I am going to derail the conversation from the pen and into the refills.
As a left-handed that refuses to twist their hand to avoid smudging everything: what refills brands offer the best dry time to avoid black or blue smudges?
I am going to derail the conversation from the pen and into the refills.
As a left-handed that refuses to twist their hand to avoid smudging everything: what refills brands offer the best dry time to avoid black or blue smudges?
I found iroshizuku inks faster drying than the other brands I've tried. Paper matters a lot too, I've experimented with many and finally settled on Rhodia.
I’m a fan of Parker’s iroshizuku inks too. I don’t know why, but ink from a bottle seems to end up not drying inside the pen like cartridges do.
I'm also left-handed and I find this uni jetstream to dry pretty quickly: https://www.jetpens.com/Uni-Jetstream-Standard-Ballpoint-Pen...
I have good memories of the Parker ones. But honestly I started using a (refillable) Pilot V5 in uni and never went back. It only really smudges if you leave the pen in the same spot for quite some time (very rare). But writing is a breeze and the black is _actually_ black.
I have some Zebra SARASA dry X20 pens that dry instantly. Even if I quickly scribble a bunch of circles then immediately wipe my hand over it, the ink doesn't smear at all.
Zebra Sarasa are the best for avoiding smudges. Using a finer point (eg. going from 0.5mm to 0.4mm) helps a lot.
I've tried everything under the sun and they all smudge.
Roting pencil it is.