Aerocrafted Retract Click Small Pen Review
The Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen brings a lot to the table in a little package. The titanium and bronze pen uses an innovative clicky mechanism. Read on!
Official Specs and Features
Here’s a link to the official Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen product page.
Versions
There are two sizes of the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen but they are really the same version – both are titanium with bronze parts. One is “large” and the other (this one) is “small.”
Price
The large Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen comes in at $99 and the small, as seen in this post, is $10 less at $88.
Short Review
You’ll see below exactly why I had to buy this pen the second I saw it. It’s exactly the same size as my customized Bic Clic Stic pen which I love. I have long wanted a metal version of that pen, and this Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen comes close. Details below on what’s a hit and what’s a miss. I can tell you that the size is perfect!!
Long Review
What’s Included
- Aerocrafted Retract Click Small Pen
Package
There is no manual. (You won’t really need a manual.)
Build Quality and Disassembly
The Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen is billed as a ” titanium and bronze click pen.’ A titanium outer shell with inner bronze parts. This is a smart move because the bronze sleeve in the tip (see below) screws into the titanium body. This avoids titanium-on-titanium threads, which are often very grainy (and unpleasant.) These threads are pleasant!
The mechanism is also unique. Aerocrafted describes it like this:
a brand new, exceedingly simple offset toggle mechanism
A “toggle” is a new thing here. I haven’t seen a toggle like this ever before! Check out the end of the body, below. The opening from where the clicky protrudes isn’t a circle. It’s also not an oval. Interestingly, it’s a shape called a “stadium” (a trivial distinction, yet here we are!).
The point is, you don’t click straight up and down to actuate this pen. You push down and away from the clip to extend the pen. To retract, push down and toward the clip. The clicky
The spring used here requires the right amount of force.
The seam where the tip meets the body matches these grooves exactly. I can’t think of a better seam that’s done in this fashion. It’s really executed perfectly.
The build quality here is superb.
Size
Length: 3.88″
Diameter: 0.35″
Weight: 0.63 oz.
Here’s the pen in hand.
Here’s the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen with the venerable Convoy S2+. The version below is a custom laser-engraved Convoy S2+ host by GadgetConnections.com. I did a full post on an engraved orange host right here! Or go straight to GadgetConnections.com to buy your Convoy S2+ now!
Also above is the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen beside a TorchLAB BOSS 35, an 18350 light. I reviewed the aluminum version of that light in both 35 and 70 formats. I also reviewed that specific edition, the “Oveready BOSS FT Collector Vintage Brass” 35. I love it!
Again, the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen really matches my Bic Clic Stic pen in size. Even the clicky action is quite similar! There’s no way to incorporate magnets into this pen as far as I can see. But the length, the diameter – all perfect!
There are benefits to the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen over a Bic Clic Stic pen, too. First, the grip is better because of the satin-finished titanium and the groove rings. I like the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen clip less but that’s not to say it’s a bad clip. More on that below.
Retention
The clip, as Aerocrafted says, is an “integral pocket clip.” It’s not a deep carry clip, but it’s still “fairly deep.” What it is though, is thin.
It has a generous mouth and is easy enough to use, though. Being that it’s built-in (or “integral”), it is not possible to adjust the clip to be tighter.
Lock
The click action has been covered fairly well above, but here’s another look.
Again, it’s not a typical clicky – it requires more of the user. You will need to push down and then direct the plunger forward or backward (toward the clip or away from the clip) for it to catch.
The difference alone is not a bad thing. It seems like a reliable mechanism. However, it’s something you’ll likely have to get used to and it’s not as fidgety as you want it to be. That part of it is a sort of a downer.
In these photos, you can sort of get an idea of the pushing angles required. It’s not much, but otherwise you’ll get what feels like a “misfire.”
Writing
The product page says the Aerocrafted Retract Click Small pen has a Pilot G2 Mini ink cartridge with black ink. Mine shipped with this Parker.
This Parker is a Quickflow Medium (1.0) “ballpen” refill. I prefer ballpoint, but 1.0 is much too thick for my taste. Notably, I do feel like it should ship with the stated G2 Mini because those can’t be purchased as refills. (You can buy the whole G2 Mini Pen, but that feels unnecessarily wasteful.)
When extended, the tip is exposed just perfectly.
There are probably a bunch of G2 Mini-sized refills.
However, there’s a 3D printer that designed a file that I think allows the use of D1 refills. They’re thin and narrow (tube-like) but with the adapter, you can use a whole world of refills including all types of ink and tip sizes, etc. Here’s that page. I can’t find the exact file just now, though!
Conclusion
What I like
- Small size
- Combo of bronze and titanium is very nice
- Appropriately-sized (short) pocket clip
What I don’t like
- Limited refills
- The unique action of clicky
Notes
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