Reddit mentions of Zebra F-301 Ballpoint Stainless Steel Retractable Pen, Fine Point, 0.7mm, Black Ink, 12-Count (Packaging may vary)

Well, here's the deal: you're flying internationally to Japan, so you will want to travel light. Also, you can pretty much buy anything you need in your mission too. This said, here's my recommendations.

1. You will want a good pen for writing in Preach My Gospel. Please don't go buy a pack of Pilot pens for this. My favorite pen for pass-along cards and PMG was the Zebra F-301.
   
   
2. Bring a small album of photos of your family. You will meet people who will want to know about you and your family, etc. Keep this small and compact so you can travel with it easily.
   
   
3. A small digital camera will be very useful to you. Just try not to look like a tourist.
   
   Edit: buy a zebra, not a pilot. My goodness.

Pens should be functional, rather than stylish. That said, plastic pens are mostly shitty, and metal pens do give an air of "I mean business."

This Zebra F-301 is apparently popular with police officers, since it has a metal body, and writes evenly. I enjoy it for my normal office job, and have gotten compliments on it before.

Are you talking about this? It's for a dozen. 12 for $20. Under $2 a pen.

I think it is a zebra brand. And it looks like the f-301. http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Retractable-Ballpoint-Pen-27110/dp/B001CRVUPE

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1 - OtterBox Drybox 3250 (Keeps my stuff dry when hoofing it through the rain)

2 - Oakley Juliet Carbon, Black Iridium, with Pouch

3 - Victorinox SwissChamp XLT with Pouch (I've disassembled and repaired laptops using only this tool, it's got everything)

4 - Sony Earbuds (Galaxy S4 Active does not have an FM radio, earbuds acts as antenna for HTC phone's FM radio)

5 - Toshiba Canvio Connect 2TB Portable Hard Drive (There's a complete backup of my PC as well as about 1,200 movies on it)

6 - Dayan GuHong 3x3x3 Speed Cube 6-Color Stickerless V2

7 - Moleskine Classic Notebook, Pocket, Plain Paper, Hard Cover, Black, with Zebra F-301 Ballpoint, Sanford Protouch II Mechanical Pencil, and Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser

8 - Rechargeable Backup Battery (Got it for $10 at Micro Center, great for a quick top-up when I'm in the field, or in a field)

9 - Armani Exchange Leather Logo Embossed Card Case

10 - SanDisk Cruzer Fit 16GB USB Flash Drive x 2 (One Bit-Locker encrypted with PortableApps, and one YUMI bootable with PCLinuxOS, BackTrack, HIREN, and LiberKey)

11 - Importer520 Micro USB OTG Male To USB Female Adapter For Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (Allows me to plug almost any USB device into my Galaxy S4)

12 - Samsung Charger, with retractable USB to Mini-USB cable, and Mini-USB to Micro-USB adapter (Charges both phones, bluetooth headphones, bluetooth keyboard, backup battery, and connects hard drive to phone or PC)

13 - Honest 503 Butane Jet Pencil Torch (Also doubles as a quick and dirty soldering torch)

14 - Rii Touch 330 Bluetooth Keyboard

15 - HTC Inspire 4G (Backup Phone)

16 - Hybrid Case for Samsung Galaxy S4 Active (Taking Photo) (This thing is a beast, water and dust proof, it has pretty much negated my need to carry around a laptop, especially with TeamViewer installed. I was also able to wade across a river with it fully submerged in my pocket while on vacation last year.)

17 - Quikcell S160 Stereo Bluetooth Wireless Headset

18 - Casio PRW2500-1 (Solar powered, with every environmental sensor that my phone doesn't have)

IMAGE 2:

Packed Armani Exchange Ripstop Messenger Bag

Packed Otterbox (Goes in bag)

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Thermos E20600 (Goes in bag, quite literally keep ice for 24 hours, utterly amazing)

here on Amazon

I absolutely love Zebra pens. In fact, all their 301s are phenomenal; mech pencils, colored pens, gels. Zebras are the only writing utensils I have bought in the past 4 years

What is wrong with aluminum? I think our stem may be made with that.

Edit: The stem may actually be made with steel using this pen, but I'm not certain.