Tacray Spinium Titanium Bolt Action Pen Review: A Fidget-Friendly Rollerball with One Frustrating Flaw

Introduction

Kickstarter pens can be a mixed bag: sometimes a new brand is trying to find its footing, sometimes an established maker is using the platform to launch a fresh product. The Tacray Spinium Titanium Bolt Action Pen falls into the second camp. Tacray is based in Hong Kong and has been making titanium everyday carry tools since around 2013, including knives, multi-tools, and even a fountain pen fitted with a glass breaker.

The Spinium is a rollerball pen machined from grade 5 titanium that also incorporates fidget and spinner elements. There is a lot to like about it, and one design choice that we found genuinely frustrating in day-to-day use. Here is how it all comes together.

Design and Build Quality

The body is made from grade 5 titanium alloy, the most commonly used titanium grade, containing 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium along with small amounts of iron and oxygen. While adding oxygen to an alloy may sound odd, at certain ratios it can increase the material’s strength and corrosion resistance. The result is a pen that feels dense and well-built without being overly heavy.

The Spinium comes in three finishes: titanium gray, rose red, and blue, each available with two different textures. The dragon scale texture is our favorite of the two, with a pleasing raised pattern that adds both grip and visual interest. The alternative is called the mech texture. Beyond the finish and texture, the pens are otherwise identical.

At the very top sits an ultra hard zirconium ceramic bead that provides a subtle tactile detail. The clip is a bit on the tight side but holds well on materials of varying thickness, and the grooved design with an inlaid color accent looks sharp.

The Spinner Finial

The main tactile element is the spinner at the finial. It spins easily, keeps going for an extended period on its own, and stays reasonably quiet while doing so. It is a satisfying fidget that does not announce itself in a quiet room.

One marketing claim deserves a reality check: Tacray describes the spinner as gyroscopically stabilized. The spinning portion is so lightweight relative to the rest of the pen that you do not feel any resistance while it spins, so the stability really comes from the weight of the pen body itself rather than any gyroscopic effect. It is a minor quibble, but worth knowing if that claim is part of what draws you in.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The bolt action is the pen’s weakest point. It is a dual-action mechanism with three positions: extended, shut in the middle, and extended again. Twisting the bolt left or right deploys the rollerball, but getting it to stop reliably in the middle position to retract the nib is harder than it should be.

Operating it one-handed, as you normally would, we found it took real muscle memory to land in the middle detent. More than half the time, the bolt slid straight past the middle and back out to extended. As a casual fidget, the three-position travel is fun to cycle through. As an actual deployment mechanism, it can turn into frustration: you click, miss, and end up going back and forth between extended positions. This portion of the pen could clearly have been designed better, and it is the main thing to weigh before committing.

In terms of size and weight, the Spinium comes in at almost 28 grams. For context, that sits between a Lamy Al-Star at 21 grams and a typical Tactile Turn bolt action model at around 33 grams, so it feels substantial in the hand without being a brick. Disassembly is straightforward: twist off the end cap to access the refill.

Writing Performance

The Spinium ships with a Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 refill, and it is a genuinely good pairing. The refill writes very smoothly with no ink flow issues, making the writing experience one of the pen’s easy selling points. Refill availability is also a long-term plus, since the EasyFlow 9000 is widely available.

Buying Advice

The Spinium was offered on Kickstarter at roughly $49 for a single pen, or about $126 for a bundle of three, with the campaign closing in early June. If the bolt action quirk does not bother you, the combination of grade 5 titanium construction, a satisfying spinner, and a proven Schmidt refill makes this a solid fidget pen for everyday carry. If you rely on quick, reliable one-handed deployment, we would think carefully before buying.

Conclusion

The Tacray Spinium is an interesting, aesthetically pleasing design from a maker with over a decade of titanium tool experience. The build quality, texture options, and Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 refill are all strong points, while the three-position bolt action is the one feature that needs patience and practice. If fidget value matters more to you than instant deployment, the Spinium is easy to recommend.