My Happy Blog

Where I write about what I write with

My First Mechanical Pencils

The first mechanical pencil I remember using was a black Pentel P205. I’m not sure if my brother gave it to me or if I bought it myself, but I do remember carrying it daily as a college student.

The P200 series is lightweight, sturdy, comfortable to hold, and easy to wield. It fits my hand really well. I remember using it extensively to jot down notes, plot diagrams, and sketch drawings.
Sometimes I get lost in my sketching sessions, which could last for hours (how I wish I have that luxury again), but it never left me with aching fingers that I can recall.

I didn’t take particular care of my pencils back then and carried the P205 with many pointy objects in my pencil case. Despite the abuse, it survived the years without a scratch, which says a lot about its durability. Unfortunately it did not survive my forgetfulness.

I've since replaced it, with a few additional variations, but I rarely use them nowadays. 

The second mechanical pencil I used extensively was a Pentel PG1015, or GraphGear 1000. I considered buying it on many visits to the stationery store on campus when it came out in 2002. The 'pro' look caught my eye, but the many 'eyes' on its composite grip also put me off a bit.

Of course, eventually, I bought it (which became a recurring theme with me and my hobby). I was drawn back to it time and time again by the sleek alien form, the hefty metallic build, and the double-knock mechanism.

Double-knock mechanical pencils refer to those that require two knocks, or two pushes of the button to advance the lead: one full knock to push the tip out, secondary knocks to advance the lead, and another full knock to retract the tip back for storage and protection.

On GraphGear 1000, the mechanicsm relies on a spring-loaded clip acting as both the lock and the release trigger on the inner tube, which is constantly being pushed up by a powerful spring. The force exerted by the spring makes the first knock slow and deliberate as the tip clicks into place, and creates a satisfying pop when the lock is trigger-released.

The price tag was quite a bit higher than what I had expected for a mechanical pencil, partly because I was down under in New Zealand, but it was well worth the investment, as it survived even heavier use during my university and graduate school years, with only the fading letters to show for its age.

Only until much later did I learn through blogs, videos, and community sites that these two models are both regarded highly among enthusiasts and professionals alike, and are still often picked by many as one of their favorite or recommended mechanical pencils, which also explains why they are still in production to this day.

 

In the years since then, I’ve probably used no fewer than 500 different mechanical pencils, but none came close to these two in terms of mileage.

This is, of course, partly due to the increasing number of pens and pencils I own, which divides up my usage, which itself has dropped significantly with most writings being done nowadays on keyboard.

Still, I try my best to put them to good use. I test write each new purchase while writing down my thoughts and observations, which I hope to type out and publish somewhere, and found this platform after some search. The blog is probably going to be in English only, as I enjoy writing English the most.

 

Interestingly, what truly sparked my passion for collecting mechanical pencils was another Pentel, released in 2017: the new flagship orenznero, which I look forward to write about some other day.