The AG7 (Authentic Astronaut) Space Pen was used by Major "Gyro" (his "tactical callsign," not his real name), a USAF F-16 Fighter Pilot during his 46 combat sorties over Iraq from September 1998 - April 1999 to patrol and enforce the No-Fly zone. Extreme writing instruments such as the Space Pen were designed for uncompromising men & woman who work in all fields of life. On behalf of TheWritersEdge.com and the Fisher Space Pen Factory (both located in Las Vegas, NV) we wish to thank Maj. "Gyro" and the thousands of men and women who are involved in protecting the freedoms we enjoy here in the United States of America and throughout the world. Major "Gyro's" use of the Space Pen does not imply endorsement of the product by the United States Air Force. He's just a happy customer that uses his Space Pen while "at work" pulling 8 or 9 G's in an F-16.

Photo: Maj "Gyro" on his way into Iraq after refuelling.

Hi Jim,

After stopping at your booth in the Belz Outlet Center and buying another space pen, I thought I'd write. I bought my first space pen in 1982. It was the classic silver bullet. Since then, I have purchased quite a few pens and lots of refills. I guess I am a pen collector. My favorites are the Space Pen and most Parker Pens. I have replaced ALL my Parker pen refills with bold Space Pen refills. As a travelling salesman of industrial steel parts, I am pretty rough on my pens. The only pens I carry with me in the field are Fisher Space Pens. I have to write information in some pretty harsh environments. I go to cement plants, mining companies and power plants, including Nevada Power's coal burning plants. Coal is not the worst of the harsh environments, but it certainly can be. My space pens have NEVER failed me. The convenient size makes it easy to always be sure I have it with me. The worst thing that ever happens to my space pens are that I have a tendency to lose them. I don't feel too bad about it because it just gives me an excuse to have to buy a new one. The one I purchased yesterday was the Titanium Nitride. I love the look of it and the light weight. I have owned the classic, the black matte, (with and without the clip) and the Burgundy Lacquered was one of my favorites. I am sending a few pictures of the pen I have managed to keep the longest. You will be able to see just how hard I am on them. It WAS a blue lacquered space pen. It's been through hell and back and STILL writes like it did the day I bought it. I didn't need a new pen when I bought my latest one yesterday, but I just HAD to commemorate my 50th birthday with one of my favorite things. Thank you for taking the time to read this mail.

Sincerely,
Jim (Woody) Woods
  

Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 6:45 AM
Subject: Re: Pen engraving

Jim,

I don't know when I will make it to vegas but it could be next year. If you ever come this way [Atlanta] you have to stop in. We have over 8,000 gallons of really; really good beer and I would love to share it with you.

Space Pen Story

As a chef I have used bullet pens for years. Their writing properties make them Ideal for the vigor’s of a professional kitchen. Years ago I dropped a titanium [bullet space pen] in a 375 degree fryer when it fell out of my pocket. Due to its small size it was difficult to extract from the oil. After a few minutes I finally got it out, cooled it off and began using it again.

Thanks for the great product. I love it.

Thanks,
David - Chef Extraordinaire
Five Seasons Brewing Company [www.5seasonsbrewing.com]

Subject: Extreme Story
Date sent: Wed, 7 Nov 2001 18:43:41 -0600

To whom it may concern:

I have a friend who was recently chosen to work for 3 weeks at "Ground Zero" as a Red Cross Volunteer. I let my friend borrow my "AFP5 Red, White & Blue American Flag Design" pen during his volunteer work in NY city.

He told me that one day he was standing at "Ground Zero" when one of the workers screamed at him to get out of the way of a front loader that was loaded with debris. As he jumped out from harms way he dropped my pen on the ground and the front-loader ran over it. He picked up the pen, wiped
off the dirt, wiped the refill off and stuck it back in the pen and continued to write his reports. The pen has scrapes, and dents and the clip is all dented, but the pen continues to write perfectly.

I can provide pictures if you wish.

Ralph

Dear Jim,
My name is Zack Lessley, I'm 12 years and in the 8th grade.
Everyone in my class and all of my mom's friends know that they don't have to order Pizza Hut pizza that costs about 2 bucks a slice, they just say, "Hey Zack, could I have a Pizza made for my party," or something similar to that.
Last year my dad made a pizza for my birthday. When I went to cut it my pizza cutter hit something metalic and I reached in and pulled out my new bullet pen!
What's really cool is that after the pizza was made, It was frozen and then baked at 400 degrees F, and it still worked perfectly!

Zack

Dear Jim,

I acquired my first space pen in 1991 on my honeymoon at the space centre, Kennedy. My wife had just returned from the Gulf where she served with the British forces. I served 14 years until retirement in 1999 as an Officer in the British Military Police, in conflicts from Bosnia, Warsaw Pact, Africa and many other locations. I have worked in winter in Norway to the wets of the Jungle. Since 1991 I have always had a space pen with me. I have a black bullet in my pocket and a parker with adapter in my police notebook. They have never let me down in rain, wind, cold and heat. I have recommended the product to countless other Army Officers and Police Officers and given as gifts to most people I know.

I am now afflicted with the difficult disease of being addicted to space pens. I have in excess of 30, in different formats, textures and colours. I am concerned that I have found your website offering even more opportunities for personal use and for gift ideas. This concern will, I am sure, prove beneficial to me and all my colleagues.

Many Thanks

Mark Shanks
Kincumber NSW, AUSTRALIA

From: "Troy Haskell"
Subject: Extreme Story
Date sent: Mon, 2 Jul 2001 07:55:43

Jim, I wanted to add to your testimonials. I am in the disaster business. I work for a catastrophic insurance claims handling company. I purchased my first space pen at the Aero Space Museum in San Diego, CA. I bought a Cap-O-Matic. I figured I would buy one of the cheap ones to test out the claims made on the package. I can tell you this. I work in the most extreme conditions of anyone I have ever met. I have been on rooftops in hurricane and blizzard conditions. I carry a waterproof camera and wear a full Gortex suit to keep myself dry. One of the biggest obstacles I faced while performing my job was taking notes while standing in the pouring rain. I tried everything from inexpensive ink pens to grease pencils and permanent markers. None of these worked. After purchasing my Cap-O-Matic I was working an ice storm in Oregon. I was working in freezing rain with a soaking wet note pad. I inspected hundreds of homes in these conditions and am glad to say that I never had a concern about the wet and nasty conditions. My Space Pen never failed to work as stated on the package. Wet paper, NO PROBLEM. Freezing temperatures, NO PROBLEM. I have purchased five or more and can't help but give them to my friends in the business. I may be the best unpaid promoter Space Pen has ever known.

Respectfully Yours,
Troy Haskell National Director
InspectARisk*, Vista, California

Subject: Electrical Extreme Story
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 20:43:55 -0500

Well, this one's going to be a little different. I've tested my pens from Las Vegas summers to Hungarian winters. But one day as I was testing the electrical installation on a newly modified airplane and I needed 3 large cannon plug pins to insert into the 3phase 115V 400Hz plug receptacle. This test must be done "hot" with the juice on. I only had two large pins, and my CH4B!

I dismantled the pen, inserted the refill point into the plug, and clipped the phase meter to the back end. I got the proper readings, reassembled the CH4B, wrote down the results, and was on to the next test step. Never had a worry.

Brian S. Harnden
Systems Test Engineer - Waco, TX

Subject: They survive the rigors of space ... and the washing machine...!
Date sent: Wed, 30 May 2001 07:17:17 -0700

Hi Jim -- I don't know if you do testimonials or not, but I just thought I'd tell you my Silver Bullet made its second or third trip thru the wash and dry cycle - I like to forget it in my pants pocket, you see... Anyway, I'm so pleased that not only did it not leak and destroy a load of clothes, it also keeps working!

Paul Selby
Senior Product Manager - ACT!® Division - Interact Commerce Corporation

From: Thor Holmes, Jr. Collection Manager, Mammals
To: Jim Jobin
Subject: Good Speaking With You
Date Sent: Mon, 13 Nov 2000 08:04:05 -0600

I first received a Bullet Space Pen from my wife many years ago as a gift.

I am a biologist in the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas. I work in the Mammal Division as the collections manager for the fifth largest collection of mammals in the world. I often find myself in close contact with dead animals. It is a museum after all and you'd expect the specimens to be legions of dead things. This is true. Among my many jobs is the responsibility to convert these deteriorating entities into useful objects for scientific research. A guy can get dirty in this line of work. Therefore, my preference is to work in blue jeans and t-shirts. I chose to quit wearing good clothes to work; but this left me without a shirt pocket to carry a pen. I tried pants pockets (front and rear) encountering all the negative experiences you can imagine. Enter my wife with the Bullet Space Pen.

As a gift, I was compelled to be grateful for the pen right away. But as soon as I touched it I knew I was on to something. It was satisfyingly heavy, and eye candy. It opened and closed with precision, and above all other things it worked. It always worked. It worked in the winter, in the rain and snow. It worked in the summer, in the desert, in Australia and New Guinea. It just worked. It really always worked. I was liking this pen. Then I lost it. My wife got me another, and my affection for this product grew. It has been washed repeatedly, left outside in filthy 'prep clothes' when temperatures dropped below zero (way below). I used it do do exactly what I wanted it to do. That is what I think tools are for.

On the first of October, on a rainy and muddy day in Paraguay, I lost my bullet pen! I got caught up in some bamboo and fell (this was actually a fairly regular occurrence) and slid a bit in the mud. When I got back to camp I noticed the Bullet pen was missing. Very, VERY bad. I went back out to the line, found my skid marks, and searched vainly for the pen. We were several more days in this site, but I could not find my space pen. I liked that pen. It worked. It always worked.

When I returned to the U.S., I asked my wife where she had gotten the Space Pen. She had forgotten. It had been years. So I plugged in Fisher Space Pen, into a search engine and hit www.thewritersedge.com Because I am an old guy, I scrolled down to the bottom of the page and copied down your Toll Free 800 number. I prefer to deal with humans, so, I went home and called you up. Your guy answered 'Writers Edge'. My response. "I lost my Space Pen in Paraguay and I'm not going back to get it". The rest is history.

To say I like your pen is an egregious understatement. Being without one has been a constant vexation. That is why I ordered two. From now on I will always have one waiting in reserve.

Best regards,
Thor

Thorvald Holmes, Jr.
Collection Manager,
Mammals Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center
University of Kansas � Lawrence, KS 66046 � 785864-3047

From: J.H. Dalen
To: Jim Jobin
Subject: Online Order
Date sent: Sat, 23 Dec 2000 23:33:55 -0800

Jim, The temperature here is 15 degrees below zero and the space pens are the "only" pens that work in this weather. I am trying to get the administration here to issue them as equipment to the officers here.

J.H. Dalen - Police Officer - North Dakota

From: "Tracy Long"
To: "Jim"
Subject: Space Pen
Date sent: Sat, 23 Dec 2000 02:57:50 -0-500

I have used the Fisher Pen in so many situations...from working in Law Enforcment and using the Bullet Pen as a 'Pain Complicance' device, and being in the military as an Armorer. Being an Armorer requires me to have a name and signature to issue a weapon, and during a field training exercise the usual pens I was using froze...solid! I used a flashlight to check my Pilot V-Ball pen, and saw that it was frozen solid (the temp that night was around -10). I didn't want to wind up in prison for not properly signing out weapons, so I dug deep into my cold weather clothing and got hold of my Bullet Space Pen. After that, I was able to get a printed name and a signature from the soldiers that were drawing weapons and equipment...making sure I had accountability and control of all the equpiment and weapons I was responsible for. Thanks Fisher, your pens have been outstanding for the many years I have used them. Keep up the great work!

Tracy Long

From: Lylah Caldwell
Date sent: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 20:28:48 -0800
Subject: an extreme story
To: The Writer's Edge

Hi,

My name is Lylah Caldwell and I have an extreme story for you. I am a pizza delivery driver in North Pole, Alaska. sound cold? it is. I deliver pizza in weather all the way down to 60+ below zero here. I have to have a pen as well for many things, such a taking notes, loaning it to people for check writing and stuff and of course, paperwork.

Needless to say in those conditions pens tend to poop out. I found myself without a pen a lot because they couldn't stand up to the conditions I have to put up with in winter. Then I decided to try a space pen. I was also tired of fumbling for my pen and leaving it around so I got a sterling silver chain pen.

When it came I decided to test it to see just how tough it really was and hung it outside on my doorknob at 60+ below for several hours then went outside to write with it and see if it still worked. It did. I have been using this pen for a year now in all kinds of weather, the temp gets up to 90+ in the summer here. It is a harsh place here. This pen has never let me down. I wear it all the time to work and everywhere. I have dropped it. Stepped on it, and pried things open with it and it has never balked. I am so glad I have it that I have ordered some more for myself so I can keep one in my checkbook and purse.(also because I love beautiful writing instruments). I have a great collection of pens by all kind of classy brands like John Pierre Lepeine and Cross but when I need a pen that I know will work I reach for my little space pen.

Thanks,

Lylah Caldwell

From: Julie Lim
Date sent: Fri, 8 Oct 1999 12:43:02
Subject: fun with space pens
To: The Writer's Edge

Hi,

Just wanted to thank you again for the free space pen {won by playing your "Brain Freeze" Trivia Game}, which has been invaluable in lab. I'm a research chemist, and I've discovered two things I never expected:

1. The pen can write on glass test tubes! All right, the line is thin and fragile, and can be wiped off by a firm swipe, but I've never seen another ballpoint that can even manage that much.
2. The black ink (haven't tested the blue yet) is partially immune to organic solvents such as acetone and methanol. Ink on paper usually erases itself in a multicolored wave when hit with solvent-- it's amazing how many colors "black" ink is usually made of-- but space pen ink throws off a blue-violet halo, leaving the original marks still in place, fully readable and only slightly faded.

Next week, I may try to dip the pen in a -78 C dry ice bath to see what happens. I have a feeling it won't mind it at all...

Julie Lim

From: Bill Gouge
Date sent: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 12:22:11
Subject: I finally found another Space Pen!!!!
To: The Writer's Edge

Dear Sir,

My first encounter with the Space pen was at the British PX in Sarajevo, Bosnia in 1997. I bought one of the Bullet pens and fell in love with the way it wrote. But, it was too small to easily get out of my pocket and then I found the "Military pen" at the British PX at Butmir, Bosnia. This pen was perfect not only did it write better than any other pen I've used but it was fun testing it's "extremes" we put the pen in the freezer overnight and it wrote perfectly. I think we may have experienced frostbite from holding it though. We held a lighter to one of the US Government issue ball point pens and after about three seconds all of the ink oozed out. The Spacepen once again held up. Granted these aren't the normal tests a pen should endure but for American fighting men so far from home something had to entertain us. So far I have purchased two Military pens and that one Bullet pen and I swear by them. The only problem was that someone else over several different occasions "procured" my Space pens from me. I am out of the military now and am working as a Detention officer and there have been occasions when I've had to "flick" me pen to get it to write again. I've searched this city over looking for a Space pen and finally decided to try the internet. In about 30 seconds I was in your site and have ordered yet another Military Space pen.

Thanks for carrying such a quality product.

Bill Gouge

P.S. I won't "abuse" this pen.

From: Richard Mele
Date sent: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 20:57:33
Subject: Space Pen Story
To: The Writer's Edge

Hey Jim,

Space Pens are what this generation, or last weeks, would call "The Bomb." I purchased my first Space Pen while assigned to Andersen Air Force Base over on Guam. I mainly bought it because it looked kinda neat and would fit in nice with the rest of the junk that piles up in my pockets. While at Andersen, I was sent back over to Saudi Arabia for a four month tour. I was out with a crew inspecting various munitions containers and decided to test out my space pen on different surfaces. I was writing on fiberglass containers, metal drums, wood boxes, etc. Well I wanted to test out the "writes on anything, upside down" theory. Darned if it didn't! I wrote on the bottom of a metal pallet! There's really not much use in doing that, but it was fun testing it out. A few days later while responding to a practice terrorist attack, I lost my trusted Space Pen somewhere in the sand. Having some really good friends back on Guam, my buddy Sean picked up a new Space Pen for me and gave it to me when I got back. I still have that pen, and just ordered a refill for it. It goes with me wherever I go, and of course is showing some nice character these days. I think somebody said it best when they said "I will give up my Space Pen when they pry my cold dead fingers away from it."

Maybe not even then...

Take Care

Richard Mele
Bellevue Nebraska

From: Robert Shopey
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999
Subject: Fisher pens
To: The Writer's Edge

Thanks,

Since receiving my first pen as a gift, and buying several in Vegas while on vacation, I have nothing but praise for the Fisher space pen.

As a law enforcement officer in the Traffic Division, I have to write in the rain, cold and heat, and my Fisher pens have never failed me. I convinced all in my entire unit several years ago to purchase Fisher pens, and all were completely satisfied.

The bad news, we could never find new pens or refills (Staples, Office Depot and others sell those fake "eversharp" refills, but they are not the same).

Since finding your web page, you can bet we'll be buying more of these great pens. Keep up the good work.

Robert Shopey
Traffic Unit
Torrington Police Dept, Torrington, CT

From: Aaron Lee Fineman
Date sent: Thu, 1 Apr 1999
Subject: Please Read This re. Space Pens
To: The Writer's Edge

Jim,

I am a photojournalist (freelance for the New York Times) and I wanted to let you know how many times your product has saved my butt while working. I used to use the BIC pens but they would stop writing when I used them at certain angles and in the rain they were nearly inefective. I have talked to many reporters who have different solutions for this problem (since they need to write more than I do in the field) their solutions range from permanant "sharpie" markers, crayons, and pencils. So far none of the reporters that I have spoken to have heard of space pens and most of them seem impressed with how well they work.

Thanks for selling the pens,
Aaron Lee Fineman

From: Jeff
Date sent: Sun, 14 Mar 1999
Subject: Re: Space Pens
To: The Writer's Edge

Jim,

I am a police officer. The space pen is a very effective writing instrument because of its ability to write in any situation. As a police officer I am constantly writing while in a car. The space pen assists me to do that because I don't ever have to worry about it running "dry" while writing vertically. Another point is that I don't have to worry about it during extreme cold or hot. The pen writes in any climate. Also a very interesting factor of the space pen is that it writes on carbon paper. Motor vehicle summonses are a four part document. There is a carbon copy that the officer keeps and writes notes on. The space pen is the only pen I have found that writes on this paper. I hope this helps you and if I can help in any way let me know. Like I said the last order is for a friend who is also a police officer.

Good luck,

Jeff

From: Brian Roussel
Date sent: Thu, 20 May 1999 15:06:18 EDT
Subject: Space Pen survived the spin dry cycle!
To: The Writer's Edge

Jim,

Well, it happened! I forgot to take my 400CL Space Pen out of my shirt pocket and it went through a full wash and dry cycle! Except for a couple of dents it is writing as good or maybe even better than before! It took a few days to dry and some water dripped out as I wrote a few checks! It does write over wet checks! Great product!

Sincerely,

Brian Roussel
Cranston, RI