Uni-ball Jetstream Alpha Gel Grip

Jetstreams are highly touted in the lefty community. I have had the greatest success with this pen, as far as all the claims of "smear proof" go. I do have a bit of a problem with this pen, the whole line in fact. It may just write too smooth. If I use jetstreams on any high quality paper, but especially clairefontaine paper, I feel as though the pen wants to go faster then my hand can write with it. This is weird to me, and I wonder if this is a problem that is solely mine. This is just a slight problem but often causes me to have weird squiggles in my lines and often throw me off track.

Body: The grip on this pen is the star. It is just a tad more firm then the 207 premier which is just too squishy. It also shares the "magnet" problem of the 207 premier. What I mean is that it picks up dust and anything else that it rolls into on your desk. After awhile my 207 began to turn dirty looking. this is the sole reason I got a black alpha grip. The upper half of the pen is a nice metal, the clip also seems to be metal. This makes the pen feel a bit top heavy with such a big grip, but I do not mind it at all.

Ink: Although the problem I mentioned before knocks this pen down a notch for me, the ink on most paper is smear proof. It dries super fast. (Read that part as you can follow your finger right behind the pen as you write and, on normalish paper, will already be dry. I can see why lefties love this lineup of pens. I like the 0.7mm line much better then the normal 1.0mm pens that you can grab in your local store.

Price: Jetpens has them for $15.00. This is the most I've spent for one pen that was not a fountain pen.

Lefty Bottom Line: This pen line deserves a try and the respect of a lefty over-writer. Even if you aren't left handed this pen is wildly comfortable to write with, and if you don't pick up this more expensive version, you should at least grab one of it's cousins from your local office supply aisle.