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A cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on this site are written by readers who have actually used the tool and others like it. Items can be either old or new as long as they are wonderful. We post things we like and ignore the rest. Suggestions for tools much better than what is recommended here are always wanted.
Leave it to the Japanese to create a brush pen. This pocketable pen has a super fine brush tip of actual bristles, perfect for tiny Kanji characters, or of course, doodling in your journal, or sketching in your Moleskine. While it’s hugely popular with comic book folks and cartoonists, artists of all stripes have picked one up for their paper work. The feel is incredibly tactile and lovely. It works like a fountain pen, with replaceable rich ink cartridges. Once capped it doesn’t leak as far as I can tell. (There’s a moment of panic when you first assemble it since the instructions are 100% in Japanese, but just insert the ball-bearing end of the ink capsule into the tip.) You can purchase other color inks as well. — KK
I usually carry a bunch of pens in a leather pocket protector (a beautiful, inexpensive thing from John C. Robert’s Leather Works). My wife despairs when we go someplace nice and I’m carrying all this stuff. So I wanted a small pen that would fit unobtrusively in my pocket. The previously reviewed Derringer Pen is just a little too long for my wallet.
This Ohto pen, just a bit smaller, is ideal. It’s only 3.1 inches closed, 5.1 inches open, and fits perfectly in the fold of my wallet. — David Derbes
I got my ruler out to see if it would clip into my wallet and found that the 4″ long stainless steel Derringer wallet pen would protrude from my 3.88″ wallet. That is unlike the pen I’ve already got in my wallet, which is almost invisible unless you know it’s there. I use — and have done so for many years — a Swiss Army Knife pen refill, Victorinox model number 30422.
It costs $2.95. It’s a replacement pen for the one that comes as original equipment in Swiss Army Knives. 91mm (2.75″) long, with a gray, curved top that fits snugly into the body of a Swiss Army Knife, these handy little pens come in blue or black ink. There’s also an even smaller (2″ long) version that fits the smaller, key-chain size knives. I don’t recommend it because it’s very difficult to grasp and write with.
Now, you are not going to want to copy out Moby Dick with my little pen, but for quick notes, sudden flights of fancy or inspiration, phone numbers, and the like, you can’t beat it. And I always have a pen. So often no one does, and I don’t think I do, until I realize hey, I do have one. People smirk and scoff but they’re very glad when they see it writes just fine. A life-saver. — Joseph Stirt
I like to have a few essential tools with me at all times: my Swiss Army knife, a keychain LED flashlight, a pocket notebook and a pen for scribbling notes whenever inspiration strikes.
I’d searched a long time for a pen that was small enough to carry around in my pocket, yet comfortable to write with and reliable enough to work every time I needed it. I finally found it with the Fisher Space Pen.
Everyone has heard of the legendary Space Pen, which was developed for the space program and writes upside down, under water and in extreme temperatures. They make many different varieties of the Space Pen, but the most useful and elegant is the Bullet (pictured alongside Uniball).
The Fisher Bullet is in two pieces: the actual pen, and a cap that fits on the back of the pen to make a full-size writing instrument. When closed, it makes a compact, tight-fitting, gasket-sealed capsule that easily fits in your pocket. It comes with a shirt pocket clip that can be removed, so it’s less obtrusive in your pants pocket.
You can get it in chrome, but the matte black finish is so much cooler. — Curtis Galloway
Fisher Stowaway Space Pen
After losing two (expensive) Fisher Bullet Space Pens, I stumbled across their significantly less expensive Stowaway ($10). They’re small, available in three styles, with or without a clip on the cap, and with a stylus on the opposite end of the tip. Three colors, too: black, red and blue. — Eric Rosenberg
I always liked the idea of Paul Fisher’s bullet-shaped Space Pens but at around $20 always felt they were not worth the benefits (writing anywhere, upside down, any temperature, under water, over grease, etc.). Now they sell a tiny (4 x 0.4 x 0.4 in.; 5.1 in. in writing mode) pretty-much-weightless tube pen called the Stowaway with the famous ink refill, for about half the price of the Bullet. I bought a mess of them and threw one in every jacket. — Vince Crisci
I’ve always wanted a small pen to keep with me at all times for quick notes and such. I’ve even considered taking a hacksaw to the venerable Bic ballpoint pen to keep in my wallet. One of the things that kept me from doing that was worrying about it exploding and flooding my pocket with ink.
Fortunately, Zebra has come up with a far more elegant and affordable solution with the Telescopic and F-301 Compact pens. Both feature a metal body made popular in their other pens. The telescopic pen body extends to a regular pen length when full telescoped, and exposes the tip, ready to write. Retracting the pen body for stowage fully retracts the tip safely into the body, like a frightened turtle. It fits neatly in the fold of my tri-fold wallet. I found them at my local OfficeMax for about $5. So far, it’s survived some gnarly crashes during snowboarding trips, and being sat on daily with out a single dent. —K. Rhainos
The Zebra Compact closes to a small size and has a clip for shirt pockets. I have used this pen for a couple of years. In the past I’ve used the previously reviewed Fisher Space Pen but they are expensive and easy to lose because they are so smooth. This pen is cheap and even cheaper when you can find them at Walmart. Not only that but the refills are cheap, too! — Chris Acree
Not earth-shattering, but this wallet pen is really handy. I am never without something to write with. The good thing about the pen is that it clips in, so I never have to worry about where I put it. — Chuck Green
Once a week we’ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because the possibilities they inspire are new. Sign up here to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.
