31–40 of 115 posts
How does the automatic lead extender know by how much to extend the lead? If I were to write lots of dots, the lead would wear off less than when I wrote lots of dashes, but I would touch the paper and lift the pen an equal amount of times. Guess: is it weight controlled?
JetPens’ marketing is amazing. Their online storefront is very well put together, and above all their buyer team ensures they have mountains of imported variety in every category. It’s so nice to see someone doing something well. Really well. I have no connection to them other than I spent $500 with them last Christmas on gifts for my entire family.
Unfortunately, the pretty colors have been discontinued, but if you're looking for a multipen and don't mind putting up some money, they're great.
That was fun. I don't use anything except mechanical pencils but none of those really grabbed me and I generally love gadgets. For some reason I don't like the bouncy feel of the spring-protected tips and the only time I break leads is when I drop the pencil on the floor.
The pointy metal ends on these bend so easily though. I love the concept but that just makes them a liability for daily driver use
You're looking for the Rotring 800, my friend. Twist to retract / extend the lead sleeve into / out of a rounded nub. And it has a beautiful solid heavy build. There are also the Pentel GraphGear models, which retract / extend with push, but the build isn't as satisfying.
My first try to post in HackerNews, hoping this fits the spirit. I was amazed to see the features of these pencil pens. Are these pencils common where you live? Here in Germany, they are known, but rather seldomly used...
Im amazed these aren't common here.
I've used the Kuru Toga for years. The mechanism is so good that I don't see the argument for any other pencil. Which is actually a shame, as I can't get excited for other pencils anymore. During my school years we had all kinds of discussions and comparisons for best pencils, best pens, best erasers.
As for erasers - do you recall anything that beats out the Pentel Hi-Polymer block eraser for the overwhelming vast majority of use cases?
I seriously couldn’t gear over just how bad Staedtler block eraser performed when I’d seen so many rave about it. I haven’t tried much other than it & the Pentel when it comes to erasers tho.
These are super cool, but I have to admit I’ve sworn by BIC 0.5mm mechanical pencils for years. Part of it is that they are so cheap and commonplace, I like that at least for one aspect of my life I don’t rely on some super custom, boutique version of an everyday product.
(I also have a Sharp calculator from the same era that is still working just fine. The Japanese really built things to last in the 80s.)