Review: @NockCo Small Batch Hightower - Black/Pink

Only twenty made. This small batch run of the Hightower was limited to ONLY twenty. TWENTY! I put it in my cart, took it out, put it back, took it out, then snapped and thought OKAYITiSPINK. In the end, you know what happened. It's black and hot pink.

Price: $20.00USD
Where to buy: Nock Co.
Except it's gone now, but you can get other things.

APPEARANCE

The case measures around 8" x 6.75". The exterior is 1000D nylon with a DWR coating, and the inside is nylon pack cloth. The corners are sharply-shaped with black stitching on the outside. The ends are melted shut and look very clean.

The case opens like a book to reveal the hot pink interior with dark blue stitching. On the left side, there are three slots with a long flap covering them. The right side is a deep pocket (which, incidentally, fits the Nock Co. DotDash Pocket notebooks perfectly). It's cute and simple and I love the color scheme - that's pretty much what made me buy it.

I'm a sucker for colors. I also love their cute little Nock Co. tag.

PERFORMANCE

The way I have it set up, my Hightower holds three to four pens, a flexible ruler, a Nock Co. DotDash pocket notebook, and a Field Notes pocket notebook. Sometimes I carry fountain pens; sometimes gel pens or ballpoints, or a mix. The slots are wide enough to accommodate most of my pens (ignoring the truly oversized ones). They clip on or remain in place when the flip is down. I like the slotted side a lot. On the other side, my Field Notes sits behind the Dot Dash notebook. The Dot Dash sits out, except for the back cover in the pocket. I like this set up a lot.

When full with all my junk, it's not even overstuffed. It can still close - the material stretches and moves with all the stuff inside it. I really like that. It's not stiff.

Occasionally, my ruler will slide out of the pocket, but it's a slippery, heavy ruler. I don't really expect it to stay in place if I drop everything. A zippered case would make this awesome.

FEEL

I like how I can be rough with this case. So far, after weeks of use, it still looks brand new. The black exterior holds up really well. In  my bag, it really takes a beating and I use all sorts of weird pens, and if they leave marks on the material, I can't see them (on the black). The pink shows more dirt, but so far, nothing has stained. Check this post by Nock Co. on how to clean your case! The nylon is tough stuff, and the threading is well done - there areno bits that or loose or broken, and I appreciate the double-stitched pieces.

PROS

• Great colors available.
• The Small Batches are so fun. I have a thing for limited edition things.
• Holds quite a few items!
• Well-made - even, clean, stitching and ends.
• Easy to clean.

CONS

• Things can slide out of the pocket side
• Cannot be closed completely so I try to keep it upright in my bag.

OVERALL

I really like this case, along with the Sassafras and Lookout cases, which I also own! This one is designed and set up well as an EDC case. I would enjoy a button snapper to close the case for those times I stuff a bunch of extra things into the pocket and don't want them to fall out. Or I wouldn't mind a zipper closure. That would be cool. For $20, I'm pretty happy with this case, especially because of the colors.