I like carrying a pen everywhere. They are good for the obvious use of taking notes. Somehow I can always find something to write on, but nothing to write with. I also carry a pen on flights and other places I can’t carry a knife like planes and federal buildings.
There is more than one company making a pen that doubles as a weapon. The cheapest one I could find advertised as a “tactical” pen was the Smith & Wesson, so I bought one. I also ran down to OfficeMax and Target and bought six different pens to test.
Here’s the line up:
From Left to Right:
- Parker Jotter
– I like Parker pens and it looked tough on the shelf at OfficeMax so I bought it for $5.84. After opening it the top seems to be stainless steel, but the bottom is plastic. I don’t know if the plastic will survive.
- Zebra G-301
– These used to be my favorite pens of all time. I used to carry these as a Marine because they didn’t break. I used them for everything and they seemed to survive well. A little while ago I bought a pack and broke the pen the first day I had it. So I’m not sure how this will work. I got these from OfficeMax in a 2 pack for $5.49
- Pierre Cardin – I can’t find this pen anywhere online, I just found it at office max for $5.49. I bought it because it says “Solid Brass Construction” on the package.
- Smith & Wesson Tactical Pen
– I bought this pen as a control group. This is a “tactical” pen that can be used as a weapon, but was designed to survive the military. Smith & Wesson doesn’t mention anything about it being a weapon, which I like for liability issues and so I can carry it more places. This is obviously the toughest pen in my limited test and by far the most expensive at $24.99 from Academy Sports and Outdoors here in Texas.
- Uni-Ball 207
– This one just looked cool, big, and tough. So I bought it from Target for $6.89.
- AlluminX Ball Point Pen – I bought this one off the rack because it says Aluminum Barrel on the pack and it was only $1.92. It seems tough and is all aluminum, but feels slippery and hard to hang onto, and somehow I bought the purple one.
- Pilot Dr. Grip
– I bought this one because it’s my wife’s favorite pen and we have a bunch of them always around the house. She wouldn’t let me break one of hers, so I bought this one at Target for $6.13. It seems tough but there is a skinny part where the gel grip is. My wife never broke one.
The test was simple, I continued my shopping trip and bought a 1×6 pine board to stab. I held each pen in an ice pick grip and stabbed the board with about the same force for each, and then on my wife’s taunting I stabbed the board a second time with each.
My conclusion was semi-predictable. The Smith & Wesson did the best followed by the Dr. Grip and the Uni-Ball. What I learned was that fighting with a pen hurts. By the second pen my hand and thumb hurt from hitting the board. The thicker pens where the ones that survived the best. The thinner pens hurt the most. I was disappointed with all of them. I thought the Smith and a couple others would push through the board and do a lot more damage. I also was thinking about wearing a glove because I figured some of them would splinter. None of them did. All of the pens looked much the same. Pictures below are of the pens after the test next to the damage done.
The bottom line is that it seems any pen would work about the same as a weapon. I would go for something thicker because it hurts me less. I’m also going to start carrying the Smith & Wesson pen just because I paid a lot for it and I want to see if I break it with everyday use.
Stay Safe,
Ben
P.S. If you want to see the test, my wife took a video while I wasn’t looking (it’s really bad, but have a good laugh).
For durability the wood was a good test, after that, a more practical test might have been a big hunk of meat. Thanks for the info.
That’s a good idea. I’ll look into that for the future. Just need a way to hang it…
Thanks for reading the blog.
Now that you have used it for awhile how is the tactical pen holding up? I like it and might invest in one but some of the reviews on Amazon were not that great. Thought I would get your opinion.
I like mine and am still carrying it. The pen writes great. It has some scratches on it from when I used it to clear a stuck cartridge from a rifle.
I’ve only found two things I didn’t like about it. First it’s a screw on top. Not a huge issue I just like the ease of click pens. Second the clip is on the cap and I had the cap loosen in my pocket and had to reach down and put it back together before it stabbed me. I don’t know if it was my fault or the pen design.
But in spite of that, I’m still carrying it and will probably buy another when I lose this when. I don’t think I’m going to break it.
Great post Ben. Botach Tactical makes some very low cost options for anyone who’s interested. I’m gonna order a couple and see how they work. I like your board stabbing technique, perhaps I’ll borrow it. 🙂
http://www.botachtactical.com/kzdefensepens.html
That is pretty much all I carry on me, besides a paracord bracelet. I carry the Boker because I’m an assistant principal and it wouldn’t look too cool to have a knife clipped in my front pocket! 😉 But everyone knows I have it because I use it to open stuff…etc…
My backpack stays in my office…with my other stuff!
I would never think a principal is carrying a knife. That’s a great idea! I love it.
I carry a Boker with the pen top on it. Check it out here – http://optimizedsecurity.com/boker-047-reality-based-pen-style-blade-designed-by-jim-wagner-p-1132.html
That thing is awesome looking! That could be really cool in some place like New York City that doesn’t allow knives visible. I need my pen for a weapon in places like airplanes and federal buildings where I can’t take anything else. A Boker knife really fits a nice nitche, and I wish it had been out when I worked for the armored car company because we weren’t aloud to have a knife and that would have worked perfectly. What other cool stuff do you carry?