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Finally! No more lost pens!


Turtlebug

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I don't know about the rest of you, but I never seem to have my pen handy when I find a cache. I put them in my waist pack, I stick them behind my ear, I put them in my pocket. I lost three today alone (found them all later) and had to walk back to my car to be able to sign a log! Ugh!

 

So, I finally have figured out a solution. I'm attaching a photo. Sharpie now makes mini fine point markers (Office store) with a little triangular shaped loop on the cap. I've combined that with a "zinger" (fly fishing supplies). With less than $5.00 invested, the result is an impermeable, small writing instrument that will sign even the smallest nano-log and you don't have to rub the ball point on your shoe to get it to work!

 

And you can't drop it!

 

(Feeling pretty full of myself :D )

Turtlebug

zinger.jpg

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Your solution still costs money...I steal pens from work by the box, so I don't feel bad when I leave them in caches by mistake...

 

Jamie - NFA

 

I have the opposite problem, I always have the pen in my hand when Im rehiding, then it dawns on me that this pen belongs in the cache, take the cache out, replace pen, rehide cache... aarrggghh

Edited by atalon
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I bought one of these sharpies for the exact same reason -- losing pens -- but attached it to my key ring instead. You always have to have your car keys with you right!?!

 

The only problem I have run into in the past 3 months or so that I have had this is the occasional time the pen had unsnapped from the cap. Seems it only happens in my car (I find the pen on the floor), so it may have something to do with the way I insert my keys.

 

Like the idea of the gel pen though too!

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Kewl idea, but I think it could be improved upon. Lose the log killing Sharpie and buy a pack of Pentel Mini RSVP pens.

Because they are gel pens, they'll write more places than a standard ball point, and won't ruin the logs.

BK91MNBP5M.jpg

I really like this idea. I may have to give that a shot. Are those pens easy to find?

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Kewl idea, but I think it could be improved upon. Lose the log killing Sharpie and buy a pack of Pentel Mini RSVP pens.

Because they are gel pens, they'll write more places than a standard ball point, and won't ruin the logs.

BK91MNBP5M.jpg

I really like this idea. I may have to give that a shot. Are those pens easy to find?

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Kewl idea, but I think it could be improved upon. Lose the log killing Sharpie and buy a pack of Pentel Mini RSVP pens.

Because they are gel pens, they'll write more places than a standard ball point, and won't ruin the logs.

BK91MNBP5M.jpg

I really like this idea. I may have to give that a shot. Are those pens easy to find?

 

I just bought a pack last night at Wal-Mart for a small cache that I am getting ready to place. I figured it would fit in the container easier and I could use the rest for logging caches I find.

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I just carry a backpack with my log book and pens and pencils, and water bottles, and sweat shirt, and cache items, and travelbugs, and snacks, and ..................... I think I probably have about 20 pens/pencils with me at all times.

 

Then you pile the 2 yr old on my back while I'm carrying my walking stick, I look like I'm going on a 30 yr hike.

 

I like the gel pens, but they too will bleed in the rain/water. I don't let my guys use those while working in the field. Standard ball point pens only. If it get too cold, put it in your pocket for a couple of minutes, carry about a dozen pens and you just switch off every couple of words. :D

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In order to keep from losing my write-on-anything Fisher Space Pen, I use this new invention called a pocket. An ingenious device, I've found that if you look around hard enough, you can find them built right into some shirts and pants.

 

Here's how it works: When I need my pen, I reach into the pocket, retrieve the pen, and use it. When I'm done, I place the pen back in the pocket. I believe there's a PowerPoint presentation somewhere on the net that goes into more detail, for anyone who needs it.

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I just carry a backpack with my log book and pens and pencils, and water bottles, and sweat shirt, and cache items, and travelbugs, and snacks, and ..................... I think I probably have about 20 pens/pencils with me at all times.

 

That is exactly want I do. :P

 

sheesh where'd i put that backpack?

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Kewl idea, but I think it could be improved upon. Lose the log killing Sharpie and buy a pack of Pentel Mini RSVP pens.

Because they are gel pens, they'll write more places than a standard ball point, and won't ruin the logs.

BK91MNBP5M.jpg

 

After my last trip back to the car because I forgot a pen, I put one of these on my key ring right next to the car keys.

 

Today I lost my car keys :P

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Rookies.

 

If you think a keyring, carabiner or zip line can keep me from losing a pen, you're sadly mistaken.

 

I've had nearly 50 years experience at losing things. Like most people, I started out small, losing pens and pencils in school. As I got older I moved up to losing tools. Screwdivers, sockets, ratchets and hammers were never safe while I was around. I realized I had a problem when I started losing table saws and engine hoists.

 

But it's not all doom and gloom. Since nothing I've lost has ever been seen again, I got a job with the department of energy. They give me small packages of nuclear waste, and I set them down, turn away for a couple of seconds, and when I turn back the package is gone. The process does away with that whole messy process of finding a place to store the waste for the next 10,000 years.

 

I theorize that all the things I've lost are somehow transported to an alternate reality, a sort of parallel dimension. While the inhabitants of this dimension might have appreciated the things that began appear in their world at first, I'm sure that finding places to keep it all has long since become a problem, and the recent addition of toxic waste has probably got them downright pissed. I take no joy in knowing that if an inter-dimensional war is declared soon I am probably the reason.

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Kewl idea, but I think it could be improved upon. Lose the log killing Sharpie and buy a pack of Pentel Mini RSVP pens.

Because they are gel pens, they'll write more places than a standard ball point, and won't ruin the logs.

BK91MNBP5M.jpg

 

I have been using gel pens lately because they really leave a nice dark signature in the logs, as compared to regular ink. I have, however, run all of the ink out of a couple of gel pens simply by signing logs. I know that I have been finding a lot of caches lately, but I really think that gel ink must evaporate more quickly, or just doesn't last as long as regular ink. Has anyone else noticed this?

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Kewl idea, but I think it could be improved upon. Lose the log killing Sharpie and buy a pack of Pentel Mini RSVP pens.

Because they are gel pens, they'll write more places than a standard ball point, and won't ruin the logs.

BK91MNBP5M.jpg

 

A while back, I got a 12-pack of mini-pens like these, except they were black, at Staples. They were about 5 bucks. I put some in caches as trade items, but I'm hoarding the rest. Only drawback is that when you put them in a pocket, you have to fish for 'em.

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I have been using gel pens lately because they really leave a nice dark signature in the logs, as compared to regular ink. I have, however, run all of the ink out of a couple of gel pens simply by signing logs. I know that I have been finding a lot of caches lately, but I really think that gel ink must evaporate more quickly, or just doesn't last as long as regular ink. Has anyone else noticed this?

Another advantage of the Fisher Space Pen. Since it has a sealed cartridge, rather then the open-end cartridge used in regular ink and gel pens. It's shelf-life is estimated at about 100 years.

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I like the gel pen idea. I may get some of those. All of my cache pens have recently moved from my car to my pocket to my nightstand. If I get on of those pens, I could put it on the keychain compass I have. Of course, a couple minutes before I find the cache and say "I wish I remembered my pen" I usually say "I wish I remember my compass"

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I like the gel pen idea. I may get some of those. All of my cache pens have recently moved from my car to my pocket to my nightstand. If I get on of those pens, I could put it on the keychain compass I have. Of course, a couple minutes before I find the cache and say "I wish I remembered my pen" I usually say "I wish I remember my compass"

 

Be careful about keeping the pen in your pocket, otherwise you may end up with ink spots on your pockets.

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I most always carry a PaperMate POGO ballpoint, small enough (under 4") to carry in a pants/vest pocket, retractible so it don't make a mess, has a ring to which you can attach a lanyard if you want or clip it on a carbineer. Of course my back pack, swag bag and vest has a Space Pen and lots and lots of pencils.

Oh yes, a slightly shorted refill from the POGO is carried in the battery compartment of my MAP60C, won't work in the pen but it can be used alone in am emergency.

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pack of 20 pens is 40 cents at wal*mart right now.

 

same price as one of those fancy pens, you can have more pens than could be stolen in the time it took that pen to run out of ink, even if every visitor took two.

 

:blink:

 

Ahh ... the eternal question, "Buy a bunch of cheapies, or one really expensive one that I know I won't lose." I've tried both methods and found both wanting. So, to heck with buying ... just steal any pen that isn't nailed down, chained down, or attached to a fellow cacher by a 'biner, key chain, or thingamabob! :huh:

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Fisher space pens are available in a couple different sizes. I have a micro Space pen and the beauty of it is that you can write on just about anything. Especially damp or wet logs. Not mention underwater or on oil soaked paper even. Yes I have written on both as well as birch bark when the log was missing and that was all I could find. You can find them on the net. Yes they are more expensive however you pay for what you get. As far as losing it, I haven't lost it yet and I have had it for 7 years. The one I have had no pocket clip so I took the pocket clip of off a pentel mechanical pencil and slipped it on. It hasn't moved or came off yet.

Just my two cents.

Happy caching

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I just carry a backpack with my log book and pens and pencils, and water bottles, and sweat shirt, and cache items, and travelbugs, and snacks, and ..................... I think I probably have about 20 pens/pencils with me at all times.

 

That is exactly want I do. :huh:

 

sheesh where'd i put that backpack?

Somewhere :blink:

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