Last week, I bought a Smith & Wesson Tactical Pen to review in my post “Fighting Pens” and have been carrying it since. I love it and hate it at the same time. It’s super cool to hand to people to write with and has been taking some abuse well.
Last weekend, it went with me to a carbine match. An AR had a double feed that the shooter didn’t know how to clear. Somehow, he got the bolt to go almost all the way closed on two rounds. Then he proceeded to hit the forward assist, trying to get the gun to work. He didn’t have any good training in clearing a malfunction. He was able to lock up the rifle.
The Safety Officer (SO) on the range smartly called the match cold and tried to help this guy clear his rifle. The SO couldn’t get the live rounds out so he tried his knife and still couldn’t get the rounds out. I handed him the Tactical Pen and he was able to use it to pry out the two live rounds that he couldn’t get with his knife.
The pen is a little scratched but didn’t bend or dent in any way. The pen even writes great. There are only two things I found that I didn’t like. The first is a problem with the pen itself. When I wear it in my back pocket, the cap unscrews and the pen comes loose. I almost stabbed myself getting into the truck. Also, the pen is a little big to fit in most pocket openings designed for pens. I wear button shirts at work a lot and will clip the pen above the top button sticking inside my shirt. This pen is a little longer than others and doesn’t bend, so wearing a seatbelt in my truck is a little weird.
Other than those quirks I really enjoy having this pen. It could be used as a weapon if needed, but I find it a pretty cool pen just to have for everyday use. I’m going to continue carrying it. I think I’ll probably lose it before I can break it. If you want a nice pen and are willing to pay the $25 for one, this is a great buy and you should get one.
Stay Safe,
Ben
PS If you are going to buy one, Amazon has a good price and if you could use my link, I get like $0.25 to help me recoup my cost of buying all those pens last week.
Great review… I just got one.
Thanks.
Just listening to you on the HandgunWorldShow and had to go to Amazon for the S&W pen. I’m in Illinois but love what you and Bob do on the show. Keep it going and hope to train with you and Bon some day
Ben I have the same pen and love it. I have been using it at my day job for a few months now. It gets lots of comments from coworkers and people I run across durring my day. My only complaint is the cap screws on so it is longer to get into action if all you need to do is sign your name.
This thing is pretty tough. I took it and stabbed random crap in my gerage and it held up.
I plan on buying another when I finally loose this one or it gets too scratched up. However with a Parker pen refill it writes much nicer.