The Marksmith is like a more ergonomic version of a Sharpie, but unlike a Sharpie, it's not disposable. It's CNC-milled out of titanium, for chrissakes.

The retractable tip--which stays closed off behind a little trap door when it's inside the housing--is operated by means of a bolt-action mechanism, which can be operated with one hand.

Unsurprisingly, it's killing it on Kickstarter; at press time there was $180,119 in pledges on a $10,000 goal, and there's still 10 days left to pledge.

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The only thing that gives me pause is the refillability. The Marksmith comes with two cartridges, which I'd go through in no time; following that, you'd have to buy replacement cartridges made by Marksmith. I'm not comfortable with that; if this new company goes belly-up, you've now got a very expensive ($99 retail, lower-priced early-birds available on Kickstarter) empty metal marker.

One refilling alternative mentioned by inventor Daniel Bauen is:

"The cartridge is the same used in the plastic Sharpie retractable fine point marker, but we make a modification to it to fit the Marksmith BAM!. If you're feeling adventurous you can disassemble a Sharpie retractable marker, snip off the long tail to make it shorter and insert that into your Marksmith."

I don't doubt that I could perform this operation--but if I have to buy a disposable Sharpie and cut it open to harvest the refill, that defeats the purpose of me buying a non-disposable marker in the first place.

Bauen also states:

"I'm investigating a 3rd option that will allow you to refill the cartridge using readily available permanent marker ink, like PILOT Super Color Permanent Marker Refill Ink. This will be a more eco-friendly refill method as you can continue to refill the cartridge until the felt tip is worn out. One bottle of ink will likely last a very long time."

I'd only commit to buying a Marksmith if the DIY refillability was worked out, and if the source of ink and replacement felt tips was assured, preferably by a longstanding company.

If you want one anyway, here's the Marksmith Kickstarter.