We've covered the more traditional inking pen options best for using with your Vela lab notebook, but if you're looking for something easily accessible, here are a couple of Sharpie Permanent Markers and how this brand can be best utilized to get the desired results.
Sharpie “S-Gel”
This type of Sharpie is available in three colors (black, red, and blue) but only one medium width. They'll run you roughly $3 for a two-pack or $5 for a four-pack, which makes them an excellent budget option, but the trade-off is that their lifespan is relatively short with constant use.
Feel: These write pretty smoothly. They don't work especially well on Vela labels, but they're a great option for note-taking or general notebook use.
Bleed: The pens had essentially zero bleed. They stayed the same as when it was put down.
Show-through: There was no show-through on the other side of the page during testing.
Smear Test: This was probably the most impressive feature of these pens. There was no smear in the testing at all.
These are super nice for a gel pen option, especially considering the price.
Double-Sided Sharpies
You can choose the fine point or the standard tip with double-sided Sharpies. Both show through the regular finch paper, but for use with Vela labels, these are the best Sharpies for lab use. They don’t smudge after about two seconds, and they look really nice on the label. A six-pack will set you back around $10, making this another conscious option.
These Sharpie Markers weren’t very impressive. For the feel test, they were cheap and scratchy on the paper. Like the others, this permanent marker didn’t show through the paper. Compared to all the others, it was very cheap and felt worse than your average gel pen. Here is a photo of the Gelly Roll writing compared to the ink pens. The size is 06, and compared to the 05s of inking pens, it’s thinner and has a faded look. The quality is not excellent for note-taking or any other form of writing. It also does not work at all on the label.
