October 20, 2006
This Pen's Mightier than a Sword
Less-lethal options are becoming much more popular these days, as manufacturers mine the wealth of historical martial arts weaponry for ideas.
In my Return of the Yawara post, I described how Cold Steel brought back the 1960s "evil fighting stick" with the Koga SD series. Cold Steel's new "mini" model seems much more businesslike than the "adult novelty" (ahem) look of the original SD1:
The yawara of the 1960s is, like its cousin the kubotan, based on the koppo stick and tessen-jutsu techniques of medieval Japan.
Virtually any small-diameter, rigid stick works with these fighting arts, and a lot of martial artists carry small flashlights, like the venerable Mini MagLite, for this purpose.
The latest wrinkle in koppo stick design is the new defensive pens. Made of hard alloy, with strong business ends, these are designed to be easily accessed and legal to carry.
Mil-Tac's TDP-1 is designed to be a working writing pen, PDA stylus, and if the need arises, a handy koppo stick. Designed by Allen Elishewitz, responsible for many great Benchmade designs, this pen looks all business. It seems a bit pricey at $99 though. But would you want to break your $130 MontBlanc, or worse, your $700 Cartier on some perp's hard head? Didn't think so.
According to Craig Sword, Mil-Tac's founder (and yes, that's his name), "one end is pointed, which could be used as a very effective defense tool, while the other end is blunt and could be used as a control device. Not only is this pen designed to be used as a defense tool and writing instrument but it also has a very attractive appearance and can also be used as a PDA stylus or pen." I always dig multipurpose things ("It's an axle grease, and a dessert topping!")--makes you feel like your gear is more capable or something.
Hard to say if this pen would be permissible through security checkpoints. It is just a pen, after all, albeit one that's rather robust in construction. Unlike other similar products that have a hidden knife or canister of pepper spray inside, this one is just a pen--no blade or chemical weapon (unless you count the ink).
Posted by jameshom at October 20, 2006 01:30 PM | TrackBack