Review: Fisher Bullet Space Pen @AllWritePaper

The Fisher Bullet Space Pen has been around since 1948, and remains the most popular Fisher space pen today. Stay tuned! A review of the All Write waterproof notepad is coming up, along with a giveaway sponsored by All Write of two waterproof notepads and a matte black Fisher Bullet Space pen! Thanks to All Write for sending this pen for review!

ABOUT

Body Material: Brass/Chrome
Trim: Chrome
Length (capped): 9.6 cm
Length (uncapped nib-end): 9.0 cm
Length (posted): 13.7 cm
Section diameter: 8 mm
Barrel diameter: 9 mm
Price: € 32,75
Where to buy: All Write

PACKAGING

The chrome Fisher Space Pen was packaged in a hard plastic case inside a cardboard box. The case is small, with a plastic bed covered in felt, designed to accommodate the pen. The box is black and has the Fisher Space Pen logo in silver on the top. Inside and below the bed, there is a pamphlet folded up with information on the pen, including details to order refills, should you wish. (Yep, order by mail.)

APPEARANCE

The bullet pen is short and compact, but if you think of it like a bullet, it's elongated with rounded off ends. It has a minimalist design and I really, really like it. The clip is chrome and is quite small, sitting a third of the way down the cap, which looks good in terms of the balance. The cap sits far down the barrel and the cap is so thin (although solid) that it hardly sticks out. There is a black rubber O-ring to mark the barrel to section, and there are grooved rings descending down the section as it tapers towards the tip. Posted, the pen looks like a normal pen, although one on the smaller side.

I love how this pen looks. It's awesome. It's sleek, classy, and simple. There are many other colors if this isn't your thing, but I think the chrome is so classic.

PERFORMANCE

The refill for this pen is designed to write under a variety of conditions, hence being called the space pen. There is a gas plug at the back of the cartridge, with a sliding float that separates the ink and pressurized gas. The ink in the pressurized reservoir writes in conditions such as freezing cold, boiling heat, in a gravity-free vacuum, upside down, underwater, and over grease. Obviously I couldn't test all of these.

As for its performance under normal circumstances: excellent. The refill wrote as soon as I tried it, and even when I left it sitting around for days, tip up, it wrote. It's a solid, intense black with good ink coverage. I love how the ink smells.

I left it in the freezer, it wrote. It was cold. Actually, I did the drawing of the refill after it came out of the freezer. It wrote better after I had drawn a few lines, but it didn't not write. Intense heat terrifies me, so I am not testing the boiling heat thing. I can confirm the pen writes upside down, at weird angles, over grease, and through water.

Realistically, I will never need an ink that can do so much cool stuff. It's all a bonus though, because sometimes it will be really convenient, like writing through water (or ink), and over grease when scribbling a grocery list on a scrap of paper that happened to be sitting on the kitchen counter when you cooked a messy breakfast. For an on-the-go sized pen though, being able to write at any angle might be one of my favorite features - being able to write against a wall without the ink running dry is very handy. In addition, being able to leave the pen in a car in the middle of summer/winter that will still write is also convenient. So although I don't need all its features on a daily basis, overall, its features lend itself to being a great take-it-with-you-everywhere ballpoint.

IN HAND

Unposted, this is a pretty small pen. It's not mini, so it doesn't feel too thin, but it's short. It has a comfortable weight, but the cap posts securely by friction (and it's also very satisfying to post). Posted, it's great to use as the length, weight, and balance are very comfortable. The clip isn't the prettiest in terms of its appearance (at least for me), but it works. The pen isn't all that large or heavy, so the clip secures it well.

What I really like about this is not so much the pen in hand, but more so how it's really easy to slip it into a pocket, purse, bag, etc. It's very convenient.

PROS & CONS

There are a lot of threads to unscrew the barrel. Fortunately, there's no need to get into the barrel often, but it takes a long time to open. The upside to this is it isn't easy for it to unscrew on its own. 

OVERALL

The Fisher Bullet Space Pens are cool. I've always thought they were interesting, cute, compact, and come in such a variety that it's hard not to find one that isn't appealing. The ink performs very well under a variety of conditions. Overall, I'm a fan of these pens.

I received this pen free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion. There are no affiliate links in this review.