Anyone ever bought one of the fisher bullet pens and dropped a better cartridge into it? I'm spoiled by my Mont Blanc fineliner, but love the compactness of the bullet in a pocket. Anyone know what cartridge to use?
As you know, they generally leave the factory with the Fisher medium point. Which does tend to be a bit blobby. There is a Fisher fine point refill which does not seem to have that issue. I don't know of any refills from anyone else that would (a) fit the bullet pen; and/or (b) match the performance of the Fisher refill (writing at all angles, over most any surface, over grease,under water, are all nice. For me the best characteristic is that I can store these pens in a hot or freezing cold vehicle and they neither leak nor fail to write!). Which said performance is really the primary reason to have a Fisher overall, with the size (i.e., small enough to fit in a watch pocket) being a distant second, at least IMHO! L'chaim! Moshe ben David
I wish it was easy to get a fisher fine refill locally, I don't write in extreme conditions and mostly write on top of a leather desk pad. I thought they used a Parker styled refill but haven't found any parkers in that size
Fisher refills come with an adapter to fit Parker pens, not the other way round, because I was looking at that very same idea. But as Fishers go ,the fine line is the way to go and Blue seems to be the colour that works best. And with the internet everyplace is local. I live in Canada and Spacepen.ca has stuff to my door almost instantly.
You're close, but no cigar. The Fisher refills do come blister packaged with a plastic adapter to slip over the sealed end so that THEY can fit a pen body designed for a Parker style refill. But it is really easy to order Fisher refills on line; Amazon is my go-to. L'chaim! Moshe ben David
this is what I came here to say other than the canada part, though to be totally fair I can be in canada inside of an hour drive from a very rural northern state lol.
So nobody has an answer to the original question? I don't care what doesn't work, I'd like to know what refill will work in place of a Fisher space pen refill. I don't care if it writes on anything but dry paper in a normal position, that's fine. Ballpoint, rollerball, gel ink are all ok. I just don't like any of the Fisher refills. Thinking about making an adapter to let me use D1 refills. Anyone done that? Any other options? R.W.O.
I think that is the answer to your question... that nothing else will work. The size of the Fisher refill is pretty proprietary, and I don't know of anything that's made by another company that will fit. You may very well be able to do some modding to make some other refill fit (I would think D1 would be your best bet), but I haven't seen where anyone else has.
I had some kind of Uni or Zebra refill in my bullet for a little bit but it didn't fit very well and it wiggled which was really bothersome. Eventually I grew to love the reliability and decent performance of the Fisher fine point as well. Now I keep my Cap-O-Matic loaded with a Fisher fine at all times and appreciate it for what it is.
I've made a Uni Jetstream fit my Bullet and also a Zebra G 301 gel refills. Takes a little trimming to fit but nothing too difficult.
Also, Z-mulsion refills can be trimmed to fit with the caveat that any Zebra refill will be loose, because the Fisher refill point section is just slightly larger in diameter.
Just to see if I could, I successfully put a Zebra 301 (plastic, not the older metal) refills in my bullet several years ago. A small amount of tape totally removed the wiggle at the tip. I don't remember if I had to shape the refill at all. The tape doesn't wear off since the pen isn't retractable. However, I don't recommend it. The fisher fine blue writes better than the Zebra 301. --flatline
Whatever floats your boat, so to speak. I'd never even consider modding any of those refills to fit a Fisher. Why? IMNSHO, the only real reason to have a Fisher is because of the ink properties and performance of the Fisher refill (or cartridge if that is the term you prefer; usually I think of a FP when I read or hear 'cartridge'!). Its not so much the ability to write upside down etc. Although I do like the ability to write on a vertical surface and/or one that is not pristine! What I really like is the long 'mileage' from the refills plus I can leave them in any temperature environment or use them in any temperature environment without worrying about leaks... And now with the advent of the Fine tip, the historic 'blobbing' issue of the medium no longer needs to be an issue. But all of that is of course what is important to me. And in case you wonder, yes I like the small form factor (pocket size) of the bullet spacepen. But I want the size and the performance both. Not just the size. Enjoy. L'chaim! Moshe ben David
Years ago I was given 2 drug rep pens that are Fisher Bullet knockoffs. They take Parker refills. If you want them, you will have to pry them from my cold dead hands A pen that I would love to own, if I could find one, would be the legendary Parker Minim Jotter. A bullet sized pen that has a push button and takes Parker refills. It is verrrry rare.
Simple answer - Nothing will work in a Fisher bullet (besides a Fisher bullet refill) without modification. At least nothing I'm aware of. mossyoak you say you don't write in extreme environments (like in zero gravity space, 600 feet below water or inside nuclear reactors),but rather on leather notebooks and the like. Is your like of the Fisher space pen due to its compact, fit in your pocket, design...or it's durability to write anywhere? Your answer may make a difference. As writing instruments go, the Fisher space pen isn't all that (unfortunately), and I have a few. The're far less capable than they say. Case in point, just try a Fisher on a Write in the Rain pad (it works, but it's not literature!...and sure ain't fun). My point here is, structure your writing instrument that you carry to what you write on the most. For example, if you're writing on valve tags in a chemical plant, maybe a sharpie might be better. If you're writing on your nice leather notebook in a meeting, perhaps a nice gel pen like a Metro (which will still fit in your pocket) might work better. Lastly, if you're wanting to leave a nasty note on the dude's car who parked like an idiot at 7-11...maybe a pencil on an RIR sheet might best serve the purpose for the note under the wiper. The writing instrument(s) you carry should be well suited for what you're writing on (and who you're writing to). Just my .03 (.03 with a .01 tip)
DCBman: Your points are well said. However. I like to point out, wrt Fisher space pens/refills in general, the environment you use them in and the environment in which they are stored for use are often considerations. I found out the hard way many years ago that most bp pens or rb pens or gel pens stored in a car have a high likelihood of failure (leakage, ink essentially thickening up past where it will write) in the heat of summer or the cold of winter. Never happens to me with a Fisher. So I make sure that the pens in the car or in a trunk bag (yeah, still the car but sort of different intent..) or BOB, etc., are Fisher. Together with pencils for the same reason! L'chaim! Moshe ben David
Agreed...... I have several pens that write better the my space pen but will inevitably fail me at the worst possible time. I carry the pens I love to write with for writing and I always have my space pen in my pocket and the visor of my truck for when I absolutely, positively need something written down.
I use the Zebra Gel refills cut down to fit the Fisher. Plenty of leeway before you hit the ink supply and I've never had a problem with leakage, etc.
