Killer Combos: My Favorite Pen and Refill Pairings

You can often improve a pen by swapping the refill. Here are my favorite combinations.
Pen Refills Guide: unsharpen.com/pen-refill-guide/
Chapters:
0:27 Bic Cristal Renew
1:17 Ballograf Epoca P
2:14 Pilot S20
2:57 Pilot Acro 300
4:02 Uni Jetstream Edge
4:59Pilot Timeline Gel
5:49 Aside: Am I Ruining These Pens?
6:00 Parker Jotter
6:35 Zebra Blen
7:14 Pentel Infree
8:13 Pilot Explorer with Con-70 Converter
9:05 Lamy Vista with 14K nib
10:22 Kaweco Sport Rollerball
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[@Bella-vc9sr]

Thoroughly enjoyed this video, I love seeing the frankenpens that people enjoy and all the interesting ways people can mix and match to create their perfect fit

[@pattymiller2160]

Sal, great video. Very interesting to see what refills fit in certain bodies. Great content.

[@TONY19021965]

Thanks for the great video. I always appreciate your direct, and sensible approach to pen "hacks", upgrades, & even some "downgrades". Your practical advice has been a tremendous help to me along the years. And it was kind of because of your experimentations, that I've really got into a lot of the great ballpoint/rollerball pens that I was ignoring. So in addition to my 205 ➕ fountain pens I now have over 100 ballpoint/rollerball pens now as well. Not to discount about 15 mechanical pencils as well, most of which were reviewed by you. Thanks again, & best regards!

[@unsharpen]

Amazing to hear. Thanks for the note!

[@TONY19021965]

@@unsharpen 🙂👍

[@carlswanson808]

I did the same thing with the Uni Edge, but I put in a Pilot Hi-Tec Slim Knock refill, which will also fit perfectly in a Uni Boxy and Ohto Horizon BP. My favorite recent mod was taking all the Field Notes Bic Clics I have and putting the Zebra Z-Grip Flight 1.2mm refills in those. They fit great with just a small trim.

[@unsharpen]

Good call on the zebra refill!

[@Lepon5]

I've been eyeing the Jetstream Edge for the body. Have enjoyed watching your videos on pens!

[@unsharpen]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@WDemon]

Thanks for sharing ! My current fav is Vista with 0.5 Energel

[@derGotti1988]

Rotring 600 Ballpoint & Schneider Gelion Plus G2 blue

[@13noman1]

I'll second that Schmidt 9000 Easy flow! I forget which pen of mine came with that as stock but I love the flow of it so much, I've been replacing my Parker style refill pens with the Schmidt as replacement time rolls around. I do have a question for you re: larger nibs. No question that they write more smoothly, but do you write "large"? I can't break myself of "micro" writing so anything larger than 0.5 tends to look like an EKG line!

[@deutzel7]

Omg yes i much prefer the 1.0 zebra EQ refill over the 1.0 jetstream refill. I find the eq writes a lot smoother and darker. Just a fun writing experience (especially for signing). My only gripe is that i have some that skips every few seconds. I dont know if they are lemons or if it will be that way across the board. Thank you Unsharpen, i probably chanced upon your video and that’s how i was introduced to the blen + eq combo and now it’s one of my all time faves.

[@aladdinkayqubad1645]

Any rollerball refills that have a fountain pen like smoothness to them? I have encountered the Montverde refills to be EXTREMELY smooth, any thoughts or opinions about them? Thank you Sir!

[@ogsmilz5547]

Hello have you ever done anything on Pilot Coleto pen and refills? Please share. Thank you

[@neofliermike]

I love doing all these same things! These are my favorite videos of yours :) what's the watermans roller refill like, have you used that one?

[@unsharpen]

The 338 is nice. Smooth and fountain pen like. A bit overpriced and doesn’t last too long but it’s fun

[@nasshu6259]

Is pilot s20 limited only in brfn refill series? or i can put some other brands like zebra

[@Mythologos]

I just ordered my first Schneiders!

[@badassbassist]

Hi unsharpen, how do you break in a ballpoint refill. I have a couple of quinkflow refills which are absolutely horrible. I am using Schmidt refills on them. How to make these stock quinkflow refills write smoother?

[@deutzel7]

Hi i just got a parker jotter and i agree about the terrible quality of the quinkflows. My solution: swapping mine out with a jetstream refill. Did wonders for the pen 😉

[@dashsunil]

Great updates, Sal. Very useful tips. Was wondering if the lamy M66 will fit the rotring Jazz? The schmidt 8127 is hard to find here.

[@unsharpen]

Haven’t tried! I’ll give it a shot

[@dashsunil]

@@unsharpen thank you so much.

[@user-gl5ld9vm7i]

Thank you for all your great content! Sir, I have a Lamy 2000 ballpoint. But I hate the standard refill. Any suggestions in a gel or rollerball with mods?

[@unsharpen]

This pen is almost unmoddable. It’s like my white whale

[@lesslighter]

This mod will require you to fanagle some springs from other pens (I would suggest you look at Pentel Energel) and then get a UNUS LAMY BP LM-16 adaptor this will gimp your refill choices to D1 refills but yeah its a comrpomise that I like on the Lamy Logo the Xevo weirdly enough doesnt need a spring mod

[@russellpalmer2112]

I love the Dr. Grip Center of gravity but it only takes a 1 mm refill. I would do anything for a 0.5 mm refill the writes as smooth

[@eternalmonsoon8103]

The Jetstream Edge refill is problematic for me. The pen design is great but the refill is very hard to write with without extreme skipping. Good to know the refill can be swapped out but it does feel it defeats the object of the pen itself of course. I've got the Lamy gold nib in bold and it is fantastic. It's fitted on a Dialog 3 which is probably my favourite fountain pen to date. Bit fancy but it has a perfect weight and balance.

[@BigJesse579]

Hey man. Great videos. New pen fan here. What was the pen I believe I saw you talk about.. it was like a micro 2 piece capped pen with either a key ring or small lanyard on the cap. Black / skinny / add the cap to the back and you get a mid size pen. Similar idea to the space pen bullet but lighter and with a lanyard of some type. Also any suggestions of anything similar. Something to attach to a neck lanyard that holds my truck keys for quick pen access. Thanks so much.

[@unsharpen]

Pokka maybe? unsharpen.com/pen/pokka-classic/

[@BigJesse579]

@@unsharpen BINGO. THANK YOU. Also I clipped about 3mm off of a Z-Grip and put that gel cartridge in my F-701. Works really well.

[@giacomo8875]

Any raccomandation for a gel refill in a Parker Jotter?

[@saskiamoon5218]

Are there any pens you would recommend that are weighted but still have a fine point? Or is it impossible? Can’t find any 😭

[@Zingius]

I saw a video of you review the Zebra LightWrite, waaaaay back. And I see you still make videos. Respect! Time to subscribe since I see you do your homework! I was also wondering if you, now days, have a favourite flashlight pen?

[@unsharpen]

Battery on that one died last week! Fun pen. And no favorite but I’ll try the olight soon!

[@karthikeyanbhaskaran5417]

I have the same metal parker using the same xb refill!

[@unsharpen]

Good combo!

[@Mark-bf3ws]

What is the 1.0 Jetstream Refill model? I got the Jetstream SXR-10 and it does not fit into the body of the Jetstream Edge.

[@unsharpen]

unsharpen.com/refill/uni-sxr-80-10-jetstream/ sxr-80-10

[@deutzel7]

@@unsharpenahh so the edge only fits the refill for the multipens?

[@rodneywk1]

Thanks for sharing your hobby. I have something of an “obsession” myself with collecting pens/pencils. Regarding the Acro 300 1mm refill.. did you say it is a “BRF” model? I can’t seem to locate one. Thanks again!

[@unsharpen]

unsharpen.com/refill/pilot-brfv-10m-acro-ink-ballpoint-pen-refill/ try that

[@rodneywk1]

@@unsharpen Thank you!!!

[@Nico_911]

What tip size for jetstream pens and inks would u say is best for school and lots of writing?

[@unsharpen]

0.5 for most people.

[@Nico_911]

@@unsharpen thx

[@nasshu6259]

i have a question can i put pilot g2 refill in Parker jotter cap version ?

[@unsharpen]

Won’t fit. Try the Parker quick gel

[@nasshu6259]

@@unsharpen Last question does parker jotter retractable same refill as jotter with cap ?

[@christurner3107]

I use a Schmidt fineliner in my Lamy Vista rollerball. It only requires a shim behind the refill. I cut down a regular #2 pencil eraser. It does the trick and is easily removed if you want to use the Lamy refill. I’m also a fan of the Pilot v10 needle point. It also works in the Vista if you cut down the refill a bit.

[@crazywisdom2]

I've shimmed and frankenized many a pen. We're out there = )

[@marshall8756]

Need a part 2!!

[@unsharpen]

It’s like asking Da Vinci for a second Mona Lisa!

[@ABetterMan16543]

You ever write with fineliners like a micron or uni pin pen? I like using sharpie pens but was wanting something a little more high quality.

[@unsharpen]

Not much. Something I’ve wanted to experiment with more but just haven’t lately. I usually just buy Microns

[@ABetterMan16543]

@@unsharpen I got a few different brands a week or so ago to try out, Micron, Staedtler, Rotring, and Uni. Out of those the only one I don’t really like is the Rotring, seems like it takes forever for the ink to dry, but I did get it in a 0.4 tip and the other ones are 0.3. Seems like the 0.3 is a good size. I like the Staedtler and Uni the best, and the Uni is the cheapest one of the bunch.

[@lesslighter]

what Jetpens taught me was that most of the Japanese G2 refills will more or less fit european brands it can be as much as getting an MB142 RB body and just slap in a Pentel ENergel refill on it since MB refills are threaded as this is how they fix the "pen" in place you will need a back spacer to make this mod work Since Muji's pens are made by Zebra at one point they will fit refills that fit the Sarasa body which is to say quite a lot

[@heyitschrishanna]

For me I probably have to give it to my rotring 800 with a Parker gel refill

[@syedafahd]

Great video once again. Beautiful collection of pens.. 👍🏻 I bought almost every pen in this video after watching your reviews of them.. 😀

[@unsharpen]

Wow good luck with them!

[@skyy3123]

I’ll have to try the Zebra blen mod!

[@deutzel7]

THIS IS TRULY AMAZING. if you haven’t tried it, please do. Its crazy good especially in the 1.0 and 0.7. The eq refills are definitely a lot harder to come by and i had had to buy it from japan but it was so worth the effort.

[@Inazarab]

I'm curious why you keep the labels with barcodes on your pens? for me I always take them off as I think you get a better look at the design of the pen. is it an aesthetic choice for you?

[@unsharpen]

Yea I just think they are cool. Idk

[@neofliermike]

I take them off and stick them in my journal's first page :) being a "reviewer" I thinks it's smart for him to keep

[@66kimmie]

Bic Velocity 1.6 is good!!!

[@Sammydx1]

Zebra Blen ... with Zmulsion 1.0 ?

[@themidstream]

These are all creative options.

[@williamneal9076]

Ballograf ALWAYS a great choice. The S20 refill replacement costs more than the pen itself, (Because it's ONLY sold in Japan, has to be purchased from eBay.) and when one inadvertently gets the clip knocked off the body, even Jetpens cannot sell you just a Pocket Clip....Damn YOU Pilot all to HELL!! (LOL). The beautiful 20 dollar wooden body becomes then a Desk Drawer tray seldom user, instead of an ubiquitous EDC. P.S. That chartreuse Uniball is UGLY as jade's nugget, and the 'grip' doesn't work at ALL.

[@daveg686]

👍

[@user-md3is4dq2d]

Is there any reason for companies using a cap rather than a mechanism? I don’t know why you’d ever want a cap. You seem to know a lot about pens and this seems like a difficult question to answer. Is there any fiber/felt tip refill in the pearled style?

[@nasshu6259]

Do you have interest on Tech pens ?

[@unsharpen]

What is a tech pen?

[@nasshu6259]

@@unsharpen Technical pen, or drafting pen

[@GordieGii]

Pelikan is German so PAY-lee-con.

[@unsharpen]

Thanks!