Tuesday, April 23, 2019

REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN

REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
Late last year, one of my greatest 'discoveries' of 2018 were the products from USA-based Tactile Turn. Having been around for a number of years, Tactile Turn is not a new player to the market, but I somehow held off on their products until recently. As soon as I got my hands on one of their Gist fountain pens, I knew I'd also have to try their other products! Recently, I reviewed one that quickly became a personal favorite: the Glider (review HERE), and today we're taking a look at one of Will's earlier creations: the Tactile Turn Mover pen!

The Kickstarter for the Mover (and accompanying, slightly smaller version: the Shaker) dropped way back in 2014, and business really took off for Tactile Turn from there, turning Will's one-man endeavour into a serious machining company with strong roots in the EDC pen and gear community. 
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
The Mover is a fairly quintessential EDC pen in terms of design. All of Tactile Turn's products share a very similar design language, but this one actually used to be a little different from the rest before Will decided to 'unify' his design language/aesthetic across the board in all his products. The Mover and Shaker were 'revamped' back in 2017 with a new solid titanium, made-in-house knock mechanism and an updated finish where the 'tactile' spiral-grooved texture now runs along the entire length of the pen.

The Mover/Shaker has a noticeably simpler and more minimal aesthetic compared to the Glider/Slider and mechanical pencil. This has a lot to do with the simple, no-frills knock mechanism at the back (instead of the more intricate bolt action mechanism on the mechanical pencil and Glider/Slider). It's a very straight cylindrical design, with a strongly tapered nose cone. The industrial-looking stainless steel clip is another constant across all Tactile Turn products, and is very stiff but functional. 
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
Talking about the mechanism: Tactile Turn machines their own in house, and uses titanium instead of the usual brass Schmidt knock mechanisms that apparently tend to break after extended use. I personally haven't had any issues with the Schmidt mechanisms, but it's nice to know that TT went the extra mile anyway to ensure the pens' longevity. The knock is a bit less smooth because of the titanium-on-titanium friction, but it functions as good - if not better- as the Schmidt, and it looks nicer while at it. 
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
The Mover/Shaker doesn't draw much attention in terms of design. It's a pen you might easily overlook, although that's not necessarily a bad thing for an EDC pen. It's the little things that make this pen excellent: such as the custom knock mechanism, but also not in the least the trademark textured tactile finish and sturdy stainless steel clip that are consistent across all Tactile Turn products. Machining is precise and clean, with high tolerances. The almost invisible break between barrel and section is a testimony to the quality, which makes the entire pen feel like a unibody design.
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
L to R: Karas Pen Co. Retrakt, TT Gist, TT Mover, TT pencil, TT Glider, Lamy Safari, Lamy 2000
I was sent the titanium version to check out, as this is Will's personal favorite... and I can't blame him! Titanium usually lends itself perfectly for making pens: It's lightweight, durable and looks good too. In this case, the Mover only weighs 34 grams, only half the weight of the copper Glider I looked at earlier, yet still substantial enough to feel solid in the hand. The Mover is a sizeable pen at 14cm (5.5"), while its smaller brother (the Shaker) is about half an inch shorter. It's a fairly average 11mm in diameter (0.43"). The all-titanium construction is balanced in the hand, and the texture adds a fair bit of grip. About that texture: the machining seems to feel a bit 'sharper' and grippier on this titanium pen than it is on the copper Glider, but not in an uncomfortable way. 
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN
As with the Glider and Slider, the only difference between the Mover and Shaker - apart from their size, of course - is the refill they are built around. The Mover comes loaded with a fine (0.38mm) Pilot G2 refill in black, while the Shaker takes Parker-style refills and comes loaded with a Schmidt Easyflow 9000 (as far as ballpoints go, an excellent refill). I like that Tactile Turn chooses the narrower 0.38mm refill instead of the more standard 0.5mm. It lays down a crisp, fine line and has somewhat less tendency to smear.

The Mover is - especially from a design point of view - a simple EDC pen. But at the same time the devil is in the details, and Tactile Turn gets a lot of those details very right. Made from solid titanium, it's sturdy, balanced and good-looking. The upgraded knock mechanism adds to the durability, and Tactile Turns' trademark tactile finish makes this one of VERY few metal pens that actually provides a solid grip. Even though the cusdtom titanium mechanism adds to the cost, TT still manages to keep pricing relatively low compared to comparable competition. An aluminium Mover or Shaker will set you back 69$, whereas an all-titanium version like this one comes in at 99$. 

This product was provided by Tactile Turn, so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affiliate links.
REVIEW: TACTILE TURN MOVER PEN

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