I'm looking for a reasonably-priced, durable Tactical pen. The glass breaker would be nice, but the lights, whistles, etc. do not appeal.
Looking at the Tuff Writer and CRKT lines...they are marvelous, but..the price is a bit spendy.
Does anybody know if there a U.S. manufacturer that offers a "good enough" pen... which will be used more for writing than defense...say in the ~ $30 or below range?
Thanx!
I will give you a police officer/armed citizen perspective…
First off, I have owned both the Precision Press and the Operator pens, both purchased directly from the manufacturer at a past NRA show.the quality is superb, and if you truly want the finest example of the so-called "tactical pen", these folks are it. Plus, you could not ask to deal with a nicer family.
Here are a couple of considerations for you… First off, a lot of these pens are simply heavy, and if you are going to wear them in the placket of a polo shirt, they do have a bit of bulk. Second of all, if you think you are going to carry them through a security checkpoint, especially with a metal detector, think again. While there are many stories of individuals who routinely carry these things through TSA checkpoints, onto airplanes and such, they were fortunate, but I can tell you that I have known several individuals who had their relatively high dollar pen taken from them.
A tactical pen is an impact weapon, and that is exactly how you deploy it. The concept is a robust kuboton-type implement that is used against the face and bony prominences. this is a hit them in the face and run kind of implement, and if you are thinking it is anything more than that, you need to look a bit deeper into the concept.
Start here… This man is superb at his craft and quite practical. He is demonstrating with the Tuff Writer Operator.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHgENdGr8TA[/ame]
As a police officer, I routinely carry one of the zebra number 701 pens. These are inexpensive and adequately strong should they ever actually have to be employed. However, in my world of patrol, if I am ever to the point I am reaching for a pen to defend myself, things are probably really bad…
If you are truly looking at this concept as a way to have some form of self-defense, here is my suggestion...
Go here and buy several of these.
Alpha Innovations LLC - Products - Stylus Kubaton
Then, you will have the same concept as the "tactical pen", deployed exactly the same way and given its construction, it will easily pass through any metal detector and has passed through many a TSA checkpoint. I simply put it in my carry-on bag with the rest of my ink pens and highlighters, it has never been questioned.
And, they are five dollars each...
Again, remember that these are deployed either from the chest, meaning they are stuck inside of your shirt placket, or they are deployed from the pocket. If you are going to carry one of these, you need to practice laying your palm on the pointed end to make the other side stand up so that you can get your thumb beneath it to quickly deploy it.
I do think they have their place, but a bit limited, and you need to understand that if you ever do deploy something like this, it needs to be done at lightning speed because you will likely only get one chance.
