Tactical pen, what for ?

[Mimifred]

Hello, can someone who owns a tactical pen explain what he uses it for ?

Thanks.

[Goatlord666]

Hello there! Well aside from using it as an ordinary writing tool, tactical pens have been used for different applications like self defense as both an impact weapon and a submission tool, car wreck escape (by using pens that have glass breakers) and some even have storage areas inside the pens themselves that will either hold a handcuff key or other tiny items

[Nhoj]

I won a Gingrich Tactical pen on here. It has a gun sight adjustment tool, but I don't own a gun. So inside the sight adjustment tool I keep an allergy pill. Besides that it is just a cool tactical looking pen with a handy clip. It also takes Fisher space pen refills so I just think of it as a big tactical space pen. 

[powernoodle]

I recently bought one and took it on a trip to Washington DC, where I could not carry a firearm or knife (I was going through many touristy metal detectors).  It was about the only self defense tool I could have on me, not that I anticipated needing it nor am particularly skilled at using it.  But if you were able to slam that point down on the top of someone's coconut or other tender vittles, it might buy you a few seconds to run, scream like a girl or pee your pants.

I approached a guard at the US Capitol tour and asked if the pen was okay inside the building.  He said no sure.  I did lose my Classic SD, but I took a crappy one with me knowing that it was going to get confiscated.  At the National Museum of the American Indian (a Smithsonian museum), a dimwitted guard saw it clipped to my pants and yelled "hey!", but I stopped and showed it to him.   

My "tactical" pen, btw, is this Schrade model, which is very well made.  And aside from that, its a great writing pen, though a little heavy for EDC (though I've been doing it for 3 weeks). 

http://www.amazon.com/Schrade-SCPENBK-Tactical-Pen-Black/dp/B003AACADM

[kirk13]

Looking Tacti-cool?

[captain spaulding]

I just like to scare people when I sign things. 



J/K I don't even have a tactical pen.

[Syph007]

I think any pen being pointed, can be tactical.  If I got stabbed in the neck, I dont think it would matter if it was a 50 cent bic pen, or a $100 fancy one.   

[captain spaulding]

I think any pen being pointed, can be tactical.  If I got stabbed in the neck, I dont think it would matter if it was a 50 cent bic pen, or a $100 fancy one.   

What did you just watch Casino or something. 



***Warning***
Movie Pen Stabbing in video and language

[Yadda]

I think any pen being pointed, can be tactical.  If I got stabbed in the neck, I dont think it would matter if it was a 50 cent bic pen, or a $100 fancy one.   

True, but a 50 cent bic is only good for one hit.  After that if you didn't inflict mortal damage you need to be prepared to run.  A tactical pen or any good metal Cross pen is going to inflict damage and give you an opportunity to get in a second or third thrust if needed.

[RoboYeti]

I would agree with Syph007 that a regular pen would work almost as well for practical defense and would be even less noticeable than a tactical pen.

My wife's cousin is a martial arts instructor. In his women's self-defense class he teaches his students to use a Sharpie marker like a kubotan (which are technically illegal to carry where I live). I can vouch for the results being effective as I've seen them practice on him, and seen the bruises on him after a class.

On the other hand, some of the tactical pens look pretty cool, and I can see the appeal if you want all of your gear to be indestructible, high quality stuff.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Actually, I can see the plastic ten cent Bic pen being more effective in some ways than the cool tactical pen.  First and foremost, the tactical pens are obviously more than simple writing utensils, and I imagine the TSA and other agencies are aware of them.  They might confiscate a "dangerous" pen, but not a plastic Bic.

Also, if you jam a plastic Bic pen in someone I'd immediately snap it to the side, hoping to break it off.  Even if it didn't break, the sudden pull to the side would cause a heck of a lot more damage and blinding pain.  Yes I could yank a tacti-cool pen to the side as well, but I might not think of that in the heat of the moment like I would with a more fragile pen.  And, if the Bic did break, that would make things a lot worse for the bad guy as he will now need extensive surgery to remove the pen since there will be broken fragments wandering around and keeping him from pulling the remains out.

I have a couple of tactical pens, and I do keep one with my work gear, but largely because I like having an extra pen handy, not for any ninja-ish reasons.  My Fisher Bullet will stab and break anything a tactical pen will, but it doesn't look dangerous, so no one will need to confiscate it, nor will I end up on charges of carrying a concealed weapon which could easily happen with many of these tactical pens.

So... bottom line is they are kinda neat, but I wouldn't want to ever have to depend on one.

Def

[Schneider]

I never understood those pens. I know what they are for but they are usually big and heavy and that's less likely to find it's way into my pocket and so less likely to be of any use when/if I would need one.

[Monrogue]

I have one that I carry every day at work and most times we head out on the weekend to go to the city for shopping or whatever.  Mine has a glass breaker tip and a sort of crown on the cap's end which has sharp-ish tips (not pointy, but sectioned out ridges-hard for me to explain) to the crown.  Within that crown is a single LED light as well.  It's a pretty handy pen overall, but I've only had to use the pen really.  It clips nicely on my left front pocket so it's out of the way of my other EDC items.  I don't anticipate having to use it for self defense, but then again, one probably doesn't normally anticipate such situations, so I like knowing I have it just in case, or for emergency glass breaking, etc.  I know that crown wouldn't feel too good if I jammed it into someone's face/head/anywhere else really.  Here's the info on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006JNVNMG/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[comis]

I think any pen being pointed, can be tactical.  If I got stabbed in the neck, I dont think it would matter if it was a 50 cent bic pen, or a $100 fancy one.   

Syph007,

No, there is a major difference!  I much rather to know the pen that stuck to me is a $100 pen than a $0.5 bic.  And what good is a pen when we have multiple MT on us?

Seriously, I was taught that it is never the tool or the weapon that is dangerous, but the people who use it will determine how dangerous is the situation.

[jzmtl]

I'm of the opinion if you are left stabbing somebody with a pen, running would probably be a better option. 

There are some pretty cool ones though, like the Boker bolt action pen.

[MadPlumbarian]

Well like grant said the Bic can in some cases be reliable then the expensive models, some wile ago I bought a tactical pen back when the were first coming out, I don't even remember what it's called, all I know was I paid a good heavy price for it and I never really put it to use, I like some of the newer one that are now out cause the cap will fit on the other end without a problem, here a pic of the one I'm talking about, I want to say it was like mil-tac  or something like that,

But I ended up making one of my own, no cap just a simple easy to replace ink cartridge, if you dropped it and the plastic part broke, you would just grab a ten cent Bic, here sorry the pic sucks,
it's a plain and simple bolt, I want to say a 3/8"x6"! I cut the end off of it and carefully drilled the center out from both ends, just enough for the Bic to fit in, I filed the thread down a little so it wasn't so sharp, but it made a great finger grip! And like I said, if it broke just grab another cheap Bic and replace it, grant it, it doesn't have a cap, I mean if you really wanted one you could get a threaded rod connector and screw it on over it? JR

[enki_ck]

I'm of the opinion if you are left stabbing somebody with a pen, running would probably be a better option. 

There are some pretty cool ones though, like the Boker bolt action pen.

I like the looks of the new smaller one, the Böker K.I.D. Cal. 050.

[jph0200]

Used the lid side of my tao pen as a hammer to close a cable trunking

[Steinar]

Tactical pens are for people with money to buy a nice fountain pen, but not the sense to.

(Frankly, I prefer a good pencil or lead holder.)

[Mimifred]

Woaw thanks for all these answers, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one wondering about the real usage of those pens...

[AlephZero]

Now, I'm not an expert..

The thing is, the idea of the tactical pen, in my opinion, is that whoever has one, knows how to use one for self defense (as a kubotan I guess)

I'm not one of those people, so I can't say how effective it is, but in the hands of someone who is...

Just my 2 eurocents

[stelug]

once when I was young I had been engaged in a street fight for trafic by a man, probably a boxeur, way bigger and stronger than me. I had one of those wooden pen, with triangular section, long about 18 inches and often with some advertising printed one the body. Were a pupular item in mid 1970 . This was the only item i could grab and use fos SD against this oppnent, but i can say it worked rather well, alse if got brocken by the impact. Now that I have been training in MA for about 40 years I firmly believe that there are always some common object that can become effective weapons around us. But I would prefer a torch to a tactical pen If I was to cary it everywhere.

[Aloha]

they look cool and im sure as some have said can be quite useful in the hands of those familiar with how to use them ( strike points ).  im sure tho anyone familiar and trained could use anything in such a manner of self defense. 

in this era of "tacti" everything im sure its used as mostly as a cool looking writing instrument with added baddassness to it.  ill spray with mace and run like hell in a crazy zig zag pattern like I was being chased by a swarm of bees  .   hahaha   

[nate j]

My Fisher Bullet will stab and break anything a tactical pen will, but it doesn't look dangerous, so no one will need to confiscate it, nor will I end up on charges of carrying a concealed weapon which could easily happen with many of these tactical pens.

+1.

Don't fall for the tactical pen hype, when any decent quality solid metal pen will pretty much perform all the same functions.  Moreover, if I am going to assume the responsibility and sometimes risk of carrying something that is obviously intended as a weapon, I'm going to carry something a smurf of a lot more effective than a tactical pen.

[Essexman]

Tactical pens make middle aged men think they are still cool in the office. So when the young new girl needs a pen he can whip out his uber cool Ti supa dupa pen and impress her. It's a foot in the door (he thinks) to then bore her stupied with the technical details of the pen "it can write upside down you know, or write in space, cool eh?".   

They also give a great false sense of security as the owners think they will be able to fend of crooks or wild animals with the said pen.   

Apart form the above, they are hard wearing and you can write with them.   

[stelug]

Tactical pens make middle aged men think they are still cool in the office. So when the young new girl needs a pen he can whip out his uber cool Ti supa dupa pen and impress her. It's a foot in the door (he thinks) to then bore her stupied with the technical details of the pen "it can write upside down you know, or write in space, cool eh?".   

They also give a great false sense of security as the owners think they will be able to fend of crooks or wild animals with the said pen.   

Apart form the above, they are hard wearing and you can write with them.   

but Shakespeare wrote "The pen is mighter than a sword". Not? Just teasing, a pen may be mighter than nothing

[nuphoria]

For writing tactical letters.

[Top-Gear-24]

When I read about using a 50c bic pen as a weapon one movie scene came to my mind ...

[Grant Lamontagne]

While not many of us are dangerous assassins with amnesia, that is an excellent example of using what is around you rather than trying to carry a pile of stuff you may never need.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

[bmot]

While not many of us are dangerous assassins with amnesia, that is an excellent example of using what is around you rather than trying to carry a pile of stuff you may never need.

Def

Sent from a digital multitool

Funny you'd say that here...