Uni-ball Signo Bit UM-201 Gel Ink Pen - 0.18 mm - 10 Black Set - World's Thinnest Gel Ink Pen

There is a little period of 'adjustment' when using a pen like this with such a fine point, especially if one is accustomed to pens that produce bolder and thicker lines. The lines are so fine than what most are accustomed to seeing that some people think at first that the pen is not writing when in fact, it is.

Until this pen was introduced to the market, I was left using fine-tip graphic pens to write that had far weaker tips because most ball-point pens did not have a fine enough tip for my writing. The tip of this pen holds up to considerable pressure but if one uses too much and writes extremely fast, there is a chance one will tear some types of paper because of its strong, needle-like tip. There are some in a given batch that write better than others: out of the sixty-or so I have used, I estimate that about three to four of them had a severe problem with ink flow after little use but, so far, all have worked right out of the box. A rare few will only write when held at a certain angle but this is usually after an incident in which the pen had been left cold and unused for a prolonged period of time or used to write on certain kinds of register receipts that bleed any pen dry of ink or white-out. (Ad nauseam, I highly recommend one not writing on white-out of any kind unless you want to render the pen ineffective. I only use the tape variant and every single time I have tried to write on it gingerly and with extreme care using this pen, the white-out changed the ink flow and, in some cases, outright ruined the pen.)

If one does not delve into mad bouts of ham-fisted, hyper-scribbling and is prone to micrographia, this pen is a wonderful recommendation-- I say this after using this pen for nearly seven years now. :-)

I guess I had high hopes for these pens being a loyal uni-ball customer for many years. As an Engineer I need a pen capable of writing very fine. I ordered 2 boxes for our Engineering department and within a day everyone officially hates them, so this is not just my opinion. Out of the box every pen writes different. Some write very well and others are extremely light and really lacking ink flow. I left the bad ones in the box and handed out the good ones. They initally wrote very well, but after 5 minutes of writing the ink flow began to severly skip and soon after there was nothing but a very faint line. After several minutes of scribbling and trying to restore the flow I gave up and switched to a new one. Once again the same results. I think uni-ball needs to do some serious work on their ink formula before these are any good at all. Overall we are extremely dissapointed with these pens and I will probably return the whole lot.

I was super excited to see these on my doorstep when arrived home from class. The pen writes insanely small. its not a notetaking pen if anybody thinks they are going to do so with this particular pen. they are so cool to have around though. "the world's thinnest pen"

I originally purchased the .18mm bit because I wanted a mess free alternative to field 'travel' sketch pens that were felt tipped like a Micron or messy like a refillable drafting pen. These did the trick for the most part, though the durability is complained about, they do out perform felt tips of the same size by leaps and bounds, and are of course just as durable as the metal nib on a drafting pen, though not quite as stiff because of the disposable plastic construction. The only complaint that I have is reserved for the ink which though abundant enough, has a grayer less dense quality about it than nearly every other black ink I've used, the less vibrant ink is especially apparent when used in conjunction with other black inks. I assume the ink formula is less dense because of the lubricant that Uni-ball added for the use in their new micro design. But again as a sketch pen it is splendid for fine crosshatching and detail. Also great for small note taking in pocket journals. Four out of Five.