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Comment by imjoshdean | Hacker News Reader

They are fantastic pens, too. I've had one since high school (so...about 8 years now) and I've refilled the ink cartridge all of three times. A very VERY solid investment for writers.

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I keep a space pen in my pocket at all times. A Field Notebook in my back pocket, and I'm always ready to write things down.

Same, I've had one of these pens since 2007 or 2008. First saw them in HS, when the $20 or $30 sounded like a lot of money, when a grandchild of one of the founder(he claimed, and it would be an odd claim to make if it weren't true) was in a class of mine. I used to get made fun of, which hasn't bothered me since high school, until people started realizing they were always asking to borrow it to write down a note or sign a receipt.

After watching a YouTube of Adam Savage proclaiming the joys of the space pen, I went out and bought one of my own.

Great decision.

I watched the same video, love Adam and Tested.com, my favorite aspect of the pen is how small it is when you put the cap on. Fits in my pocket and I can't tell its there.

Edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bypi7h6WOGg This is the video of stuff Adam Savage carries on a daily basis. Interesting if you are a gadget nut.

I took it another step: http://imgur.com/JvMbVe4

I found a Stanley screwdriver that is great to carry around in my pocket. I used a bit of Instamorph to build a clip for both and now they don't slide around in my pocket!

I love this stuff.

So you refill the ink cartridge yourself?. Also point doesn't start acumulating ink and leaving stains in the paper like most pens?.

Yeah, it's dead simple, google "space pen cartridge" and you'll see. Also, I've not had the pen leave stains when using it.

omegant seems to think you're refilling the cartridge, rather than replacing it.

Yep that was my initial impression, I checked the site and the cartridges are quite inexpensive. I'll buy one to try.

Had mine since the 70s. Still works fine. Worth a million dollars in my book.

How did you manage not to lose it? Not losing things is worth a million dollars in my book.

This right here is the real problem I had with the space pen. I used to use them religiously until I was losing one every couple months.

The ones without the clips are the worst, because they'll roll off of anything. They also had a nasty habit of falling out of my pockets when I sat down/got up. They are excellent pens though.

It seems to have lead a charmed life. I lost several of the ones that had no clips, they just rolled away unseen over the years.

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