(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
In a year that's been punctuated by one atrocity after another, I can't even imagine being among the front lines of our national defenses against a pandemic. The health care industry has had a rough year, but they haven't given up. For that, they deserve our thanks and everlasting gratitude. In this particular special edition, Fisher is tipping their hat to those in the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) sector. When I think of EMS, the first persona I visualize is a tireless EMT riding in the back of an ambulance with a patient, ensuring they survive the ride to the local hospital. I didn't know this before reading about this special edition pen, but EMS professionals are represented by the Thin White Line. As such, this special edition Cap-O-Matic features a single white line printed down the side of the matte black barrel. It's a minimal but striking design, and I've really enjoyed carrying it around on my (infrequent) trips outside the house.
This is my first foray into the Cap-O-Matic line, and I've been surprised by how convenient the retractable format is. Sure, it's not as small as the iconic Bullet, but it's still small enough to be pocketable and easy to stow away when not in use. When writing, it's just long enough to be comfortable and easy to control since the end of the pen rests on the area of my hand between my thumb and index finger. The included Fisher PR4 refill isn't my favorite, but it's hard to beat the ruggedness and "can-do" attitude of this refill. You can write with it anywhere, regardless of the conditions. Seems like a fitting refill for EMTs! The medium black refill tends to be anything but crisp and dark, but it makes marks on the page reliably. The trade-off of crisp, dark ink for the ability to write in wet conditions or upside down are manageable.
The clip on the Cap-O-Matic is really small but surprisingly strong. Once you clip it to something, it doesn't budge unless you pull the pen straight up in the direction of the clip. It's impressing how grippy it is, but still remains easy to slide onto a pocket or sleeve with no problems.
With any pen that features a barrel design with any sort of barrel-length lines or designs, it can be a little maddening to have these things misalign. My favorite example is the Caran d'Ache 849 fountain pen. All those lovely facets don't line up automatically! In the case of this Fisher, the thin white line aligns properly as long as you picked the right thread to start screwing the pen together. If you end up with the line on opposite sides of the pen, just unscrew it, unscrew it another half turn until you feel the cap drop onto the next thread, and then screw it back down. The line should be aligned at this point. If not, try again! This isn't a Rubik's cube puzzle, but it stumped me a couple times before I got it right.
The Fisher Cap-O-Matic EMS edition is only $17 at Goldspot (normally $25), which is a fantastic deal. This is a rugged pen with a bulletproof refill and will serve you well in any conditions.
It's also great that you can show your support for the EMS community and professionals with this pen, but I think it would be even more awesome if Fisher had some sort of charity set up to donate a portion of the profits from this pen to a worthy cause. It's cool to show support for something with branding, but money is the most universal means of showing support. If you're interested in supported EMS programs, the best way to do so is to donate to your local services. You can quickly find local chapters or programs that operate in your area, and they normally have some way of giving donations or providing other ways that you can help out and show support.
(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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