Comment by TeMPOraL

Comment by TeMPOraL 20 hours ago

19 replies

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.

Al-Khwarizmi 14 hours ago

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 :)

crq-yml 12 hours ago

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.

dole 18 hours ago

BIC lighters are more of a first resort than a last resort.

  • TeMPOraL 18 hours ago

    In the same sense their vacuums, if they made them, wouldn't suck.

    • tshaddox 16 hours ago

      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.

      • TeMPOraL 13 hours ago

        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.

      • squigz 15 hours ago

        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.

        [0] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/BI...

        [1] https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61TNMUaoFrL.jpg

    • quickthrowman 12 hours ago

      BIC lighters are extremely reliable, when I smoked I went thru hundreds and the fuel always ran out before the flint did.

Symbiote 19 hours ago

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.

dist-epoch 20 hours ago
  • williamdclt 19 hours ago

    > made to last with enough ink to write for an average of 3,5 km

    measuring ink capacity in km makes total sense but I find it hilarious

    • jiscariot 18 hours ago

      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.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/0...

      • wildzzz 15 hours ago

        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.

  • quietbritishjim 19 hours ago

    The box at your link calls it "Cristal fine Orange", so it's still a type of BIC Cristal like a sibling comment says.

mikestew 17 hours ago

…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.

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