Made me think a bit about the differences I've seen thus far of my bolt-action pens.
For the unenlightened, a "bolt action" pen is a pen with a little knob-like control that deploys the pen's ink-delivering portion akin to a bolt-action rifle's loading mechanism.
It's a new thing. Just roll with it.
Thus far, I have a growing collection of bolt action pens:
- The TiBolt by Brian Fellhoelter
- The GP1945
- The Titaner Bolt Pen
- The ZeroHour APEX Bolt action pen
The TiBolt is a simple, basic, solid, titanium-frame, bolt-action pen. No fuss, no muss. Solid titanium. It's a dependable pen able to take Fisher Space Pen refills. It's with one of my notebooks at all times. In a worst-case scenario, it would serve as a reliable aid to delivering a bit of help in a close fight (as, really, would any pen). It's the first bolt-action pen I've ever obtained (or, at the time, even heard of).
The GP1945 is a clever riff on the concept, adding in a glass-breaker tip and an emergency whistle. A solid frame made of titanium makes for a delightful little writing instrument that can double as a bit of help in a close fight. The downside is that it takes very small refills that run out quickly. Kind of a bummer for an otherwise-awesome design.
The Titaner bolt pen has unique take on a bolt-action pen. Instead of having a side-knob control for the "bolt action" delivery, the tip of the pen serves as a rotating cover in a "bolt action" style. Further, it has a discrete glass breaker on the end and an hidden "pin" that's supposed to help with the little holes in cell phones that one uses for SIM cards. The pen is a solid, delightful little thing that takes Fisher Space Pen refills (a plus to me). The "pin" tool is a bit crap, in my experience. Still, it's a nice pen overall.
And that brings me to the ZeroHour APEX. ZeroHour has been one of those companies that has kept me interested in Kickstarter offerings, truth be told. I've backed their Flashlight offerings, a money belt, and their two pens. The APEX Bolt is pretty much the perfect pen. It's got a nice size to it. They offer aluminum and titanium frames that come with glass breakers and have the ability to hold screwdriver bits for those times when you need to have a pen-sized screwdriver. The Kickstarter had complications with the bits, so mine came without one but it's not like I need screwdrivers as a general rule. The glass breaker uses a ceramic nib instead of a tungsten steel point, which I'm a bit uncertain of, but it's not like I've ever needed a glass breaker, so it's unlikely to be something I'll ever notice in my life. The pen's size is bigger than their previous APEX pen. If one were forced to use a pen in a fight (cue Hollywood bullshit scenario), the bolt action APEX would be a better thing to have on-hand than their previous APEX pen.
Overall, it's kind of a wealth of awesome here. And now I have to acknowledge I'm developing a pen fetish.
Who would've thought that would be a thing? Fucking weird world.
No comments:
Post a Comment