Pentel Tradio Pulaman, Black Ink (TRJ50-A)

Exactly what I expected and appreciate the beautiful flow in these pens.

I would say I love pens, always have. As a teacher, I usually used a fountain pen, and many of my students, who had never seen one, asked me what I was writing with. I explained it was a fountain pen and many asked where they could get one. Over 20 years of teaching 2 or 3 kids actually starting using them. I retired and don't really write that much (compared to teaching). I would use my pens rarely and the ink would dry out, etc. Instead I bought this pen and am very pleased. It has that Flair quality and has refills and never dried out.

I just love them as a go-to medium tip sketch pen. Note that they do scatter little ink dots when you write or draw on densely textured paper, such as watercolor papers, so if you don't like that I recommend use on drawing and standard notebook/printer paper. I love the effect of the tiny ink splatters around my sketch lines though. I also use them for regular writing and have loved these tips forever. They do take the Pentel MLJ20 refills, which I purchase in a box of 12 on Amazon, also pictured.

Best pen to draw with..it has a sharp edge.. used to buy them in Japan. Not cheap but worth it.

I really like the way this tip works allowing you to vary some of your line weight from almost fine to very fine. I use this pen for product design sketching, and I really like it for note taking too if I need to. There are a lot of great pens out there, but I found this one in Japan on a whim, and it's become one of my favorite pens. I've tried many different types of pens since my job pays for pretty much anything I want to try, and I now prefer this over more expensive options such as Copic pens (which I also like). This pen has refills as well which is great. I try to avoid completely disposal pens even if they're nice for drawing. If you're wondering, the Tradio MLJ20 refills work on this pen. You should be able to find them for around $3-4, but it varies in the States.

Writes smooth, cheap as heck and there’s plenty of refillable resources here on Amazon. What’s not to love? I used this for the first time back in 2018 and I knew from the first pen stroke that this was my all time favorite pen. I have since used it to scribble journal entries, fill out thank you cards, script post cards, write stories. I never have to worry about it leaking in my pocket and it’s neb is always properly soused and ready to blot.

This is like a stiff felt tip pen ( it actually IS that) that was slotted into a plastic nib shaped piece. It KINDA writes like its a fountain pen simulator , but really it writes like a bad felt tip pen.... Avoid. Parker has real, nice fountain pens for 15.00 and some even less- platinum preppy has a pretty good one too, 10.00. Even Bic has a disposable fountain pen. The caps have big problems eventually leaking and the nibs are cheap and scratchy. But they're FOUNTAIN pens. This IS NOT!!! Boo. So what if its (marginally) smoother then the Bic ? So is a sharpie. Not a fountain pen though! The cheap Parker's ARE pretty smooth though. You should buy a Parker. Or of you wanna spent a bit more Pilot makes a great refillable pen. They also make a disposable, the varsity I believe. It's rough, but its real. Smooth, not as smooth as this , but smooth. This , though- only smooth cuz it's a felt tip, so wrong kind of smooth- and CRUCIALLY it drags where an actual fountain pen glides ( even if roughly) so you are slowed down - and speed is a top trait of fountain pens. This is a glorified felt tip. It makes me a little mad really. Sadly , if a fountainised felt tip sounds great to you, be warned it is STILL not as good as a Papermate felt tip. Oh well!!!

These guys cost 20$ in california retail art stores and for a long timed I payed full price. I still don't undertand the details of how this pen does what it does, because it simply looks like a hard spade on the tip. Nevertheless, it's my top 3 favorite pens while the other two are fountain pens. Sometimes it is also described as a fountain pen, but it is certainly different. Had it more options like a metal casing or adapter cartridge, it would certainly be welcomed, but as far as I know these guys come in a very good red/blue/or black. I would highly recommend it. Despite replaceable cartridges and a plastic housing, it is still an incredible writing instrument.