The Fisher Space Pen is a writing tool that is well adapted to working under adverse conditions. It is designed to write in the cold, in the heat, over grease, in zero gravity, and even under water. This makes it an excellent choice for the outdoorsman, who may need to write under adverse field conditions.
The model that I tested, the #SM4B Military Space Pen, is available for $22 from www.spacepen.com. PR4 black medium refills are available for $6.75 each.
The Backstory
When I was 16 years old, back in the 1970s, I went to Washington DC to visit my Uncle and Aunt. My Uncle was an aide to a US Senator. I stayed with my Uncle and Aunt for a week or so, and rode in to Washington each day with my Uncle as he drove to work. As my Uncle went about the nation’s business, I went sightseeing. I visited the House and Senate chambers in the Capitol, had a tour of the White House, walked past the Supreme Court Building, visited sites like the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and Ford’s Theater, and toured FBI Headquarters. I had a less jaundiced view of the Federal government at the time, and was in awe of the seat of its operations.
While in Washington, I spent most of my time at the Smithsonian Institute. And most of my time at the Smithsonian was spent at the National Air and Space Museum. I was fascinated with historic aircraft and spacecraft. I wandered about wide-eyed and open-mouthed through the galleries, soaking in the collections and carefully reading all of the placards.
Finally, as a memento of my visit, I stopped by the gift shop and purchased a Fisher Space Pen. I was very proud to own the same kind of pen that an astronaut might have used on the moon.
A little more than a decade later found me as a missionary appointee preparing to leave for overseas with my family for our first term of service. Saying that we were as poor as church mice might give an exaggerated sense of our prosperity. We were really struggling to make ends meet.
One sweltering Sunday morning in mid-summer found me preaching in a small country church. Like most churches in that hardier age, it did not have air conditioning. Under my white dress shirt, jacket and tie, I was stewing in my own juices. I was used to the discomfort, but I was concerned about the cost of having my jacket cleaned so that it would not smell like stale sweat the next time I wore it. Suddenly, something felt sticky. I looked down, and discovered that the ink cartridge of the Space Pen in my suit jacket pocket had popped out the ball point and sprayed pressurized ink into the pocket. From the pocket, the ink leaked through the fabric to stain my shirt as well.
This was a matter of serious concern, because I just did not have enough money to replace the shirt, much less the jacket. My wife made a valiant effort to cleanse the shirt, but it was a lost cause. She had better luck with the jacket, where most of the ink was on the inside. She used repeated applications of hair spray to remove most of the ink from the outside of the jacket. The dry cleaner got enough of the rest that I was able to continue to wear the jacket for a number of more years until the cuffs began to fray.
That was my only experience with a Space Pen until I was working on my upcoming review of the Rite in the Rain No. 954 notebook. As I was scanning online reviews of the notebook, a number of users recommended using a Fisher Space Pen to write in the notebook when the pages were wet. I decided to give it a try, so I contacted Fisher to see if they could provide me with a sample of the pen for testing and evaluation. They were kind enough to agree. Four days later FedEx delivered a package to my door.
Opening the Box
The pen arrived in a simple 9″ x 6.25″ x 1.5″ shipping box sent from the Fisher Space Pen Co., 711 Yucca St., Boulder City, NV 89005.
Opening the box revealed a blister-carded package containing the pen. The package is attractive and practical without diverting too many resources from the product itself. The model I received, the #SM4B Military Space Pen, came with a medium point, black ink cartridge. It has a retractable point, and a black matte finish.
The packaging claims that the pen can write upside down, at any angle, in extreme temperatures (from -30 degrees Fahrenheit to +250 degrees Fahrenheit), underwater, three times longer than the average pen, and over grease.
I am happy to report that the pen is made in the USA.
The pen uses a sealed, pressurized ink cartridge with an ultra-hard tungsten carbide ball in a stainless steel precision socket that prevents leaking (with at least one exception as narrated above) yet delivers uniform ink flow.
The thixotropic ink is hermetically sealed in a pressurized reservoir. I had no idea what “thixotropic” ink was, so I looked it up. According to the tenth edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (the fine print of which I managed to decipher with the help of my bifocals), thixotropy is “the property of various gels of becoming fluid when disturbed (as by shaking)”.
A sliding float separates the ink from a gas that pressurizes the cartridge.
The package also contains a guarantee signed by Paul C. Fisher, the inventor of the Space Pen: “If your Fisher Space Pen happens to have a manufacturing defect, please return it directly to us for repair or replacement.”
The package also states, “The Fisher Space Pen is the ultimate in dependability and guaranteed to give outstanding service both here on Earth and in space. Our pens are the choice of, not only global space programs, but the armed forces, outdoor enthusiasts, contractors, journalists, ski patrols, first responders, search and rescue teams, law enforcement and anyone who demands reliability in the writing instrument.”
Space Pen History
The package my Space Pen came in reports the following:
When President John F. Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon, Paul C. Fisher knew no existing pen could perform in the gravity free, freezing cold and boiling hot vacuum of space.
Thousands of experiments later, Fisher succeeded in creating the first reliable sealed and pressurized ink cartridge.
In 1967, after 18 months of rigorous testing by NASA, the Fisher Space Pen was selected for use by astronauts.
The Fisher Space Pen also guest-starred in Season 3, Episode 3 of Seinfeld. Not too many pens can boast of an acting career.
The Meme
There is a meme floating around the internet that states that NASA spent millions of dollars developing a pen that could write in zero gravity, while the Russians just used a pencil. The meme is incorrect on a couple of points. First of all, the cost of developing the pen was borne by a private company rather than by NASA. Paul Fisher and his company invested about two years and two million dollars to develop the Space Pen. Secondly, the pencil is not well adapted for use in zero gravity. Pencil shavings are considered a potential hazard under zero gravity. If a mechanical pencil is used (as the US space program did prior to the adoption of the Space Pen), there is still the danger that the graphite point will break off, float into electronic equipment, and short it out. To avoid this problem, the Russian space program used grease pencils, but the resulting writing was imprecise and smudgy. As a result, the Russian space program was quick to adopt the Space Pen as soon as they could acquire it commercially (which they were able to do only a year after NASA adopted the pen).
Initial Testing
As soon as I opened the package, I began using the Space Pen to take the notes upon which this article is based. I quickly found that the pen writes more smoothly than the ball point pen that I was previously using.
I then put the pen in my left front pants pocket, along with my Victorinox SD Swiss Army Classic knife, Survivalfrog Tough Tesla Lighter 2.0, and Leatherman Skeletool. Having this many items in one pocket creates a tough environment for ink pens.
I found the barrel of the pen to be just a little thinner than I would prefer. Otherwise, I like it very much.
The pen has survived the first month of testing without any noticeable signs of wear and tear.
The Water Test
I tore a page from the Rite in the Rain No. 954 that I will review in an upcoming article. I then filled a two-gallon bucket about half full, and immersed the page in the bucket. Next, I took the Space Pen used it to write on the page underwater. Both the paper and the pen functioned flawlessly in this difficult environment.
The Snow Test
I used the pen to take notes during a snowy range session in February. The pen continued to write reliably whether it was brushing aside flakes of snow, or writing over drops of water where the snow had melted on the paper.
Conclusions
The model #SM4B Military Space Pen that I tested gave me excellent service throughout the testing period. It seems to thrive in the hostile environment of my pocket, and to function well under difficult weather conditions. It seems to be an excellent tool for everyday carry and for field use.
Disclaimer
The Fisher Space Pen Company was kind enough to provide me with a model #SM4B Military Space Pen for testing and evaluation. I tried not to let their kindness influence my evaluation of the product, and believe that I have succeeded in remaining objective. I had received a Rite in the Rain No. 954 notebook for testing and evaluation for an upcoming article. I did not receive any other financial or other inducements to mention any vendor, product, or service in this article.