Pen Source

When you only have one free hand, it is definitely much easier to use a retractable than negotiate with the cap, which usually involves pulling it off with your teeth. Don't try that trick with your cube mates Sharpie. Yuck!

I'm partial to Uni-Ball's Vision Elite. If you look hard you can find the ultrafine 0.5 pens, and they're a dream to write with. (And yes, I still like the G-2's and Gel Impacts.)

For my money nothing beats the Sharpie Ultra fine point. I use it for everything.

I like the G-2's, but the retractable feature didn't work well for carrying in my pants pocket - too many ink stains! I also had a few of them leak. When I contacted Pilot about it, they sent me a whole box of them, and some other samples of their pens. Ever since, I've been using the Pilot P-500, extra fine. I buy them by the box because I give so many away to people who love them when they try them. I'm going to pass on the retractable Sharpie, but I do use retractable hi-liters. I am a big Pilot fan!

You're missing something spectacular in the world of pens, in my semi-humble opinion. I use a variety of fountain pens (really cartridge pens, but you get the point). They're bad if you're left handed and are writing English or other left-to-right language, because your hand will smear the ink before it dries.

Nothing, though, gives the tactile feedback that a fountain pen point does. And, for those of us whose handwriting should have been a free-pass into med school, they're a blessing. They don't make our writing/printing neat, but they do make our efforts slightly less illegible.

If you can't see the value in a retractable Sharpie, then you've never missed while putting the cap back on with your teeth. I've been waiting for this product for years.