These have been my favorite since probably 1989, when I discovered them at my college’s bookstore.
In 1996, I had a chance to spend an afternoon with William S Burroughs. We talked about the Weekly World News and his collection of odd knives. I got a bit shy and dodged out before Debbie Harry and Pattie Smith were scheduled to pop by his house. Before that, he offered to sign a couple books I had brought with me. I had a Pilot V5 with me, and Mr Burroughs used it to sign my books. He said, “That’s a very nice pen.” I still use them. He walked me to his gravel driveway and, at the gate, said, “Vaya con dios.” It was an afternoon rich in texture and memory.
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Yup. I’ve been carrying these pens in a pocket since I discovered them in the 90’s. Still my favorite standard use writing device. Nice to see them on Amazon for less than $12 a dozen.
Do not bring onto airplane.
I used V5s throughout university; they’re good reliable pens, but they go straight through the pages of a Field Notes (and also through a Moleskine I expect). If I’m going to use something with wet ink nowadays I’ll use a fountain pen.
Mark, regarding your notebook preference, my rule of thumb is that any notebook costing more than about one cent per sheet of paper is overpriced. By that metric, $29 for 48 sheets is about 60 times too expensive.
Oh, happiness! Somehow I’ve not been able to find these for ages (possibly since they stopped being grey). I’ve tried all sorts of others, and nothing else comes close. I thought they’d stopped making them. These are the only pens I can write with. Well, I can write with others, but nobody else can read my scrawl. I like really thin and scratchy tips, but they just wear out too fast. The V5 is the best I’ve found that lasts more than a couple of days.
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