Trekker Fisher Space Pen on the Lanyard

One of the items I saw and picked up at the National Stationery Show this year was this Trekker Fisher Space Pen (available in black too).  For a long time I’ve been meaning to do a review of one of the Space Pens but for whatever reason I never got around to it.

Trekker Fisher Space Pen Uncapped

At the Stationery Show, I met Steve, who is the Director of Sales for the Fisher Space Pen Company, and he was kind enough to give me this Trekker version of the Space Pen for this review.  We chatted for a bit and he showed me the multiple varieties of Fisher Space Pens that they make, I guess I never really noticed that there were so many varieties available so I was glad I stopped by to see them all.  As you can see from the photos above, the Trekker Space Pen comes with a key chain loop, a lanyard and a carabiner.  My only gripe (and its a minor one)  is that you cant post the cap on the back of the pen, but being that it is so compact and designed to easily fit on your key chain or other small area, I can deal with that because it probably helps you avoid actually losing the cap.

I’ve had this pen on my key chain for a few weeks now, which gets jostled around going from my laptop bag to my pocket to wherever I haphazardly decide to leave my keys.  Some of the other reviews I’ve read about these say that the grip section comes unscrewed easily, but I have not had that problem.  It actually takes 9 to 10 full rotations to open up the pen, and I have yet to even have it come loose in my admittedly mundane but sometimes turbulent day to day use of it, so maybe those were old reviews that I read and the problem has been fixed.

Trekker Fisher Space Pen Exploded View

The  body of the Trekker is made of stainless steel, has a rubber grip, and the cap snaps on and off.  The pen measures at 3.875″ which makes is just big enough to write with comfortably.  The fisher space pens are known for their writing versatility, and can write upside down, at any angle, in zero gravity, and even after hanging upside down all day.  One of the most impressive claims about this pen (besides the writing in space thing that I don’t really have the budget to test) is that it can withstand temperatures from 30 degrees below Fahrenheit up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.  If you have read this blog recently, you know that I’ve got a thing for tossing pens in the oven to see how they hold up, so obviously I couldnt wait to get this Trekker Space Pen in the oven to see how it held up to the 250 degree claim.  Like I said last time I did this, I want to reiterate that you should not try this at home.

Trekker Fisher Space Pen Ready for the Oven

The above photo shows the Trekker Fisher Space pen prepped for the oven in a little tinfoil bed.  I made sure to pre-heat the oven so I could make sure the test pushed the limits of the pen a bit.

Trekker Fisher Space Pen at 250 degrees

Above is just must an attempt to prove that the pen did get in the oven at 250 degrees.  I left it in there for about half an hour, and because the oven is not exactly the model of efficiency and modern technology, the temperature did fluctuate a bit.  Obviously you cant just grab the pen and start writing, but it did cool down pretty quickly.

Trekker Fisher Space Pen Writing Sample

The writing sample above was done mostly before the oven test, the only line written after the oven test is the last line you see there.  I was really impressed with the performance of the Trekker Fisher Space Pen, both before and after cooking it.  As someone who typically does not enjoy writing with a ballpoint, I was surprised by how smooth and clump free the pen wrote.  In addition to the nice smooth writing experience, I also really liked the comfortable rubber grip, and for a pen so small and thin, it really is not as difficult to write with as I thought it would be.  I really love having such a great looking pen that can pretty much write in any condition, hold up to some serious abuse, and be attached to almost anything.  If you are like me and have mostly ignored these, I seriously suggest you grab a Trekker Fisher Space Pen to stick on your jacket, bag, belt, or whatever you have with you at all times because in the few weeks I’ve had it, I has become indispensable.

Update: One of my readers asked how the Fisher Trekker Space Pen holds up in freezing conditions, so I did an additional test.  The below writing sample shows the Space Pens writing performance immediately after spending 2 days in the freezer.  You can see that initially the pen starts writing a bit light, but then by the end of the writing sample it begins to regain its original darkness and smooth writing flow.  This probably took about 90 seconds or so from beginning to end.  Overall Id say you definitely dont have to worry about the Space Pen not writing after being frozen, but it does look like it takes a few seconds to regain its full capacity….but then again if you were frozen for 2 straight days, would you be up and running at full speed in under 90 seconds?

Fisher Trekker Space Pen After Freezing for 2 Days

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