Brad Barrish - How I choose a good pen

I am a snob about many things, not the least of which is my writing instrument of choice. I’m always trying a new pen and I recently found the pen of my dreams. I have no intention of being as thorough as Rands, I will say in order for me to even consider a pen, it must meet the following criteria:

No caps. I lose pen caps and then end up throwing away the pen, which leads me to...

Cheaper is better. I simply don't have the means to keep a Mont Blanc at the office, in the car, at the home office and in my bag.

Super fine. I hate thick lines when I write and prefer a pen to be so fine that it nearly slices the paper when I write.

Black rules. No red, blue, green, purple or any other color will do.

Moleskine compatible. If I write on a piece of paper, it's probably in my Moleskine notebook, so the ink has to dry quickly and not soak through the paper.

I had been using the uni-ball Jetstream, which I still like, but it’s not quite fine enough and it has a cap. So, I’ve been on a quest for another pen for a while. I wish I could remember where I read about the Pilot G-2, but it was a rave review and I ended up ordering a box to see how I liked them. As soon as I started writing with it, I was sure this was the pen I’d been searching for. It met all of my expectations and I can’t imagine another pen that writes better than the Pilot G-2 05 ultra fine point.