Midget
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2002
- Messages
- 2,806
i gots me one of them rick hinderer titanium, "kuboton" pens, and i figured i'd share some photos and thoughts.
first off, i think it's great! very much on the pricey side for what i'm normally pay for a pen, but life is short and titanium is forever.
the pen is very heavy. it is certainly a purpose-driven pen-- IMO made more to be a kuboton than a pen. since i'm not too savvy on "tactical" kuboton use, i'm sort of at a loss. I got this pen because it's custom, titanium, grippy, tough, and has a screw on cap (i love that feature).
that said, it's relatively heavy for a pen-- not necessarily good for a pen but good for an impact device. the entire body features grippy notches around the body, with a knurled-like center.
the pen is the "short" stack model, he offers one body that is about one inch longer IIRC. it is modular, of course, i only have the standard clip and threaded end attachment. as i said earlier, i'm not all about kubotons, so i'll unlikely be purchasing any specialty tips, which he offers on his site or can be ordered at plazacutlery or bluelinegear.
the threads on the modular device are long and look to be extremely durable. not one or three lines of threads to attach modular components-- more like 7-8. it is extremely well made and doesn't look like they will strip or wear over time.
i am terrified i will lose the threaded pen cap. the threaded end gives me the option to "store" the cap when in writing use, although i generally just opt to stick it in my pocket.
the clip is extremely nice, and very long compared to normal pen clips. it clips the pen to your pocket more like a knife than a pen, with generous clearance and a little more "drag" than normal pen clips. i hope this feature will help retain the pen in my pocket, as i'm quite paranoid of losing the pen. of course, the clip may be removed (as part of the modular design) and bent in/out to the user's desire.
like i said, i'm not planning on using this pen for defensive purpose or anything, although i imagine it could serve well for breaking auto glass or something similar. i have no idea-- i've never broken auto glass before. again, it's got quite heft, so i suppose if i've got an attacker and standoff distance i could just huck it at the guy.
the pen attachment uses the "small" space-pen refill. this is the refill that you all are likely not accustomed to, those of you who use space pens, miltac pens, or the rite-in-the-rain pens. it's skinnier, costs about 2 bucks, and likely holds significantly less ink than the normal pen cartridges. once again, this pen was probably designed to be more of an impact device and less of a writing utensil. the refills don't bother me, at 2 bucks, i will always have a few refill handy for when i run dry. i wish it used the larger sized spacepen cartridges, but i can't win 'em all. as far as i can tell, the cartridges are just press-fit into the pen attachment. just take some pliers and pull the cartridge out. push a new one in.
overall fit and finish on this pen is outstanding. just what i'd expect for rick hinderer's shop. i own an xm-18 gen 3 and these two products are on par with excellence.
here's the best part. i'm not as much a fan of the flamey stripe finish on the ti, which is also common on strider sng/smf framelocks (i own 4). i emailed rick directly, asking him cost and time about getting this pen a beadblast finish.
he emails me, just a few days later, offering to send me a new, beadblast pen to iraq, and i can just send my striped one back to him when i return to the US. i don't anticipate re-deploying back to the united states for another 2 months. what an offer! and such trust. this was extremely generous on rick's part, and he's owed some recognition. i'm not going to take him up on the offer, as the finish doesn't bother me so much, but it means a lot to me to know he's looking out for us deployed guys.
what else can i say? thank you, rick, for an outstanding product and your support and customer service. thank you, gruntinhusaybah, for an outstanding transaction on the buy/sell forums. thanks for reading.
here's some pictures.
first off, i think it's great! very much on the pricey side for what i'm normally pay for a pen, but life is short and titanium is forever.
the pen is very heavy. it is certainly a purpose-driven pen-- IMO made more to be a kuboton than a pen. since i'm not too savvy on "tactical" kuboton use, i'm sort of at a loss. I got this pen because it's custom, titanium, grippy, tough, and has a screw on cap (i love that feature).
that said, it's relatively heavy for a pen-- not necessarily good for a pen but good for an impact device. the entire body features grippy notches around the body, with a knurled-like center.
the pen is the "short" stack model, he offers one body that is about one inch longer IIRC. it is modular, of course, i only have the standard clip and threaded end attachment. as i said earlier, i'm not all about kubotons, so i'll unlikely be purchasing any specialty tips, which he offers on his site or can be ordered at plazacutlery or bluelinegear.
the threads on the modular device are long and look to be extremely durable. not one or three lines of threads to attach modular components-- more like 7-8. it is extremely well made and doesn't look like they will strip or wear over time.
i am terrified i will lose the threaded pen cap. the threaded end gives me the option to "store" the cap when in writing use, although i generally just opt to stick it in my pocket.
the clip is extremely nice, and very long compared to normal pen clips. it clips the pen to your pocket more like a knife than a pen, with generous clearance and a little more "drag" than normal pen clips. i hope this feature will help retain the pen in my pocket, as i'm quite paranoid of losing the pen. of course, the clip may be removed (as part of the modular design) and bent in/out to the user's desire.
like i said, i'm not planning on using this pen for defensive purpose or anything, although i imagine it could serve well for breaking auto glass or something similar. i have no idea-- i've never broken auto glass before. again, it's got quite heft, so i suppose if i've got an attacker and standoff distance i could just huck it at the guy.
the pen attachment uses the "small" space-pen refill. this is the refill that you all are likely not accustomed to, those of you who use space pens, miltac pens, or the rite-in-the-rain pens. it's skinnier, costs about 2 bucks, and likely holds significantly less ink than the normal pen cartridges. once again, this pen was probably designed to be more of an impact device and less of a writing utensil. the refills don't bother me, at 2 bucks, i will always have a few refill handy for when i run dry. i wish it used the larger sized spacepen cartridges, but i can't win 'em all. as far as i can tell, the cartridges are just press-fit into the pen attachment. just take some pliers and pull the cartridge out. push a new one in.
overall fit and finish on this pen is outstanding. just what i'd expect for rick hinderer's shop. i own an xm-18 gen 3 and these two products are on par with excellence.
here's the best part. i'm not as much a fan of the flamey stripe finish on the ti, which is also common on strider sng/smf framelocks (i own 4). i emailed rick directly, asking him cost and time about getting this pen a beadblast finish.
he emails me, just a few days later, offering to send me a new, beadblast pen to iraq, and i can just send my striped one back to him when i return to the US. i don't anticipate re-deploying back to the united states for another 2 months. what an offer! and such trust. this was extremely generous on rick's part, and he's owed some recognition. i'm not going to take him up on the offer, as the finish doesn't bother me so much, but it means a lot to me to know he's looking out for us deployed guys.
what else can i say? thank you, rick, for an outstanding product and your support and customer service. thank you, gruntinhusaybah, for an outstanding transaction on the buy/sell forums. thanks for reading.
here's some pictures.
