Danny Recommends: Uni-Ball Vision Elite Pens

Every so often we dip our toes into a series called Danny Recommends:, posts that tip you off to the stuff that I…you know. The recommendations might be products for use in your ministry, resources that will help you develop leaders around you, or just fun stuff that you need. Want. Whatever. You can also see a full list of recommended books and such over at the Reading List. For other posts in the series, check out the link at the bottom.

For those of you familiar with the Danny Recommends series, you know that I’ve used this space before to talk about calendar scheduling tools, First Time Guest tents, task management apps, and more. So when I veer from those high and lofty ideals to recommend something as common as an ink pen, you might think that my proverbial well has run dry. That I’ve capped off the useful topics. That I can’t tip you off to any more products. That the flow of ideas has simply vanished. That all future recommendations posts should be blotted from the face of the earth.

Editor’s note: did you decide to recommend pens just so you could make the previous paragraph all about pen-related puns?

(Yes. Because pen puns make a very good point.)

I digress. Recommending an ink pen may seem rather arcane, but every time someone borrows this particular ink pen, I’m reminded again of what a treasure it is and how much everyone on the planet needs one. You see, I went through an expensive pen phase in the immature days of my youth. I think it started with the gift of a Cross pen at my high school graduation. Cross pens were the required high school graduation gifts in the late 80s and early 90s. If you gave someone a graduation gift in that era and it wasn’t a Cross pen, then by law someone got to drop a Cross pen on your skull, and it was so heavy it had the same effect as capital penishment.

(I’m sorry. I’ll stop.)

So I’ve owned my share of expensive pens – Cross-brand and otherwise. And I’ve also lost my share of expensive pens, which made me search for a cheaper alternative. The problem is that traditional ballpoint pens are inconsistent and don’t write about 90% of the time. Clicky pens had a tendency to “click on” in my pockets, causing unfortunate ink blotting and even more unfortunate glares from my wife.

Enter the uni-ball Vision Elite Rollerball Pen. My friends, I have seen the future of ink pens, and this is it. It has an incredibly smooth flow: no jagged drags across the paper. It has a bold line (I use the micro point 0.5 mm, which is bold enough to be seen but not so bold you can’t make tiny notations). The ink dries within a fraction of a second after writing, so there is no smearing. It has a long-lasting ink barrel, so I don’t have to constantly replace it. It’s the anti-Cross Pen in that it comes in at less than two bucks per pen. It comes in a variety of colors, so I can use the red one to make edits (say, pen puns on a blog post). And best of all, it has a separate cap that snaps on tightly, which makes those unfortunate pocket ink blots disappear.

Are there drawbacks to the uni-ball Vision Elite? No. There are no drawbacks, just a drawback. The uni-ball doesn’t play well with coated papers. Regular notebook, journal, and Bible paper is fine, but put that puppy on a fancy coated greeting card and you’re asking for smudgy trouble.

If you’re an ink pen snob, take it from me: there’s nothing you’ll love more than this one. The uni-ball will be a pen you’ll want to keep with you at all times. It’ll become a part of your very being. It will be like a brand new appendage.

I’ll show myself out.

See all posts in the Danny Recommends: series.

Disclaimer: FTC watchdogs will probably want to know that the companies or products listed / linked above did not ask for this endorsement, nor did they provide me with free swag in order to do so. I’m just a really satisfied customer who wants to let you know where you can get some great products. So there. 

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