I don’t have answers for all categories, but the ones I have experience with:

• Pens - I’ve been very happy with my Parker Jotter the last maybe 5-6 years or so. I’ve got lots of different pens but this is the one I always go back to, and it’s still like new. Runs smooth, durable, super satisfying click, doesn’t dry out
• Ruler - basically any metal ruler without fancy features (no folding etc) that could break, and with etched markings rather than printed that could fade over time. You could probably get a cheap one at Walmart or something that satisfies this
• Water bottle - Nalgene, if you’re okay with plastic
• Backpack - if it’s just for school, Jansport are great. If you want to use it for travel or hiking too, Osprey are the best in my experience but they’re expensive and overkill for just school
• Wallet - Popov Leather have the absolute best leather wallets, belts, watch straps, etc in my opinion. Just find the style you like, they’ve got lots to choose from

I’ve heard good things about Fjallraven bags, but not sure about the school applicability.

Scissors, I’m a fan of the Fiskars kids scissors. Small and still pretty good performance.

Avoid the laptop; they’re just no good for learning. But if it’s absolutely required the MacBook Neo has performance for most student applications. No computer is BIFL.

Do they still replace or repair Jansport packs if you send them yours?

Because this is how my kid got through middle and high school. I bought him two Jansport packs, and he would ruin one by the end of the year, so I'd send it in, and they'd either repair or replace it, while he used the other one. Well worth the effort. He always had a new pack ready to go, and it only cost me the initial outlay.

Laptop

Get a few years old Thinkpad aim for 16gb ram. 500gb ssd i5 or i7 models. and install bazzite or Ubuntu on it. Those also run win 10/11 without issues but will have more life if run on Linux avoiding all the windows bloat.

Mechanical pencils are a lot more efficient that wooden ones plus there are many highend metal ones that could last a lifetime.

For a laptop you could look at a framework if youre looking to get a new laptop at like 800$ (its more expensive but is diy repairable)

For pens, I've found the cheap ones from Muji to be quite nice. They've a replaceable core and are also cheap if the body does break.

metal ruler

Is there such a thing as a non-BIFL ruler? Especially a metal one. They're basically a big stick. Not much that can go wrong there.

I am hitting Lemmy character limits so... this is Pt 1 I guess

Pt 1

Disclaimer

These are all recommendations from one particular internet weirdo. This is not the gospel truth. You should not take anything I say as final and should compare what I'm saying against what you're seeing other places. These are largely opinions I've developed over the course of many years living with an ADHD brain. I have, where I can (and where I remembered) included links to product purchase pages. These are not affiliate links. I just thought it would be easier to make decisions if you could actually see the things in an online storefront.

Further Disclaimer

I'm assuming from the set of items requested that the list is for a college aged student making moves towards living independently. I will be making some recommendations based on this foundation.

Final Disclaimer

If I skip a requested category it is not because I disagree with the asking, it is because I have no opinion on the subject matter and cannot provide valuable input.

Writing Utensils

Pens

Generally speaking, you want to ignore all of the hype fountain pens receive for being BIFL because your primary attrition mechanism on campus will be loss. It won't be until you leave college and enter the work force and have a first place (home), second place (work), and if you're lucky third place (bar, library, park) that you'll truly be able to trust that you'll know where to find lost writing utensils. It is true that fountain pens can have a lower environmental impact thanks to near infinite re-usability and water based ink, however they have a higher initial manufacture cost that completely obliterates your good intentions if you never see your pen again. Having several different places you make notes, study, and just generally write things down is incompatible with this form of writing device. If you do decide to get a fountain pen, anyway, treat it as a desk pen except for on particular occasions. Maybe you'll have like fountain pen fridays where you bring it with you. IDK. But keep that thang at in your room, not on you, and make sure you trust your roommate, okay?

Fountain Pens

Fine. I couldn't talk you out of a fountain pen. Okay. It's whatever. I don't mind. Here are my recs:

1. Platinum Preppy - While this pen is at first glance designed to be disposible, you can refill them for as long as you want, and it contains the same nib section as their $50 pens. If you get the EF you will be hard pressed to find a finer writer for less than $70. This is an EXCELLENT value pen. At $8 you will hardly be heartbroken if you lose it because you took it with you everywhere because you thought my advice was hokum Purchase link
2. Pilot Metropolitan - How time has passed this pen by. 10 years ago this was the most incredible deal anyone could imagine. Now it's $20 more expensive and instead of feeling like a steal it just feels like "Yeah you pay a little more for a little higher quality pen. IDK what to tell you." This is the TRUE BIFL choice in this proprietary cartridge/converter space. What the Preppy lacks in feeling like it can survive to your deathbed thanks to its plastic construction, the Metro gives you one of the most durable constructions in fountain pens at the cost of a paltry $25 more (this is nothing in fountain pens, yes I know that it's like 8 college ramen means, no I'm not trying to be disrespectful). It also looks like you're the senior director at an engineering firm when you carry it so you'll be able to exit college and keep using this without anyone batting an eye (and if they do it will be because you're writing with an expensive looking pen in an entry level job). I'd say keep this at your desk Purchase link
3. TWSBI ECO/ECO GO - This is the quirked up answer to the question. The "skip over the entry level experience straight to the premium experience, but still use entry level materials" solution to the problem. While these pens feel cheap (particularly the go) they offer much of what you would look for in a $150 pen. Truly excellent writing instruments. Not particularly durable, but for your desk and friday pen they should be fine. Less stuffy than the metro too so if the idea of looking like someone's manager makes you uncomfortable, this might be a more comfortable pick to be seen using. I don't know you or your life. These are great pens though. ECO / GO

A humble request

Please do not purchase from Goulet Pens. They fund the far right in Virginia. I used to advocate buying from them because they were local business to me, but they around 2019 started getting chummy with a very cult-y anti LGBTQIA+ church and the money you spend with them now makes it harder for me to to organize my efforts to keep my valley safe, the very same valley the owners at one time called home.

Gel Pens

This is where I think you should live for your primary notemaking instrument if you take your notes in pen. They offer a lot of the same advantages of fountain pens in terms of ink longevity without filling landfills with plastic waste (though they do a little bit thanks to the refill bodies, but it's still less than a disposable bic style ballpoint) while being able to write on a wider selection of surfaces, not needing any form of maintenance, and you won't really be heart broken if you lose one. Unlike with fountain pens where I have a few different recommendations depending on the experience you want, for gel pens I think (at least for me) there's a clear best gel pen, and it's the Uni Signo. It kind of doesn't matter which one, they're all great. Personally I prefer the retractable designs because a detachable cap is just something to get lost, though this is a very personal choice since you might see a retraction mechanism as just something to get jammed or broken. Here's a retractable, Here's a bulk purchase of capped ones to help you with your attrition rates. There is merit to either purchase.

I would be remiss though if I didn't take a moment to mention the current most popular gel pen amongst the people I talk to: the Uni One. It's like the Signo series but the ink is a little more saturated by using larger pigment particles to more completely cover the paper. Personally I don't like the fact that they run out of ink faster to achieve their higher color saturation and don't find the higher color saturation to be that valuable. But if you just read all that and said "yes please" here's a purchase link

Oh! And I need to mention the best gel pen you can buy at the store. The Sharpie S Gel. No purchasing link. The point is you'll see it at the store. These don't write quite like other gel pens, and a lot of gel pen enthusiasts hate these things. But do you know who loves these? Every day people who need to make quite notes in high pressure situations and not have to care what happens to them. They're basically the only pens you see medical professionals carry anymore. They're a writing experience not quite like any other (though actually they remind me of Sharpie's liquid pencil that they gave up on too soon). Give them a try.

Oh and I guess I should also mention the Pilot FriXion. These are erasable. I personally don't like them. But they're unique enough and useful enough that they should be mentioned. I'm not linking this either. But that's out of laziness. Sorry.

Ballpoint

Look. I hate writing with ballpoints, even the good ones, however, for certain uses, they're the best option there is. For example: I write checks. I know I know, I'm an ancient dinosaur who still roams the earth. But a good ballpoint is more equipped to write on more surfaces than a gel pen, or certainly a fountain pen, and can be nearly as resistant to fraud as the best gel pens and fountain pen inks, and will outperform most fountain pen and gel pen inks even if it's not a good ballpoint ink formulation. You should just own a ballpoint to be ready for the kinds of things ballpoints do better than other pens. Like say you do something irresponsible because you're still in school and all your bones still heal, and now you're at the hospital and you need to sign some papers and you just HAPPEN to still have your good ballpoint on you instead of using the hospital ballpoint. Congratulations! You're a little more resilient to fraud today than your classmates. You're also a little bit of a prepper. That's fine though. Everyone is a little bit of a prepper. It's just that people who self identify as preppers are usually prepping wrong.

Anyway.

The ultimate question you'll need to answer with your ballpoint purchase is "Pressurized... or no?" Pressurized inks will write on more surfaces and will be harder to lift via normal ink washing means, thus making them the ultimate ballpoint pen for doing ballpoint pen things. They also suck worse to write with than a normal ballpoint by way of being Maximum Ballpoint. If you don't get a pressurized pen, you'll probably want to get what's called a "low viscosity ink" ballpoint. This is a ballpoint pen that offers you all of the same advantages of a ballpoint pen while writing more like a gel pen. They're the least suck writing experience you can get with a ballpoint. These day basically every pen manufacturer offers some manner of low viscosity ink ballpoint. Having written with them I'd describe them all as "yeah, pretty good"

The best pen for math notes is the cheapest ballpoint you can find at your grocerie store.

Gel smears too much and you're going to be loaning pens to classmates so just keep a stack of cheap pens.