Living in the northern US, I had the ‘opportunity’ to test 20 pens in sub-zero temps this past weekend and put these popular pens through the ultimate cold-weather test. This is a follow up to my original post two years ago that you can find HERE.
I tested 20 pens all together over a three day period where the temperatures didn’t go above 7 degrees and dipped down to -15 degrees at night. I tested all the pens before and after in the same notebook, which is my new go-to favorite notebook, the Thinkers Notebook.
WRITING SAMPLE BEFORE THE TEST
Writing Sample prior to freezing.
The pens did very well through this test which I am fairly surprised by. I assumed the marker pens or at least the fountain pen would freeze up.
Included in the test are:
4 Gel Ink Pens
Uni-Ball Signo 207
MUJI Gel Ink .5
Uni-Ball Signo UM-151 .5
Uni-Ball Vision Elite
2 Rollerball Ink Pens
TUL Fine Tip
Retro 51 - Schmidt Easy Flow 9000
4 Marker Tip Pens
Staedtler Fine Liner
Sakura Pigma Micron 08
Papermate Flair Felt Tip
Copic Sketch Marker B00
4 Permanent Marker Pens
Sharpie Extra Fine Point
Sharpie Fine Point
TUL Permanent Marker
Milwaukee Fine Point
1 Fountain Pen
TWSBI Go with Noodler’s Apache Sunset
5 Ballpoint Pens
BIC Cristal Ballpoint
Field Notes Ballpoint
Pilot Frixion Erasable Ballpoint
Generic Hotel Ballpoint Pen
Fisher Space Pen
WRITING SAMPLE AFTER 3 DAYS OUTSIDE
Post Freezing Writing Sample.
It is hard to believe the fountain pen didn’t freeze. I suspect that the TWSBI Go pen was not able to fully freeze and from my prior test, I know that the water-based fountain pen ink does freeze if left out long enough. I wish I had an infrared thermometer to get the temperature of the plastic because it was ice cold and had frost on it when I was checking it!
There was one pen that did not brave the cold and I couldn’t get it started again until it had time to thaw out, which was the MUJI Gel Ink .5 pen.
There is one pen that I did not worry about at all, but still wanted to test, which was the Fisher Space Pen. This one is a custom made pen from Triple Aught Design.
In summary, I know that pencils are the best option for cold temps, but pens are quite resilient to cold weather so are still an option.
If you feel like I have missed anything, or want me to try any other pens, please let me know!
As always, I didn’t receive anything for free in this review, nor do I advertise on this blog. My opinions are my own.
Cheers,
Mike
Does this mean pencils are better than pens..?
