Favorite Geocaching Pen

[+alanfreed]

Ok, here's one out of left field for you! Do you have a favorite pen you use for Geocaching?

 

I had a favorite pen that I accidentally grabbed from a cache in Cozumel earlier this year. It was a Royal Caribbean cruise line pen, and it was great for caching because it always wrote nicely and it was one of those pens that you click open (as opposed to ones that have a cap). This was nice because if I have my GPS in one hand, I can click the pen with the other hand and not need a third hand to carry the pen cap.

 

I mentioned that I had a "favorite caching pen" to a fellow cacher who mentioned that his favorite caching pen has a nice, thin tip to it, making it easier to sign logs on micros.

 

So I accidentally (and ironically, considering how I obtained it) left my favorite pen behind in another cache recently. I miss it. If you have a favorite caching pen, let's hear about it! Don't forget to mention where it's sold

[+ElliPirelli]

I might be wrong, but is this the right forum for this topic?

 

I have several ball pens in my caching bag, to make sure I always have a pen on me...

So my favorite is the one I actually have with me, and not left in the car.

 

No I don't have a specific make there, just merchandise give aways.

The best ones are those with few screwable parts as I tend to loose bits of them...

 

Regards, ElliPirelli

[+rhelt100]

Hiya Alan, nice to see a local in here. My preferred caching pen is a Pilot G2. However, I'm constantly losing pens and G2s are pretty expensive so I'm just as likely to have whatever I find lying around at home or work.

[+alanfreed]

I might be wrong, but is this the right forum for this topic?

 

Oh, crap... you're definitely right! I stumbled into the wrong area...

[avroair]

Is the pen trackable?

[+Landsharkz]

I really like the Pink Papermate pens for caching or for at the office, but even more important is a pen that WORKS!

 

The best part about the pink pen is that the fellow I work with is unlikely to pinch it .

[+Droo]

Pens? They take too long... I use stamps. Oh, and hey they even come with a pen attached!! Mine's not trackable so I don't believe we should be discussing it here.

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I'm writing this one off to being in the wrong section - moving it to general (using my favorite pen, err....keyboard).

[CJ (part of Cerberus1)]

Cerberus likes using a G2 . I on the other hand kept loosing pens until I found the perfect pen at Office Max. It's a carabiner pen made by Bic. Hook it to a belt loop and off I go. For it being a cheap pen it does work on write in the rain paper.

[+StarBrand]

I love the Uniball Powertank RT pens.

 

Pressurized ink cartidge writes on wet paper, in freezing temperatures and upside down. Smooth and inexpensive. Red is my favorite color. Performs well in many geocahing adventures. RT is the retracable kind - the ones with caps will soon be missing caps.

[+alanfreed]

Thank you!

 

I'm writing this one off to being in the wrong section - moving it to general (using my favorite pen, err....keyboard).

[sdarken]

I buy boxes of mini gel pens from my local Staples (office supplies) store. They are about $U.S 4.50 for a dozen. The reason I use them is that they are only about 2.5 inches long so that fit in coin pocket of a pair of jeans, dont take up much room in my backpack and are compact enough to be placed in small caches.

 

Gel pens might not be suitable/appropriate for all climates but they seem to work fine here in Northern California.

[+J10fly]

By far my favorite is the Inka Write Anywhere pens. I started using one a while back and have been hooked since. Writes smooth! It writes through grease, on wet paper and all. Plus, it's small and attaches to my keychain but you can pop it out and make it a full size pen or pda stylus if needed.

 

[+DJ.J.ROCK]

how funnie you mention it,,we have a night caching pen that has a light in the back end and when you press down to write , it lights up blue in some water with snow globe stuff,,but its bright so i dont need a light to sign the log,and others are amazed when the light is flashing on and off as im writing..haha

[+Landsharkz]

I'm writing this one off...

Oh! You are a very witty noodle!

[+DavidMac]

I'll add another vote for the G2. I buy the 1.0 mm ones by the box (they're a little cheaper in bulk). I absolutely can't stand using a pen with a separate cap when caching... it requires the use of two hands to get the pen open and slows me down.

[+Kit Fox]

I don't care what color, how big, or what the logo is, on a pen. All I want is a pen that signs my name when I have a logbook/sheet in my hand.

[bogleman]

 

This pen has been in service since January of 1990 and used every day. I am dead serious about that - no OCD just a really long story that has turned into a challenge. Nobody and I mean nobody touches my pen

 

 

Don't ask me about my basement slippers - even worse than the pen

 

even better this is post 1313 for me

Edited November 5, 2008 by bogleman

[+Klondike Mike]

The trekker space pen by fisher. I liked it so much I got more and gave them as gifts to some friends. Got mine off ebay

[+Star*Hopper]

Another vote for the Fisher Space Pen - writes anywhere, at any angle. Mine's the Bullet:

Fits nicely in the watchpocket of my jeans, along with my LED flashlight & mini-Leatherman.

 

Even got a funny story to go with it. I hadn't had the Bullet very long, & quite frankly had forgotten it was in my watchpocket. I was caching with a couple, & "he" kept forgetting to bring his pen along, & thru the day had repeatedly sent "her" back to the car to retrieve it.

 

At one spot we found the pen-less micro about 150-yds from where we parked, & she was j-u-u-ust about back to the car when I remembered it. Without thinking, I shouted out to her "Never mind, I've...." and a thought struck me, & I finished with "....found one!! Just stay there & we'll log it for you." I quickly reached down pretended to pick something up.

 

I wasn't ABOUT to confess she'd prolly logged a good 2 miles during the day pen-chasing, when I had one in my pocket the whole time! I mean, later she was gonna have access to my food! I ooh'd & aah'd over the nice new pen I'd "found" right there in the grass....and how nice it wrote, and lamented for the poor soul who'd lost it - maybe even a cacher.

 

My bud was none the wiser.

(Didn't tell him either, btw.)

Hey - it was HIM that kept forgettin' to bring a pen, not ME!

 

~*

[+Buggheart]

Yep. Any pen that has purple ink inside and works

[+SimbaJamey]

I always use an extra-fine-point sharpie.

It writes on anything, wet logs aren't a problem.

Just have to be careful to write fast so it doesn't bleed thru.

[Ann_Brush]

Boggleman - That looks like an old style Parker, I remember those!

[+StaticTank]

Fischer Space Pen here!!!

 

StaticTank

[+StarBrand]

Here is a nice review of rugged pens...

 

http://www.origin.popularmechanics.com/tec...de/4206754.html

[+wimseyguy]

Any pushbutton black ink pen that I find in my pocket is my favorite.

But I do carry a dual tip sharpie for those logs and caches that require a special signature.

[+Star*Hopper]

Slightly OT, but....Woo hooo! I found something today that just might revolutionize my cache logging.

It's a paper punch, that punches out a li'l 1/4" hole in the shape of a star.

Quick, simple....and in the process creates a li'l 'signature item' - a star- I can leave in the cache! (*heh*)

 

But let me ask the experts, with far far more experience than me....anyone foresee a problem?

 

(Anyone but Vinny, that is!)

~*

[+Ducky]

I love the Uniball Powertank RT pens.

 

Pressurized ink cartidge writes on wet paper, in freezing temperatures and upside down. Smooth and inexpensive. Red is my favorite color. Performs well in many geocahing adventures. RT is the retracable kind - the ones with caps will soon be missing caps.

 

I LOVE these pens! I have been using them at work for about 2 years and I do write in some crappy weather(I am a aircraft refueller/bus driver/ambulance driver etc etc)

 

By far my favorite is the Inka Write Anywhere pens. I started using one a while back and have been hooked since. Writes smooth! It writes through grease, on wet paper and all. Plus, it's small and attaches to my keychain but you can pop it out and make it a full size pen or pda stylus if needed.

 

 

I've been looking at these for awhile but haven't bought one yet, but I've heard good stories about them.

[+TeamThom]

I also prefer the Fisher Space Pen.

[+J10fly]

I love the Uniball Powertank RT pens.

 

Pressurized ink cartidge writes on wet paper, in freezing temperatures and upside down. Smooth and inexpensive. Red is my favorite color. Performs well in many geocahing adventures. RT is the retracable kind - the ones with caps will soon be missing caps.

 

I LOVE these pens! I have been using them at work for about 2 years and I do write in some crappy weather(I am a aircraft refueller/bus driver/ambulance driver etc etc)

 

By far my favorite is the Inka Write Anywhere pens. I started using one a while back and have been hooked since. Writes smooth! It writes through grease, on wet paper and all. Plus, it's small and attaches to my keychain but you can pop it out and make it a full size pen or pda stylus if needed.

 

 

I've been looking at these for awhile but haven't bought one yet, but I've heard good stories about them.

 

I don't know what I ever did without mine! I was sick of forgetting to bring my pen so I put one of these on my keychain and now I can't leave home without it.

[+ki4byz]

Fischer Space Pen

 

ki4byz

[+vw_k]

I have a couple of ball point pens that were freebie pens from the outdoors trade show here in England. They seem to work as well as any.

[+vwaldoguy]

For those that use the Pilot G2 (my favorite pen BTW), does the Gel ink stand up OK to wet logs, etc? I'm talking about those logs that get wet later, after you've signed it, does the gel ink still run in those cases?

[+Chrysalides]

Pens? They take too long... I use stamps. Oh, and hey they even come with a pen attached!!

 

Which one? Been thinking about such a thing just recently, TIA.

 

For those that use the Pilot G2 (my favorite pen BTW), does the Gel ink stand up OK to wet logs, etc? I'm talking about those logs that get wet later, after you've signed it, does the gel ink still run in those cases?

 

My favorite pen too, and inexpensive enough that I don't mourn their loss (too much). Why not experiment and find out how water resistant they are?

[+Prime Suspect]

Fischer Space Pen

 

Yup. And mine doubles as a PDA stylus. Don't leave home without it.

[+J-Way]

I usually just use whatever type is available in the supply closet at work...

 

Fischer Space Pen

Yup. And mine doubles as a PDA stylus. Don't leave home without it.

First time I've ever heard of this pen, but I may buy one tomorrow... is it available at office supply stores or do you have to buy one online?

[+StarBrand]

....First time I've ever heard of this pen, but I may buy one tomorrow... is it available at office supply stores or do you have to buy one online?

Before you shell out the money - see the review I linked to above.

[+kraushad]

I love the PhD Multi Pens by Sanford.

 

They have a pencil point - good for dry logs

a pen point - good for damp logs

and a stylus point - good for the PDA stylus and easier to hold.

[+Team LaLonde]

We have a special place in our hearts for a certain pencil and it's companion, a metal fish key chain.

 

We were a very long way from our car and found a micro. The only thing we had was a new, unsharpened pencil and a keychain made from a fishing lure. The fish had an edge so we used it to sharpen the pencil. It seemed to take forever and people were walking by and giving us strange looks. We finally exposed enough pencil lead to sign the log and replaced the micro. We still laugh about the whole thing to this day, but I guess you had to be there.

 

Needless to say, the fish key chain goes with us everywhere now. The pencil has long since outlived it's usefulness and has been replaced by mechanical pencils.

[+Renegade Knight]

I love the Uniball Powertank RT pens.

 

Pressurized ink cartidge writes on wet paper, in freezing temperatures and upside down. Smooth and inexpensive. Red is my favorite color. Performs well in many geocahing adventures. RT is the retracable kind - the ones with caps will soon be missing caps.

 

Ditto the PowerTank pens. Waterproof, writes on damp paper, (if it's wet you have to sop off the loose water). Writes Nice to Boot. I like blue and black though. Looks like Starbrand and I could trade pens out of the multi pack and walk away happy campers. Prices right too. After finding these the Space Pen is just too expensive by comparison.

Edited November 7, 2008 by Renegade Knight

[+Star*Hopper]

 

Ditto the PowerTank pens. ... Prices right too. After finding these the Space Pen is just too expensive by comparison.

 

Not when ya got it as a gift from the gal-friend! Cost -- ZERO!

 

 

Ummm.....

no....wait......

 

On 2nd thought.......

 

~*

[+J-Way]

....First time I've ever heard of this pen, but I may buy one tomorrow... is it available at office supply stores or do you have to buy one online?

Before you shell out the money - see the review I linked to above.

Oops... I quoted the wrong post and hit "Add Reply" too fast.

 

I was really more interested in the "Inka Write Anywhere" pens because of the attach-to-keyring feature.

[+Renegade Knight]

....First time I've ever heard of this pen, but I may buy one tomorrow... is it available at office supply stores or do you have to buy one online?

Before you shell out the money - see the review I linked to above.

Oops... I quoted the wrong post and hit "Add Reply" too fast.

 

I was really more interested in the "Inka Write Anywhere" pens because of the attach-to-keyring feature.

If the ink is waterproof it's got some potential for exactly that reason.

[+J10fly]

....First time I've ever heard of this pen, but I may buy one tomorrow... is it available at office supply stores or do you have to buy one online?

Before you shell out the money - see the review I linked to above.

Oops... I quoted the wrong post and hit "Add Reply" too fast.

 

I was really more interested in the "Inka Write Anywhere" pens because of the attach-to-keyring feature.

 

Keychain is a big bonus plus the construction of the pen is incredible, it's completely sealed with o-rings, replaceable ink cartridges and it is nice and small. I dont even notice it on the keychain. I seldomly use it in the full size, i normally just pull the one end out of the holder and write like #2 in the picture.

Edited November 7, 2008 by jho135

[+Chrysalides]

For those that use the Pilot G2 (my favorite pen BTW), does the Gel ink stand up OK to wet logs, etc? I'm talking about those logs that get wet later, after you've signed it, does the gel ink still run in those cases?

 

I took my own advice and did a quick unscientific test.

 

I wrote on a piece of paper (white generic printing paper, non coated - the photocopier or laser printer type) using a generic ball point pen I have and a G2. Did not leave it time to dry. Left the paper to soak for 1/2 hour. The ball point ink did not run, the G2 did - and pretty badly too.

 

It was the mini G2, red ink, if it makes any difference.

[CacheNCarryMA]

[+vwaldoguy]

Did my own test with the G2 pens. If immersing the signed paper immediately in water, the ink bleeds out. If the paper is already wet, you can still write, and it still bleeds out, just not as bad. Are the powertank RT pens a gel ink too? Of should we not worry about what happens after we sign the log and move on?

[+StarBrand]

Did my own test with the G2 pens. If immersing the signed paper immediately in water, the ink bleeds out. If the paper is already wet, you can still write, and it still bleeds out, just not as bad. Are the powertank RT pens a gel ink too? Of should we not worry about what happens after we sign the log and move on?

I am not sure what it is but I know it isn't a "gel" ink. I just tested a sig on a damp paper towel and then stuck it under running water and it stayed. I will try and dry out a cache land logsheet when I can and make it better before I leave - Although I must admit to not really caring what becomes of my signiture on many a wet and nasty logsheet.

[+Star*Hopper]

Did my own test with the G2 pens. If immersing the signed paper immediately in water, the ink bleeds out. If the paper is already wet, you can still write, and it still bleeds out, just not as bad. Are the powertank RT pens a gel ink too? Of should we not worry about what happens after we sign the log and move on?

 

Say what?!?!? I thought one operating premise of gel inks was that they're waterproof! To confirm, I just Goog'd the string +Pilot +G2 +gel +waterproof & get (for one, e.g.)

 

"38601 - Pilot Precise Gel Rollerball PenFeatures smooth writing with waterproof, acid-free, and smearproof gel ink..."

 

and in a slightly different keyword string:

"Gel inks are permanent, waterproof, fadeproof and acid-free."

"Acid-free, fadeproof, waterproof, and permanent on any porous surface."

 

Moreover, an interesting article by Greg Clark, author of 'Fountain Pen Inks: A Sampler, and an ink-related article, "Slaying the Ink Myths-What Happens When You Put Ink to the Acid Test" relating to the fraud scheme known as 'Check Washing', available here:

http://yourdonspens.com/Ink%20Security.html

 

And finally, this interesting wiki-tidbit for the truly paranoid & security-minded:

"Another trait of gel ink is that it resists common laboratory analysis. The United States Secret Service has maintained the International Ink Library for many decades. Because manufacturers change their ink formulas slightly from year to year, thin-layer chromatography (TLC) can be used on ink from traditional pens to trace the manufacturer and date of manufacture of most inks. The pigments in gel ink do not dissolve, and therefore cannot be analyzed with TLC."

 

Conclusion? Gel inks = water- & pretty much, bullet-proof.

 

Perhaps the brand you tried doesn't hold the pedigree it claims.

 

~*

[+Chrysalides]

Say what?!?!? I thought one operating premise of gel inks was that they're waterproof! To confirm, I just Goog'd the string +Pilot +G2 +gel +waterproof & get (for one, e.g.)

 

"38601 - Pilot Precise Gel Rollerball PenFeatures smooth writing with waterproof, acid-free, and smearproof gel ink..."

 

See my test above, same result. The Pilot G2 might be different from the Gel Rollerball? Or maybe it won't run when allowed to dry? Tune in later with more results.

 

By the way it is smearproof - trying to rub it immediately after writing, it does not smear.