FSP - are they worth $20
mrude...@gmail.com
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
Neil Ford
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.
Joe Ganley
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 $20 on a pen than on a new pair of pants.
Plus, you can write upside-down. This sounds silly, but have you ever
tried to take notes standing up, with your paper against a wall (e.g.
writing down someone's contact info at a party)? Regular gravity-fed
pens stop flowing unless you hold the pen at an awkward angle. (You
can also write in space or underwater, but I haven't needed those
features yet.)
Justin Lilly
bought a FSP instead. I'd say its def. worth 20$ (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
gang...@gmail.com
form factor, but I don't like how they write. For $20 I rather buy a
box of pilot G-2 pens.
dmc
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?
Robert Lynch
> 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.
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...@gmail.com
Adam Rice
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.
Dipesh Navsaria
> 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.
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
Paul
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.
David Douthitt
> I have two questions about the FSPs (I see everyone raving about
> them...)
>
> (i) are they really worth $20 ?? for a pen ??
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....
dmc
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.
JC
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.
tuqqer
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.
Harvey Simmons
Of course, now I'm terrified of losing it. :)
Acolyte
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.
Neil Ford
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.
Harvey Simmons
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
Michael Ramm
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
JC
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!
Paul
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.
Mel
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.
Scott
could be an air pressure issue. I am about 1 mile above sea level. Do
they write better lower down?
JC
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.
Nikolai Weibull
> 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.
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);}
Tolovana
The store I went to did not have 'refill' versions of this great pen,
but as it turns out, the filler comes out by unscrewing the silver
end-cap, and you remove the extender that fits into the very end of the
tube, these fit perfectly into a Pilot Dr. Grip pen. They are smoother
than any roller ball pen I've used before, and the ink dries much
faster than the standard pilot refills.
Jacques & Tosha Perreault
made caused my lost FSP to stay lost. I like the design of it but it
just bothered me having to deal with the gathering of unwanted globs
on the tip..
JP
JC
(first use of the day since I use a Papermate Stick (throw-away) pen at
my desk mostly) and found no blobbing or gunk on the tip. I can't
remember needed to wipe the tip of this new refill since I got it so,
I'd say it's a safe bet they've corrected that too!
Just remember, make sure your new refill has a date later than March of
2005.
JC - Who's very glad he decided to give the FSP one more try!
Jacques & Tosha Perreault
I think I'm also going to give that Lamy Safari fountain a try too,
reading the thread on those from earlier has got me droolin'.. my
first pen-wriing love was a fountain I had some few decades ago.
Ain't much like pencil though, after all of these years!
JP