EDC Pen?

[Sigman]

I've carried a regular Space Pen for over 30 years (well had to replace one I lost on an Arizona mountain top while recovering a buck/filling out my tag)...

I replaced the standard medium cartridge with a fine tipped blue one and NEVER had any problems!!

It's ALWAYS with me! Comes in handy when trying to write in the rain, below freezing, or at angles for sure!!

You can get just the refills and they typically come with a little plastic cap that allows you to use them in Parker pens.

[Mi6]

Guys I just ordered this Porsche pen. I think it's perfect. Look here: http://shop21.porsche.com/usa/produc...072068A78B15AA

[NetMage]

At work its a Rotring Quattro. And I have something for emergency's in my SAK Cybertool.

[nethiker]

I use a Fisher bullet pen and like it a lot. I often wear a t-shirt and like to clip it to the neck.

Has anyone tried their MARS or Millenium pens that claim to never run out of ink? How is this done? Do they just put a lot of ink in one cartridge and figure they charge enough to send people new ones if they run out of ink before they are lost? Do they write the same as their regular pens? I figure it's probobly better to buy a couple of regular pens with a bunch of refills and you probobly end up ahead after a lifetime of writing, what do you guys think?

[Ned-L]

I use a Fisher bullet pen and like it a lot. I often wear a t-shirt and like to clip it to the neck.

Has anyone tried their MARS or Millenium pens that claim to never run out of ink? How is this done? Do they just put a lot of ink in one cartridge and figure they charge enough to send people new ones if they run out of ink before they are lost? Do they write the same as their regular pens? I figure it's probobly better to buy a couple of regular pens with a bunch of refills and you probobly end up ahead after a lifetime of writing, what do you guys think?

I bought the Chrome Millenium Fisher pen some years ago. It has a nice look and feel to it. If I am wearing a dress shirt it clips nicely into a shirt pocket. If I am dressed casually it carries nicely in my pants pocket. It is much closer to a full sized pen when the cap is posted. I like the clip better than the one for the space pen. It is removable, but really doesn't move unless you want it to.

I thought it would be the ultimate EDC pen except it had something of the "ink booger" problem that someone else described and didn't write as smoothly as the regular fisher refills. I left it in my desk drawer for at least a couple of years and then recently decided to see if Fisher would do anything about it. They said to send it back - and sent me a new one! They probably changed the technology a little because I have no complaints about this one and have made it my EDC. Based on the girth of the pen it must contain a lot of ink, but I haven't used it long enough to know whether it really lasts for years and years. Anyway, as it is not refillable, I can't and don't worry about carrying refills.

Ned

[Pook]

My pen of choice is the Rotring Core Rollerball its a rather oversized pen, but it definatley designed for man hands...

http://www.goldspot.com/Rotring_pens/Core/22468.html

Piers

[toos]

AG7 Space Pen in my shirt pocket, and a Bullet Pen in my wallet. They both always work.

[Joe Talmadge]

Guys I just ordered this Porsche pen. I think it's perfect. Look here:

Wow! If I had a pen fetish, I'd be cleaning my keyboard now

Like NetMage, I carry a Rotring Quattro. It's customized: blue Lamy pen refill (better than the Rotring refill, and way way way better than the horrible Fisher refilles), mechanical pencil, stylus, highlighter.

However, that's only for work. The Inka looks great as a hang-on-your-keychain pen; just ordered one.

[kennyj]

JimH: I (finally) got my Tool Pen in. How do you open this sucker up to change the refill? At the very least, mine needs lubrication... after pulling off the cap, I have to bang it against a desk repeatedly to get the point to actually extend. It looks like the flat screwdriver head has some play, but it doesn't want to pull out by more than one mm or so.

I can see this thing being exceptionally durable, and the weight seems reasonable (if a little beyond my preference) but if I can't make it reasonable to write with, it won't get anywhere near me as an EDC.

[Aloft]

I like the Fisher bullet pens. I'm intrigued by this new Inka Pen, but haven't bought one yet, as it's more expensive than the Fisher or Cross Ion, and the drool worthy titanium one is like $80! I have a telescoping Fisher as well, very cool, but still kind of new. Hopefully, I won't have the wear-out problem described by Steve C.

Really cool thing about Fisher: You can purchase "Invisible Ink" refills from Fisher for their space pens. The ink will flouresce when under UV light. Works great even with UV LED's, which tend to be closer to 'near UV' at the higher end of the UV wavelengths. Same price as the regular refills-- $5. It's kind of tough to write a long letter with them though, unless someone holds a UV light over the paper as you write!

[Lintott]

Here's my current EDC pen. It is a Tombow Object XL, which is a telescoping pen. It has got a pressurised refill, can write on wet paper, at an angle or upside down . It can be activated and deactivated with one hand (which is a problem with my Fisher space pen and I suppose would be a problem with the Inka pen if you want to use it at full length). The Tombow got a very nice solid quality feel to it when activating and deactivating it (it locks deactivated with a click). It weighs 21 grams. Highly recommended!!





I also sometimes use the LAMY Pico as an EDC, and it is nice as well but I like the Tombow better mainly due to better build quality and a more solid feel when acitvating and deactivating the pen. The Pico can also be operated with one hand.

[kennyj]

What's that made of? Aluminum? Looks pretty nice, and the weight sounds very reasonable.

[pokkuhlag]

How does the writing of the Tombow Object XL feels like compared to the inka and the fisher bullet pen? For the Germans, this is called Tombow XPA instead of Object XL.

[Lintott]

The Tombow is a ballpoint and it is about as smooth as any other good ballpoint pen I have written with. The main difference compared to the Fisher space pen that I have noticed is that I have to write with the Fisher space pen more upright than I would like to, otherwise the edge around the ballpoint scratches the paper which I find very annoying. Hence I do not use the space pen anymore.

My guess is that the Tombow is made from aluminum, but I could be wrong.

I have never tried the Inka pen.

[CLHC]

Wow! I like that Tombow you've got there Lintott. Wonder if it'll take RB or Gel refills though. . .

Enjoy!

[SJACKAL]

Nice pen, Lintott! Look very instrumental.

[Alloy Addict]

Lintott, does the Tombow Object XL ever end up with the tip exposed in your pocket? I have one of the telescoping Fisher pens, and most of the time it would come out of my pocket with the retractable tip pushed in. Many pockets with ink on the inside. Luckily the Fisher ink doesn't soak into things, and nobody can see the insdies of my pockets. Some stuff in my pockets ended up with ink on it too, and that was more problematic. I never carry the Fisher telescoping pen because of this.

If the Tombow is immune to this I will buy one ASAP, because I already like the way it looks. The hole for keyring or lanyard is a strong selling point too.

[liteboy]

I use pens a lot. The way to select a pen to EDC depends on how you dress and what you carry (your other EDCs). I always wear a shirt with pen pocket and a cheap disposable pen always resides there. Since I also carry a wallet, this neat pen resides there:
http://www.styluscentral.com/walletpen.html

finally, I also carry a Treo and this replaced the original stylus:
http://www.styluscentral.com/2in1stpenfor1.html

[Lintott]

Alloy Addict, no the tip has not become exposed by accident when carrying the pen in my pocket yet, but I have only had the pen for a couple of weeks. I can however see how it could happen if enough pressure is put on the tip cover. I do not think this will happen to me during normal carrying though.

[Alloy Addict]

I forgot to mention what my most carried pens are.

I usually carry a Fisher bullet style Spacepen with some shrink tubing on the cap to keep it from slipping out of my pocket so easily. I've lost at least 3 because they are so smooth. Somebody will reach down into their couch some day and find a nice pen.

I also carry a Cross Ion occasionally, or a Zebra telescoping pen. If I have a shirt pocket I have an older Rotring 600 that I love. When I used to work retail people always commented on how heavy the Rotring was when I handed it to them so they could sign the credit card receipt.

[CLHC]

Question for all ya'll. How's the "feel" of the other EDC'able pens (Fisher, Tombow, Inka, etc.) in your writing hand as compared to the A.T. Cross Ion?

[Alloy Addict]

The Ion feels really good in my hand, but only in one position really. That means I have to look at it to orient it the right way. The Fisher doesn't have this problem, though the groove around the grip area can be a little abrasive if you use the pen for a long time. I usually use it for short periods though, and it's not bad.

If I know I will be writing for a long time I will usually use a Pilot G-2 or a Dr. Grip.

[CLHC]

Right you are Paul!

Simply wanted to know about how it "feels" for short writing sessions. The "heftier" pens with some pronounced girth works very well for me, while the slimline ones tends to "cramp" up my hands. Wanted to know the others feedback on it.

Thanks!

Anymore?

[Double_A]

I used to carry the Fisher Bullet pen

Now I carry the Parker Jotter All stainless steel
http://www.parkerpen.com/sanford/con...RKERATT1000016

The latest pen I picked up was a tiny new Fisher Pen. About 4 inch long, about 3/16 diameter. Actually it just the Space Pen refill with a cap.

[Alloy Addict]

Double A,

The Jotter is a classic pen IMO. Very affordable and the pen itself will last forever if not abused. The Parker refills are good, plus the style is so common there are lots of other choices.

CHC,

I hear what you are saying about some pens being too slim. The bullet Spacepen might fall into that category for me, but not for jotting down a note or writing a check.

I like the fact that the Ion's rubber grip keeps it from sliding out of the pocket so easily.

[pedalinbob]

I'd go for the Fisher bullet pen. Small and fairly good. Not too expensive, so losing it wont make you cry too much. I usually have two on me...one clipped in a pocket and another in my wallet.

I had one of these about 10 years ago.

The ink was goopy, smearing on the writing surface. When I pulled the cap off, there was always a blob of ink sticking on the tip of the pen.

Are they any better now?

Bob

[Flying Turtle]

I've lately been clipping a nice little Zebra telescoping pen to my pant's pocket. Less than 4" long retracted. Works fine. I've used other Zebras for years and never been disappointed.

Geoff

[Alloy Addict]

I've lately been clipping a nice little Zebra telescoping pen to my pant's pocket. Less than 4" long retracted. Works fine. I've used other Zebras for years and never been disappointed.

Geoff

That's probably the one I mentioned a few posts up. I got two pens with two refills for ~$5. What a bargain!

The refills don't last very long though.

Bob,
The Fisher refills have gotten better since then. I stopped using them for a while because of that same problem. The ones I had in the 80's were great (I have one from 1986 that I still use occasionally), then they got pretty spotty on QC, and now they seem to be a lot better. I do have one right now that will sometimes have a small amount of ink on the tip, but nothing like they used to. The 3 or 4 other recent ones I have are fine.

[CLHC]

Hello Alloy Addict!

Yes, you're right about the A.T. Cross Ion's rubber nubs(sp?) being great for stopping the fingers from sliding forward while writing and aiding in a firm grip. That's why I like EDC'ing this particular pen, and its girth is much better "feeling" in my hands as compared to what I can "see" in the slimline Fisher Pens.

I thought there was another small statured pen that had some girth and heft to it sometime ago. It was made by a famous architect/artist/person(?) that I don't recall. I think he designed the Carrera line of accessories? . . .Each pen came with a leather case.

[lightcacher]

This is the one I carry:



Can't stand a skinny pen and this one is really comfortable. It's made by Papermate and called the PhD Metallic.