BuiltByNim (BBN) Tactile Switch

Introduction

When Nim reached out to us to vendor the BBN Tactile and Linear switches back in Late 2021, we were presented with a quick fact pact about them. As soon as we saw the force curve graph - and the extremely short travel distance, we immediately said “***** I’M IN”. Both switches reminded us fondly of our very own Harimau and Penyu, whereby for one, the BBNs came in a series that had both a tactile and linear and two, the BBNs had very short travel distances (<3mm for the Tactile, 3.5mm for the Linear). The number of switches that have <3mm of travel distance is extremely few and far apart, so we knew we just had to get our hands on them. 

The bump of the BBN Tactile can be characterized as a sharp P-shaped hump, whereby it starts right at the very top of the keypress and ends at about 1/2 of the total travel distance. Due to how strong the bump is however, the tactile bump feels almost as if it covers the entire travel distance, as the momentum from clearing it makes the subsequent linear travel imperceptible. The travel after the bump can really only be noticed if you push the switch rather slowly. As for sound, the BBN Tactile has quite a neutral tone, slightly lower pitched than the clackier BBN Linear due to the tactility. As with many other heavy tactiles, the BBN Tactile suffers from noticeable leaf ping - a tradeoff many tactile heads are used to in order to get the highest level of tactility. The ping can be toned down however, with a light application of lube on the back of the contact leaf. All in all, we like to think of the BBN Tactile as a wild card, a switch that you would use maybe on the weekends and have loads of fun, but not something you’d want to use as a daily. Something like a track-focused weekend sports car -  ̶M̶i̶a̶t̶a̶  BBN Is Always The Answer.

If you love huge tactile bumps, this switch is for you. 

Specifications

• Tactile 
  
• 2.9mm travel
  
• 5 pins
  
• 63.5g bottom out force
  
• 22mm spring length
  
• Two-stage spring design
  
• Custom nylon top housing
  
• Polycarbonate (PC) bottom housing
  
• Polyoxymethylene (POM) stem
  
• No factory lube

RB's Based Rating scale

Sound: 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱 ●●●○○ 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘺
Smoothness: 𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 ●●○○○ 𝘚𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩
Tactility: 𝘚𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘭𝘦 ●●●●● 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 
Weight: 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 ●●●○○ 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺
Travel Distance: 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 ●○○○○ 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥
Price-to-Performance: 𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 ●○○○○ 𝘈𝘭𝘭-𝘙𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳

Footnotes

If you'd like to explore the rest of our curated switch catalog and how they stack up to one another, do visit our Switches section. For any questions or for just a quick chat, shoot us a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.