The Fisher Space Pen is one of the few writing instruments that crosses over into the mainstream from deep inside the stationery world. It’s a special pen, for reasons which I will cover below, and maybe an even more important tool for what it offers, and how it operates.
The core of the Space Pen experience is the pressurized ballpoint refill it uses. It writes like a traditional ballpoint, with the pressurization allowing it to write at any angle. Write normally at your desk, write on the clipboard on the wall, write on the ceiling for reasons I’m still unsure of. Write anywhere, at any angle, and the line will keep up. That is not something more traditional pens or fountain pens can handle.
Do you need that ability on a daily basis? Of course not. But that is how the Fisher Space Pen has become the great crossover pen that it is. Given the way the pressurized refill pushes the ink, it writes on wet and dirty surfaces as well. Chefs can use it in the kitchen, hikers can use it on the trail, writers can use it on notebooks in their laps. The opportunities are endless because you know when you uncap this pen, it is going to write.
Is it the purest writing experience ever. No. That’s the main criticism of this pen. It’s a ballpoint that writes like a ballpoint, although I do find it very usable due to the solid lines on the page, and the lack of mess from the tip. It meets my expectations for quality, but a Uni-ball Jetstream it is not.
The other feature of the Fisher Space Pen is the classic bullet barrel design. It is small and pocketable, and can take a beating. I’ve seen some amazingly worn barrels that only look better with age, and never compromise its functionality. The cap stays on via an o-ring in the middle of the barrel, and posts securely on the back for a full-sized writing instrument.
I’ve owned a couple of different classic bullet models over the years, but I recently picked up this Cerakote Elite Navy Blue model because I’m a fan of this barrel finish, and wanted to see how it compared to the traditional Brass barrel. Cerakote is designed to take a beating, and it held up on my recent trip to California, from the beaches, to the mountains, attached to a Field Notes notebook. It worked perfectly every time I needed it, and stayed securely clipped to my pocket notebook when I didn’t.
While the refill shape is considered Parker-style, it’s shorter than a true compatible refill. That means you can’t swap a different refill into the Space Pen body, but the Space Pen refill ships with an extender to use with other pen barrels. I like writing with the refill, but I do swap into the Fine Blue refill from the Medium Black refill that it ships with. Admittedly, they are expensive to replace, but much better for me.
The standard bullet Fisher Space Pen starts around $29, with the Cerakote model I’m using here priced at $39. There are dozens of designs, colors, and finishes to choose from, and various prices in between. It’s makes for a perfect gift for someone else, or a special treat for yourself.
Does everybody need a Fisher Space Pen? No. I wouldn’t use it for long form writing, for example. But it does what it is designed for perfectly, and if you have a fitting use case, you won’t find a better option.
(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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