Reasonable Tactical Pen Evaluation

People have mentioned the price point and the legalities involved in carrying a 'tactical pen', and that is definitely part of what I'm trying to better understand, what a pen, marketed as a 'tactical' or 'combat' pen, should be able to stand up to that an 'ordinary' pen cannot. Please keep the discussion going!

Regards,
3G
 
It should be able to be stabbed into the ribcage, ear, eye socket or groin of 3-5 airplane hijackers, killing or disabling them all, without breaking in your hand.

Well, at least that's the fantasy. In reality it's great for signing checks at the mall.
 
elkins45 said:
One thing it should do is actually look like a writing instrument. The Benchmade pen, for example looks like some sort of medieval torture probe.

Brownshoe is right on another opinion as well: it shouldn't get you arrested. If you buy a pen that is explicitly marketed as a 'tactical' device then it's hard for you to claim ignorance when TSA detains you for carrying a weapon through a security checkpoint.

There are a number of companies that make real pens which could withstand an 'off-label' usage. I think I would much rather carry one of those onto a plane than a purpose built tactical pen. Plus, they write better and probably cost less.
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I agree.

It's critical that a "tactical" pen not look like a weapon, or be marketed as such.

Moreover, LEO's are, of course, well aware of the recent popularity of "tactical" pens...
 
I like Fred Perrin's tactical pen over the others. Much cheaper and very low key. Then again for its purpose, you don't exactly need a special pen. Any solid ridged pen will do.

I remember Rick Hinderer's pen was all the rage when it came out but no offense, it just screams "weapon" to me....
 
Holy crap! That Benchmade pen is pricey. If spent that much on a pen it better be able to smash through a cinder block (or write very, very smoothly). If humans are such soft targets then why do you need such a fancy pen that is really a cool looking stick? The Cold Steel Sharkie is at least reasonable...
 
A tactical pen should:

1) Be made of an arcane metal that is both stronger than steel yet light as a feather, be entirely non-magnetic and not detectable by a metal detector.

2) Have some sort of James Bond style transmitter, decoder, computer, and laser that will allow me to sight in my rifle, calculate the exact moment of the galactic alignment (so I know how much time I have before the world ends), cut through handcuffs when I've been captured, and remind me when my parking meter is about to expire.

3) Allow me to suture wounds, start fires, signal rescue planes, build emergency shelters, and have a thing that pops out when my roast is done.

4) Cost less than $100.

If it won't do all that then I'll just stick with my Zebra pens.
 
How would you get arrested for having a pen, despite the marketing. What states have laws that define weapons broadly enough to include a metal bodied pen?
 
hardheart said:
How would you get arrested for having a pen, despite the marketing. What states have laws that define weapons broadly enough to include a metal bodied pen?
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Maybe if you end up stabbing it into the ribcage of an advancing homeless guy just looking for some pocket change?

... he snuck up on me and I knew exactly what he wanted: not a couple of dollars for a sixer of Natural Ice, but my life. My overly paranoid brain reverted to survival mode and I unclipped my Tactical Pen from my trenchcoat pocket with a *snap* and dug it deep into his abdomen. He died instantly. One less scumbag to harass upstanding, hard-working citizens like myself on the streets...
 
A tatical pen designed and sold for stabbing would very easily fit into the definition of a dirk and a dagger, as do ice picks and screwdrivers when carried as weapons. That's why they put in the dirk/dagger part of the statute. Remember, benchmade is not selling a pen, they are selling a dagger that is disguised as a pen.
 
brownshoe said:
A tatical pen designed and sold for stabbing would very easily fit into the definition of a dirk and a dagger, as do ice picks and screwdrivers when carried as weapons. That's why they put in the dirk/dagger part of the statute. Remember, benchmade is not selling a pen, they are selling a dagger that is disguised as a pen.
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Every definition of "Dagger" I've ever encountered has involved the word "knife." In fact a Dirk is defined as a "short Dagger without a hilt" more often than not.

A stabbing implement maybe, but not "a dagger disguised as a pen." Which are made, but they actually have a blade in the handle.
 
I don't think I've ever seen any ad copy that says these things can stab, and I doubt they do any better than any other pen; the rollerball/nib/writey portion is about as fine as the ends of the aluminum bodies. I think it'll take new legislation or amendments to definitions to make possession of these things a problem. Of course, there's a lot of ways to interpret existing law, you could be screwed for carrying nail clippers.
 
hardheart said:
I don't think I've ever seen any ad copy that says these things can stab, and I doubt they do any better than any other pen....
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'bout says it all, IMO. I happen to have a Pentel RSVP ballpoint here on my desk; costs less than $1, and with a very stout, tough plastic body and nice pointy tip, I would expect it to perform as well as a stabbing device as anything marketed specifically as a 'tactical pen'.
 
A tactical pen should be strong enough to serve as a stylus so someone could use it to write on a pda or next generation cellular telephone for the purpose of writing trolling threads that mock threads by authors championing the idea that good knives need not be indestructable.
 
I do some technical writing review, so I need it to come with red ink, and, be able to de-animate the illiterate idiots the public school system is churning-out :)
 
thombrogan said:
A tactical pen should be strong enough to serve as a stylus so someone could use it to write on a pda or next generation cellular telephone for the purpose of writing trolling threads that mock threads by authors championing the idea that good knives need not be indestructable.
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With all due respect, Thom, the purpose of this thread was very clearly explained in my opening post. Do you have anything productive to add to the discussion on evaluating tactical pens, or are YOU just here to troll?

Regards,
3G
 
hardheart said:
How would you get arrested for having a pen, despite the marketing. What states have laws that define weapons broadly enough to include a metal bodied pen?
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Good question, Hardheart! In California, the definition of a "dirk or dagger" is "any sharp bladed instrument capable of ready use as a stabbing weapon," and I have seen that section (12020) of the penal code applied to the illegal (concealed) carrying of screwdrivers.

Regards,
3G
 
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