The MaxMadCo Bolt-Action Pen has long been my favorite EDC pen. There were other good pens. Many of them from Tactile Turn. But there were a few things that made the MMC the best. It could not be deployed or retracted by accident. It was light and thin. The pen tip sat well within the body when not being used. But there was room for improvement—the grip on the MMC is pretty lacking and while clean, its aesthetic was not, shall we say, sophisticated. But that snappy bolt action is absolutely addictive. Unfortunately the MMC is out of production. So where should folks go for a good EDC pen, supposing of course, you don’t want to try out a fountain pen (and I get why people don’t want to do that)?

The answer has long been, for me, Tactile Turn. With amazingly precise machining, a clever texture that is both a signature style and highly functional, and good size and weight TT makes

This is a pre-release review so there is no product page or other reviews. This is the titanium version and runs $99. You can get it in zirconium for $249 and you can get a Damascus clip for an additional $99. They go on sale on June 10. Here is a picture of the review sample (provided by Will):

Here is a written overview for the Side Click (written with the Side Click):

Twitter Review Summary: A new EDC king.

Design: 2

Will already crushed it in the design category, but he has upped his game here with this pen in two different ways. First, he has created all of the parts, even the screws in-house. This not only improves quality, but it leads to the second point. Second, this pen adopts a two-part actuation color scheme. Parts that are the typical TT finish do not move or change. The stonewashed gray parts are those that interact with the user in someway. Lots of impeccably designed tools use this scheme, my favorite among them being Festool. The dark gray components are housing pieces while the “Festool” green pieces are actuation components. The contrast not only gives the Side Click more visual flair than the already impressive TT design language, it also makes the device easier to use. Nothing could make my industrial design heart more happy than that—beauty and increased functionality.

One flaw that two of the TT pens I have possessed was a “shallow” tip. That is, the pen tip did not retract all that far into the body. Here is a gen 1 Click on the left and a Side Click on the right.

As a result, if not stored properly they could leech ink. In particular I had the thread material in a breast pocket dress shirt leech out ink and ruin a button down. The threads in the pocket came in contact with the shallow tip and pulled ink out. The Side Click fixes that problem and buries the tip deep inside the pen fixing literally my only beef with Tactile Turn pens ever.

Fit and Finish: 2

TT makes some of the finest machined products I have seen, up there with the best knives and lights I own. Carrying this with, say, the Prometheus Delta makes perfect sense. The new in-house components only improve the feel of the pen. The action on the nock is unlike anything I have ever seen before—solid, snappy, and exceptionally responsive. The disengagement button is the same without the button creak you can find on other spring loaded buttons such as those found on auto knives.

Carry: 2

Fortunately for both user and for Will’s bottom line, he knows how to make a sculpted titanium clip that actually works. It has the perfect amount of spring tension—snapping in place with confidence and lifting out of the pocket with ease. The rest of the pen, with its wonderful TT texture rides in a pocket well, too.

Appearance: 2

Tactile Turn’s aesthetic has been set for a while as you can see with the Gen 1 Shaker, Gen 2 Shaker and now the Side Click. It is one of horizontal texture, bright and clean lines, and gleaming satin finished surfaces. Its been a pleasing look for sure. But the Side Click is both different and the same—an evolution of the look. The stonewashed bits are a pop of contrast both in texture and color and they give the pen a more rugged, battleworn look. Some of my favorite things to find in the built world are items polished by use—the brass knob on the propane tank at the hardware where we get gas or the footworn marble steps in certain buildings I visit frequently. These signs are not just of use but of a long and frequent relationship with humans. They gather their wear and their look because they are useful to us. The stonewashed components of this pen have that same look and will, undoubtedly, get that same feel over time.

Durability: 2

Will’s gear was stout before, but now with an entirely in-house process he can ensure that EVERYTHING is solid. I have owned many of Will’s pens and other than a few early models with a tip to close to the opening, I have never had an issue. I certainly have never had an issue with the built quality. Somehow, with these new components and their provenance, the pen feels more durable. It is a psychological thing—for sure, but it is the same reason that Bang and Olufsen put zinc in the handle of their remotes for them to feel more luxe.

Writing Performance: 2

On a non-fountain pen, writing performance is really about what refills your pen takes and here like with all Tactile Turn pens you get access to the best refill size in my mind—the Parker style refill. The refill that ships with the pen is my favorite ballpoint refill—the Schmidt EasyFlow 9000. Lots of options and a great writer out of the box.

Balance/In Hand Feel: 2

Will’s thoughtful design and meticulous control of all the parts (‘cause, well, he made them) means that the Side Click hits you just right, balancing perfectly betwee the front and rear of the pen, which is quite an accomplishment given the sculpted clip, the nock, and retract button, plus all of the associated mechanisms in the pen.

Grip: 2

As with all Tactile Turn pens, the horizontal milling does wonderful work at making sure your fingers stay put, and it does so without being abrasive like, say, the G10 on a Cold Steel. The grip section itself, like on all TT pens, is indistinguishable for the rest of the body as the machining is so precise that the break in the barrel is invisible.

Barrel: 2

Speaking of barrel, the look again, is great, but the thing that I marveled at is how the barrel really does serve the balance the entire pen. I think, though I cannot confirm, that Will has differential thicknesses to the walls of the pen. That way the mechanical end balances out with the writing end.

Its worth noting here that TT barrels stand out from the crowd, both crowds actually—the acrylic and “precious resin” (plexiglass) crowd and the “machined pen” crowd. By really refining how the horizontal milling is cut into the pen, Will manages to make the barrel, and the entire pen, look both different and yet still refined.

Deployment/Cap: 2

Ah, the magic bits. The knock depresses like any knock does, albeit a bit firmer than most. Then to disengage you hit the retract button the side of the pen. At first I thought it was an interesting but fundamentally unnecessary idea, a complication not needed on the pen. But over two weeks of use I realized, instead, that it allows for a much more solid writing experience. Even with the most precise knocks there is still a bit of wobble and bounce in the writing tip. Until this pen I assumed it was endemic to the design of nock-based pens. I was wrong. Much like the Dead Lock from the Hawks solved the problem of blade play in switchblade, the nock/retract button solves the problem in pens. Will ingeniously spaced the retract button exactly one thumb roll away from the nock giving the pen an especially powerful fidget mechanism.

Other Considerations

Fidget Factor: Very High

The nock/button set up is a fidgeters dream.

Fett Effect: Very Low

The normal TT texture hides dings and switching out satin components with stonewashed ones will make this pen look ageless.

Value: Moderate

At $99 for the base model and up to $249 for the zirc model, the Side Click is not a cheap pen, bit given its likely lifespan, that’s not an insane amount of money to pay.

Overall Score: 20 out of 20

This is a great pen. A wonderful evolution of the TT aesthetic and design language. It also presents a more rugged appearance, fitting more with the EDC aesthetic. The active pieces, burnished with a stonewashed finish, make this my favorite of my TT pens. The action on the nock and the retract button are precise and provide ample feedback. And the pen tip is buried deep inside the pen. If you are looking for a successor to the OOP MMC, this is my choice. Hardy, fidget friendly, and still nice looking. This is everything an EDC pen should be. I still think I prefer fountain pens, but I always have two different pens with me and if I am going on a trip or traveling, I usually ditch the more fragile fountain pen and just go with an EDC pen and for now, this will be my choice.

Competition

I probably need to get a Machine Era Classic pen to compare as Nick raves about them. The MMC is still a very good pen, but I think I like the Side Click better, as it is grippier and just a more sophisticated design. Its still the most fidget friendly pen (or tool, for that matter) ever but the Side Click is close. In many ways the Side Click feels like the culmination of a lot of work done by dozens of folks to make the best machined pen possible. Its fitting that this pen comes into existence as the cheaper (and less nice) Retro 51 fades away. In many ways, this feels like a pen that could be as ubiquitous as that pen. I could even see special runs with exotic materials for the nock and the clip. Right now, circa summer 2020, this is my favorite EDC pen.

BONUS REVIEW

Tactile Turn Bolt Action Knife

Unfortunately, this little gem got to me just over a year ago, right when, ready for this: my wife was diagnosed with cancer, I opened my own law firm with a friend, we did a three day jury trial (I received the verdict on the day of the diagnosis), and my kids got out of school. It was a swirling mess and so I did not get around to this review. Better late than never.

As first offering in the blade department from Will the BAK is a really interesting proof of concept. Here is the KS page. This version sports a titanium body and a D2 blade. The blade is thicker than, but the same shape as an Exacto knife. This plus the BAK’s pen-like shape makes an excellent as true precision work—cutting out newspaper articles (do people even get newspapers anymore?) or coupons (do people even do coupons anymore?) or opening Wether’s Originals packages (I had to complete the “old person” trilogy, right?).

The blade is kinda a tanto, but not terribly precisely ground. It is also a bit thick. But deployment is fun and nice. My one concern, and one of the reasons I don’t carry it much, is because it looks IDENTICAL to a TT pen and bringing this into court on accident would be…well…bail inducing.

It is a killer box and letter opener. It sucks at food prep. And it would probably be pretty stabby in a self-defense scenario. Overall, its interesting, but I still like a traditional folder better. As tool to sit in a desk and open packages, it is ideal. As a folder replacement its not.

What’s more important than the BAK itself is the fact that Will did a knife. If Will does a traditional folder with the TT aesthetic, count me in. I am a huge fan of all things Tactile Turn.