Zebra Pen F-301 Compact Ballpoint Black Ink Fine Point 0 7mm Pen Easy-Glide Ink Stainless Steel Retractable Non-Slip

Why use a cheap crappy pen when you can own two of these for under $7.00. A very solid , well made pen that writes smoothly and is comfortable to use. I love the compact size and the great fit of the lower pen portion onto the stainless steel cap. A pretty good fidget factor also. I would highly recommend and already have bought a couple of more. Read more

Great pens. They are great to keep in your pocket. My son is in the Army and he has one at all times. Read more

I've used Pilot F-301 full-size pens for years, and have found them very reliable and somewhat elegant, considering their inexpensive price (like the metal barrels, most others are just plastic). This compact version is pretty cool, looks almost the same, uses the same refills, and writes just as well, as a result. It appears the cap will stay in place, too, as it has a firm click in the closed position, and a sizeable portion of the barrel slides inside the cap, when you are using it, so it won't fall-off. I actually wanted a keychain pen, which I had before, but turned-out to be cheap and unreliable (stopped writing and the 2 refills I had didn't work either). I looked for a better one of similar design, but according to most of the reviews I saw, they're all pretty much crap, so went with this name-brand clip pen instead, as I know their refills always work. It's the perfect size to fit in the small change pocket of my jeans, which is what I wanted, as I often don't wear shirts with pockets and standard size pens are a hassle to carry, in that case. I've found it will fit snugly, diagonally in that pocket, if you don't use the clip. This also will help keep the clip from breaking-off, due to overuse. You get 2 pens in the pack, too, for a great price, so you have a back-up. Read more

I really like these pens but they had a problem that the cover wouldn't stay on the end. I fixed that by putting a strip of cellophane tape to make th end just a touch bigger and give more resistance as it should have been. The last one I started using appears to have resolved that problem. They're a nice full sized pen that are nice to use and smooth writing. Zebra is a great pen. They fold down to a nice small size and open to full size. I carry one daily. Read more

I like em, I have several. Sometimes I leave them as gifts ! Read more

Great, compact size pen, writes fine black ink. I wanted to have a more versatile pen by using fisher space pen cartridge. The ballpoint end is a bit thicker and did not fit right away. I did some trimming of the screw cup to make it fit and it’s perfect now. Compact size when in a pocket and full size pen when you write. With fisher space pen refill it’s versatile and not likely to leak ink in your pocket and will write in various conditions. Being zebra pen is also great as it has pocket clip - less likely to get lost or “infinitely borrowed” and if it does not a big deal as it’s budget friendly. Read more

Five stars are listed, but the rating is closer to four and a half because of the well-known design defect. When the pen is open for writing with the cover placed on the non-writing end, the cover is loose. On my two pens, one pen's cover is looser than the other. I've tried to fix the looser one earlier today. It's not clear how long the fix will last. By the way, I love the short pen and how well it writes. The fix was to gently move the rubber O-ring out of its groove on the non-writing end. Then I wrapped some black sewing thread around the groove twice and gave it a half-tie to close. Then snipped the loose ends. Then moved the O-ring back over the thread. So far it's holding up well and keeps the cover firmly in place...maybe too firmly. The tolerances are small, so once around with the thread might work better on some pens. This may cause the O-ring to fail prematurely. Time will tell. Read more

I've used a variety of portable, collapsible, and compact-sized pens from Zebra's own other offerings to the Inka, various "pico" and "mini" pens, and flimsy antenna-style telescoping pens. Despite the number of options out there, I always end up returning to the Zebra Compact. It collapses down to an ultra portable size, yet opens up to a sturdy, full-sized pen. I don't find any of the mini-pens out there comfortable to write with for more than checking off items on a shopping list. Most of the telescoping pens are flimsy and write poorly (Zebra's Tele-Scopic is actually extremely sturdy but heavier than I want a compact and doesn't write nearly as well as this one). The Inka is an OK design (it has no clip and lives on your key ring, making it kind of a pain to use), writes relatively well, and is fairly sturdy but it requires far more steps than necessary to become a fully expanded, stand-alone pen. The compact is pretty much the best of all options. It's small and light with a sturdy clip to attach to a Moleskine or Rhodia notebook, the F-301 ink cartridges are smooth and reliable (and easily available as it's used in many Zebra models), is quick and easy to make full sized or stow away, and is extremely comfortable to write with over long periods of time. Although I've not tried all the portable options out there, it's the best I've been able to find in my many years of looking. Read more