Writing At An Angle

April 23, 2017

I more often these days find myself writing in bed, at an angle, with pad of paper 45 degrees or so. I could use a pencil, or a felt tip pen, but I'm looking for ballpoints that can write under such circumstances. They will write a couple of lines, but gravity takes its toll sooner or later, and I find the ink flow stops before I can finish a paragraph.

I'm aware of the Fisher Space Pen (which has garnered mixed reviews), but I wonder if any other manufacturers offer "pressurized" refills? I recall Papermate used to make a Powerpoint refill years ago, but that seems to have been discontinued. Any thoughts?

April 24, 2017

Hi, I can think of several refills that are pressurized, Diplomat Spacetech, Pilot Downforce and Uniball Powertank.

One point to look out for with these, is that some of these refills will only fit that pen, and refills may be not so easy to find.

It seems that the Diplomat version uses a Schmidt refill, which is in the 'Parker G2' style too.

You can buy the Schmidt 4889M Megaline refills online, so they would fit into any ballpoint that takes that very popular type of refill, e.g. Parker, Fisher, Stabilo, and many others.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Mike 59

April 24, 2017

Try a dip pen, (don't). Maybe a pentel sort of fineliner?

April 25, 2017

There is also the Tombow AirPress, which as it name probably suggest, incorporates some sort of air pumping mechanism in the body of the pen. Unlike other pressurized ballpoints, it actually uses this pump to pressurize the "normal" refill.

I think the basic idea is actually quite interesting, but the downside is that the pen's not actually ideal for those who likes to repeatedly click the pens just for the fun of it, like myself, since it tends to make the ink leak due to the unnecessary pressure. And I think it also only takes Tombow's proprietary refill which is very small.