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I don’t want to be silly about this but I can’t stand wimpy pens.You know what I’m talking about. You can bend a wimpy pen in your hand. Accidentally step on it and it cracks. And it’s useless for anything except writing. Yes, I understand that’s what a pen is for. Seriously, though, who hasn’t used a pen as some kind of tool for something?
Moreover, some self defense philosophies teach you to think about how you can use normal things as self defense tools — a pen being an excellent example. In a time of trouble, maybe a wimpy pen is better than no pen but if I get to choose, I’m picking the strongest pen I can find. For me, that’s been the Gerber Impromptu Tactical Pen. I carry it around with me all the time. Everywhere. And after two years, it still writes anywhere (upside down, in the rain, etc.) and remains as tough as a railroad spike.
My shirt and tie probably gives away the fact that I spend a lot of time in a traditional office environment. But the Impromptu is not out of place at the office. It is, after all, a pen. It just happens to be made out of machined steel treated with Cerakote. And actually, I like to have something in addition to a folding knife as a backup defensive weapon. So the Gerber pen rides along with me, hiding in plain sight in the front pocket of my shirt.
See the piece of tempered steel protruding off center from the tip? That’s an integrated glass breaker. It doesn’t move back and then snap forward, like some glass breakers. Instead, you have to get a good hold of the pen and strike that tip against the glass to break it. Handy for breaking glass, yes, but maybe more so to put the hurt on a would-be attacker if you’ve got nothing else at hand. (Look up all the ways to use a kubotan style tool or ask a self defense pro about how to use a pen defensively.) But even in the mundane world of the office, that tip proves useful in a variety of circumstances where I need to pry, poke, or push something.
Everything about the Gerber Impromptu is solid, robust, engineered for heavy-duty use. The stainless steel clip is the best ever. Even the clicker feels military grade. Yet the pen writes smoothly. In fact, the Rite In The Rain ink cartridge delivers ink instantly, even on wet Rite In The Rain paper.
Weighing just over an ounce and measuring 5.59 inches in length, the made-in-the-USA Gerber Impromptu Tactical Pen retails for $71.99 and comes backed by Gerber’s lifetime warranty.
Write, break, or strike — the Impromptu is no wimp.
— Mark Kakkuri
