The Sharpie Pen fine point in red, blue, black, and green.

There are lots of reviews out there of The Sharpie Pen and I have been writing with mine for a while now.  I don’t know why but I never got around to writing up my Sharpie Pen review until now.  They come in fine point in red, blue, black and green and are available at most stores that I have visited.  Amazon has the assorted color packs available in both a 4 pack and 14 pack.  There is also a 4 pack of black only available, and both Staples and OfficeMax carry a 12 pack of red, blue, and black individually.

Being the first Sharpie pen they have a lot to live up to if they want to match the versatility and quality standards that the basic Sharpie permanent market has set.  Knowing the Sharpie brand, I was sure that they would not compromise the brand name with an inferior product.  When we did this review with the writing samples, we were not surprised by how well the pens performed.

The Sharpie pen package with claims and features proudly displayed.

When you head out to your local Office Max, Staples, or Office Depot or visit Amazon.com, the above package is what you should be looking for.  Some of the key features are listed out below.

• Wont bleed through paper.  Although there is a Results may vary based on paper characteristics disclaimer.
• Smear resistant when dry.
• Permanent on paper.
• Water resistant.
• Acid free.

Writing sample in a Clairefontaine notebook.

Above is the first writing sample that I did in a Clairefontaine notebook.  I have had much success with the Clairefontaine paper with other writing implements, so I figured I would use it to test these.  They lay down nice bright lines, and on this paper they show absolutely no feathering and  you will have to take my word for it that there is absolutely no bleed through.  I didnt feel like scanning a blank reverse side of the page to show you though.  A quick look at the drying times for the Sharpie Pen on this paper shows that although it didnt dry instantly, it certainly dries quick enough at about 3 seconds.

The Sharpie Pen writing sample in a Moleskine.

The next writing sample I did was in one of the notebooks that I dont usually get such good performance with, and that is my Moleskine.  On this paper you can see when you click on the picture that there is a bit of feathering, which is no surprise because I usually get that with any pen I try on this paper.  Additionally, you can see that the drying time on the Moleskine paper is not quite ideal at about 7 seconds to become totally dry.  Unless you are a lefty this probably wont be too much of an issue for you.  The next picture shows the bleed through that I got with the Moleskine and the Sharpie Pen.

Bleed through in a Moleskine notebook.

The bleed through with them on a Moleskine isn’t ideal, but it could have been worse.  Again, I blame this almost completely on the paper and not the Sharpie. Personally I think your best bet with the Sharpie pen would be to stay away from the Moleskine, and to stick to a better quality paper like the Clairefontaine.  I also tried this pen on some Doane Paper and got results very similar to what you see with the Clairefontaine paper.

Writing samples after being run under water and smudged.  Moleskine (left) and Clairefontaine (right).

The photo you see above are the original writing sample pages of the Sharpie Pen on the Moleskine and Clairefontaine papers.  I was impressed to see that after running the paper under water for a few seconds and then trying to smudge the ink with my fingers, there was absolutely no streaking, smudging, or any other alteration to the original writing.

Close up of the fine point and the barrel/grip section.

In addition to the great writing performance of these pens, I also found them to be fairly comfortable to write with.  If I could modify the pens grip a bit, I think it would be perfect.  I wasnt totally comfortable writing with it because of how the barrel of the pen abruptly ends right before the grip section begins.  It creates a slightly rough edge which is a little too close to where I hold the pen.  It certainly was not a deal breaker when it comes to writing with the Sharpie Pen for me.  I would prefer a more subtle transition from the barrel to the grip section though.  I would highly recommend these pens because of their super smooth writing, bright colors, and the simple fact that you know you can rely on the quality of the Sharpie brand.

Sharpie Pen Review Updates.

Update 08/14/09: If you like the regular version, check out the review of the new Retractable Sharpie Pen.

Update 09/23/09: Check out the review of the Orange and Puprple versions.

Update 11/19/09: They have updated the Sharpie pen yet again, check out the Sharpie Pen Grip review.

©2017, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.