• @[email protected]OP
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      4 months ago

      I used to use them too before I tried the kuru toga. It’s nice how cheap they are but still feel at least somewhat premium.

  • @[email protected]
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    54 months ago

    6 was what I ended up with after considering all options before I went fully digital.

    Better grip and easy to refill

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      I had to scroll so far to see someone who likes 6! I’m a lefty, and every pencil felt so uncomfortable because of my grip and this was one of the few which didn’t make my fingers hurt.

  • @[email protected]
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    4 months ago

    I used number 5 throughout high school and university and they always served me well. Sometimes I thought about trying the fancier ones with gel grips, but old reliable BIC was always there for me. I trusted the BIC. In a world of uncertainty, the BIC will never let you down (or run around and desert you)

  • @[email protected]
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    4 months ago

    Two. My experience with mechanical pencils is that they’re often unreliable and a waste of time. I hate having to reload my pencil, I hate when it breaks if you accidentally make the tip longer than it should be, I hate when you accidentally put one more in the pencil and it gets clogged, I hate having to carry refills all the time, I hate buying an expensive pencil and worrying about losing it (as opposed to just buying a dozen regular pencils for backup)…

    Just hand over the regular pencil and a decent sharpener.

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      It also always ends mid-word/stroke, and you start etching the paper with the metal end. Very annoying.

    • MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown
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      64 months ago

      Since I switched to using 0.9 mm, I almost never break a lead unless I drop it onto a hard floor; it even holds up to some aggressive tapping. Consequently, I hardly ever have to refill. I also never worry about the point snapping or stabbing when tossed loose into a bag, or keeping a sharpener on hand.

      Just my #2 cents.

    • PhobosAnomaly
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      164 months ago

      On the topic of sharpeners, those battery powered pressure sharpeners are satisfying as fuck. They’re shit and invariably snap the nib, but they’re the sharpening equivalent of shoving a Q-tip in your ear and having a good rake about.

      Or if you’re all about the procrastination, spending a few minutes every lesson at the classroom sharpener like this one brings back the nostalgia:

    • @[email protected]OP
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      4 months ago

      If you feel they are unreliable, it may just be that you aren’t using good ones. I use 3 on a regular basis (for Japanese) and never have issues with feeding or lead breaking; I also only have to refill it every few weeks.

      • @[email protected]
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        214 months ago

        I’ve had the same mechanical pencil for ten years. It’s comfortable, reliable, easy to reload, but if I had to choose one for the rest of my life, I’d still go with the traditional wood/graphite pencil. It’s cheap, it’s everywhere, it’s durable, and not a great loss if you lose it.

      • sp3ctr4l
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        4 months ago

        Same, an actual good quality, properly made and assembled mechanical pencil will just keep going and going, and if you treat it well, you never need to replace it.

        Kinda like a decent quality safety razor.

        All you gotta do is treat it right and replace the razors/graphite, nets out to saving money after probably a month or two of decent use.

      • @[email protected]
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        14 months ago

        I got one because I was intrigued by its lead rotation, but I found that it really didn’t rotate the lead enough while I wrote. I kept having to rotate the barrel manually to keep a thin line like I do for every other mechanical pencil, and then would get annoyed every time the clip came around to brush my hand. I’ve been wondering if I’m doing something wrong, or if Japanese just uses more shorter strokes. Do you also like it when writing English?

        • @[email protected]OP
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          4 months ago

          I only use my kuru toga when writing in Japanese, I normally just use a pen for english. Japanese does have significantly more strokes.

    • UnityDevice
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      24 months ago

      Unreliable? I have two Staedtler Mars Micro pens I bought a good 20 years ago and they both work perfectly.

    • Boomer Humor Doomergod
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      54 months ago

      Plus a good ol Dixon Ticonderoga can write on stuff other than paper. About the only time I use a pencil is when doing carpentry and mechanical ones just snap.

      • @[email protected]
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        14 months ago

        When I was doing roofing the pica dry mechanical pencils made things so much better. Sure a pencil works good on wood, but what about when I have to mark gray sheet metal? You need something that comes with different colors.

          • @[email protected]
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            4 months ago

            Those get clogged up on pre patinad copper unfortunately, and a sharpie does not work well on black prefa unless you are trying to hide a scratch. sharpie also doesn’t always wipe off well.

    • @[email protected]
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      4 months ago

      Back at my school in the 90’s you just bought a 10 pack of the cheap black Bic mechanical pencils for like $3 (pic #5) and you were set for the year if you didn’t lose too many. They never really broke and you didn’t have to refill them if you didn’t want to. They also never clogged and if you weren’t an idiot you didn’t try to use too much lead length to where it would break off.

      They were simple and easy and always sharp.

  • @[email protected]
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    24 months ago

    Hope I don’t have much left to write if choosing #2(pun is a package deal). But it would be my pick.

    • MagnyusG
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      44 months ago

      Yeah, 2 if I need a traditional pencil, and 5 for everything else

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      My fidgeting while I was in middle school led me to break every kind of mechanical pencil I used, except for 5. I forced myself to only use those in high school and college so I would always have a reliable pencil.

  • Cid Vicious
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    84 months ago

    How about none of the above? But I kind of like those triangular pencils.