IIRC you got the Bullet; I have the Backpacker/Pocket-Tec, but find no rattle in mine. My refill has a spring, but seems held back firmly when screwed together. However, I can grip the nib and pull it down a bit against the spring.
Short EDC pens?
- Thread starter FlyFishn
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A pen that has even the most minimal rattle at the point is totally justifiable to dislike. Perhaps you can engineer a fix?
timbo114
Enlightened
Kitchen Panda
Enlightened
I had a Fisher space pen once, years ago, and hated it - it was always blooping out ink and you had to wipe the end off before using it, or it would streak. I finally lost mine and never replaced it.
I bought a couple of Zebra telescoping pens and found them very useful. Easy to extend, and when collapsed fit well in a pocket or small pouch, or next to a Leatherman tool. No key chain loop, though.
I picked up a Nite Ize "Inka" a while ago and its utility has grown on me, though it is seriously flawed. It's a keychain format pen, I can pull it out of its little carrying tube and use it as a short pen, handy for quick notes. If I need to write something longer, I can theoretically unscrew the storage tube from the key ring cap, unscrew the cap on the pen, turn the handle around and screw it into the pen body, then screw the pen cap onto the storage tube, making a regular-length pen. To store the pen again, merely reverse all these steps being careful not to drop any of the parts. It's no worse than field stripping an AR 15 while standing on a ladder in a rainstorm. But the stubby pen works well enough for the short bursts of writing I use it for. I put the key ring though the coil binding on a mini notebook and it rides in a cargo pants pocket, convenient for travel notes. They are expensive for what you get.
It's a stupid hack, but before I started carrying the Inka, I just carried a short metal refill for a Zebra pen in my wallet - stow it next to the center fold and it doesn't get bent, and I haven't had one leak (yet). It's the ultralight version of a pen. Uncomfortable to write with for any length of time, but OK for endorsing the back of checks or scribbling down items for a grocery list.
I bought a couple of Zebra telescoping pens and found them very useful. Easy to extend, and when collapsed fit well in a pocket or small pouch, or next to a Leatherman tool. No key chain loop, though.
I picked up a Nite Ize "Inka" a while ago and its utility has grown on me, though it is seriously flawed. It's a keychain format pen, I can pull it out of its little carrying tube and use it as a short pen, handy for quick notes. If I need to write something longer, I can theoretically unscrew the storage tube from the key ring cap, unscrew the cap on the pen, turn the handle around and screw it into the pen body, then screw the pen cap onto the storage tube, making a regular-length pen. To store the pen again, merely reverse all these steps being careful not to drop any of the parts. It's no worse than field stripping an AR 15 while standing on a ladder in a rainstorm. But the stubby pen works well enough for the short bursts of writing I use it for. I put the key ring though the coil binding on a mini notebook and it rides in a cargo pants pocket, convenient for travel notes. They are expensive for what you get.
It's a stupid hack, but before I started carrying the Inka, I just carried a short metal refill for a Zebra pen in my wallet - stow it next to the center fold and it doesn't get bent, and I haven't had one leak (yet). It's the ultralight version of a pen. Uncomfortable to write with for any length of time, but OK for endorsing the back of checks or scribbling down items for a grocery list.
letschat7
Flashlight Enthusiast
Glenn7
Flashlight Enthusiast
Tactile Turn great pens but in my opinion slippery at the grip. I had a Hidetoshi Nakayama bolt pen, heavy and strong but too thick at the grip. Now I have to write again sometimes in uncomfortable conditions - bad paper or not paper, writing vertically and in the cold, when most ink freezes. Bought a brass 6 facet pen for $10 from china, ~85 gram
The original refill writes very well, but it is a classic refill and does not write vertically. I inserted a Fisher space pen rod and now everything is fine. I had to add a thread lock to the handle of the bolt mechanism so that it does not unscrew by itself. Fisher rods come with me without a nozzle, so to increase the length to a normal size, I had to cut a piece of G10. The main task of this body is to protect the refill from bending and impacts. The ink is under pressure, and when the refill breaks, it's like an oil gusher in your pocket and you can have some fun
Fisher refills are very good. In 2016-17 bought an anniversary version of space pen for a gift to a friend, it had the original refill from 1987 or 1992. He started writing immediately and without any problems.
I thought about buying Caran D'Ache 849, they are aluminum, they cost about $ 30, they are quite reliable and light weight
The original refill writes very well, but it is a classic refill and does not write vertically. I inserted a Fisher space pen rod and now everything is fine. I had to add a thread lock to the handle of the bolt mechanism so that it does not unscrew by itself. Fisher rods come with me without a nozzle, so to increase the length to a normal size, I had to cut a piece of G10. The main task of this body is to protect the refill from bending and impacts. The ink is under pressure, and when the refill breaks, it's like an oil gusher in your pocket and you can have some fun
Fisher refills are very good. In 2016-17 bought an anniversary version of space pen for a gift to a friend, it had the original refill from 1987 or 1992. He started writing immediately and without any problems.
I thought about buying Caran D'Ache 849, they are aluminum, they cost about $ 30, they are quite reliable and light weight
Dave D
Flashlight Enthusiast
With reference to the Pilot G-2 XS, every day is a learning day!
The Pilot G-2's have been my favourite pen for about 20 years, I didn't realise that they did a shorter version, box of 12 ordered!
Thanks for the replies.
The FSP is definitely my favorite of the 2 I got. I really like the reversible cap to make it a regular length pen. Then when I close it up to store it the length is short enough it works perfectly where I store it. It could actually be longer while stored as it turns out, but the shorter length it is works just fine. It is comfortable to write with.
The Pen-Go is a PITA to use, in all honesty. I have tried to use it just to use it and gain some more experience with it but it just is a PITA. From a quality and functionality standpoint - it is a great pen in that it is very well made and the form factor of it on my keys is really nice as it is "always there". The hard part is the pen is so darn small I can't write much with it. As someone else said earlier with another small pen - it is about enough to scribble down a quick note, grocery list, or what ever. And that is a good enough reason to keep it around.
Thinking about it - there was mention of a key chain pen earlier that you could rework the parts to and use the "cap" attached to the key ring as an "extender" to the pen - kind of like the FSP. That partly makes sense, but would be a lot of work to get the cap off the key ring then screw it on to the pen to use it. If you had one pen and that was what you chose to do I suppose it would work, but that amount of work just to get a pen to "work" wouldn't be worth it in my book. So to that point I am still content with the Pen-Go as a quick access pen. Other than that, the FSP should routinely be handy enough I can have it as my primary.
The FSP is definitely my favorite of the 2 I got. I really like the reversible cap to make it a regular length pen. Then when I close it up to store it the length is short enough it works perfectly where I store it. It could actually be longer while stored as it turns out, but the shorter length it is works just fine. It is comfortable to write with.
The Pen-Go is a PITA to use, in all honesty. I have tried to use it just to use it and gain some more experience with it but it just is a PITA. From a quality and functionality standpoint - it is a great pen in that it is very well made and the form factor of it on my keys is really nice as it is "always there". The hard part is the pen is so darn small I can't write much with it. As someone else said earlier with another small pen - it is about enough to scribble down a quick note, grocery list, or what ever. And that is a good enough reason to keep it around.
Thinking about it - there was mention of a key chain pen earlier that you could rework the parts to and use the "cap" attached to the key ring as an "extender" to the pen - kind of like the FSP. That partly makes sense, but would be a lot of work to get the cap off the key ring then screw it on to the pen to use it. If you had one pen and that was what you chose to do I suppose it would work, but that amount of work just to get a pen to "work" wouldn't be worth it in my book. So to that point I am still content with the Pen-Go as a quick access pen. Other than that, the FSP should routinely be handy enough I can have it as my primary.
Unfortunate, in the USA, Fisher refills come with a little "Parker" adapter. I use Fisher for EDC because of the capabilities such as writing upside down or on a wall, and wet or oily conditions. But it is not the smoothest writing I have found, nor does it seem to last any longer than others, so I am tending towards Schmidt in my desk pens. I see Schmidt now makes a pressurized Fisher substitute, I would like to try them - but I seem to have a large supply of refills already!
Attachments
Exactly, I saw these white adapters somewhere, but I took a pack of 20 rods without these adapters
Thanks for the news about Schmidt, I read that they write very smoothly, but I haven't heard about their new analogs of gas pressure refills, I'll read about them now
For those interested in the Schmidt version of Fisher, it is the Schmidt MegaLine 4889 series. I do not try a lot of refills, but the Schmidt Easyflow is remarkably smoother than anything else I have tried; I do not know how this Megaline compares.
Donald
Newly Enlightened
I have carried a Fisher Bullet Space Pen for many years under my wallet. I hope it works for you. I often use a PR4F, i.e. fine point, since the thixotropic ink takes a bit more pressure, it gives me a finer line. There is a version that comes with a clip. The one I generally carry does not.
kaichu dento
Flashaholic
I've got a couple of the Ions and they've been my favorite pocket pen ever since I first gave one a try at the store. Thing that makes them so much better than a Fisher Space Pen for me is the fatter design, which coupled with the torpedo shape makes for an incredibly comfortable grip which allowed me to write for a long time without any hand fatigue, which was my main problem with the Fisher.
kaichu dento
Flashaholic
I'm going to give one of those a try and it's good to see another pen available for those of us who don't do well with a standard slim design.
letschat7
Flashlight Enthusiast
You ought to try a Mont Blanc fountain pen. They glide on paper.
Donald
Newly Enlightened
I have been trying to lighten my load. I switched from the 0.5 oz Ti version to the new 0.2 oz Pen-Go Ultem by Maratac (CountyComm). A bit longer but I also found that the Ultem Embassy pen and the Fisher Space pen both way about 0.7 oz. Maratac specs the Ultem Embassy pen at 0.75 oz; I only used my postal scale. Close enough for me. Enjoy your Pen-Go.
On the subject of small pens, I saw a Fisher Stowaway Space Pen at REI during one visit there. I have not noticed those at a store for a while. I have a couple stashed around.
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