Category Archives: Review

Review: Decomposition Book

I’ve been itching to test out one of these fancy notebooks for awhile. I’ve seen a lot of my classmates with them. They sport fun images on a raw tan cardboard cover, black cloth spine tape, and fun printing on the inside covers. The covers are nice and stiff, you are able to write in hand. Like most composition notebooks, they are stitched and have issues laying flat, but fold over on themselves with ease. The ruling inside is college size and a nice pale blue. They look really nice. They also boast being 100% recycled.

That’s where my happiness with this notebook ends. It’s pretty, but its shoddy construction versus it’s price and Made in USA label has me looking for a Roaring Springs or Norcom composition notebooks. Certainly not as pretty, but better made and much easier on the wallet. First issue, the corners are really poorly rounded. This was the case on ALL the displayed notebooks. The top corner on my notebook was almost right and the bottom was, well, half done. Second issue is that the cloth spine tape was delaminating from the book when I got it home. A date with a glue stick fixed this, but at $5 for a pocket notebook- it shouldn’t have this occurring. Third, the spine is not centered. At all. The stitching is at the top of the fold, meaning that when I get into the second half of the notebook I’m going to have issues. Production-wise this is a 50 cent notebook masquerading as premium. Sows ear and silk….

My final issue with this notebook is the paper. It is great with pencil, but I switch between pen and pencil. Some days, I just want to be able to use my fountain pen or liquid ink, and I simply can’t with this notebook. The narrowest of Japanese nibs bleed through like I was writing with a double broad German nib. Well behaved Diamine ink leaked through to the facing page like I was using Noodler’s Bay State Blue.

Like I wrote earlier, pencils did well on this paper. It is pretty toothy so pencils do seem to wear down quickly, but I found that all varieties of Wopex performed very very well, even my disliked Write Dudes/MegaBrands/USA Gold recycled denim monstrosity does really well in this notebook. Rollerballs also do well on this paper, from the Bic Crystal to Field Notes Clic.

I’m so disappointed in this notebook that I’m not providing a link to Amazon, where you can find it if you want to buy a pretty notebook that will make you sad.

Basic details:

6×4 inches- pocket sized
Composition notebook, Stitched construction
Card covers, printed with pretty designs
Designed in Brooklyn
Fabric taped spine

Review: J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary Stormy Grey

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I was planning on waiting a few more weeks before I got this review up here, but if you follow me on instagram you know I have Stormy Grey, and you know I’m in LOVE. This ink is in a single word, delightful. In other words it’s sedate, yet fun; a business suit with a gold lamé lining. In the pen it’s stunning as the gold flakes fall in and out of suspension. This ink is much more stunning than it’s red sibling, Rouge Hematite, another ink that I adore. Stormy Grey is just that, the color of a dark sky right before the thunder starts.

When compared to J. Herbin’s other grey ink, Gris Nuage, this is many shades darker, more of a charcoal grey than cloud grey. When it comes to loading it up in a brush pen for sketching, it can almost stand in the place of black. The great thing about the Herbin inks is that they can be layered. Once the initial layer dries, you can load up another layer and add to the depth of dark. It’s quite a nice, if unintentional feature of the ink. This ink won’t take the place of my Gris Nuage for sketching but will allow me to add another brush pen to my lineup. One thing with the brush pen is that the lovely gold flecks were significantly diminished. They were visible but not as much as when this ink is loaded to a regular pen.

This ink in my TWSBI 530 with a medium nib was amazing. It went onto the page with a sedate grey. Somber tones, then turn the page to a different light and it lit up as if it were gold foiled. It turned the most boring list of stuff for an assignment into magic. As nibs go, the TWSBI 530 M is boring, I can only imagine what this ink would be like in a vintage flex. The important piece here is that it turned what I wrote with a boring nib into something special.

The flow in the TWSBI is quite nice. It’s well lubricated and very well behaved. I was able to use my TWSBI M in a Field Notes with some bleed through but it wasn’t so bad as most inks with a medium on Field Notes paper. With a fine or extra fine nib this ink might just work perfectly in a Field Notes! Which is pretty amazing. I can’t wait to fill my TWSBI mini with this ink and see how it works in my FN.

Some might call this hyperbole, but I think this might be the best journaling ink ever made. Consider writing a daily to do list, or grocery list with this ink, and feeling like you are on a treasure hunt while in the grocery store.

It has been noted in various other locations that this is a super saturated ink and may stain your pen. I am not noticing any issues with my TWSBI, and I suspect that if you follow proper pen hygiene and clean it out regularly, that you’ll have no issues. just don’t leave the ink in the pen for weeks without cleaning. Also due to the flakes it could clog your pen. My TWSBI 530 has had flow issues in the past, but so far, not a single one with this ink. However, when I decide to switch inks, I will flush this pen better than I usually do.

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Review: Best Pencil for Notes #1

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I decided to do a competition among my regular classroom pencils to see which I deem the most perfect note taking pencil.These are the pencils I reached for over and over again as I took notes in class. I have a pencil box with between 8 and 10 pencils, each sharpened in the Carl A5 aka “The Classroom Friendly Sharpener.” I try to use each until it is dull and then grab another from the box as I need it. I work my way through the pencils as I wear each down. Now my note taking style is of the capture then reflect method. I capture the basic ideas, and then reflect upon them later. Getting everything down is less important than capturing the interesting bits. Most of my professors load their powerpoints and sometimes notes to a class blackboard site. Anyway, after class, as I ride the train home, I will reflect upon the class and jot some information down on the opposite page or flesh out my notes. Mostly I do this so that I have a good basis for which to write my papers.

The 9 pencils currently in my pencil box are:

General’s Kimberly B
General’s Test Scoring 580
MitsuBishi Hi Uni HB
Dixon Ticonderoga Target Neon Blue HB Soft
USA GOLD “vintage” Megabrands label, metallics HB
Musgrave Test Scoring 100
Staedtler Noris HB
Staedtler Triplus HB (Regular Size)
Blick Studio 2B

Since I’m looking at this as a competition as to the best pencil for my note taking needs, it is important to note that I’m taking notes in a Staple’s College Ruled Composition book. This is the made in Brazil version with slightly smoother paper that is fountain pen friendly.

I do not consider erasers as I have a Sakura Foam in my pocket at all times.

I took a number of things into consideration. The first two considerations were availability and price. This took some of my favorites out of contention. For classroom note taking, I don’t want to have my Blackwings*. In availability, I rule out anything vintage, like my beloved ECOwriters. If I can’t easily get them in a store they don’t make the list. The USA Gold that I have listed, is no longer available. I kept it on the list for the sole reason that it has the same core as a regular USA Gold, so it basically represents the cheapest of the cheap. If I’m ruling out champions due to price, the General’s Test Scoring 580 at over $1 a pencil is a loser, as is the Hi Uni HB.

The next consideration was point retention. The leaders in this were the Ticonderoga, USA Gold, Noris, and Musgrave TS 100. The Blick Studio was a miserable failure and was kept in the pencil box only for it’s capabilities for drawing.** The Triplus has decent retention but wasn’t in the top 5.

The next to last consideration was darkness. Did I have to jab the pencil to the page to get a decent line? Or was I able to write lightly and get decent line integrity? The Musgrave TS 100, Triplus, Kimberly, and Noris were all fantastic in this regard.

The final consideration was aesthetic. The Noris, Triplus, Kimberly, and Ticonderoga all were winners here.

So based on these considerations entirely unscientific results are as follow

#1 Musgrave TS 100
#2 Staedtler Triplus
#3 Staedtler Noris HB
#4 General’s Kimberly B
#5 USA Gold

The Musgrave TS 100 will never win a beauty contest, but there is something I really like about its thin silver paint, cheesy printed logo, and craptastic eraser. I finally got a few with flaking paint to, but the dark core with decent tip retention really means I reach for it over and over again. The Staedtler Triplus, has no eraser, but it’s school bus yellow paint, and dark core had me reaching for it over and over again for both quick and long term notes. It’s rounded triangular body was comfortable and easy to grip. The Noris’s black and yellow striped body with smart red cap just looks awesome. The fact that it’s dark and holds a point make it even better. The Kimberly in B allowed me to do some sketchnoting as well as regular notes. It’s smooth dark core was a winner every time. I even enjoy it’s cheap bras cap against the thin green paint. Nothing says American Made like a shitty paint job. Finally the USA gold brings up the tail end. When I had to write for long periods of time and I would not be able to grab something out of the box fast, I grabbed this. It’s point retention is great, and I’m able to scribble on my articles and notes for the entire train ride into school (lasting about an hour.) With a cap it’s a great pocket pencil.

I took out of consideration the Staedtler Norica Blue (canadian) version because it’s not readily available, though lately I ALWAYS have on in my Twist BP. I also removed the Tombow 8900 in HB and B because it’s not as readily available as the rest of the pencils. I considered adding the Staedtler Rally, but felt that Staedtler was already well represented. Added to this list should have been General’s Cedar Pointe #1, but they decided to cease production right after I bought my first 12-pack. The CP#1 is a great note taking pencil. Dark, good point retention, and the raw wood finish, oh baby…

Of course, I reserve the right to revisit this list with entirely new pencils for my summer classes and then my fall classes, and maybe just because.

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New Tool/Review: INDXD

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I have written about my indexing method for my pocket notebooks before. I had mentioned that I use a master index, but failed to show an image of the index.

To recap- at the start of every one of my pocket notebooks I create a 2-column index. Basically, I write the numbers 2-48 on the first page, with just enough room next to it to log the topic in a word or two. In my master index book, each book gets a single page. At the top is a brief description and dates of use. Under that the same index is repeated. At the bottom of the page I write down any loose inclusions- such as letters from friends, post it notes, and other odd items. These are always tucked into the back of the book.

A photo posted by Less Herger (@lessherger) on Mar 21, 2015 at 7:19pm PDT

Generally, when I copy the index to the master book I will expand upon the topic on an as needed basis. Sometimes I’ll have written “novel” and I’ll change that to “NOV. Character Name” or “NOV. Scene.” This helps me find info quickly in the master book. Then I know to pull the green field notes from January 2015 and turn to page 25. It definitely helps me to find stuff faster.

I recently began using INDXD, a nifty little website where you create an account and log your notebooks. I was quite skeptical at first. I have been holding off on going digital with my index for awhile. Now that I’ve logged 21 books in my master index it’s getting to be confusing as to which book that novel idea or cord wrap design was in, so I find myself paging through the index searching, and searching. I considered creating an index on a spreadsheet where I logged a topic and then logged each page and book, but the idea was cludgy and seemed like a pain in the ass to set up, so I decided against it. And here is where I kind of just stopped thinking about it. I knew I wanted something as simple as my master notebook, but something more searchable. I considered getting a scanner and scanning each book into Evernote, but the idea of scanning 21 48-page notebooks (not counting the notebooks I’ve drawn and journaled in…) was painful, and who has the time. The idea for me isn’t to recreate my books digitally (though I’ve played with that in my zine, Evidence.) but to make them searchable digitally.

That is where INDXD comes in and works beautifully. The reason it works and works so well, is that it’s powerfully simple. You set up a “book” give it a title and dates of use, then log the topics and pages they are on. Also it’s ridiculously simple to use. It takes me between 5 and 10 minutes to log a book, depending on number of topics and how bad my handwriting was when I recorded it.

Once logged, you can search. Enter in one term and up pops the pages and BOOKS it lives in. Enter another term and the search is dialed down to those two terms. You can then pull the book and find what you need, fast.

I’ve tweeted at the creator, David Rea, and he says that both Android and Apple apps are in the future. Having INDXD on my phone or tablet would make this even more flexible and easy to use.

As someone who clings to her analog tools and resisted moving toward a digital system this powerful simple tool makes it easy.

A suggestion. I’d like to see the date entry method offer different layouts or more flexibility for entry. I use 20150325 for my date style; year, month, day with no spaces or interuptions. This isn’t an option when entering in chrome. Fortunately the date entry doesn’t work quite right in firefox (don’t fix this yet) so I’m able to enter in my dates the way I use them. On the topic/tag page it would be easier to read the large amounts of text on the screen a little easier if the lines alternated color- cream-tan-cream etc. This would also help on the search results page.
Honestly, this is a great tool and I’m looking forward to entering in all my books

Review: KUM Stenographer’s Handheld Sharpener

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I purchased the Carl Angel-5 crank sharpener a few months back. It’s a great sharpener but I don’t want to be that kind of hipster asshole in the coffee shop with a hand crank sharpener. That’s just too weird for me. What I love about the sharpener is the wickedly long point. I can write for a page or two (depending on the pencil) without sharpening. Which is amazing. The KUM 2-hole is another favorite of mine, it also puts a nice long point onto my pencils but it’s 2-step process is somewhat annoying to do when I NEED a sharp point immediately. What I really wanted was a single-hole long point sharpener, so I ordered the KUM stenographer’s sharpener from PencilThings.com. It is often referred to as the KUM handheld long point, on a fancy European site I found it called the KUM 500-5L.

The bottom point is from the Carl A5 Top the Stenographer.

Honestly, I didn’t have high hopes for it. Sharpeners tend to be little blocks of metallic disappointment. I expected another sharpener that does little stubby points, not the writer’s block piercing points I adore. What I received was something between the KUM 2-step automatic long point sharpener and the Carl Angel 5. I wasn’t expecting the awesome point of the Carl A5 out of a handheld sharpener but it came as close as any other handheld sharpener. I can get- well over a page out of most of my pencils with this sharpener. Not bad when compared to other sharpeners I like, such as the Alvin Brass Bullet, which requires frequent use to write a page of text.

The one downside of the Stenographer is that it has these dumb wings to help one’s grip. This turns a great handheld sharpener into something that can only be carried in a pencil box or a bag, not in the pocket. That is, unless you like small pokey things in your pocket. I am tempted to take my dremel to the wings and grind them off. What I really want is a Bullet type sharpener that puts a long point onto my pencils. Is that so hard KUM? (Or heck Jon Fontaine, hint hint, make one and hawk it via kickstarter, I would PLEDGE the heck out of a pocket-able long point sharpener.)

Top: KUM Automatic 2-hole Middle: Stenographer Bottom: Carl A5

Top:Alvin/DUX Inkwell 2nd: KUM Automatic 2-hole 3rd: Stenographer Bottom: Carl A5

For anyone looking for a long point sharpener that is ALMOST pocket-able but certainly something easily carried in a bag, the KUM Stenographer’s is the way to go.

Review: Zebra Surari 4C

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I really don’t understand the love of the Zebra Surari. I want to love it. The body of this pen is sharp- pretty in a way most multi-pens are not. It’s got smooth lines and it feels really good in the hand. I was able to get mine in a nice dark teal, it’s a fantastic shade. It’s also available in other colors too. The knock is smooth and snaps into place with a satisfying click. The tip has minimal wiggle and wobble. If that were the review, it would get an A+ and we’d move on, sadly, I used this pen for a a couple of weeks and that is where this pen starts to fade.I purchased this pen specifically to be on my on-the-go in-my jacket-pocket pen to be paired with my Field Notes, my mind dump Mt Tom, and to use the red or green ink to highlight something important. And for the occasional highlighting it does just fine. The issues arise when I use it for something more lengthy than a couple of words. That’s when the blobs and, for lack of a better description, webs begin.

As I write with this pen it blobs and from those blobs, as I move from letter to letter, and word to word, tiny strands of the ink stick to the tip and are stretched across the letters. These strands stick to the paper and are ugly. The blobs are bad enough, but the webs are even worse. It makes my already crappy cursuscript look even more horrible.

Let’s discuss the drying time. It’s horrible. When I use my Field Notes I fold it over on itself and sort of hold it with my thumb on the page I’m writing on, and move my thumb around to stabilize the notebook. I suspect this is how most of hold them. Sometimes my thumb is under the stuff I’m writing and others it’s over it. When I’m placing my finger on top of the writing it picks up the ink, even if it’s a few minutes old. I also found that this occurs on any paper. Usually all my pens dry in record time on the Staples comp books- they are so absorbent that they dry things fast. Not so with the Surari. I did a brainstorming session of about 15 minutes and found that at the end my fingers were still picking up ink from stuff I’d written at the beginning. I thought that maybe this was simply a one off incident, but then I noticed that it also happened in my Field Notes and my Mt Tom notebook.

If I want ink on my fingers I’ll use a fountain pen.

The Surari is a really good looking pen that blobs and doesn’t dry quickly enough for my needs. I really don’t get the fervent love for this pen that I see in every review on the net. They mention the blobs, but in passing as if they “aren’t that bad.” They are bad enough that I found them annoying and frankly I LIKE pens like the BIC crystal and the BIC 4-color. I would use the BIC 4-color over this pen on any day. I don’t care how smooth this pen writes. It makes a mess of my ingers in all 4 colors.

Review: Sakura “Super” Foam Eraser

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A few week’s ago Johnny Gamber of Pencil Revolution, my comrade in pencils, posted a picture of the always wonderful Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser(SMPE). It’s one of my long time favorite erasers. It’s plastic is gentle on paper and soft enough to clean graphite out of almost any rough paper. It is an eraser that I suggest to friends who are seeking a good eraser. I do this for many reason. First you can’t get a SMPE just about anywhere. Every art, craft, or stationary store carries them. Second, I have used them for years and know they are reliable. Third, there is something safe in recommending this old standard. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it, it’s a safe recommendation.It has a few problems. The largest is that it’s a messy eraser that leaves crumbs everywhere. It also collects dirt as if it is a magnet. So if you are bothered by your erasers looking filthy, well, this one is going to piss you off. Finally, without it’s paper sleeve it tends to tear into smaller pieces if you don’t support it well with your fingers. Th9is is why I told Johnny to “up his eraser game, and get the Sakura “Super*” Foam Eraser.”The Sakura Foam Eraser (SFE) is a soft, white plastic eraser that arrives in a bit of cellophane and a card sleeve. It has a sticky texture that I’ve grown to love. The stickiness allows the crumbs to be rolled into a ball that sticks to the end of the eraser or picked up by pressing the eraser to the crumbs. When I read the sticky rubber info online I thought it was kinda stupid, but oh no, it makes clean up so much easier. That’s not just add copy, that’s a really real useful addition to the plain old plastic eraser.It is a super soft plastic that wears down pretty quickly on rougher paper. But it’s also relatively cheap at Jetpens. I don’t find it to be that much softer than the SMPE in use they seem to wear down at about the same rate. It cleans the page of every trace of graphite. On some paper it’s as if the writing never existed at all. It is soft enough to get down into the crevices left by the writing and clean the graphite out. Which is pretty amazing. Then when you are done cleaning, the crumbs are all clumped up and clinging to one another or to the eraser.I have has small bits break off the edges of my eraser as I used it, but like I wrote, these bits were small, and didn’t affect performance of the eraser. I did not get any cracking where the eraser and the paper sleeve met. I also purchased the smallest offering on Jetpens, though I later purchased a much larger version when I neared the end of my small SFE W60. This should be an indication of just how much I enjoy this eraser. I own over a dozen different erasers and I bought a duplicate. I haven’t bought a duplicate of any eraser save a kneaded, a SMPE, and a few that were required in college. For me to buy a second of any eraser, now, when I can purchase any eraser that I desire. Well, that’s a ringing endorsement. Anyway, you can up your eraser game by purchasing a Sakura “Super” Foam Eraser of your very own.
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Review: Sonic Rachetta Capsule

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When I saw these on JetPens I immediately added the blue and green color Capsule to my wish list. I then made the mistake of tweeting and posting pics of it. By the time I was ready to buy it, in just a few days, they were all gone! I had to wait over a month for them to get back into stock. This sharpener uses the Sonic Rachetta ratcheting mechanism. In stead of continually twisting the pencil, you twist it back and forth. It works pretty well and quickly. It’s only slightly faster than using a regular twisty sharpener.The point produced is a short point without a needle tip or a blunt point, your choice thanks to the nifty switch. The great thing about the needle tip is that there is little tip breakage when using the pencil after sharpening. Which is pretty great. The sharpener takes the thinnest shaving of wood off my pencils, producing see through shavings and dust. It’s great to use with my nicer pencils because I’m not wasting a ton of the core when I use it. I never use the switch on mine as I have no use for blunt pencils. I really enjoy this sharpener’s looks. I like the crystal clear shavings reservoir and the bright coordinated colors in the sharpener itself. I also enjoy the facets and details in the cap. My one complaint about this sharpener is that it looks a little… Phallic or uh, adult toy like. It’s one step away from “massager” design, all it needs is a button battery and a motor. Of course when it’s filled with graphite dust and wood shavings the sex toy look is diminished. But opening up my JetPens package I had a little chuckle. If you are neurotic about your sharpener and want it to look “always clean” this is not going to be the sharpener for you. the graphite and shavings are always visible and while I don’t mind the look, in fact I LIKE seeing the shavings fill the clear reservoir* the graphite does cling to the sides and look dirty even when empty. At $5.50 it’s not the cheapest sharpener but it’s not the most expensive. In several weeks of steady use, I’ve been very happy with this sharpener. The major downside of this sharpener is that the blade, while screwed in, is not technically replaceable, since you can not find replacement blades to fit it. Which is a major bummer. That being said, I really like this sharpener and I’ll keep an eye out for blades that may fit, it looks like it might use the Staedtler sharpener blades.When compared to the other Sonic Rachetta** sharpener, it works much much better. The other sharpener was plagued by being hard to empty and having and odd shape which held the shavings in at weird spots. This sharpener empties with a simple tap on the trash can. Continue reading →

Review: Twist Bullet Pencil

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It’s been a few days since I got my hands on my Kickstarter backed Twist Bullet pencil from Metal Shop CT and HuckleBerry Woodchuck.

Right out of the envelope I noticed two things. First the blue and silver combo I picked out is AWESOME. It looks stunning. the shade of blue is fantastic. Secondly, the white eraser was crooked.

Because I’m neurotic I took the eraser out and screwed it back in a couple of times only to realize that the base of it was cut crooked and thus couldn’t really be made straight. I grabbed an emery board and filed the end of it flat, then screwed it in again. Success. It now sits perfectly aligned with the body of the pencil. The white with the blue is great. I’m not too ecstatic about the eraser material itself. It’s a serviceable white plastic of unknown variety, it does the job relatively well. Thus far it has not fallen out in my pocket even when I’ve walked about in the city or to the train. I can say that the threads do a fine job of what they are supposed to do- grip that eraser and hold it in. I do think that I’ll eventually upgrade to a metal cap to hold in the clip because I carry a block or stick eraser with me all the time and use that.On the flip side of the pencil is the bullet that hold the pencil. This also utilizes a thread to hold any pencil firmly. It arrived with a Blackwing 602 inside, held in very tightly. I tested out my spare tip with a Tombow 8900 and it worked just as well. I’m hoping to test out a bunch of pencils in this thing. The great thing about this tip is that it holds about a half inch of extra pencil screwed into it, so as you use up your pencil, you can unscrew it to get at the “spare” pencil hidden inside. The threads hold the pencil secure as you write.

The bullet itself screws in and out of the body pretty smoothly. One of my tips can with some grittiness that soon smoothed off in use and by rubbing the threads with the end of a pencil nubbin. The threads are slightly sharp feeling, while they won’t cut me and I know that they’ll wear down with age, the sharpness is noticeable and irritating if I write more than a few lines. Because I was a Kickstarter backer I was able to get a second bullet tip at a reduced price. I picked a rounded and a pointed. I prefer the rounded to the pointed tip but that’s mainly a preference. I carry the second tip with a Pearl nubbin screwed in and capped with a General’s sav-a-point. This effectively allows me to carry a spare pencil safely just in case I wear my nubbin down to point where I can’t sharpen it easily*. There are other nubbin toting options, such as Randy’s great nubbin tins. They work great.Anyway, if you can’t tell by now, this is a great bullet pencil that is super tough. While not a throw away advertising item like vintage BP it is a fantastic spin on the old tools, and one that works very very well. While vintage BP will always be a fun EDC item for me, this version is tough, stylish, and very functional**.

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Review: Uni Kuru Toga Roulette Gunmetal Mechanical Pencil

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David Reese might refer to mechanical pencils as bullshit but I’ve had a long standing love affair with these wondrous pieces of awesome. From my first knurled metal gripped Koh-i-Nor to this pencil, I love ’em. Well, except for that cheap ass Kuru Toga I previously reviewed. Enter the metal bodied version of the Kuru Toga, the Roulette. I have previously discussed the smooth metal bodied version, this one is knurled. And the knurling is nice, it’s crisp and grip-y and completely not slippery. Which was a problem I had with the smooth metal gripped version of this pencil.

The balance is just right for my hand. With the larger weighted end of the pencil being at the business end and the lighter end being the rest of the pencil. It is also important to note that Uni cheaped out and made the rest of the pencil out of colored plastic. While the pencil is metallic and perfectly matches the paint, I do wish it was made out of the nice aluminum of the grip section. I find that the plastic is less noticeable on this version than the pink version, possibly because the grip and the plastic are the exact same color.

The tip floats a bit as it needs to be able to move up and down without friction thus has a loose-ish fit in the cone. It’s barely noticeable as I’m writing. The Kuru Toga “engine” does it’s job and moves the tip in miniscule amounts as I write, keeping the edge sharp and crisp. The line doesn’t widen at all, it’s stays the same. IF I remember to not rotate my pencil. Since I’ve been writing with wooden pencils all summer I have gotten back into the habit of rotating my pencil, so in effect I defeat the mechanism.

The key to making these pencils work well, it to not rotate the pencil as you write, something that is hard to stop yourself from doing if you’ve been making yourself do it for a full 4 or more months. It also helps if it’s held at more than a 45 degree angle. Steeper angles don’t provide quite enough force to the mechanism to actually rotate the lead. So it just acts like any old pencil.

Anyway, bullshit aside, this is a great looking and feeling mechanical pencil. I break very few leads with this beauty and my writing is crisp and accurate, well as crisp and accurate as my crappy handwriting can be. The price isn’t bad depending on where you purchase it. I found mine on Amazon for about $10, but they are now out of stock. On Jetpens they are $16. In my opinion, if you are looking for a great mechanical pencil, the knurled metal grip Roulette is a fine choice.

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Musings about art and writing supplies.

Category Archives: Review

Review: Decomposition Book

Review: J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary Stormy Grey

Review: Best Pencil for Notes #1

New Tool/Review: INDXD

Review: KUM Stenographer’s Handheld Sharpener

Review: Zebra Surari 4C

Review: Sakura “Super” Foam Eraser

Review: Sonic Rachetta Capsule

Review: Twist Bullet Pencil

Review: Uni Kuru Toga Roulette Gunmetal Mechanical Pencil