Made In The USA: Tactile Turn
Anybody else remember being in Catholic school and getting firmly ruler-slapped for fidgeting during class? To this day I have all sorts of odd quasi-autistic habits that I exhibit whenever I'm bored. Moving from a traditional office to a mostly-at-home setup has reduced my fidgeting quite a bit, but I nevertheless continue to expect that part of my life will consist of listening to other people speak and think at (what feels to me like) a Galapagos-esque (Galapagan? Galaxian? Galaga-ish?) pace. I was in a meeting a while ago where it was suggested that we all sit there for 20-some minutes and watch a TED talk. At times like that it would be nice to have a distraction.
The Tactile Turn bolt action pen is made in the United States with what feels like the precision of an 1896 "Swedish Mauser" rifle. There's no slack in the thing. I got mine in copper, with a Damascus-pattern titanium bolt, because copper is supposed to, uh, kill bad vibes or something.
The basic pens are about a hundred bucks but there are more exotic variants available from time to time. I wish I'd gotten in on some of the Zirconium Damascus items, but I snoozed and therefore lost.
TactileTurn recommends, and supplies, the Pilot G2 gel rollerball insert, which is made in Japan to very high standards, but a few other inserts will also fit. I don't think any of them are made in the USA. In fact, I can't think of a pen refill that is still made in the States. There are a few fountain pen inks, and that's it.
(Edit: A recently-turned-Pro BMX rider informed me that the pen will also support the Hi-Tec C, and that many people prefer that refill.)
Your humble author is a bit of a fountain-pen collector, but I have long been frustrated by the idea that you really shouldn't fly with a fountain pen. This TactileTurn rollerball is a good replacement. I'll see what TSA thinks of it; it's all-metal and sturdy enough that it could possibly be an unpleasant device in the wrong hands. In reality, however, the most dangerous thing most of us will do with the TactileTurn pen is to just sit and click it again, and again... and again.