We Sent Ralph Nader Some of Our Favorite Pens. He Dismissed Them All. (2024)

Our experts have spent years testing ballpoint, rollerball, gel, felt-tip, and fineliner pens on Rhodia No. 19 Yellow Pads (which tend to have super-silky paper that’s more likely to smudge). We can say with confidence that the Flair pen isn’t as good as our picks.

“The Paper Mate Flair felt-tip pens felt too sticky against the page—almost like trying to write on the adhesive side of tape. We also tested the Flairs and the other felt tips on different types of paper—including newsprint—and the other pens performed better,” said Melanie, our resident pen expert.

Of the six felt-tip pens that Melanie and our four staff panelists (all writing-instrument enthusiasts) tested, the Paper Mate Flair pen was universally rated the worst. Testers found this pen unpleasant to write with, and a couple of testers said the Flair’s body was uncomfortable to hold. The Flair pens also smudged the most of the bunch.

The Paper Mate Flair is Nader’s daily pen. He’s been using it for many years, and he likes that it’s lightweight, with a broad tip and dark, matte ink.

He told us he uses it in multiple colors, mostly black, red, and purple. He said that the pens with red and purple inks tend to last longer, even though he uses them equally with those containing black ink.

His other big gripe? The cap is now easier to lose, potentially contributing to a faster dry-out time.

“In the last four or five years, when you take the cover off the felt pen and lock it in at the other end, the new ones fall off more quickly than the old ones,” he grumbled to me. “They don’t lock in firmly. You’re writing away and the thing flips off onto the floor.”

We sent Nader four alternative pens to try. And we asked him to use his usual Paper Mate pens as a baseline, testing the competition on multiple paper types, using criteria similar to the criteria we use for testing our pen picks: ink smoothness, precision and consistency, and comfort.

He was not a fan. Here’s what he thought of each pen.

Copic Multiliner SP

The Copic Multiliner SP landed in the other good pens section of our guide. It’s a solid, refillable fineliner pen for drawing and writing. And it has a replaceable tip, if yours has worn down or you want a different size.

Our testers liked this pen because it looks nice and writes smoothly. It didn’t become a top pick, though, because in one case the tip bent, due to too much pressure being applied. And it smudges more easily than our picks.

Nader disagreed and said that this pen wasn’t as smooth as he wanted it to be, adding that it “lacked strong black pigment.” He said it required strong pressure (which, based on our breakage experience, can be challenging). And he noted the smudging issue and knocked the Copic pen for being “heavier and bulkier” than the Paper Mate Flair pens. Among the pens Nader tested, he ranked this one last.

Sharpie Felt Tip Pen

The Sharpie Felt Tip Pen also landed in our guide’s other good pens section. We appreciated that it wrote like a marker but has a fine nib size. And our testers loved that it was the only felt-tip or fineliner pen in our testing pool that didn’t smudge at all. We noted that the pigment wasn’t as deep as we’d expect and that writing with it felt scratchy.

Nader agreed. He liked that this pen wrote easily, but he said that it was scratchy and the pigment wasn’t very strong. He also liked that it didn’t skip or bleed, but he found that it smudged. Nader praised this pen for being “light and comfortable to hold,” but the very fine tip (0.4 mm) was just too fine for him, and one of the tips broke.

Therefore, the Sharpie pen was second to last on his list.

Sakura Pigma Micron

The Sakura Pigma Micron is our fineliner pen pick. This is a high-quality technical pen that can be used for detailed drawings. Nader chose the 0.5 mm tip size, the largest from the multipack we sent him. The tip is finer than that of his 0.7 mm Paper Mate Flair pen, though we note in our guide that it tends to create thicker lines than the tip size indicates.

Our testers liked this pen because it writes smoothly and predictably without skipping, feathering, or bleeding.

Nader said it was a “bit scratchy along white paper, [Post-it notes], and newspapers.” He didn’t like that it required more pressure to write with than the Paper Mate, and he said it was light but not as comfortable to hold as his regular pen.

He did, however, praise this pen’s deep pigmentation, saying there was “more color payoff—looks good on white paper and newspapers,” and he noted that it didn’t skip or bleed.

Overall, he ranked this pen in the middle of the pack.

Amazon Basics Felt Tip Marker Pens

We dismissed the Amazon Basics Felt Tip Marker Pen, placing it in the competition section and noting that it wasn’t as smooth as the Micron pen. But since the Amazon Basics pen is a close cousin to the Paper Mate Flair, we sent Nader a box, thinking he might like this pen better.

Nader ranked the Amazon Basics pen second, just below the Paper Mate Flair pen, and he agreed it was the most like the Flair.

Nader expressed his dismay at the amount of trash being generated by single-use pens, and most of our picks are refillable.

“It occurred to me that zillions of these are being thrown away prematurely and finding their way into dumps,” he said. “It’s a longstanding problem, product obsolescence.”

But that doesn’t mean he is ready to embrace refillables. Ultimately, Nader said he just wanted the pen he liked to last longer.

To further the investigation, Paper Mate offered to take the dried-out pens back “for quality testing” and replace them with new ones. We forwarded that offer to Nader’s team for their consideration.

From our point of view, if Nader is happy enough with the Paper Mate Flair pens (even though he thinks they dry out too quickly these days), that’s okay (even though we dislike them).

And now he’s tested several other great pens. So he can at least feel confident about the fact that the best pen for Ralph Nader is a Paper Mate Flair.

This article was edited by Erica Ogg and Ben Frumin.