EDC Pen?

[Repsol600rr]

There's an f701 with the plastic by the clicker as shown in that picture and the ones with the metal there. I have the metal ones. I throughly abused my first one, through tens of thousands of clicks and dozens of drops, until I lost it. Abused enough that I had to take chunks out of the metal tip with pliers because dropping it on the tip can deform the metal, but if you bend it back or take the chunk off it's fine. That's the only complaint I have is that the metal tip is brass I think and not too hard to deform and prevent opening the pen. But it's also easy to unstick with some pliers or ramming a sacrifical refil from one of the grabage pens they give us at work through the opening. Actually the other issue I have is the tip screws into plastic thats in the barrel. Its not metal threads. (Edit: I think it irks me because they advertise as "all metal inside and out" and then the threads are plastic). But this has yet to be an issue so its a theoretical problem, not one I've actually had. Wish the tip was a stronger design in general so it wouldnt deform that way in first place. That being said I've now been abusing my second for the past year or so. I'd happily have another if I loose this because I know I won't break it anytime soon. For like $9 they are workhorses. I have no idea how you broke yours so easily Monocrom lol. Maybe you had the f-301. I disintegrated one of those almost immediately before I found the 701

 

[jz6342]

Curious if yours is an older model or one of the newer ones. Bought one of the newer ones a couple of years back. It literally fell apart in my hands days after getting and EDCing it.

I bought mine in 2019 and have carried them almost daily since. Never had any issues. I did buy the F-301 as a back up; they have a plastic grip area that has failed on several occasions during my carry of them.

 

[Repsol600rr]

That was my issue with the f301 as well. For how I like to carry my pen I needed a smooth barrel with no rubber or traction material at all or it would snag. So I tried the f301 and first drop snapped it at the plastic part. This made it no better than the free pens at work which break when someone else looks at a different pen in a different room funny. No such issues with the f701. Another day faithfully trucking away at work today.

 

[bykfixer]

A Mag-Lite pen by Cross

 

[hsa]

^ ???

 

[nfetterly]

Currently, I'm never without a Uniball Jetstream. It uses some sort of funky ballpoint / gel hybrid ink that lays down *very* smoothly for a ballpoint. It can be found in any stationary store for around $2 or $3, I've found.

I do want a pen that's better-built, but I don't like heavy pens (based on what I have owned so far.) I also own a Sensa Stylus with gel ink, which weighs in at about 1.5oz, and I find that it causes me to press down harder than I'd like, resulting in a thick line. I'm not fond of the soft grip either... while comfortable, it makes me grip harder to compensate for its "squishiness" and also robs me of some control. I do like its reassuring solid feel, though.

Interestingly, I find its .7mm point to be almost identical in smoothness to the Jetstream's 1mm point, but I prefer a light-handed writing style... so while the Jetstream barely touches the paper and leaves a thin and precise line, the Sensa unavoidably gets pressed down and leaves a thick line that my small handwriting doesn't agree with. Swinging that weight around also makes my hand tired much faster. Perhaps I'd have an easier time if the pen balanced differently, but I doubt the fatigue would go away.

SHould try the TiDesign pens - as long as you stay away from Brass, copper, stainless - 3 different lengths, mag cap (great) and depending on length it can take the Jetstream.

 

[bykfixer]

^ ???

Mag-Lite used to sell Cross pens with their logo on the clip.

I found it at the clearance section at their e-store

It's a dandy.

When Mag-Lite changed to MagLite they placed everything with the "-" in the logo in the clearance section.

It's one of those weighty twisty pens that is a little larger than their classic pen/pencil set and not as large as their large girth pens.

 

[hsa]

I didn't know about that. Pretty cool.

 

[bykfixer]

A while back in an office store I picked up one of their house brand pens called TUL (pronounced tool). A weighty metal body pen that sat in my desk drawer a few months, I found myself needing a pen. I figured why not try out the TUL.

I think it was around $8 at Office Max.

It came with 2 black refills and a blue. Waterman refills will work.

What a joy that pen was to use. It wrote everytime it touched the paper no questions asked, no scribbling needed to kick start, and best of all no smearing. It's a fine point I believe. Anyway I stuck it back in the drawer for another time when I need a good pen.

And tonight Mrs Fixer gave me a "bookaroo" stationary pen that uses a paper mate refill.

Next to a Pentel P205 o.5mm pencil for referrence.

The packaging is flat so it'll be a bookmark. It too is a weighty little number with a thin rubberized coating with just enough texture to feel grippy but still easily slide in/out of a shirt pocket. Can't say much for how well the pocket clip will stay attached though. But $3 at a Books-a-Million is worth the effort to find out. If it comes off it'll make a good desk pen holder pen.
Oh, it writes like a much more expensive pen too.

I think the TUL will replace my edc Cross clicky but the jury is still out on that one.

 

[ilikeguns40]

Fisher space pen. Simple and reliable

Zebra F-701. Best pen I've ever used, currently use a fisher space pen cartridge in mine and it has become my favorite

If you have the funds. USG TiScribe Go is an excellent pen. But note they use the same cartridges as you'll find in a standard cheap pen

 

[bykfixer]

I found myself in a pen store one day. I mean nothing but inkpens in this maybe 800sf store. I was looking for a cap for a Waterman the company I worked for have given me for an anniverssary one year. This blue blood lady looked down her nose at me and says "eh hem, we don't sell parts we sells pens". I said "oh yeah how much is that one?" pointing to one in the display case. She says "oh that's in our affordable selection, it's only $3,500".

I accidently quipped "rich people are stupid" and left.

 

[ilikeguns40]

Even if I was rich, I highly doubt I could bring myself to spend $3500 on a pen. That pen better be able to write words itself

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

I'm not fancy about pens in the slightest and even if I was snobby, I don't have the disposable income for pens and flashlights together

So my carry is a Linc Scrit 0.7mm - actually two, one blue and one black. They write like quills, no pressure at all needed. Only downside is their ink runs out pretty fast, much faster than a BIC.

 

[Christoph]

This has been in my pocket for a fer years I have the polished ti

 

[sween1911]

Best bang for the buck I've found is the Zebra F301 Compact. As many cool pens as I've tried to carry around with me, nothing disappears in the pocket like that. Light in weight, work and writes like a fullsize pen, you won't cry if you lose it.

 

[fulee9999]

I still carry the Fisher Space Bullet with blue medium ink ( for years now ) and it's been great so far.
I read a lot about the medium being leaky ( first I heard about that issue was here ), but I use a black medium for office duty, the blue medium that I carry around and take notes with, and we have a black medium hanging on the fridge that we use to write the groceries list and none has leaked so far. My only issue was that one of them was the plastic body fisher pen and after the third fall from the fridge it no longer clicked, but I bought a $2 host for it and it's back in service.

 

[aginthelaw]

I like the tul pens. Have a half dozen if my wife hasn't found them. I like them a lot better than my cross click that hasn't worked since the day I bought it. The Pen Company I bought it from went out of business right after I bought it. I hate this decade.
The waterman store was a lot friendlier than bykfixer's. They had a yearly special edition pen they talked my mother into buying. She showed her d. l. Because it was her birthday. And it was Friday the 13th. And they thought i was her brother because she looked so young. Weird thing is they gave her a few hundred off the already discounted price, without even asking. She sold it before she even used it, for over the msrp (didn't even asking if i wanted it) and bought another one because it "had the right amount of purple "

 

[aginthelaw]

View attachment 38445

I don't see this one on their website…

 

[Monocrom]

For quite awhile now, several months, I've switched over to a Shaeffer 100 gloss black ballpoint pen. (Chrome accents.) Not expensive at all. Solidly built. Not some thin plastic piece of junk. When you expose the tip, you're not writing blind. Could be pressed into service as a tactical pen if needed. But thankfully not marketed as such. As of now, Shaeffer makes one of the better B.P. pen refills out there. It's proprietary. But unlike in the flashlight world, that's perfectly fine and acceptable (at least with the bigger brands like Shaffer). Looks classy with its restrained good-looks. Business setting or formal get-together, would not look out of place.

Only thing I don't like is the twist mechanism is far too smooth for my taste. No, the pen doesn't rotate open in your pants pocket. And most of the time, not an issue. If you're writing a long letter, the pen starts to very slowly close up on you. But for jotting down your signature or a short memo, not an issue at all. I think Staples still sells it. I know they sell the refills for it.

 

[ghostguy6]

Fisher space pen. Simple and reliable

Zebra F-701. Best pen I've ever used, currently use a fisher space pen cartridge in mine and it has become my favorite

I use the same. I started using the F701 with the f401 metal clicker mod back in 2007. Now I believe the F701 is all metal construction. Fisher or Rite in the Rain cartridges are a must around here in the winter.

I have several pens from Cross, Parker, Uzi, Fenix, and even a Monteblanc somewhere in a box but always end up reaching for the 701's

I recently picked up some of the those Olight mini's and they seem ok so far. I just wish they were a little longer to accomidate a fisher cartridge.