The fine folks from Karas Kustoms sent us a sample of their latest Kickstarter Pen, the Retrakt Aluminum “Click” Pen.  Having only been on Kickstarter for a few days now, its amazing to see how quickly its already close to hitting 4x the funding goal.

Retrakt Full Body Aluminum Retractable Pen

The Retrakt version that I have a sample of is the aluminum one, but it also comes in brass and copper.  The aluminum version has an anodized finish to protect the body, however the aluminum and brass versions are designed in a way which will allow them to develop a vintage or aged look over time, or you can keep them polished and new looking.  Each pen has an incredibly well fastened clip that feels like its permanently attached, even trying to pull it back slightly takes significant effort.

Retrakt Spacers for Various Refill Fitting Needs

Besides the awesome and significantly more quiet plunger used for the retracting mechanism, the Retrakt also comes with some extra spacing mechanisms so you can fit refills from other pens in there.  There is an additional spring, a small black spacer and a long tube that can be cut to any size in order to help fit some more unique refills.  Oh, and one other thing about the plunger is that it has no plastic parts, so it will not be breaking down on you from over use…or from overly clicking it you tend to click away and fidget with your pens.

Retrakt Spacers for Fisher Space Pen Refill

The setup you see above is what I did in order to get the Fisher Space Pen refill to fit in the Retrakt.  I took the long plastic tube and cut it down a bit and used the skinnier spring at the tip of the refill and this made for a nice snug fit that wrote easily with no play in the tip.

For such a great looking and well built pen, its hard to find any flaws…well because I don’t think there are any to be honest.  The only minor change I’d make to this pen is that I’d take the knurled finish that is at the top near the clip, and I’d put a matching section down towards the grip area.  Not only would this make for a very nice looking accent, but functionally I think it would make the pen a little easier to hold onto and grip.

The Retrakt Aluminum “Click” Pen is clearly a superior product with its construction, great looking design, well thought out functionality, and flexibility in terms of the refills that it takes.

©2016, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.