As you know, I have a weakness for buying stationery. Irrespective of whether I actually 'need' another pen in the house, if I see a pen when I am out and about and if it is either something I don't have already or I decide I have to buy it, then I will frequently come home with 'another pen'- however, there are worse habits than buying a 50p pen!. Fortunately, I write a LOT, and I draw and paint and tend to use stationery on a daily basis so there is no fear of my pen hoard taking over the house (yet!).

For me, BIC are a reliable, quality brand that you can trust. I buy BIC pens when they are on offer or when I see a slightly unusual ink colour or when they bring out a new type of pen (my curiosity gets the better of me). I have phases where I will prefer writing with fine pens- and for these times, the BIC yellow barrelled fine ball point pen is my pen of choice as I know the ink is not going to cut-out mid sentence unless the ink has actually run out and I know I am not going to get frustrated shaking the pen and having to re-write over words as the ink flow has become erratic (common faults of cheaper versions of the BIC fine ball pen).

**Product**
The BIC yellow barrelled pens are fine ball point pens with an 0.8mm tip that gives an 0.3mm fine line. The BIC website (www.bicworld.com/en) indicates each pen will give 2.5-3.5 km of writing!. The pens are light and easy to use. the cap has a safety hole in it but the pen will not run out of the cap is left off - it is more to protect other things from being drawn on whilst the pen is in your bag or a pocket.

**Availability**
BIC pens are widely on sale in newsagents, stationers, supermarkets etc., either in multipacks of 4, 10 or 20 or boxes (50) or individually. You can buy them online too and can get better multi-pack deals if you shop around.

**Range**
The BIC fine pens come in a choice of four colours: Red, Black, Blue and Green. It would be nice to see purple or one other 'non-standard' colour added, but that is just my opinion. For schoolwork and office work and 'professional' use, the existing ink colours cater fine.

**Would I recommend?**
Yes. If you like fine writing and a brand where you know from experience and from the BIC reputation that you are most likely going to be able to use the pen from the point you take the cap off until it actually runs out of ink, then this is the ball pen for you.

These pens are cheap and reliable- in supermarkets such as Tesco you can often get deals on 10packs of BIC pens for £2 etc so if you like writing with ball pens and are looking for a nice fine lined pen, then I would suggest looking online or at the stationery section in big supermarkets as you can get really good deals.