Zebra Compact and Telescoping Pens
Affordable, pocketable pens
I’ve always wanted a small pen to keep with me at all times for quick notes and such. I’ve 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.
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’s survived some gnarly crashes during snowboarding trips, and being sat on daily with out a single dent.
–K. Rhainos
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’ve 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!
–Chris Acree
05/24/12Zebra F-301 Compact Pen $7 for two pack Available from Amazon Zebra Telescopic Ballpoint Pen $5 Available from Amazon Manufactured by Zebra Pens
