Picking a pen

L

Locust

Joined
Sep 30, 2008
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539
I have been thinking of getting a nicer/cooler pen with a fisher re-fill for a while now and have narrowed it down to three choices. I'm looking for some input as to what you think may be best.

The new CRKT Elishawitz Tao Pens have caught my eye. Particularly the brown model. They seem decently priced for a tactical pen, but was wondering how they measure up to other offerings on the market. I like that they are durable and the ability to use it as a kobuton seems neat. The thing is I don't have any stick fighting training and I live in NYS where anything specifically designed for offence/defense is not allowed.

The Spyderco Baliyo (USA made version) is very appealing to me. Seems like a great way to kill time/build dexterity, and make scrawling anything out fun. I have heard that some of the screw can come loose. Would loctite fix that?

Finally I'm also thinking of a traditional fisher bullet space pen in black. It's simple and not too flashy but works.
 
Are you just out for a pen you can EDC or a "Pen AND *" (ie Pen AND balisong, Pen AND kubaton, etc) type of pen?
 
The Bali-Yo is neat but it's lightweight and hard to hold to write with. OK for quick notes but not real impressive-looking for business.

I have a few tactical pens, generally good solid writing imstruments. The Elishewitz should be good. I have two of his designed for Mil-Tac.

My regular carry pen is a Fisher Zero Gravity. Big fat rubberized grip and clicker button. Strong clip and standard Fisher refills. I find the bullet pens are hard to hold for writing a lot.
 
There is also the Embassy pen from County Comm, both in aluminum and stainless steel. I have one of each, and like them. The only negative point in my opinion is that the cap does not go onto the butt of the pen when in use. The Embassy pen uses Fisher refills.
 
IMHO, this is a real Pen. All the rest are just pens. ;-)

2v10k7q.jpg


It is a Pilot Metal Falcon with a soft fine gold nib.
 
Thanks for the advice.
Esav: I was hoping the extra wide shape of the Baliyo might make it easier to write with, guess I was wrong. Any of these pens will probably be used for quick things. If I'm writing something long I use a computer. Thanks for mentioning the Zero Gravity. The wider the pen the better for me, but being a clicky pen is a deal breaker. If I move wrong or the pen catches on something it could ruin a pair of pants.

Lapp: I agree the embassy looks nice but I don't want to have to worry about losing the cap. By the way I like your avatar.

Sotto: Nice pen...a bit too nice for me.
 
sotto said:
IMHO, this is a real Pen. All the rest are just pens. ;-)

2v10k7q.jpg


It is a Pilot Metal Falcon with a soft fine gold nib.
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Feh. IMNSOHO this is a pen: (sorry, no pics of mine, but here's a catalog page)

http://www.montblanc.com/products/black_resin_gold_149_fountain_pen.10575.php


As far as EDC and/or tactical pens (WTF? Tactical pen? Whattya gonna do, STAB someone with that? :D ), I carry my Fisher Bullet pen everyday, regardless, as I have for 20 years. Yes, the same pen, for 2 decades. I do like my Benchmade pen when dealing with unruly customers at the Service Desk, but I don't carry it everyday, all day. It's a work thing.

Unfortunately, I have the same addiction to pens as I do with blades, or tools, or motorcycles....
 
The Tao is nice. The threads are a little too fine and it takes a lot of turns to get the cap on and off. If you plan to do a lot of writing it saves time to keep the cap threaded on the back and just pocket it that way (if your pocket is deep enough for this). Fisher must have improved their cartridges in the past few years. No blobbing or globbing with these. Nice. Comes with a sweet canvas gift case also. Shop around. Prices on these vary wildly. Don't give over 40 bucks.
 
I love the plain old Fisher Space Pen with a fine refill. You can also cut the end off some of the Zebra gel refills for use in a Fisher.
Only thing I don't like is that it's about the easiest thing on Earth to lose. Pops out of pockets, rolls off flat surfaces, and seems to have a life of its own. I find it on the floor, under sofa cushions. I've put it in my pocket, drove to work, and when I got there it was in the back floorboard...how does it do that:confused:
 
County Comm Embassy Pen is my choice for the office and Fisher Bullet for the pocket. However i'm going to get the stainless Embassy Pen for the office and try out the aluminum for pocket carry.
 
I stopped carrying Fisher Space Pens years ago. The thing blobbed, skipped for no apparent reason, the pocket clip would slide off. I'll never go back to them because I found the product completely unacceptable in spite of trying to make do with it. I finally found that the cheap pressurized store brand refills from Office Depot worked light years better than the Fisher refills. Now I've moved on to better.
 
I like the stainless Parker Jotter, which isn't that expensive. On that I put a rubber sleeve from the Bic mechanical pencils, and you can load them up with Space Pen refills. Not a bad little setup for $12 or so.

I will have to take a look at those CRKT pens though.
 
Locust said:
I don't have any stick fighting training...
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I do.

And the "tactical pen" fad amuses me to no end. Any solidly-built pen (metal or plastic) can be used as a small impact weapon. It doesn't have to be made of titanium or anodized black or even pointy on the end. And if it is made of titanium and anodized black and pointy on the end, it ain't gonna do you no good if you don't know what to do with it and how to handle yourself.

If you want a pen with weapon potential, just get any solidly-built model at all. Then, invest your money in what will really help you: some training.
 
Although I am a pen freak and enjoy fine writing instruments (my toolbox is filled with Snap-on, for example), he's right. ANY stiff object can be turned into a weapon. I didn't buy my Benchmade with any intention of stabbing someone with it, but because it's cool.

I did have a few Fisher cartridges fail, some spectacularly, but it's been a while since I've had any issues.

And the last I checked, someone was making something called a "Stiffie" or something like that- a Sharpie marker in a reinforced plastic case* with, shall we say "sharper than average" ends. Retailed for $10 or something like that, and way less conspicuous than a piece of CNC'd anodized alloy.

edit-it's made by Cold Steel, called the Sharkie.

Gollnick said:
I do.

And the "tactical pen" fad amuses me to no end. Any solidly-built pen (metal or plastic) can be used as a small impact weapon. It doesn't have to be made of titanium or anodized black or even pointy on the end. And if it is made of titanium and anodized black and pointy on the end, it ain't gonna do you no good if you don't know what to do with it and how to handle yourself.

If you want a pen with weapon potential, just get any solidly-built model at all. Then, invest your money in what will really help you: some training.
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After many problems with Fisher military models (Fisher retractables really suck, IME) I went with a Wal-Mart Parker Jotter for $4 or so. Put in a Fisher fine point refill (kills the blobbing you get with medium points) with the adapter and that's my go-to pen. I carry a Fisher Bullet as a backup but almost never use it--still need to epoxy the clip in place.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
And the "tactical pen" fad amuses me to no end. Any solidly-built pen (metal or plastic) can be used as a small impact weapon. It doesn't have to be made of titanium or anodized black or even pointy on the end. And if it is made of titanium and anodized black and pointy on the end, it ain't gonna do you no good if you don't know what to do with it and how to handle yourself.

If you want a pen with weapon potential, just get any solidly-built model at all. Then, invest your money in what will really help you: some training.
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I want to clarify that I would not be getting it with self defense as a primary use for the pen. I have enough martial arts training to know that I need much more and I would learn stick fighting before carrying it specifically for defense. Mostly I like the aesthetics of the brown version of the pen and the aluminum/screw top construction means it will probably not break and there is no chance it will pop open in my pocket. Still it would be in my back pocket and I might be too concerned with loosing it.
Unless anyone mentions issues with breakage it seems like I would get more use out of the Baliyo. Seems like it would be fun as actual bali's are not legal here and I would like to improve my dexterity.
Either that or a County Comm pico pen. It's not a fisher re-fill but for my purposes it's probably all I need.
 
Gollnick said:
I do.

And the "tactical pen" fad amuses me to no end. Any solidly-built pen (metal or plastic) can be used as a small impact weapon. It doesn't have to be made of titanium or anodized black or even pointy on the end. And if it is made of titanium and anodized black and pointy on the end, it ain't gonna do you no good if you don't know what to do with it and how to handle yourself.

If you want a pen with weapon potential, just get any solidly-built model at all. Then, invest your money in what will really help you: some training.
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That is what I was thinking - I've heard of bullies being disabled by a standard crystal Bic pen ($.15). I did end up buying the CountyComm Embassy pen (Aluminum version). It uses the Fisher refill, and I have to say the guys taht recommended it were very right about it.
The pen is very nice, it writes very cleanly and does not skip. Similar to Esav, it has become my desk pen at work and at home. It's very well made and it was a good choice for my needs. I even threw in a medium widgy bar so I would not be tempted to use my knife for prying.
 
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freedoom said:
County Comm Embassy Pen is my choice for the office and Fisher Bullet for the pocket. However i'm going to get the stainless Embassy Pen for the office and try out the aluminum for pocket carry.
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I do the same. I had the stainless but it was REALLY heavy. I love the aluminum though. Great pen. They seem to be made by or make the tuff writer pen.
 
I LOVE the new Surefire Pen III.... very nice, fits the hand perfect.... tries I & II were "ok" but not perfect...... III is it!

YMMV
 
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