Although I love to write using mechanical pencils, I have been using low quality ones throughout my early years either in school and when I started to work. The mechanical pencils either felt too light, the leads keep breaking or become loose when I was writing, or the tip of the lead got slanted which resulted in uneven and smeared letters. Also, some mechanical pencils got broken and stopped working after a while, and they had to be thrown away.

Later throughout the years, I got a better writing experience with a higher quality mechanical pencil with Pilot Supergrip and Flexgrip 0.5mm provided by my company. They really felt good in my hands and they seem to last very long too. So far after more than 2 years of usage, they still work fine and write very well. The leads rarely break too.

The Pilot Supergrip and Rexgrip are rather cheap, about RM3.30 for one piece, surely great value for money. And the common leads from brands such as Pilot and Buncho are very cheap too, and most importantly they are good. Having said that, I've never tried better mechanical pencils and leads, hence the purpose of this thread.

Just today out of curiosity, I've actually made an online purchase for the Staedtler 925-25, 925-35 and UnikuruToga Roulette. It's not of an impulse buy as have never owned a high quality mechanical pencil before. My question is, do the leads really matter? The Buncho and Pilot 2B polymer leads only cost RM0.60 to 0.80 around that range, but the upmarket brands of polymer lead cost up to RM12 or higher.

I just bought the Rotring Tikky polymer lead for RM12.90, and there are only 12 pieces. The Buncho leads only cost RM0.64 for 24 pieces. Big price difference.

Back to the question, does the quality of lead matter, and if yes what is usually recommended? There is a huge price difference between the Buncho / Pilot polymer leads and the boutique brands from the likes of Rotring etc.

If you want to feel the quality and heaviness, I suggest you to buy Rotring Rapid Pro. There have various lead sizes, just get the 0.5mm for common writing.

I was tried many types of mechanical pencils. Such like Pentel Orenz Nero 0.3mm, Staedtler Reg 925-85-05 (discontinued). Also the cheaper range, Uni Kuru Toga Advance, Uni Kuru Toga Roulette, standard Kuru Toga and Zebra Delguard.

In the end, I still feel that Rotring is still the best for its price to value because it has a better built quality. I like their stainless steel materials, feel heavy and solid. Rotring 600 is cheaper but its tip not retractable. Only Rotring Rapid Pro and Rotring 800/800+ have retractable tip.

Another cheaper selection is Uni Kuru Toga Advance. I prefer to this pencil because it has 2x leads rotation speed. So will keep the pencil lead always sharp during writing. Also it has retractable tip too.

For the lead selection, if you are just commonly using for writing purpose only. I recommend you to buy Pentel Ain Stein 4B or Uni NanoDia 4B. Usually Pentel Ain Stein pencil leads can be found in most bookstores such as Popular. Uni NanoDia 0.5mm 4B (green colour) is hard to find, usually I order from taobao only.

Why I only recommend 4B but not 2B. Since you know usually we are writing with that cheap Buncho 2B leads in the schools. When we switch to another brand such as Pentel Ain Stein. You will notice that the other brands 2B is lighter than Buncho 2B. That's why I suggest to use Pentel Ain Stein 4B 0.5mm only. Ain Stein leads has far more sturdy than the normal hi-polymer leads and it is not easily to break. You can search in Youtube to know more reviews about "Ain Stein".

For the writing feel between Pentel Ain Stein and Uni NanoDia. The ain stein leads feel smoother on writing comparing to NanoDia. Overall the darkness for both 4B leads have no different.

The reason why leads are keep breaking. Since lighter pencil leads is harder while darker pencil leads is softer. When we make a lead to darker such as 4B, the lead will break easily. In order to overcome this issue, so we need to stop use those cheap brand polymer leads and switch to use Ain Stein leads.





This post has been edited by junclj: Apr 15 2021, 09:51 AM

Thanks for the response which was much appreciated. I did check on the Rotring 600 but the price is almost RM150 so I disregarded it. Since you recommended the Rotring Rapid Pro, I just checked on it and the price is RM180. Wow, really high end for a mechanical to cost this much. Perhaps next time when I feel like an upgrade. It's quite a large jump from the Pilot Supergrip/Rexgrip RM3 to RM150+.

I just spent RM160 for 3 mechanical pencils. I paid RM37.50 for the Uni-Kuru Toga Roulette and RM59.70 for the Staedtler 925-25 and 925-35 each. Will see how they perform first.

As for the pencil leads, it is unfortunate I just bought the Rotring Tikky B instead of 4B. The seller only has HB and B as 2B has run out of stock. I didn't wait for the 2B stock to come next month and bought the B instead. Hopefully the blacks are not too light with B. Next time will choose 4B with other premium leads from Pentel Ain Stein.

I presume the Pentel Ain Stein 4B will have the same darkness as cheap Buncho 2B leads but smoother writing and less breakage. With regards to breakage of leads, after I used the Pilot Supergrip and Rexgrip, the leads do not break easily anymore. The leads broke a lot when they are used with really cheap mechanical pencils. The Pilot Supergrip and Regrip mechanical pencils are actually quite good for the price (RM3.30/each).

I can't wait to see how the costlier Staedtler and Uni-Kuru Toga pencils will compare to the cheap Pilot Supergrip/Rexgrip. Will likely get the shipment by next week.

Yes, 0.5mm is the best size for me as I only write with the pencils. No drawing.

For the first time I bought Staedtler 925-35 0.7mm as I wanted to try how 0.7mm will feel in the hands. I have never tried 0.7 before as I've written in 0.5 all my life.

You may also try to buy some Pentel ain stein 4B leads in the nearest bookstores. Last time I was bought mine from Popular bookstore. Besides that, Mitsubishi Uni/Uni-ball is my favourite brand. For mechanical pencils, I am still using Uni Kuru Toga for the most and pen I am using Uni-Ball Signo 0.38mm. My Rotring mechanical pencils were just bought for collections only. I rarely use them also do not put inside my pencil case. I was set shelf in my bedroom and bought many pen holders, some pen holders were looks like this with two hands rise up. So I can put all my pencil collections on it.

Ok thanks for the tip on getting Pentel Ain Stein 4B leads at the nearest bookstores. I rarely go to shopping malls these days and usually purchase on Shopee. Will keep that in mind.

It is interesting you brought up about getting Rotring mechanical pencils only as collection. Similarly, I question myself why I need to buy better mechanical pencils when I already enjoy writing on the cheap Pilot Supergrip and Rexgrip pencils. They are adequately high quality to me at just a price of RM3.30. I guess sometimes we just want higher quality, to experience the slight uniqueness of these pencils, either the better build quality(metal body, retractable/non-retractable tip etc.) or slightly improved writing experience. I hope after I get the Staedtler and Uni-Kuru Toga Roulette pencils, they don't end up in the drawer or box as collection. This story reminds me of Bill Gates. He once mentioned he has many expensive cars in his garage, but he uses the Ford Focus the most as his daily drive.

Nice design of the mini holder for the most expensive mechanical pencils. Will check out the other available designs.

I just bought the newly released Pilot S30 pencil. It's not cheap, but really built nicely.

Wooden body, auto advance mechanism

Just checked on the Pilot S30. Cannot find it anywhere in Malaysia, not sold in Malaysia. So I guess this must be a high end product. So I checked on the price and found that it is selling at USD150. After conversion it is RM450+. Wow, at that price I think I will put it in a nice display box and keep it as collection rather than use it for writing. 😝

Lol. I don't know about all these high quality expensive pencils. I have only been using my trusty Pilot shaker mechanical pencil since standard 5 all the way till now. Those cheap normal Pilot / Staedler / Faber Castell leads are good enough for me.

RM450+ is definitely on the really high side. I got it in SG for SGD55. So still a price that can be considered for writing with

I had one of the original shakers, the H-515. but my parents couldn't remember where they put it after I moved out of home

OOOoooohhh...
Thread for mechanical pencils.
Wait tomorrow i come back to spam my collection.

I found a pencil/pen holder in Shopee which is more to my taste. However, the price is too high at RM50+ for one piece so I won't be getting it yet. The pen holders which you posted above are much value for money but it is a bit too small and cute for my preference.







https://www.google.com/url?q=https://shopee...33rUkerEzJYLDlQ

this is mine, photo of 3 years ago. I've now no longer buy new mechanical pencils. Now I am deciding to buy lego instead, to decorate my shelves.

Stainless steel mechanical pencil got pental and parker.

Not bad.

These 3 are my most frequent used mechanical pencils. I only pick 3 mechanical pencils to put into my pencil case, the rest just put to shelf for display only. lol



This post has been edited by junclj: Apr 15 2021, 05:31 PM

Staedler for me.
Stole mine from my niece's pencil case

Quick one. Since you are experienced and have given good advice, I need your help again. Others can advise too if you have experience with the mechanical pencils as mentioned below.

Long story short, somehow I need to get another pencil. Won't get into the details.

I have ordered the below, shipment on the way :
1. Uni Kuru Toga Roulette (0.5mm)
2. Staedtler 925-25 (0.5mm)
3. Staedtler 925-35 (0.7mm)

If given a choice, which one will you pick to add to the collection of 3 pencils above? Pick one only.
1. Zebra Delguard standard (0.5mm) RM26.70
2. Zebra Delguard ER (0.5mm) RM37.70
3. Zebra Delguard LX (0.5mm) RM39.70
4. Zebra Delguard LX Limited Edition (0.5mm) RM69.70 picture below

5. Uni Kuru Toga Advance standard (0.5mm) RM27.70 picture below

6. Uni Kuru Toga Advance (0.7mm) RM34.70 picture below

7. Uni Kuru Toga Advance Upgrade model (0.5mm) RM57.90 picture below

Before anyone recommend Rotring 600 or Rapid Pro, I would like to leave this out at the moment as it's RM150+ a piece which is above the budget I m willing to spend. Right now I just want to try few samples below RM80.

You may try Uni Kuru Toga Advance or Advance Upgrade Model. If you want to see the rotation clutch inside then go for Kuru Toga Advance, if not then upgrade model. I was watched a mechanical pencil review in a Youtube video. Uni Kuru Toga has unbelievable better leads anti break protection by comparing to the Zebra Delguard. I personally just suggest to buy the 0.5mm for usual writting, unless you are writing bigger wording and need a 0.7mm mechanical pencil.

For the rOtring collections, of course I have both rotring 600 and rotring rapid pro (only kids make selections, lol kidding). Both are heavy and solid. However, due to the tip of roting 600 is not retractable. Some people may do not mind in this but I am more preferable to rotring rapid pro because of its tip is retractable.

Besides, you may try Pentel Orenz too. This mechanical pencil also great in leads anti break protection.

This post has been edited by junclj: Apr 19 2021, 01:34 PM