Bible Study – Best Pens for Marking

For years now I have used a modified version of Precept Ministries Inductive Bible Study along with other tools and methods. These methods make use of colors and symbols when marking the bible to make the topics in the text of the passage stand out. The desired outcome or hope is that this will help to visualize and see the relationships between these to promote better understanding. Some people will use highlighters and I tend to use a combination of highlighters and pens, but the primary method of marking is using pens. The advantage to pens is they allow you to do more than just color code but to draw attention with symbols and even draw arrows between them to further communicate their relationships.

Decades ago, my mother wrote on the back of a picture with a pen. The picture was one including many family members that have either passed away or moved away and was significant to our family history. The problem was that the pen was “non-archival” which means that it wasn’t fade resistant and it was also acidic. The ink over time ate through the picture from the back to the front causing damage. Recently I purchased a new genuine leather bible and I decided to get a bit more organized in my marking and note taking as well as a little more cautious to avoid damage. Two articles that I referenced as I did my research I found rather helpful and I have inserted them below.

The Best Gel Pens for Planners | JetPens
The Best Pens for Journaling | JetPens
The Best Multipens | JetPens
Difference Between Ballpoint, Gel and Rollerball Ink | Jet Pens

Types of Pens and Ink

I did research online and purchased some pens and tried out others at Michael’s with a test bible I brought into the store. There are several types of pens to consider.

• Conical Ball Pens – The writing end is a cone with a ball used to spread the ink.
• Pin Ball Pens – The writing end is a narrow cylinder with a ball at the tip (Tend to drag more on the paper and imprint)
• Pin Plastic Nib Liners – The writing end is a narrow cylinder with a plastic nib
• Multi-pen – multiple conical ball point cartridges with selector tabs (hold less ink, but good for travel)

These pens will use either pigment based ink in gel or water ball pens or dye in alchohol with fatty acids ballpoint or dye in water roller or fountain based pens. Dyes are liquid based colours that soak into the paper where as pigment based ink uses small grains of colour that adhere to the paper with minimal soaking into the paper. Pigment based inks are suspended in a fluid that is either water or a water based gel. Dyes tend to bleed through the paper and fade over time and may be washed out. Pigment based inks dry faster and do not fade over time and are resistant to washing as the pigments do not dissolve. So, the pens we will be considering are pigment based due to these advantages.

Pen Concerns Evaluated

I considered all the issues pens might have and tested or verified the pens’ qualities based on these key areas of concern. Also, these pens have options for various size tips and you will want a fine tip for bible marking that is less than or equal to 0.5mm. Larger sizes will lay down more ink taking longer to dry resulting in smudges and an increased chance of bleeding through.

• Archival Ink – is the ink fade resistant and non-acidic, PH balanced?
• Smudging – how fast does the ink dry to avoid smudge (a big concern for lefties)?
• Resistance – does it resist smearing from the solvents in highlighters?
• Bleeding and Ghosting – does it show or absorb through the other side of a page?
• Imprinting – does the tip drag on the paper too much leaving a furrow visible from the other side of the page?

Pen Evaluation Results

Pen (10 Colours)	Type	Arch	Bleed Ghost	Resist	Dry Time
($25-40) Uni-Ball Signo UM-151	Gel	Yes		Yes	4s
($28-45) Sakura Pigma Micron	Liner	Yes		Yes	4s
($16-20) Uni-Ball Uni Style Fit	Gel	Yes		Some	4s
($33 [2]) uniStyle Fit Meister (5) MultiPen	Gel	Yes		Some	4s
($40) Staedtler Pigment Liners	Liner	Yes	?	Yes	?
($16) Charsoco Micro Pen (Generic)	Liner	Yes	?	?	?
($13) Sakura Gelly Roll Moonlight Earth & Jewel 06 Fine	Gel	Semi		Some	8s
($7) Mr Pen Gel Retractable	Gel	No	No	Some	5s
($10) Mr Pen (few colors, no brown)	Gel	No		Some	4s
($22) Zebra Sarasa Bible Liners	Liner	Yes		Some	6s
($15-23) Zebra Sarasa Clip	Gel	Yes		No	8s
($33) Zebra Sarasa Select	Gel	Yes		No	8s
($10) BLieve Gel Pens	Gel	No	?	?	10s
($21) Pentel Energel RTX	Gel	Yes		No	4s
($20) Pilot FriXon (Erasable, disappears in hot car)	Gel	No		No	8s

Recommendations

Several Pens were left out of the evaluation due to poor bleed performance and non-archival quality. While I like InkJoy pens for work they are non-archival and bleed just as much as the Pentel Energel which only made it on the list due to its archival quality but bleeds too much to be recommended. The Hi-Tec-C pen was another Pin Ballpoint pen that was reviewed but left off the list due to bleeding even more than Energel or InkJoy. The recommendations will be handled in the categories; multi-pens, gel pens and liner pens. These pens may be purchased at christianbook.com, Michael’s, Walmart, Jet Pens or Amazon.

Multi-Pens

In the multi-pens category, the first place goes to the UniStyle Fit Meister pen which supports 5 cartridges each and uses Signo ink making them archival quality. They also come in medium and fine point sizes. Multi-Pens are good for travel since you don’t have to take a case of pens around but due to the smaller cartridge sizes, they run out of ink quicker requiring refills. The other options were the Pilot Multi-Pen Hi-Tec-C Coleto and the Pilot FriXion 4. The Hi-Tec-C as mentioned bleeds too much. The FriXion 4 may be an option if you would like erasable ink however it is thermal reactive so if you leave your journal/bible in a hot car your notes will disappear until you put it in the freezer after which they reappear slightly.

UniStyle Fit Meister Knock 5 color Jet Pens Zebra Multi-Pens Jet Pens Signo Multi-Pen Amazon	Signo Gel Ink Refills for Style Fit Gel Multi Pen 0.5mm 16 Color Gel Ink Refils Jet Pens Zebra Sarasa Compatible Refills Jet Pens Uni-Style-Fit Amazon
Pilot Ballpoint Pen, Frixion Ball 4, 0.38mm Ultra Fine, Jet Pens Amazon	Pilot Gel Ink Pen Refills for FriXion Ball, Extra Fine Point, 0.38mm, 20 Color Refill Jet Pens / Guide Amazon

Gel Pens

In the Gel Pen category first place goes to Uni-Ball Signo UM-151 and a close second goes to the Uni-Style Fit pens. One might consider these premium or professional grade as they do come at a price but the quality is what you pay for. In third and fourth place are the Sakura Gelly-Roll Moonlight pens, and the Zebra Sarasa Clip respectively. The Gelly-Roll pens are quite opaque, so they will cover over text you are marking. The Sarasa pens use a hybrid gel and oil emulsion that takes longer to dry but is more resistant to washing. An honorable mention goes to the Mr Pen Gel Pens as a very affordable option however they are not archival quality.

Uni-Ball Signo UM-151 0.38mm Gel Pens Jet Pens Amazon
Style Fit Retractable Gel Ink Pen, 0.38mm, 16 Color ink Jet Pens Amazon
ZEBRA Pen Sarasa Clip Retractable Gel Pen, Fine Point, 0.5mm Jet Pens Jet Pens 0.4mm Amazon 0.38mm Amazone 0.5mm
Mr. Pen- Retractable Gel Pens, 12 Pack, Fast Dry, Gel Pens Fine Point 0.7mm, Retractable Mr Pen.com Amazon
BLieve Earth Colored Gel Pens Matte Finish, Aesthetic 0.5mm BLieve.art Amazon
SAKURA Gelly Roll Moonlight 06 Gel Pens – Fine Point – Assorted Earth & Jewel Tone Ink Amazon ChristianBook.com

Technical Liner Pens

In this category of pin tip plastic nib pens the first place must go to the Sakura Pigma Micron pens. As far as quality of ink and vibrancy while successfully preventing bleeding through many types of papers, they may bleed a little if you rest the tip in one spot or go over the same line multiple times.  Many artists swear by Pigma Micron pens. However the Inductive set with 05 nib size is a bit large resulting in thick strokes so I would recommend the 01 size. The Signo UM-151 only beats out the Pigma Micron with its number of colours. Finally in second and third place are the the lower cost alternative Charsoco Micro Pens and Zebra Sarasa Bible Liners . I have recenlty tried out the Charsoco pens and they work just as well as the Pigma Micron having archvial ink and are a good low cost alternative to the Pigma Micron pens.

G.T. Luscombe Company, Inc. Pigma Micron 01 Fine & 05 Medium Point Inductive Bible Study Pen Kit | No Bleed Pigmented Ink (Or build a set at Michael’s. You will need to add Brown and Royal Blue from Michael’s to this set anyway) ChristianBook.com Jet Pens Amazon 05 Amazon 01
G.T. Luscombe Company, Inc. Zebra Sarasa Fineliner Bible Marking Kit ChristianBook.com Amazon.com
CHARSOCO 01 Micro Pen, Fine Point Pen with 12 Colors, Waterproof Archival Ink, 0.25mm Fineliner Ink Pens

Conclusion

So out of all these choices which pens would I recommend? I choose for first place the Pigma Micron pens which are a microline technical pen. I would use the smaller 01 (0.25mm) size tips. These can be more costly but they tend to be more vibrant than gel pens. For a more affordable option that has archival quality the Charsoco Micro Pens are a good liner option (these are white label pens that can be found under other labels such as Shuttle Art). I recently purchased a set and I’d have to say they match the Pigma Micron color and quality so I might recommend these over the Pigma Micron just for the fact that they cost half the price while matching remarkably close to the quality.

In a very close second place are the Uni-StyleFit or Uniball UM-151 colored gel pens. These have a good range of colors, use the same archival quality Signo ink and write very smooth while drying quickly. My only complaint is the yellow ink can be difficult to differentiate from orange depending on the lighting. In third place are the Zebra Sarasa Clip gel pens. These pens have archival quality ink, in some cases more vibrant colors than the Uniball but they don’t write as smoothly, especially smaller tips, nor do they dry as fast. The Uni-StyleFit and Zebra Sarasa also have multi-pen options and their refills fit each others multi-pens. Multipens are a great option for travel.