Comparing Pens for Writing In the Bible

March 27

~ Today’s Scripture Art and blog post are designed to help you find the best pen for writing in the Bible as well as your Scripture writing journal. ~

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In the Q&A section in our monthly newsletter, I recently got a question asking what pen I recommended for writing in the Bible – and also for a journal.

Of course these will definitely be two different recommendations because of the contrasting page thickness.

I decided to use crowdsourcing to compile a group of your favorite pens to put to the “best test.”

Turns out you all feel very strongly about your favorite pens! {grin}

I had a ball reading your passionate recommendations and trying out all your favorite pens. Not only did I write and write and write some more, but I also colored around all these flowers for days …

Be Thou My Vision Artwork — *Shop today’s printable artwork HERE.

I have the “best pen test” results below!

Keep reading for three different tests:

Best pens for Bible pages
Best pens for journal pages
Best pens for doodling

And the nominees (from you!) are …

Pen comparison for writing in the Bible or a journal

I did my best to test all the same point size.

I divided the pens into groups and experimented with 8 pens for the Bible page test, then added 6 gel pens for the journal page test (because gel pens are too juicy for writing on thin Bible pages).

Comparing Pens for Writing in the Bible

The main criteria I used for the Bible-page test was bleed-through. Bible pages are usually very thin and we don’t want to see any writing or underlining go through to the back of the page. Right?

I also leaned toward smooth and skinny writing for this test, which I consider essential unless you have a large-print Bible.

Here’s the back-of-the-page-bleed-through test …

The pens I tested …

~ The Zebra F-301 was the clear winner of the no-bleed-through test. It was the only pen that didn’t show through to the back at all AND it had a skinnier fine tip even though we tested all .7 tips. I also liked the stainless steel barrel. The only concern I had was that the packaging didn’t mention their ink at all – except that it was black. So nothing to brag about there.

~ The Uniball Jetstream RT pen finished second in the ballpoint category of the bleed-through test. This pen touts “water- and fade-resistant ink that helps you compose long-lasting, high-quality documents you can archive” – which is always a good thing. It has a smooth writing experience, but I could faintly see the writing from the back of the page.

~ The TUL BP3 pen came in third for the ballpoint category. It had a slight bleed-through. This pen has a nice feel and “super-smooth and longer lasting ink that provides a consistent flow to help your writing look as it should.”

~ The Pilot Acroball pen, which came in fourth, has what they call “hybrid ink” which may explain why it bled through more than the other ballpoints. The package says “the advanced ink combines the vibrancy of gel ink with quick-drying, ballpoint ink to let your writing glide across the page.” This pen was wonderful for writing on regular paper, but not for thin Bible pages because of the bleed-through.

Now for the felt-tip pens …

~ The Sakura Pigma Micron is my long-time favorite pen for a journal (more on that below) but it finished second for writing in your Bible due to a slight bleed-through. However, it has the best available “Permanent Pigment ink suitable for archival applications” and is “quick drying on porous surfaces, fade resistant and waterproof.”

~ The Staedtler Triplus Fineliner bled through the most so I don’t recommend it for writing in your Bible. I’ll add it to the journal test instead.

~ The Stabilo Point 88 also bled through quite a bit so I won’t recommend it for Bible writing either. I will add this one to the journal test too.

~ The iBayam Fineliner surprised me by not bleeding through at all! If you prefer a felt-tip pen, this is the only option (from the pens I tested) for writing in your Bible. This pen advertises “minimal bleed-thru water-based ink” and a super fine tip.

What’s the Best Pen for Writing in Your Bible?

So to recap, the best pen for writing in your Bible is the Zebra F-301 ballpoint pen – or if you prefer felt-tip, the iBayam Fineliner pen.

The runners up are the Uniball Jetstream RT ballpoint and the Sakura Pigma Micron.

I’m curious about long-term writing as well as ink fading – since we keep our Bible for years. So I will keep using these winning pens and come back and update this list if they don’t hold up to a long-term test.

Next up, let’s compare pens to determine the best option for writing in your journal.

Of course we used our own Scripture writing journals for this test. Our journal pages are 70# which may be thicker than, say, dollar store journals. So always do your own bleed-through test when starting a new journal.

None of the pens bled through our journal pages, so there was no need to factor that in.

Here’s a tip that I learned the hard way: if the oils on your hand or arm get on the journal page, that can hinder the ink from adhering. So, put your hand on a piece of paper while you’re writing – or on the large bookmark that we send with our journals.

Pen comparison in a Scripture writing journal

The gel pens I tested on our journals …

~ The Pilot G-2 is the first place gel pen winner! It has a “smooth & long-lasting writing experience thanks to gel ink that glides effortlessly across paper.” It also claims to have been “proven to be the longest-lasting gel ink pen.”

~ The Uniball Signo Super Ink 207 pen finished in a close second because of it’s “Uni Super Ink: water- and fade-resistant gel pigment-based ink which helps you compose long-lasting, high-quality documents you can archive.”

~ The TUL GL Series pen came in third place. It advertises “smooth-flowing ink that promotes balanced, precision writing designed to resist fading and smearing, so your writing holds up over time.”

~ The Paper Mate Inkjoy pen, which “dries 3X faster for reduced smearing,” finished fourth.

~ The Sharpie S Gel pen came in fifth place. The packaging says it has “no smear, no bleed technology with Intensely bold gel ink that offers always-vivid writing,” but it was underwhelming compared to the others.

~ The Pentel Energel X finished last in sixth place for gel pens. It also has combined liquid and gel ink but didn’t write as smooth as the rest.

Now for the felt tip pens in a journal …

~ The Sakura Pigma Micron is my long-time favorite pen for Scripture writing in our journals because it has “permanent pigment ink suitable for archival applications” and is “quick drying on porous surfaces, fade resistant and waterproof.” But I wondered how it would stack up to all the other felt tips. I’m happy to report it came in first place!

~ The Staedtler Triplus Fineliner tied for second with the Stabilo Point 88 which felt almost identical in our Scripture writing journal.

~ The iBayam Fineliner came in third place because it writes slightly thinner than the others.

What’s the Best Pen for Writing in Your Journal?

To recap, the best pen for writing in your WriteThemOnMyHeart journal is the Pilot G-2 gel pen or the Sakura Pigma Micron if you prefer felt tip. (I use the Sakura Pigma Micron in all my journals because of the archival ink that will never fade.)

The runners up are the Uniball Signo Super Ink 207 gel pen or either the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner or the Stabilo Point 88 felt tips.

Extra pen results – for those of us who doodle …

Black and White pen art of Be Thou My Vision — *Shop today’s printable artwork HERE.

Today’s artwork was inspired by this pen comparison test! I used all of the gel pens to see which one had the best ink-flow for coloring in between all those flowers.

And the winner for that test is: the Uniball Signo Super Ink 207!

There you have it! I hope our pen comparison test helps your writing go smoothly during your Bible study and Scripture writing.

*My prayer for you is … that this blog will inspire you to open your Bible every single day to seek God’s face and write His Word on your heart – because HE’S the key to lasting heart change!