As a follow-up to my Top 5 Pens update, several readers have asked me to name names when it comes to the worst pens to come across my desk. Never one to shy away from a challenge, here are a handful of the worst pens I have ever reviewed:
Dude! Sweet! (Image via JetPens)
Ohto Fine Fountain Pen / Ohto Dude Fountain Pen
The Ohto Fine was a nib disaster, and I was still new enough to the fountain pen game to where I didn't have the knowledge or skills to figure out what was wrong with it. I gave Ohto another shot with the Dude, but instead of getting a decent pen I doubled-down on terrible. An Ohto fountain pen will never grace these hands again.
The hype was big for this one - finally a competitor for the Pilot Hi-Tec-C! I enjoyed it at first and gave it a solid review, but the problems appeared soon thereafter. First off, the ink cartridges come out at an angle. Not an "if you turn it to the right angle in the right light" angle, but an obvious one like you dropped the pen and bent the tip. Secondly, the cartridges do not write nearly as sharp as the single cartridge model. That is a big feature of the standard Slicci that did not carry over to its multi pen counterpart.
I am a fan of the TUL pen lineup from Office Max, except for the ballpoint. The original design was flat out terrible and the new model is better in barrel alone. Writing performance is a blobby mess, doing everything it can to keep the Uni-ball Jetstream at the top of the ballpoint pen heap.
I didn't expect much from a Bic but the A1 gel was a new kind of terrible. There are no redeeming qualities to this pen, leaving me no choice but to end the review with "This may be the single worst pen I have ever reviewed."
I wanted to like this pen so badly but the refill was horrible. The barrel is excellent though, leaving some room for improvement. Still, it was a poor overall experience.
Well there you have it! Those are some of the worst pens I have ever reviewed. I'm sure I have forgotten several others but these stick in my brain like a Justin Bieber song that I want to scrape out with a spoon.
What are some of the worst pens you have used?
