The Ultimate Pen Showdown - Ballpoint Hybrids

I'm going to review the remaining pens in my collection that are worth reviewing before I decide which ones I'll keep, and I'll sell off the rest. So let's take a look at some at the ballpoints and gel pens that haven't been discussed here so far. Porsche Design Tec Flex - This is one of the most interesting ballpoints I own. It's a click pen that's actually made by Faber Castell (I think the newer generation are made by Pelikan), and the entire body of the pen moves like a spring when you press it. It's a large heavy pen that takes a standard Parker G2 size refill. It currently has its original Faber Castell refill, but I'd like to see what the new ones are like, and otherwise I'd put in a Jetstream refill.  Aurora Ipsilon - This is the second Aurora ballpoint I've reviewed. I don't think it looks as good as the Style, and the click mechanism is the same (the entire "cap" presses down), but it feels slightly less plastic-ey t...

In my last round of testing, I narrowed my refill candidates for the final round to Uni Jetstream SX-10 and Pentel Vicuna BXS7J , with the intention of testing the Pentel GlideWrite as well. Since then, I managed to test various other low viscosity and lubricated inks as well, including the Zebra Blen NC-07, Faber Castell CX7, Stabilo Performer, Pilot Multi Ball, Parker Quinkflow, Uni Signo (and the RT version), Engerel Permanent, Sailor IC Liquid Hybrid, Sarasa 1.0, and the 0.7mm refills for the Pentel Vicuna and Uni Jetstream SXR-600 among many others. Before getting to the final winners, I’ll mention a few words about the others. Zebra Blen - Very well designed pen, but the NC-07 emulsion refill has the same issues mentioned in the last review with the EQ emulsion refill. Faber Castell CX7 - I went through dozens of Faber Castell ballpoint models before finding one that was worth mentioning. Most of them were not very good. The CX7 definitely felt like it had a much better and s...

The purpose of this review is two fold. First off is to find the ultimate every day carrying pen that will last a lifetime. This means a refill that's incredibly smooth, dark, can write on a variety of papers, can dry quickly (I'm left-handed), doesn't skip with excellent reliability, and with writing that has a feeling & appearance of quality. It should also be available in a very high quality and attractive looking pen body. The other criteria would be for the pen and its refill to be made by a company that has a big presence in a major market. Further to that, for the purpose of this review, my preference is for the refill to match the pen body (pens that are sold pre-loaded with a particular refill, rather than matching say a Uni refill with a Pelikan pen). Of course many refills are interchangeable, especially in standard sizes like the Parker G2, but I want everything to fit like a glove. I tried to buy the highest-of-the-range pens available for each of these ref...