Contractor Space Pen -- Boing Boing Gadgets
On Boing Boing Gadgets, Joel has spotted a hot new "space-pen" from Fisher, the "Contractor Tool Space Pen." As with all of these pens, the ink is pressurized (so that it works in low-g, as well as upside down, etc), and uses "thixotropic ink," which can write on plastic, metal or even wet surfaces.
But as Joel notes, the sweet thing here is the case, which is chock-a-block with reference diagrams and and useful gadgets: "a built-in level, reference angles and ruler, and a magnetic case." Link, Discuss this post on Boing Boing Gadgets
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Unfortunately, the Fisher Space Pen was a pretty needless invention. It turns out that regular old ballpoints work just fine in zero G. No pressurization needed.
The old urban legend about the Russians using pencils is false though. Both the Russians and the Americans started with pencils, but the tip would break off and having a small piece of graphite floating around a lot of expensive and necessary circuitry is a bad plan.
However the problem arises when you want to mark a measurement on a surface you realize that the utensil for writing is also the one you're holding down for measuring. DOH!!
Ironically, the spirit level seems like it would pretty useless in the microgravity environment of space.
Not to be snarky or anything like that, but isn't the point of bbgadgets to separate the gadget posts from the regular BB posts? What, then, would be the point of crossposting this?
Re: The "needlessness" of the Space Pen. Wrong! I'd avoided non-fountain pens because even the most expensive sometimes refuse to write. How many times have you tried to write, even with an expensive ball point, only to find that you had to tap it, shake it, scribble back and forth on a scrap of paper, etc. to make the damn thing write. Doesn't happen with a Space Pen. Writes first time, every time, even on crappy or greasy paper. Best of all you can write when you're lying on your back in bed.
I LOVE my Space Pen; carry it everywhere.
I agree with #5, i have a fisher over ten years old and although it might seem clogged at first due to the dry up bits at the tip, it still writes smoothly as ever and i don't write often with the pen. It might be a gimmick at first but pressurised pen ink tube has some advantages to it. Coupled with a competitive price, i prefer them over other expensive pen anytime.