Pilot Choose Gel Ink Pen 0.7mm

James Carville made the observation that if he could reincarnate he'd want to come back as the bond market, as its power scares everyone. But really, without pens there would be no bond market, or anything else for that matter. Look at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent Ibanez ruling on who owns the mortgage and note in order to foreclose--the houses go back to the foreclosed owners because, in part, some of the paperwork wasn't signed and stamped! Jeez, how much does a BIC cost? We're not talking a 1943 Parker Vacumatic 1st Quarter, you know, just a few ballpoints or gel inks from JetPens would do.

But then you have the robo-signers, who just doodle away on the pages even though the notarized forms state the signer has thoroughly reviewed everything and it's all proper and legal (I like the one firm that has tens of thousands of foreclosure papers all signed by a woman who died a decade ago. Guess the plants didn't nail that zombie, and she just went back to work like always.)

If you're signing several hundred forms a day, committing perjury for which the rest of us mere mortals would do some jail time with fines, then I'd recommend a good gel ink pen that's both functional and attractive. Something like the Pilot Choose Gel Ink Pen with a large 0.7mm tip, for a readable (if not entirely legal) signature.

The Pilot Choose, which resembles the Uniball UM-100, is 74% recycled plastic and comes in a variety of colors including Blue-Black and Violet (the two pictured above). The 0.7mm Choose line includes the colors silver, white, and gold. Between the two tip sizes and the colors, there are lots of choices for this $1.50 pen if you're looking to add to your collection or just have thousands of documents to sign.

Pros: it's a very good-looking pen, with a pleasingly-rounded clear barrel so you can see the ink reserve. Writes smoothly, has a great hand-feel to it, and it's an overall nice pen. No bleed through on the paper or heavy shadow, but I was using an Exaclair notebook with it's exceptionally good paper.

Cons: sometimes the ink doesn't flow evenly, and the middle of the line is thin while the outsides are thicker. This may be caused by an un-even tip, or the ink itself may not be correct. It's actually minor, but I did notice it on a few words.

Overall, a good pen to include in your rotation, although the cap is stocky and needs some extra space. If you're rounding out a JetPens order, definitely think of including this.