Wow, the Pentel 200 series is th best pencil Pentel makes, and one of the best pencils in the worlds, despite its low cost. I used these professionally for thirty-five plus years, writing, drawing miles of lines, sketching, d5rawing, etc. They are not cheap, nor is the plastic they use. I suspect more seasoned pros use these pencils than any other. The three I bought about forty years ago still work, despite each having more than half a million words on it, plus miles and miles of lines, notes, sketches, drawings, etc. Two things. !. Metal does not make a pencil better or stronger. It just makes the pencil more expensive, and flashier, so more people buy it. 2. Forget knurling. If you want real control and precision, use a slide on grip. You can get anything from extremely thin silicon tubing to plushy foam, to triangular, medium hard plastc or rubber, etc. Slide on grips are not just for children, or for adults who have arthritis, or neuropathy, or nerve damage, or carpal tunnel. They're for anyone who wants to avoid these things, and for anyone who wants more control and more precision without hand cramps. I know more pros who use slide on grips than any other form.
Pentel makes way better pencils than the P200. For edc,they make Kerry. For drawing,they make the much better Graphgear500.For writing,alos ideal for students,they make the much better Twist erase. P200 is a nice drafting pencil for prolonged use,but on any other kind of use,all the pencils I mentioned are far better.
The Sharp p200 is cheaper on the outside, it's one of the best mechanisms In a mechanical pencil, a lot of boutique mechanical pencils or people who manufacture metal bodies in their home shops use the p200 internals. Trust me the quality is great There are people who buy cheap Chinese mechanic pencils with metal bodies and knurled grips, and replace the internals with the sharp p200, very nice hack if you want metal body and knurling, and a great mechanism
Faber castell lead holders are great, species the vintage ones. I love the claw design lead holders, I find them to be more precise. I have a yellow Koh I Noor versatie 5211, very good pencil made in Czech republic
I have a Mitsubishi UNI 0.9 pencil /w Staedtler micro carbon 0.9 mm HB. Has a green band just above finger grip area with different settings. I use the HB setting.
I've drug those yellow pentel .9 (p209) all over Africa doing engineering work and fixing pumps in very remote areas and I have never broken one. The .9 leads don't beak up in the barrel like the .5s tend to do when you throw them in your metal clipboard and bounce them around in the truck all day. I never bother with the erasers in the pencil and just carry a little polymer in the clipboard.
Great picks! I would chose the Rotring 500 over the Pentel Grahpgear 500 though, but that's just my preference. My favorite fixed sleeve drafting pencils as of today are: 1st. Rotring 600. 2nd. Rotring 500. 3rd. Alvin Draft-Matic. My favorite 2mm lead holders are: 1st. Koh-I-Noor 5616 (not to be confused with the crappy 5611). 2ndly. The Alvin Tech-Matic. 3rd. The Prismacolor Turquoise. I also like the Steadtler Mars Technico but not as much as the others.
I don't think it's a fair comparison. The Graphgear 1000 is a retractable sleeve drafting pencil, wherein the Graphgear 500 is a Fixed sleeve one. You compare the Graphgear 1000 with pencils like the Uni Shiftpipe, and the Ohto Promecha 1000P, while the Graphgear 500 would compare to pencils like the Alvin Draft-matic, and the Rotring 500. You gotta compare apples to apples mate, and fixed sleeve pencils are always going to feel better than retractable sleeve ones. However, they won't be as versatile. If you are working at home, chose the Graphgear 500. If you are going to be on the go, then chose the Graphgear 1000. I ironically prefer the 1000 over the 500 in all scenarios. But the 500 is a super pencil, especially at the price point it is (under $6 USD).
the only problem with graphgear 500s is that there is too many lead jams. the 1000 has an indicator, but if you don't like the 1000, you can get the graphlet, its a 500 with and indicator.
The Graphlet's grip section looks scary to me though. The Graphgear 500 has such sweet grip section. Grippy, without been too bitey. I would have to give the Graphlet a shot to see how I adapt to that unique grip section it has. I actively avoid pencils without knurled grip sections. So far for me, the pencils I favor are the Graphgear 500 and 1000 as the affordable fixed sleeve and affordable retractable sleeve pencils by excellence respectively, and the Rotring 600 and the 800+ as my preferred elite pencils. Since I work with .9mm, .7mm, .5mm, and .3mm I use all four pencils since the Graphgears come in .9mm which is a size I can't get the Rotrings in.
I have a 0.5mm cheapo Rotring Tikky with 4H lead for my layin/construction. Then I use 2mm lead holders of varying grades for everything else. Probably going to upgrade to that Graphgear 500 eventually. I really like the look and it seems like a quality build.
2:35 i have that pencil too !! The upper one, but in red, it says 85 on a side and I've searched a lot of it but I don't know if it's really that old It was broken and full of rust but I managed to restore it and now it's fully functional !!
You can squeeze the end of the Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser Holder where it says "PRESS " near the tip to hold the eraser securely. Then it won't slide up the barrel as you say at 5:58
So you dont like the Rotring 500 just because of the eraser? The video title says best to worst mechanical pencils, but it's actually just your personal opinion and your personal experience.... Look up why so many people like the Rotring 500.... including myself
The Graphgear 500 is just the most comfortable mechanical pencil to date. IMO both the 800 and 1000 are failed attempts at a premium 500, when all the 500 needs to be the perfect all purpose pencil is for the barrel to be made of a light metal like that of the Zebra M-301.
Where do you buy lead smaller than 0.5? I have a Pentel orenz 0.2 before I bought it I watched a video that said the lead should be special ordered cause they're not widely available in retailers/ stationary stores? I think the video was yours? My pentel orenz came with a tube with a number of lead inside and I dont need to buy more lead yet, but eventually so I need to know where I can find them ?
The Orenz is practically required for heavy-handed thin lead users. I don't have that problem, use a GG500 perfectly fine, and I still have an Orenz that I dig a bunch.
I got this pentel from walmart that had lasted me about half a school year. the eraser eventually stretched out the lead housing causing the eraser to literally fall into the pencil. it is basically unusable now. I have only tried that pentel, but that was a bad experience so I will stay away from it for a while.
I used to have a great drop-style lead holder pencil. It was all metal, with a hexagonal cross section and circumferential grooves at the grip. Some bastard stole it from me, at school, 36 years ago. If I could remember the maker, I'd try to buy another.
Thanks for the sympathy, but I don't have much info to go on. Your video just reminded me of it. :'( I've just ordered a Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil from Japan. Do you have any experience with using one? I bought based on positive reviews I read.
dalriada842 A word from the wise: don't lose the eraser cap! It's nearly impossible to advance the lead without the cap in place. I learned about this issue with my Kuru Toga Pipe Slide.
+dalriada842 This is super late but from what you’ve said, it sounds like a rotring lead holder but I do know that they usually have a knock mechanism. But you could still look at them and see. -Edit- They do make drop style lead holders. I’d look on JetPens for images! It’s the Rotring 600 lead holder. It’s all metal, comes in black and silver. Has a hexagonal body and a knurled grip. Not sure if it’s the one your talking about but it seems really close. Hope this helps!
Koh I noor makes some great lead holders If if remember correctly it's called the versatil. I ISED TO HAVE ONE, BUT i lost it at school about 6-7 months ago.
I am preparing for the exam, so I write a lot and I am solving tests. Which pen would you recommend? Pentel Smash 0.5 and Pentel Graph 1000 For Pro 0.5, which is better?
I just use different pencil for each lead and size but I may try your method :) . Ever since I discovered mechanical pencils I can't go back to wooden pencils, mostly because I draw kinda small so normal pencils don't do it for me. I've been thinking of trying out the 0.3mm size but I wonder if the difference is worth the investment.
I'm honestly against the the Graphgear 500 for one thing, the clutch. Don't get me wrong. It's still a brass clutch, but it's not a solid mechanism. For me, I go with the Sharp P203, always readily available, solid mechanism.
I generally prefer solid brass clutch mechanisms as well. The only brand I can find that makes them in 0.7 pencils is Pentel. I live in MN and usually get my pencils at Staples.
Ironically, both the Graphgear and the Sharp are both by Pentel. The Sharp is the best mechanism one can buy though while the Graphgear felt too quiet and smooth for an actual mechanism.
Although, you might want to check out the Zebra Delguard. It has a more controlled mechanism (3 mm for every 10 clicks in 0.3 mm) and it prevents lead breakage with two springs for vertical and diagonal pressure when writing. The only pencil with a more controlled mechanism in 0.3 mm is the Pentel Graph 1000 for Pro/CS Edition, which has around 2.5 mm per ten clicks.
I have better pencils yet I can't draw any sophisticated shit meanwhile your work seems magnifying. If I knew that the shipping wouldn't cost more than the pencil I'd send, I wouldn't blink an eye. Thanks for the review.
@_savage_ cabbage Some people actually watch videos on topics they consider not worthy of making videos about. That right there is the pinnacle of idiocy.
