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Recently on the Pen Addict Podcast, Brad Dowdy ranked his top 10 mechanical pencils. I was intrigued by some of his choices and a few rang out as pencils I quite like as well. I don’t know that I could strictly rank a top 10, but I can pick a favorite 5. It will make a nice break from mostly talking about fountain pens here.
I’ve always liked mechanical pencils and I prefer them overall to wooden pencils. Mostly that comes down to more variety of size, shape, balance, and the ability to swap almost any kind of lead into the same body. Nothing can replicate the perfectly sharpened wooden pencil in one’s preferred hardness, but that peak feeling only lasts a short time and needs more maintenance. My use case with pencils typically requires more than just the crispy point.
This bunch is just sitting in a drawer, waiting to go…somewhere. I’ve used them all at some point and there are interesting designs here, but they just don’t make the cut for one reason or another.
The coffee cup at the top of this post is where the keepers live. Within this group are the favorites but before we get to those let’s see what I’d call the like-but-not-quite-love category.
The red Pilot 2020 at the top has both shaker and click advance mechanisms. I don’t care for shakers but this one can be disabled by removing a sliding weight from inside the barrel. With that change made this is a very good pencil. Only the eraser holds it back.
The Pilot G2 pencil has excellent ergonomics and is very durable. I like them for extended writing but, again, the eraser falls short.
Let’s pause a minute to talk about erasers. If I’m at home and set up at a table or desk, I will use a separate eraser from whatever the pencil has. But on mechanical pencils that I would carry and use through the day, I prefer larger open erasers over ones that are smaller and capped. Small capped erasers like the Pilot G2 present two problems for me. The cap must be removed to use the eraser and there’s no good place to stow it, so it gets lost or discarded. If I’m on the move or not near a steady writing surface I honestly can’t be bothered taking off and holding a tiny eraser cap. The eraser is small to begin with but is further reduced by only being able to use maybe half of it. Once it wears to a certain point you can try to push the remainder up in the holder but that never lasts and soon enough the eraser is pushed back down by use or by your thumb pressing it to advance the point because the cap is gone.
Am I unduly annoyed by erasers like the G2? I don’t think so when it affects such an important function of the pencil. Myke Hurley talked about the need for good erasers on the podcast with Brad. He said the pencil provides an advantage over a pen — you can erase what you’ve written and do it again. Why negate the advantage with an eraser that’s not good or doesn’t last?
Anyway, back to the bunch. The Kuru Toga is neat because of the rotation mechanism but I don’t love its overall feel. The Faber Castell Grip checks many boxes. I tried carrying it without the eraser cap but found advancing the point without it wasn’t comfortable. The Paper Mate Precision has good balance and grip. I keep a blue lead in it for a change up now and again. The bottom three are mechanical pencils that mimic a traditional wooden one by shape and/or material. The Ohto takes 2mm and advances with one click at a time rather than the usual lead holder clutch that’s either open or locked. The eraser disappointingly dried out in a year so I took a good plastic block eraser and cut a replacement to fit. It’s not pretty, but it works.
Now, my favorite five.
5) Pentel Sharp
Brad said that if this pencil is one of your favorites it pegs you in a certain age range. I think he’s a bit older than me but probably not by much. This P209 was my dad’s. He studied as a draftsman and was a civil engineer for most of his life. Besides the sentimental value, the Sharp is a great pencil. I have a .7 and a .5 to go along with the .9 model.
4) Pentel Graph Gear 1000
The lead sleeve that advances with the first click and then retracts by pressing the top half of the clip is what got me on this model. Most mechanical pencils that are drafting focused have a fixed sleeve, which I tend to find uncomfortable when carrying in a pants pocket or shirt placket. This design solves that but still gives you the full drafting pencil look and feel. The grip is, well, unique. I don’t mind it but I’d prefer it be either all knurled metal or all rubber. To a degree, I think this mix of the two undercuts the best each could offer on their own.
3) Pilot Metropolitan
This pencil kills on looks and feeling. Like the rest of the Metropolitan line, it has a brass body with nice heft. It borders on being back heavy but I tend to grip it higher up to compensate for that. The eraser setup on the Metropolitan is almost comical. You pull off the top section, which is everything above the silver band, and you have a thin cylinder with the same tiny eraser as the G2. It’s okay in a pinch but cumbersome to access. Despite that, I love everything else about this model so much that I just tend to forget the eraser is even there. Is this incongruous with the previous statements about erasers? Yeah, could be, but I didn’t promise logical perfection. I only said I was listing my favorites.
2) Rotring 600
It’s a classic for a reason. My favorite part is the knurling because it hits the perfect balance of grip and comfort. Not much else I could say about the 600 that hasn’t already been said better by others. It never loses it charm and it always works flawlessly.
1) Pentel Twist Erase GT
One eraser to rule them all and claim the top spot on my list. The Twist Erase GT is far and away my most used mechanical pencil. It’s with me every day at work and has been for several years. It proved itself best when one of my past positions involved writing orders and counting inventory in a cooler. I needed to jot down totals and make corrections on paper while wearing gloves, moving cases, going up and down a rolling ladder, and dealing with other assorted obstacles. Many pencils tried and failed in that spot. The Twist Erase handled it with ease and the rest is history.
Visually, the Twist Erase can be awkward, like pieces were put together that shouldn’t have been. Looks aren’t function, though, and this pencil is all function. The biggest change over other pencils is the eraser.
As the product name says, you twist the body to extend more eraser when you need it. The eraser is uncovered but large enough that it doesn’t feel uncomfortable when you must press to extend the point. This is my favorite feature of the Twist Erase. When I was in that cooler writing down counts, being able to quickly flip the pencil around to have a large eraser for corrections was a big plus.
The next main selling point for me is the grip.
It’s made of soft rubber with a finned texture and slightly bulbous shape. It’s comfortable and forgiving, always providing excellent purchase. Whether my hands are bare, gloved, cold, wet, whatever, this grip always lets me control the point accurately. I used to worry that it wouldn’t hold up over time, but my original Twist Erase from 5+ years ago still has a fully intact grip.
The older black pencil lost its markings years ago. It picked up plenty of scuffs and scratches through drops, bangs, and the constant pick-up put-down of daily use. It still has a good bit of its original eraser left. I only stopped taking it to work because the clip got sprung and wouldn’t hold tight enough to my shirt. I’ll probably keep it in my tool bag at home going forward because there’s plenty of life left.
As mentioned about the Graph Gear 1000, a retractable sleeve is another feature I love on mechanical pencils. The Twist Erase has one and makes for poke-free carry no matter where you place it.
Speaking of places to carry, the Twist Erase’s larger diameter top half makes it easy to quickly tuck it in the sweatband of my hat against my head. It stays there without slipping. The only catch is remembering it’s there before I take off or adjust my hat. But even if it falls to the floor, the Twist Erase is durable. Should it ever break, it is very affordable to replace. I got a 3 pack with different color barrels off Amazon a few months ago for $9. You can by a 12 pack with all black barrels from Staples for $25. The value is ridiculously good.
That’s it for my favorite 5 mechanical pencils. Thanks to Brad and Myke for the inspiration and a great listen on episode 635 of The Pen Addict Podcast. I’m off to look at a Pentel Smash. ;-)
