I have two questions about the FSPs (I see everyone raving about
them...)

(i) are they really worth $20 ?? for a pen ??

(ii) how long does the ink last ?? is it refillable or must it be
replaced ??

I love the idea of the every-ready-pants-pocket tool for GTD, but $20
seems like a lot of money...

Thanks in advance.

mfr

On 18 Jul 2005, at 17:58, mrudege...@gmail.com wrote:

Can't comment of the Fisher Space Pen, but I bought a Lamy Pico at  
the weekend (http://tinyurl.com/b6oul) which cost £26 (approximately  
$40). To me it was worth the expense, to others it may not be.

Prior to that I was using a Cross Ion which cost £20 ($30).

These kind of prices seem about standard for quality, pocketable  
writing implements.

For cheap, swipe a few pencils from Ikea! ;)

- Neil.

They are refillable -- the refills cost about $5.

And yes, they're totally worth it.  At least for me -- I rarely wear
dress shirts or any similar attire in which I could clip a regular pen,
so having one that's small enough (and sufficiently lacking in
pointy/sharp parts) to drop in my pants pocket is essential.  I figure
I'd rather spend $20 on a pen than on a new pair of pants.

Plus, you can write upside-down.  This sounds silly, but have you ever
tried to take notes standing up, with your paper against a wall (e.g.
writing down someone's contact info at a party)?  Regular gravity-fed
pens stop flowing unless you hold the pen at an awkward angle.  (You
can also write in space or underwater, but I haven't needed those
features yet.)

As a poor college student, I abstained from a night on the town and
bought a FSP instead. I'd say its def. worth 20$ (check ebay, you may
get them cheaper). The ink is refillable (again, check ebay) I find
that I enjoy writing on paper moreso than the computer now due to
having an enjoyable writing implement. I also feel a lot more like a
"professional" or "grown up" with having a spiffy pen on me at all
times (though the moleskine helps as well).

hope it helps,
  --justin
--
Justin Lilly
University of South Carolina
http://justinlilly.blogsome.com

To play the devis' advocate. I am not crazy about the FSP. I like the
form factor, but I don't like how they write. For $20 I rather buy a
box of pilot G-2 pens.

Does anyone else have problems with the ink pooling at the tip of the
SP?  I had one and whenever I started to write there would be a spot of
ink from where it pooled at the tip.  Because of this, I didn't replace
it when I lost it.  Was I the only one who had this problem?

On 7/18/05, Neil Ford <n...@smudgypixels.net> wrote:

After losing a couple of Fisher Bullets, I bought a chrome-finish
Pico.  I liked the fact that it's wider than the Fisher.
Unfortunately, I lost the Pico, too.

I'm not a pen-loser, but I think the smooth finishes on those pens may
help them slide up and out of my pocket when I stretch out on the
couch at home.

My current pocket pen is a Cross Ion (chrome finish again), which may
stay put better because of the little rubber knobbies on the grip.
But I don't like how it feels in my hand as much...

I recently bought a two-pack of the Zebra Telescoping ballpoints ($5
for the two-pack), but the sharp edges on the pen scratched the
display on the cellphone that lives in the same pocket.  Handy pen,
but not a pocket pen -- fits nicely across the top of my small
Moleskine, though.

--
Robert Lynch
robert.ly...@gmail.com

I  stopped using my space pen because of this ink pooling problem.
Perhaps the pressure that allows zero-G writing has some occasional
side effects. It took a while for the ink to start misbehaving, so
maybe it just meant I was due for a refill.

In any case I'm very happy with my latest expensive (read: costs more
than 10/$1) pen discovery: the Uniball Jetstream. It writes like melted
chocolate on a pillow (I have no idea what that means) and the ink
dries quickly enough for my smudge-prone left hand.

I had this issue but switched from the medium-point Fisher refills to
the fine-point.  No real problems since I did that.  I have the FSP
"bullet" model in my keypack as an emergency pen, but my "daily pen" is
a Sensa with a FSP refill in it.  The soft, gel-like "Plasmium" grip is
comfortable and it makes a difference when I'm writing those long, long
admission history & physicals in the hospital.  (One of these days
we'll be all electronic, I hope...)

So for those who complain about $20 for the FSP...heck, I spent more
than double that from the Sensa.  But then again, I rarely, rarely lose
pens, so it was a good investment for me.

Peace and Prosperity,
Dipesh

I've been really happy with mine, and haven't had the ink-pooling issue
that some have had, although I've read about that elsewhere as well.
My previous daily writer was the Cross Ion, which I loved at first, but
I did have some ink pool  troubles with it.

I'm still waiting for the opportunity to write through butter.  As soon
as that happens, I'll be sure to post it here.

Perhaps I'm a fish out of water here, but I love these Zebra F-301 pens
- and they're something like $5 for three (black, blue, and red).

I can't seem to keep pens for any length of time (am I the only one?).
So I'd rather spend as little as possible while still getting a good
quality pen - and these seem to be quite sturdy.

Why spend $20 for something you'll lose in a week?  It's a pen, after
all....

I picked up a pack of the Uniball Jetstream and I have to agree that
this is an incredibly smooth ball-point.  It is almost like writing on
wet ice, there is very little resistance.  The ink is jet-black.

This is immediatly my favorite pen.

The bullet pen is truly a joy to hold (for those who haven't lost it)
since it's so smooth. I would sometimes find myself watching TV while
playing with it in my right hand - letting it slip around my fingers...
very relaxing.

The refills are another story (for me). They work great right out of
the blister pack but, after a few weeks, they start to write like a
cheap ballpoint pen. They'll skip and force you to lay down too much
pressure to get that once inky-black line it used to run. The FSP I
bought had a sign on the box that read, "Writes like a fine fountain
pen" - hardly the case IMO.

Still though, to this day, I keep trying it out from time to time,
hoping I'll find it's working better but I keep getting disappointed
each time. I've written Fisher about this and they mailed me
replacement cartridges (for free) so I have absolutely no gripes with
their service - just their refills. If I could put a Parker BP refill
into my bullet pen, I would. It's a shame they don't write better.

Glad to hear others talk about FSP's "lost factor". Perfectly designed
to slip out of a pocket. And the ones with the clips: the clip slides
off, and *then* slips out of the pocket. Agreed, they're a lovely pen,
though.

I picked up a matte black bullet FSP this weekend at Staples ($15.99). It's
great. I keep finding myself absentmindedly spinning it between my fingers.
One interesting thing about it: it's heavier than it looks. I usually prefer
a wider pen, but it's very nice.

Of course, now I'm terrified of losing it. :)

On 7/23/05, tuqqer <tba...@comcast.net> wrote:

After losing my FSP I'm currently using a Pico too (matt black though,
doesn't slide around as easily), but I'm dissapointed by the ink (so
maybe I need a different refill). After the write-on-anything ink of
the Fishers it's hard to go back to a regular pen, constantly having to
make some up/down scratches with the pen before the ink starts flowing
again. I like the way it expands, but I prefer the FSP form factor.

On 26 Jul 2005, at 19:14, Acolyte wrote:

I have to admit, after a week of use I've retired the Pico and gone  
back to using the Ion. I'm living with the medium point because the  
quality of the ink is so much better, but that will be down to the  
difference between gel ink and traditional ballpoint ink. That and  
finding that having the Ion on a lanyard is more convenient than I  
realised means I tough out running over the lines on certain HPDA forms.

So if anyone in the UK wants a matt red Pico with 3 fine refills,  
drop me a line. I'm sure we can do a deal.

- Neil.

When I bought my FSP this weekend, the Ion caught my eye, but my curiosity
about it was overcome by the lower price of the FSP. I like the loop on the
Ion, and now I'm considering drilling a hole in the cap of the FSP to hang
it from a lanyard.

Of course, since I'm 6' 2" and have a 17 1/2" neck, I'm going to have to
start making my own lanyards. :)

I may have to try out the Ion when my next bout of pen-lust strikes.

ha3rvey

On 7/26/05, Neil Ford <n...@smudgypixels.net> wrote:

I bought an Ion last week and I LOVE it. I do not use the cap and
lanard option (I am 6' 5" with a 17 1/2 neck also.)

I bought it specifically to carry in my pcket. It works great and
writes incredibly easy. I use it mainly for my HipsterPDA, but since I
bought a new iPAQ, the HPDA may go the way of the dodo.

I do find it interesting that I use my Ion at my sons preschool to
sign him in/out even though there is a perfectly good pen sitting on
the sign-in sheet.

Buy the Ion...you won't be sorry (unless you don't like it, then you will.)

Michael Ramm

On 7/26/05, Harvey Simmons <hscater...@gmail.com> wrote:

There *is* something different about the new FSP!

I picked up a new one a few days ago and ordered a blue lacquer bullet
for my wife. I immediately noticed a HUGE improvement in the ink these
new pens (their refills) laid down. I sent a quick e-mail to Fisher and
received the following response:

"Mr fisher has changed the point to write as smooth as a roller ball."

I do have to give credit to Fisher as the new refills really do write
smoother, darker and have now eliminated the small gaps I used to see
when making small, looping "e's" on the page.

I'm once again sold on Fisher Space Pens!

JC - who is really happy he decided to check in here again!

Interesting about the Fisher point upgrade - I wonder if the 5 refills
I just bought on Ebay are the new or old style...  My FSP (on its 1st
cartridge) writes really nicely, without any of the issues that some
users have mentioned.

Before the Space Pen, the Cross Ion was my weapon of choice.  I thought
the original cartridge wrote beautifully, but subsequent refills were
not so good.

If you check out the 43Folders site, there's a link to a short Business
2.0 article that Merlin did on the Space Pen.

I also bought the Zebra Telescoping ballpoints pack. I love them, but
then I have a flip phone, so no screen scratches. Plus, I can clip them
to a shirt when I feel the need.

It's my secondary pen, though. My first pen is the Pentel EnerGel
retractable. I just love how it writes, but it is a shirt clip pen, not
a leave-in-the-pants-pockets-just-in-case pen.

I have found that the FSP do not write very smoothly. I wonder if could
could be an air pressure issue. I am about 1 mile above sea level. Do
they write better lower down?

Scott, if your FSP refill has a date stamped on it any earlier than
2005, return it to Fisher for a replacement. They swapped out the
materials used for the ball point itself and now writes drastically
better than before.

Otherwise, air pressure (normal, "earth" variances) shouldn't have any
effect on the Space Pen. If you ever have a problem with a Fisher pen
or refill, send it back. Fisher customer service is second to none - I
can vouch for them on this issue.

JC - who can be seen frequently patting his front, right pants pocket
to be certain his FSP (a prized possession) hasn't silently slipped out.

I know how that goes.  In fact, I do that with all my pockets; the
result of someone once trying to pick my pocket,
        nikolai

--
Nikolai Weibull: now available free of charge at http://bitwi.se/!
Born in Chicago, IL USA; currently residing in Gothenburg, Sweden.
main(){printf(&linux["\021%six\012\0"],(linux)["have"]+"fun"-97);}