I don’t think I’ve ever stopped using a pen because of a fault or end-of-life condition of the pen itself. I stop using them because “Where the actual fuck did I put my pen…?”
Don’t pretty much all pens just end up getting lost long, long before they get worn out? I’ve managed to hold onto a few for a few months but eventually they just get stolen by a borrower or the pen gnomes.
When I was still using pens frequently, My good pen was a medium point Pilot Metropolitan and my beater pen was a Zebra F-701. The Zebra was damn near indestructible. The Pilot was pleasant to write with. The Zebra F301s aren’t bad either, I just managed to break them frequently.
The Zebra G-450 is my daily driver. It feels sturdy, the click is satisfying, the ink basically can’t smudge, and it’s inexpensive. The refills are cheap too, and I’ve gone through maybe ten of them (writing lots of stuff in lab notebooks for work).
It doesn’t have that “buy one expensive thing that lasts forever” prestige because it’s not expensive. But I can’t wear this thing out.
I like Fisher Pens personally. They’re not fancy or the “best” but, they’re relatively cheap, readily available, and can write in basically any condition, including space lol
probably a good quality steel fountain pen you can refill, something like a LAMY 2000
I really like my Lamy Safari fountain pen. I’ve only had it for a few years, so I can’t exactly speak to the durability of it long term, but it feels solid and works well. I use a standard Lamy cartridge converter to refill it with ink and it works great.
Non fountain pen option? I’m not a fan of
fountain pens are the best for BIFL; if you are serious, finding a fountain pen that works for you and learning to effectively clean, refill, and use it is your best bet
but this person claims they have used a Parker pen that they inherited that was manufactured in the 1970s and which they still make refills for … refills for a pen like that might be more expensive, and in general ballpoint pens are not going to last as long (and generally over a lifetime you won’t find pen companies that continue to manufacture compatible refills), but this might be a backup option if you just won’t consider fountain pens
Overall you are correct.
But standard Parker and Cross can refills have been the same for longer than I’ve been alive. Very easy to get.
One point is that the Parker and Cross type of refills completely replaces the writing head and so by one view it is not really “BIFL” since so much of the unit has to be refreshed (and so not as environmentally friendly) compared to a fountain pen. That being said, for some people the risk of ink all over your hands is not worth or even entirely precludes using a fountain pen, or there may be other circumstances.
For example, at my workplace there is only one approved type of pen that can be used 😢
that’s great - I bet there are some decent options out there, I just think those options are more fragile / more likely to disappear in the future or become incompatible with older pens, etc. whereas fountain pens are going to be fairly immune to the coming and going of companies, etc.
that said, I’m very happy to hear Parker pens have had reliable refills for at least a generation and probably for OP’s purposes that’s a fine pen option (fountain pens do have their downsides)
I’ve had one of these for years.
I hear the new rotring 4 in 1 is pretty good, not as good as the original but it takes d1 refills so you can have a gel refill for smooth writing and a spacepen refill for writing on awkward things.
+1 for Rotring (or rOtring as they stylize it). I use a Rapid Pro ballpoint for my daily use, had it for almost a decade now. Solid steel body, the knurling on the grip is nice, it’s a good thickness and weight for most purposes. And it takes a number of cheaply available inserts.
