#3. My Holy Grail Pen

It's been 10 years and I love it. The post for all my journalers and writers.

You could lose me in a stationary store. I would love to scribble on tiny notepads for hours with pens, pencils, and highlighters of every single color until the sun sets. My step mom is Japanese and my whole life she would always bring back new pencils and pens back for me to wow my fellow 6th graders with in math class. I once had a pencil that it was as skinny as three toothpicks together and had it’s own pencil sharpener. Needless to say, I love pens, paper, journals planners, and anything new in the market.

But there is one love that was introduced to me in college. A pen that was the go-to pen of the coolest girl in college who was never without her beat up moleskin sketchbook, funky dangly earrings, and perfect buzz cut. She was cool. Like objectively cool. And she only used one pen.

That pen is less than $2. That pen was the source of all her creativity and has been the pen that has taken me through multiple journals and is always in every bag I have.

It is. The Muji pen. Especially in size . 38 in black. It retails for $1.90. The refill is $1.00.

“Okay Bailey sure sure, I’ve tried it but why are you so excited about it and what makes it your holy grail?”

“A simple plastic body, no extra squish at your finger tips, what makes it so good?”

It’s simplicity and its glide.

In my Junior year of college, I did an ethnographic study in Malawi where I worked with a translator at a community center in a rural village. She spoke in Chichewa and would translate into a my recorder as we conducted over 40 hours of interviews. When I got back to New York, I would spend all of my free time listening to our interviews and typing them into text. This was before all the wonders of Siri and AI that would have made that job last 2 hours. About halfway through I had to recruit my mom to help me because my wrist completely gave out. I ended up in a brace and used a voice recognition software that was the state of the art at the time to speak the interviews into text.

After that, I was so sensitive to every single pen that came into my hand. I felt like goldilocks where most pens were either too large to hold for a long time, too heavy, or didn’t have the ease of gliding across the page without me pressing too hard.

The MUJI pen can barely sit in my fingers and begin to write as I move. It is not the fastest for ink drying or the most cushy, but it’s light, smooth, reliable, and affordable. In being a pen lover, it also means you are a pen griever. There is nothing worse than losing your favorite pen and it being a crushingly expensive one. This pen is affordable for everyone and I love gifting it to a person when they ask to borrow a pen.

Now many years out of college, the Muji pen is always my holy grail pen. Perhaps someone will make one better in the future, but for the past 10 years, it’s been my favorite.

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I have acquired some pretty cool pens in the hunt and also just for variety since my hand is much better so these are the runners up!

1. Pentel Calme 05

Price: $2.50

She’s whisper silent and chic. I got this one at Tokyo Hands in Japan but you can get it via Jet Pens in the link above because the only ones in the US are a tricolor version I have never tried. They’re solid, absolutely zero click and have a texturized rubber grip section. It’s a low velocity Viscuna ink pen that is a joy to write.

My gripe: You have to press to get the ink flowing so it can mean more pressure in the wrist. It’s also quite thick and might not fit into every pen holder.

2. LAMY Fountain Pen

Price: $21.43 (for now originally $37.00)

I wish I could be a fountain pen person but honestly I kept touching the “nib” and staining my fingers more than I liked. I got this pen during the pandemic and have enjoyed all the refills of this. The ink is strong and can bleed through paper, but it’s a satisfying fountain pen that doesn’t break the bank.

Gripe: No complaints, just not a fountain pen person. I don’t like having to hold it in a specific angle and way to get the ink to flow. However, it does glide and doesn’t hurt the wrist.

3. Zebra Sarasa Dry 04

Available at Amazon & Jet pens (sometimes never know with Amazon sellers being fulfilled)

Price: Avg $2.65

This pen is supposed to dry 85% faster than other inks and honestly it does! It’s affordable, comfortable and writes like a dream. I would say this is a major runner up. The grip base of the pen is comfortable and the click is satisfying. Also with the 04 size, you can write clearly and/or delicately if you’d like.

My gripe: I have to press to get the ink and with my wrist it just isn’t my favorite. If you let go of pressure, it gets quite light and will stop writing. But it could be great for people who are quick and heavy writers or who hate waiting for ink to dry.

4. Uniball Signo Premier 207

Price: $9.13 (Avg $10)

Squishy! Squishy! Squishy! This is the affordable pen you give to someone to sign an important document. The grip is a perfect gel that is super cushioned. She is like sitting in the back of an escalade on your phone texting like a Kardashian on your way to your hair appointment. The ink is smooth and the thickest out of the bunch shared here.

My gripe: She’s heavy and I would hate to lose a $10 pen. This pen only requires a slight press but it is still a press. The other thing is that this pen doesn’t fit into every pen loop making it hard to take around everywhere.

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These are all lovely pens that are in my rotation, but my go-to for my wrist, ease of writing, ease of the wallet, and ease of just general life has to be the Muji pen.

Considering that the really cool artist from college did the most incredible drawings with the .38 pen, it’s artist certified in my mind. It’s wrist certified by my own body. And, it’s wallet certified by the amount I have lost, given away, and refilled over the years.

My holy grail pen until a unicorn appears…

xx Bailey

(There are a few affiliate amazon links available in this post for the other pens. But I don’t make any commission on a muji or jet pens link which are honestly easier! I had the muji pen on amazon but some sellers were selling fake versions of it. If you’re trying one of the other pens I’d appreciate if you use the link as I really would love to keep most of my substack content free even though the platform hates it).