{"id":45619,"date":"2026-02-23T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=45619"},"modified":"2026-02-16T14:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:50:14","slug":"small-pens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/small-pens\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Pens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Instant ink brush<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pentel Pocket Brush Pen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leave it to the Japanese to create a brush pen. This pocketable pen<\/a> has a super fine brush tip of actual bristles, perfect for tiny Kanji characters, or of course, doodling in your journal, or sketching in your Moleskine. While it\u2019s hugely popular with comic book folks and cartoonists, artists of all stripes have picked one up for their paper work. The feel is incredibly tactile and lovely. It works like a fountain pen, with replaceable rich ink cartridges. Once capped it doesn\u2019t leak as far as I can tell. (There\u2019s a moment of panic when you first assemble it since the instructions are 100% in Japanese, but just insert the ball-bearing end of the ink capsule into the tip.) You can purchase other color inks as well. \u2014 KK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ultracompact wallet pen<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ohto Petit-B<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I usually carry a bunch of pens in a leather pocket protector (a beautiful, inexpensive thing from John C. Robert\u2019s Leather Works). My wife despairs when we go someplace nice and I\u2019m carrying all this stuff. So I wanted a small pen that would fit unobtrusively in my pocket. The previously reviewed Derringer Pen is just a little too long for my wallet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Ohto pen, just a bit smaller, is ideal. It\u2019s only 3.1 inches closed, 5.1 inches open, and fits perfectly in the fold of my wallet. \u2014 David Derbes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Almost invisible pen<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Swiss Army Replacement Pen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got my ruler out to see if it would clip into my wallet and found that the 4\u2033 long stainless steel Derringer wallet pen would protrude from my 3.88\u2033 wallet. That is unlike the pen I\u2019ve already got in my wallet, which is almost invisible unless you know it\u2019s there. I use \u2014 and have done so for many years \u2014 a Swiss Army Knife pen refill, Victorinox model number 30422.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It costs $2.95. It\u2019s a replacement pen for the one that comes as original equipment in Swiss Army Knives. 91mm (2.75\u2033) long, with a gray, curved top that fits snugly into the body of a Swiss Army Knife, these handy little pens come in blue or black ink. There\u2019s also an even smaller (2\u2033 long) version that fits the smaller, key-chain size knives. I don\u2019t recommend it because it\u2019s very difficult to grasp and write with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, you are not going to want to copy out Moby Dick<\/em> with my little pen, but for quick notes, sudden flights of fancy or inspiration, phone numbers, and the like, you can\u2019t beat it. And I always have a pen. So often no one does, and I don\u2019t think I do, until I realize hey, I do have one. People smirk and scoff but they\u2019re very glad when they see it writes just fine. A life-saver. \u2014 Joseph Stirt<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Write-anywhere minimalism<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Fisher Bullet Space Pen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like to have a few essential tools with me at all times: my Swiss Army knife, a keychain LED flashlight, a pocket notebook and a pen for scribbling notes whenever inspiration strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d searched a long time for a pen that was small enough to carry around in my pocket, yet comfortable to write with and reliable enough to work every time I needed it. I finally found it with the Fisher Space Pen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone has heard of the legendary Space Pen, which was developed for the space program and writes upside down, under water and in extreme temperatures. They make many different varieties of the Space Pen, but the most useful and elegant is the Bullet (pictured alongside Uniball).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Fisher Bullet is in two pieces: the actual pen, and a cap that fits on the back of the pen to make a full-size writing instrument. When closed, it makes a compact, tight-fitting, gasket-sealed capsule that easily fits in your pocket. It comes with a shirt pocket clip that can be removed, so it\u2019s less obtrusive in your pants pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can get it in chrome, but the matte black finish is so much cooler. \u2014 Curtis Galloway<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fisher Stowaway Space Pen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After losing two (expensive) Fisher Bullet Space Pens, I stumbled across their significantly less expensive Stowaway<\/a> ($10). They\u2019re small, available in three styles, with or without a clip on the cap, and with a stylus on the opposite end of the tip. Three colors, too: black, red and blue. \u2014 Eric Rosenberg<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I always liked the idea of Paul Fisher\u2019s bullet-shaped Space Pens but at around $20 always felt they were not worth the benefits (writing anywhere, upside down, any temperature, under water, over grease, etc.). Now they sell a tiny (4 x 0.4 x 0.4 in.; 5.1 in. in writing mode) pretty-much-weightless tube pen called the Stowaway with the famous ink refill, for about half the price of the Bullet. I bought a mess of them and threw one in every jacket. \u2014 Vince Crisci<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Affordable, pocketable pens<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Zebra Compact and Telescoping Pens<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always wanted a small pen to keep with me at all times for quick notes and such. I\u2019ve even considered taking a hacksaw to the venerable Bic ballpoint pen to keep in my wallet. One of the things that kept me from doing that was worrying about it exploding and flooding my pocket with ink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, Zebra has come up with a far more elegant and affordable solution with the Telescopic and F-301 Compact pens. Both feature a metal body made popular in their other pens. The telescopic pen body extends to a regular pen length when full telescoped, and exposes the tip, ready to write. Retracting the pen body for stowage fully retracts the tip safely into the body, like a frightened turtle. It fits neatly in the fold of my tri-fold wallet. I found them at my local OfficeMax for about $5. So far, it\u2019s survived some gnarly crashes during snowboarding trips, and being sat on daily with out a single dent. \u2014K. Rhainos<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Zebra Compact closes to a small size and has a clip for shirt pockets. I have used this pen for a couple of years. In the past I\u2019ve used the previously reviewed Fisher Space Pen but they are expensive and easy to lose because they are so smooth. This pen is cheap and even cheaper when you can find them at Walmart. Not only that but the refills are cheap, too! \u2014 Chris Acree<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ever ready pen<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Derringer Wallet Pen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not earth-shattering, but this wallet pen is really handy. I am never without something to write with. The good thing about the pen is that it clips in, so I never have to worry about where I put it. \u2014 Chuck Green<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once a week we\u2019ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because\u00a0the possibilities they inspire are new.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 178<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2387],"tags":[2388],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45627,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45619\/revisions\/45627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}