What's the proper name for that other, arguably even more well-recognized, BIC pen, that looks like Cristal except its main body is opaque orange, and is generally cheap garbage that breaks in your hand if you squeeze it it too hard, and doesn't even write half the time?
(And yeah, I remember the taste of it, too. I've "eaten" through my share of these pens as a kid. It's the one pen you can't bite on, unless you like having shards of orange plastic everywhere.)
It's also magical in a big way - it's almost as if it were enchanted with a "handwriting: -10" debuff, because that's what happens when you try writing with it, relative to anything else (including pencils and crayons). To this day, I occasionally wonder, how did they manage to achieve that distinct effect.
In my circles, BIC as a brand is basically the stuff you don't buy unless as a last resort, whether that's ballpoints or razors or anything else.
In Spain it's just called "Bic Naranja" ("Bic Orange") and those of us over 40 or so typically remember the ad slogan which perfectly described their different functionality: "Bic Naranja escribe fino, Bic Cristal escribe normal" (Bic Orange writes thin, Bic Cristal writes normal). Rather lame but to the point and memorable :)
For most pens, it's really all about the quality of the writing surface, and blame is incorrectly attributed to the pen when it's taken outside its design limits. Paper that is overly thin or rough with a hard backing(like most school desks) tends to be less forgiving and ballpoints become likely to clog more easily because the ball will roll without good contact - for those, dry media, marker or brush will do the best. But smooth, heavy papers backed by kraft board will be very sympathetic to all pens.
Are you suggesting their lighters are bad? That’s certainly not my experience. I have a Bic mini that has been packed inside my camping stove kit (a small titanium pot containing an iso-propane canister, stove, and rag) for nearly 15 years. Since I use barely any of its fuel, it hasn’t run out yet, and I suspect it could continue to work as a striker whenever the fuel does run out.
Yeah, I'm a bit confused if GP is saying their lighters are bad. Every single person I know who uses a lighter many times a day generally uses a Bic[0] - if they're not, it's one of these cheap plastic ones[1], very similar to the pens GP is referring to. A few of them have Zippos, but those are relatively rare among people I know, at least for everyday use.
Yeah, when I was a smoker (thankfully many years in the past now), I really only ever used bics. I went through phases with Zippos or butane lighters, but they were always maintenance heavy, unreliable and too expensive for something so comonly shared with others. On the flip side, no-name gas station lighters didn't last and were generally unreliable. Bics hit a huge sweet spot of being long lasting, reliable, _and_ cheap enough to be treated as disposable even though they weren't in practice.
Back when I smoked, yes, Bic was the one true path. The "cheap plastic" second one you mentioned were the dollar-store lighters, they generally fell apart pretty quickly. Zippos were neat but too much of a pain in the ass to keep refilling and remembering when you last refilled. But the fat Bics were indestructible and lasted forever.
I don't know; a) I haven't seen a good lighter in my life (other than on TV, i.e. whatever it was that Admiral Adama carried in BSG, because that was, by definition, a good lighter); and b) in context of the whole subthread, I assumed the parent was being sarcastic.
The skilcraft US government pen, was spec'd to write 5k in -40F to 160F and is also manufactured by the blind. I've got a box of them spread out anywhere I need a pen.
My grandfather had a skillcraft stick pen (the cheapest one they make) from his last job before retiring. I'm pretty sure that same pen sat in a cup in his kitchen for like 30 years and was used daily. Never ran out.
It's the fine (thin line) version of the normal one.
I've never noticed any difference other than the line width. Either barrel can shatter if you bite hard enough. They both seem to survive long periods of little or no use better than other brands.
…whether that's ballpoints or razors or anything else.
Oh, man, those crap razors. I’m in Whitehorse, Yukon, and the only disposable razors the drug store carries are BIC. I remember that they’re crap, but obviously people must still buy them, how bad could they be?
I would have had fewer nicks and cuts if I’d used my pocket knife.
(And yeah, I remember the taste of it, too. I've "eaten" through my share of these pens as a kid. It's the one pen you can't bite on, unless you like having shards of orange plastic everywhere.)
It's also magical in a big way - it's almost as if it were enchanted with a "handwriting: -10" debuff, because that's what happens when you try writing with it, relative to anything else (including pencils and crayons). To this day, I occasionally wonder, how did they manage to achieve that distinct effect.
In my circles, BIC as a brand is basically the stuff you don't buy unless as a last resort, whether that's ballpoints or razors or anything else.