhood have taken a fancy to these items, and I end up having to go to the next town over to find them at an overpriced office supply retailer.
Still, they're the only pencil I use anymore, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

[Xanthir]

Necro? Don't mind if I do...

Ticonderoga #2. Best. Pencil. Ever. Made. Too many pencils these days are made from that plasticy bullshit. You need *real wood* to write properly - the tree's soul pours out through your hand.

[hotaru]

For me, it's the Zebra M-301.
I especially like how the grip is firm, instead of all spongy like on some other pencils.
This alone offsets the (nearly exorbitant) price.
The only problem is that I can never find them in stores, unless I look really, really hard. Typically, whenever they pop up at the chain store that's walking distance from my house, I buy up as many as I can afford. Unfortunately, other people in my neighborhood have taken a fancy to these items, and I end up having to go to the next town over to find them at an overpriced office supply retailer.
Still, they're the only pencil I use anymore, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

i prefer the G-301, which is a gel pen... pencils always seem to run out of graphite too quickly. but if i ever have to use a pencil for anything, the M-301 looks like a good one.

[Thesh]

I have this pen and it works well for me. I like thinner pens myself, and I don't find a need for gel or rubber grips.

[tuseroni]

blood and quill

[Alx_xlA]

Two words: Sharpie Pen

http://www.sharpie.com/enUS/Product/Sharpie_Pen.html

[KestrelLowing]

I haven't found the perfect pen yet, but the Bic V5 Pilot is the best I've found. I just wish it would work when you have a single sheet of paper on a hard surface. I also wish the grip was better - the ridge where the cap meets pen is very annoying.

As for pencils, if I must use a traditional pencil, definitely Ticonderoga #2 - no doubt.

I much prefer mechanical pencils, and I use the Bic MatiC grip. I use .7mm for writing (which I don't do much of anymore) and .5mm for calculations and such (the .5 works much better on engineering paper, which is amazing) They're cheap and effective.

[psykx]

bets pen is the uni-ball eye micro (fine is good too), but I prefer to use a faber castell triangular mechanical pencil.

[Mazuku]

The best pens I have used are ironically one of the cheapest, the Penline Office.

I never have to scribble on a spare sheet of paper just to get the pen's ink to flow and $2 for a pack of 5 from Cheap As Chips.

[Midnight]

Well, Neal Stephenson writes all of his (loooong) books longhand, so I figure he knows his stuff. He uses a Jorg Hysek. I believe the $455 carbon fiber one. He said he also has a waterman and some other also-expensive one. I suppose when your money is made by what comes out of the end of your pen, it's worth it to pay ludicrously for a pen.

Me, I like pentel g-2 pilots but sometimes they clog. Arghhh. Clogging is the most irritating thing ever.
For pencils, I like the heftier mechanical pencils, but the Ticonderoga is as reliable as a crowbar. They're awesome. I have a pocket knife if there's no pencil sharpener nearby, so that's not much of an issue for me.

[sircrayons]

The Pentel Quicker Clicker is one of the best pencils I have ever used (it's the pencil pictured in the second post of this thread). The clicker is in the most logical place, the eraser is replaceable, and it's fairly comfortable to use. I've had the same one since sometime in high school, so it's lasted me at least a dozen years. Somehow, I've managed not to lose the eraser cap all this time.

However, I started using a pen for work because I couldn't use pencil to sign things. After much trial and error, I discovered the Pilot Dr. Grip Gel pen. I get serious hand cramps when I write, but the larger size of the pen made things much more comfortable. It has good weight to it, replaceable cartridges, etc. Being a lefty, though, with terrible penmanship and mechanics, by the end of the day the side of my hand would be covered with gel ink. I've since switched to the ballpoint version of the Pilot Dr. Grip pen. I have also switched my pencil to the Pilot Dr. Grip mechanical pencil. Not only are the an awesome pair, but they make my pockets much more stylish.

[canoemoose]

Disclaimer: I'm a bit of a pen snob.

If I write more than 2 lines at a time with anything other than a fountain pen or a pencil my writing becomes illegible. I currently use a Waterman Hemisphere which I think is Waterman's "budget" pen. I have both the pen and the mechanical pencil and find the pen to be the perfect weight and balance without the cap posted. The pencil seems fairly heavy on first impression but is very comfortable to use.
Downsides: The pencil has an unusual "twist-click" ratchet mechanism for advancing the lead instead of a button, which makes it impossible to advance the lead one-handed.

My previous pen was a Sheaffer Triumph Imperial Chrome (image spoiler'd) which was amazing - I only got the Waterman because the Sheaffer started to alternately block up and squirt ink everywhere. Its inlaid nib is a feature normally found on high-end pens only, but Sheaffer tried including it on a budget pen - it was such a success that they had to discontinue it as it hurt their sales of high-end pens! I keep meaning to send it off for repair, as I really prefer it to anything else.

Spoiler:

The best pencil I've ever found a Pentel one my mother has. It's all-metal with a knurled grip and a cap to protect the advanced lead which, when posted, attaches to the lead advance button so the lead can still be advanced. Unfortunately I have no idea what this pencil is called and I've not been able to find anything about it it online.

I'm tempted to try the Pilot-Mont Blanc hybrid linked to above, even if just for having an "expensive" pen unlikely to get stolen!

[VDOgamez]

I tend to use this neat pen I have with a laser pointer on it. It's much more fun then using a pencil, but I admit that error correction is hard. Also, my paper has the tendency to burst into flames. (What, did you think I was using the pen part?)

Seriously, though, I have this amazing pen. Twisting the tip one way makes the pen tip come out. But if you turn it the other way, a stylus tip comes out. The pen has a bendable LED light on the end, an LED UV light, and also a laser pointer. It would be really useful if I did anything other that play with the lights on it.

[hintss]

I prefer a blue pilot G2. the black ones always dried too slowly

also, I have a multi-pen thats about the same diameter as a G2, and it has a mechanical pencil, a black pen, an orange pen, and a stylus. the tip that comes out depends on the side facing up when you push the button.

[maxh]

- Fountain pens? Nice, but too fat. They don't fit in my note book.

Pick up a Cartelo 100 off eBay. Almost pencil-thin, under $10, comes with converter. Of course, you'll be spending more on ink than on the pen.

[Meteorswarm]

I write with a Namiki Falcon, which is a semi-flex nib fountain pen. This makes my cursive prettier, and makes writing Chinese look better, and makes Chinese cursive awesome. I can't stand stiff pens though, it feels like I'm writing with a spear.

I wish fountain pens were less expensive, I'd like to play with more of them. At least the ink is cheap!

edit: s/more/less/ in the last line

[maxh]

I write with a Namiki Falcon, which is a semi-flex nib fountain pen. This makes my cursive prettier, and makes writing Chinese look better, and makes Chinese cursive awesome. I can't stand stiff pens though, it feels like I'm writing with a spear.

I wish fountain pens were more expensive, I'd like to play with more of them. At least the ink is cheap!

Wouldn't it be harder to play with more of them if they were more expensive?

[Meteorswarm]

I write with a Namiki Falcon, which is a semi-flex nib fountain pen. This makes my cursive prettier, and makes writing Chinese look better, and makes Chinese cursive awesome. I can't stand stiff pens though, it feels like I'm writing with a spear.

I wish fountain pens were more expensive, I'd like to play with more of them. At least the ink is cheap!

Wouldn't it be harder to play with more of them if they were more expensive?

Not all of us post while completely lucid...

[maxh]

I write with a Namiki Falcon, which is a semi-flex nib fountain pen. This makes my cursive prettier, and makes writing Chinese look better, and makes Chinese cursive awesome. I can't stand stiff pens though, it feels like I'm writing with a spear.

I wish fountain pens were more expensive, I'd like to play with more of them. At least the ink is cheap!

Wouldn't it be harder to play with more of them if they were more expensive?

Not all of us post while completely lucid...

Posting completely lucid is allowed?
This opens up a whole new world to me!

[zipybug14]

Personally I use Staedtler Mars (mechanical drafting pencil) to write with, using 2H lead. All of the convince of a mechanical pencil, with the dynamics of a regular pencil.

[kjsharke]

Perhaps I am alone in this? The PBR of pens: Bic Roundstic (black). For notes, the paper should be unlined sketch paper.

(The pen is cheap enough that I don't mind giving one away, or losing it, and it generally writes well enough, but if it doesn't, I always have a backup. As Seymour Cray once said: "If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use: Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?" I'll take the chickens.)

[Darryl]

Pens:
Pilot Precise V5 (clicky-version), Sharpie pens (yes, these things are amazing), and Pilot Uni-ball vision. All .5 mm, the only proper size for writing utensils.

Pencils:
Bic A1, .5 mm. It advances as you write, or you can shake it. Eraser sucks, and it's also a click-the-top, but I use a separate eraser anyway.

Though honestly, any mechanical pencil and gel pen is fine for me. As long as it's .5 mm.

[JoeZ]

For me, it's 0.5mm mechanical pencils or nothing. I prefer one with a long, advancing eraser, because I erase a lot (which also happens to explain why I only ever use pencils). The 0.5mm lead has never given me a problem with smudging and dependably creates the finest line of any writing implement I've bought so far. I typically buy ones between one and three dollars, it lasts about the same time as a whole jumbo pack of cheapo mechanical pencils (at the same price) but the build quality is so much nicer.

For me, it's the Zebra M-301.
I especially like how the grip is firm, instead of all spongy like on some other pencils.

Oh, wow, that looks awesome. The first parts to go on my pencils are always the rubber grip and the thin plastic (at specific points on specific models). A short eraser is a definite drawback, though. The search for the perfect pencil continues...

[GenericAnimeBoy]

I know it's boring, but for me, nothing beats the Pilot G2 0.5mm in black for long form writing. It's lightweight, comfortable to hold, and very consistent. I have used the 0.7 version, but it tends to get a bit blobby and just bleeds right through notebook paper (which is what I write on most of the time).

For math, sketching/jotting and labwork, I use the Pentel TranXition 0.7 pencil. It holds the lead very securely and never backslides (is there an actual term for that?) on me, even when it's almost spent. The entire mechanism retracts (which removes the need to push the lead back in when it's not in use) and it's end advance (with side advance I always accidentally push the button at inopportune times). Unfortunately, it has a stupidly tiny eraser, but it's so good in every other way that I just juggle it with a Staedtler eraser holder.

[Alan Chatham]

They're a bit of a challenge to find, but in terms of cheap pens, I swear by the Pilot Better Retractable - Fine. Thin, hard plastic case with a metal tip block, the ink flow is smooth, but light enough so you still get a good, almost scratchy resistance against the paper when writing. Plus, being retractable and a buck each, it's super easy to clip to the side of your pocket and then have a pen with you at all times, which is one of the habits I've found to be incredibly convenient to my life. And even if you don't have to write anything, they're sturdy enough to do some light prying/digging, and if that messes up the tip (and it will), just reach into your box of 12 for a new one.

[Chaoszerom]

Surprisingly, the best pens I've used so far are simply the Kilometico ones by Papermate. Well, I wouldn't say that they're perfect, but in the low to mid range, they're heaven. They are cheap as chips, available almost anywhere, release ink at a good rate, and are just perfect for me. The best part is, in my school, everyone drops them or loses them, so half the time you don't even have to buy them!

Yes, I'm a cheap ass, and proud of it

[Doodle77]

If I found the best pen/pencil ever, I would probably lose it after a day or two. Hence I don't try to.