Tactile Turn Mover Review

This is a review that has been waiting for quite a while.  I received this pen roughly five months ago (you can watch the unboxing video here), and I think I have used it nearly every day since then.  So it seems inexplicable that it could be so difficult to write a review of a product that I obviously really enjoy, but I find that it's always most difficult to talk about the things I like the most.  Still, I will try to do my best to not gush too much.

The Mover is a machined pen made by Will Hodges that fits refills of the same size as the Pilot G2.  He also makes a pen called the Shaker that is a bit shorter and thus fits Parker-style refills.  You can check out and buy both of these pens on his website, as well as oogle at some of the more exotic materials he makes these pen from, such as copper, titanium, brass, and bronze.  Mine is an anodized aluminum version, and I find the aluminum to be just the perfect balance of solidity and weight without being too heavy or clunky for writing.  (Still, that copper is gorgeous!)

Given that this pen is essentially a holder for your favorite gel/rollerball/ballpoint ink refill, I'll abandon my usual format and mostly just talk about the body of the pen here.

The most distinctive part of the Mover is the grooved grip section on the business end of the barrel.  The last inch-ish of the pen is spiraled with a shallow groove that really allows your fingertips to lock into place and get a solid grip for writing, no matter how sweaty your hands might get.  The grooves are not sharp in any way and are not even particularly rough to run your finger over, but they do their job of providing grip exceptionally well and I find them far preferable to any sort of knurling, which always feels far too abrasive.

Moving up the pen is a long, straight, featureless barrel.  This sounds like a bad thing, but I prefer the straight barrel versus a taper or unnecessary ornamentation.  Because it is a machined pen, there is a bit of texture that is noticeable if you run fingernail along the length of the pen, but it is not rough and overall is fairly smooth.

At the opposite end of the pen you find a shiny stainless steel clip and knock mechanism, and these are the same regardless of the color or material the rest of the pen is made of.  I really like this element, even though I know it probably wasn't a conscious choice.  The same colored clip and knock really ties all the pens together and gives them a distinctive design element, as well as looking great.  The clip is super beefy and allows the pen to actually, you know, be clipped to stuff.  I am a chronic clip breaker, so this is great for me.

And, if you do somehow manage to bend the clip, you can fully disassemble the pen and easily bend it back into shape.  The pen unscrews along a nearly invisible seam at the middle of the barrel and the knock and clip can be removed from the end as well to make this a 100% user serviceable pen.

On the topic of the knock, I have seen some people complaining that theirs does not always work properly, sometimes getting stuck in an ultra-extended position or refusing to retract.  The same mechanism is used on pens from Karas Kustoms, so it's not a problem unique to Tactile Turn.  While the knock is quite sturdy (and nearly silent!), it does involve moving parts and thus will wear out with enough use.  If this is the case, you can buy a replacement pretty inexpensively here. 

I have also experienced click malfunctions on occasion, but I find that taking the pen apart and flipping the included spring around usually solves the issue.  I think that sometimes it just gets caught up on something and needs to be repositioned and usually after that small effort the pen works smoothly.

While you can find numerical measurements for the size and weight of each pen on the Tactile Turn website, I find that the aluminum Mover feels very similar to writing with a Pilot Vanishing Point.  They are roughly the same size and weight, so if you are a fountain pen user who is fond of the VP, this might be a good option for you.  Even if you prefer lighter fountain pens, most people can get away with a heavier gel/rollerball/ballpoint pen because of the different writing mechanism, so don't let the heavier weight discourage you if you otherwise really like this pen.

In terms of the rest of the writing experience, that depends heavily on the type of refill you use.  I have used the guts from a Pilot Juice since I received this pen and I really think that it is one of the best gel pens you can buy.  It writes very smoothly, especially with the heftier body of the Mover behind it, and all the colors are well saturated, waterproof, UV proof, and available in pretty much ever color you could ever want.  That being said, there are plenty of other refills that will fit, so check the website for the full list and see if your favorite is on there.

One last point that might seem minor but really does improve the writing experience on this pen is that, at least with the Pilot Juice and G2 refills, there is a very precise fit of the nose cone around the refill tip.  This means no distracting tip wiggle while you write, which is a very good thing.

If you couldn't tell by now, I really like this pen.  I highly recommend you check it out if you are in the market for a machined pen.  There's a lot of options out there these days for these types of pens, but let me put it this way - I purchased this pen for myself, and I would gladly spend the money again on another.  I don't know much more I can recommend it other than to say that it's awesome and Will really has a great thing here.

This pen was purchased with my own money and I am not being compensated in any way for this review.  All opinions above are my own and you are free to disagree with me if you like.