AerocraftedContrail Pocket Pen - Everyday Carry, Compact Gel Rollerball Pen, Fine Point, Made in the USA (Titanium/Polymer, Pocket Clip)

...now I do. This pen is great!

Writes well. Looks good. Feels great.

First, this pen is made of quality metal making it sturdy and can be stored in my pocket with out fear of breaking. The way the lid comes off and attaches to the end allows the pen to be compact when not in use and feels good in the hand when writing. The cartridge is from PILOT brand. I've purchased PILOT brand pens in the past due to their high quality and reliable writing. When I was an aircraft mechanic I needed a pen that would write in all conditions and be reliable. This pen uses the same cartridges that they did and writes to the same level of quality as they did. The only con for this pen is the price. If you loose it for what ever reason it can be disheartening to turn around looking to spend another large sum to get another one. I still work in an industrial setting so I am subject to being outdoors, crawling, bending, etc... but this pen, so far, stays in the pant pocket secure because it is so compact and due to it's ruggedness I am not afraid of it bending or breaking in my pocket. So far I love it. I'll look into the other models that this seller has to get one for my office. The ink goes on smooth and easy, so far, on just about any writable material that I've tried it on.

I'll give you the bad news first. Aerocrafted's choice for the ink cartridge was not the best. It uses Pilot G2 Mini refills, but lo and behold, Pilot does not sell these by themselves. When you need a refill, you have to buy a whole new Pilot G2 Mini pen and scrounge the ink cartridge from that, and presumably throw away a perfectly-good-but-empty pen shell.The sine-qua-non ink cartridge for tactical/EDC pens would have to be Fisher's Space Pen pressurized ink cartridges. It will not fit into this pen; it's too long and the point is too thick. I've uploaded pictures of Aerocrafted's pen (bottom) along with a Fisher bullet pen (top). As you can see, there's not much of a difference in size between the two. I believe that it wouldn't take too much extra effort for Aerocrafted to modify its pen to accept the Fisher cartridge. Most tactical/EDC pens on the market take these cartridges--I mean, c'mon, man, they can write under water and upside down. They were used by astronauts, for crying out loud. And they have been out since the Space Age in the 1960s. The Aerocrafted Contrail wishes it could do these things. How about it, Aerocrafted?For the good news, this is a very cool and rugged pen. It has a matte titanium cap and cartridge holder along with a bronze cartridge cap, and it's very compact. The machining is done very well. As seen in the picture, it's a bit smaller than a Fisher bullet pen, so it fits easily into any pocket.The only thing that prevents me from giving it a perfect rating is Aerocrafted's choice for an ink cartridge. It's not that the Pilot G2 Mini is a bad cartridge; quite the contrary. But it's not easy to get refills and it's not the best choice for a tactical/EDC pen. This pen could be the gold standard of tactical/EDC pens if only...

I love pens. After leaving the career world I still love pens and keep my favorites in my home office. When I leave home I like to have a small notebook or note cards and a small pen. This is by far the best yet. Cool material, nice and small, through and through. What I really like is the very sturdy clip on the cap. Outstanding. Highly recommended.