I think the Fisher Space pen for a lot of people is either hit or miss. Either you love them (a lot) or you can't really get over the fact that they are a ballpoint pen. For me, I don't feel that the writing experience of the Fisher refills are necessarily smooth as silk in all cases, but I do enjoy the brand due to its heritage and history. And, the refills really aren't that bad and I actually quite enjoy using them.
If you've ever perused the entire Fisher line, there tends to be a few "hokey" products that seem to be a bit overly branded. They aren't all winners in the "classy and conservative" category, but there are a handful of their products that intrigue me to no end.
One of my first big purchases from Fisher was my AG7, the original astronaut pen, that flew in space during the Apollo missions and others. Phenomenal pen that I really enjoy. Again, lots of heritage that is super cool which plays really heavily into the nostalgic marketing that helps carry the brand.
They later released a model very similar to the AG7, the Shuttle Series. If you looked at pictures of each and didn't necessarily know the details of both pens, you might actually mistake them for each other, but they are different in size, length, and some other design features.
My birthday was in July and my mom and dad asked what they could get me and I of course had a list of pens that were on the reasonably priced list. The chrome Shuttle Series (the CH4) was on the list and I helped my mom find a good link to buy it at. Like any good son would, right? It wasn't that I necessarily needed an almost identical pen to the AG7, but I did want one to try and to add to the collection.
If you are familiar with the AG7, the CH4 is right on par with it in quality and feel. The chromed brass has just enough heft to feel like a nice sturdy pen. It shares the same knock and retract mechanism as the AG7 where you push the knock in until it "snaps" into place, and then can retract the tip with a button on the side which shoots the knock out with some sort of spring mechanism inside. Pretty awesome, and really fun to play with.
It also shares a similar grip section like the AG7. There is a tight spiral groove that has been machined into the barrel about a centimeter above the tip that adds a nice texture and visual aesthetic that contrasts the chrome a bit.
As mentioned above, the Shuttle Series is thinner than the AG7; considerably thinner, and maintains it's diameter pretty consistently the length of the barrel. The AG7 has kind of a gradual taper from tip to knock that, if nit picked, could make the pen feel a little top heavy to some. The CH4 is well balanced due to Fisher choosing to make the diameter as they have. The CH4 is also a bit longer than the AG7, but only by about 1/4".
One thing I love about this pen is that it fits like a glove in my Park Sloper Sr wallet from One Star Leather Goods that I reviewed before. I was keeping a Cross Click gel in there, but once I found that the CH4 fit perfectly, I swapped it out straight away and it literally is a pen I carry with me at all times now.
Recent Instagram Shot with Park Sloper Sr
I think we ended up getting a steal on this one for about $20 which might be kind of an uncommon find, but a friend of mine (after using and "clicking" mine for about an hour) was able to pick one up for about $27 which is still a great deal.