Dean's World

For Christmas, my friend Joel bought me a basic, no-frills, very practical gift: a Fisher Space Pen.

There is a widespread urban legend about Space Pens. The story goes that during the Space Race in the 1950s and 1960s, the U.S. government invested millions of dollars trying to invent a pen that would write in space. Meanwhile, the Russians just used pencils.

This story, while funny, is absolutely false in all its particulars.

The U.S. government did not spend one dime on the development of these pens. They were designed by Fisher in their own offices. They had been designing pens for years, and when they designed these pens they just wanted a pen that would write at any angle and in harsh weather, and that didn't have the problem of running dry before the ink ran out. Calling it the Space Pen was an ingeneous marketing move, and it was a coup that they were able to get NASA to go ahead and use them.

Oh yeah, and: the Soviets (now the Russians) have been using these pens on their own space missions for decades.

There's obviously a certain "geek factor" with these pens; it's fun to say you have a Space Pen. But if you laugh and say, "who the heck needs to write upside-down or in space?" you're totally missing the point. If you get one of these pens, you get a pen that:

1) Never runs dry unless it's actually out of ink.

2) Never has to be shook to get it to write. It always writes perfectly the instant you put it to paper.

3) Never requires you to find a piece of scratch paper to "get it started." It always, without fail, writes as soon as you put the point to a surface, even if you've left it sitting in a drawer or pocket for weeks.

4) Writes perfectly at any angle, which means that if you're walking around with a clipboard, or carrying a shopping list, or standing up writing a check, or sitting on a lounger writing notes, or are even writing notes flat on your back in bed, you never have to care what angle you're facing.

5) Writes in any weather, so if you work outdoors your pen never freezes up. (Apparently, a lot of cops and construction foremen really love these pens.)

6) Yes, if you happen to be an astronaut in space, or a SCUBA diver underwater, it'll still write no problem.

As it happens, the pens also write very smoothly and cleanly. They have a great feel.

These are damned fine pens. You can pick up refills for them for only a few dollars. You can even get Space Pen refills for other brands of pen, so if you have a fancy pen that you like, you can get a Fisher Space Pen cartridge for it.

I love these things. The Fisher company web site has lots of cool info on their history and their whole product line of universal refills, various pen models, and so on.

I do love America. :-)

* Update * Annika, in response, notes her own favorite fountain pen, the Pelikan, which I must say has to be the naughtiest but most beautifully poetic description of a pen I've ever read.

You are a wicked, wicked girl, Annika.