Tag Archives: Bullet Pencil

Review: Bullet Pencil TT

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Recently I purchased a used Bullet Pencil TT (BPTT) made by Metal Comb Works. It was highly funded on KickStarter and something I was not able to back. I heard some murmurs on the ‘net shortly after people received theirs that it was not well balanced when used as a pencil. Once I got the BPTT in  hand, I was able to see that the  BPTT is really well and  badly designed.BPTT

First, let’s start with the good about this pencil. It is amazingly pretty, simply a gorgeous modern take on the classic bullet pencil. It’s all sleek lines and perfect tolerances in how it is machined.* The bullet pops in and out of the tube smoothly and with a nice suction noise. The experience of opening and closing this pencil is fantastic. It feels awesome in this part of it’s use.BPTT

I also love that it uses the Palomino erasers. While the Palomino erasers really suck, they look great in the pencil, and are super easy to find if you use Palomino pencils regularly. They also work well enough for the occasional use one might need them for when using the BPTT.BPTT

Now  the bad. The balance on the Bullet Pencil TT is god awful. It is pretty clear to me that this was designed with the ST, stylus tipped, in mind. That is that when it is in hand and held as a stylus  it feels perfect. When it is used with the pencil deployed it is top heavy and strains the hand when used for more than a few moments. That is unless the pencil is very short. Which defeats the purpose of having such a lengthy tube- it holds a seriously long chunk of pencil, but that chunk is unusable at it’s full length for any period of time. It is kind of ridiculous if you want to use the BPTT as a pencil extender, a serious use for most bullet pencils.BPTT

The BPTT fails, spectacularly in its main function but it does so beautifully. I am very tempted to take a hacksaw to it and make it work but I wouldn’t want to destroy it’s oh so beautiful clean lines.BPTT

Of course I had to compare the BPTT to the BP Twist. The Twist looks like a classic BP and I love it. It wins in the comparison because it is usable for not only quick notes but also longer writing periods. The Twist only loses in one category and that is speed of deployment. The BPTT is ready to use in seconds while the Twist needs to be unscrewed and screwed in, while it only takes moments longer, it is longer.BPTT

Finally, let’s talk price. The BPTT and BPST ranges from $35 to $40 for US shipping and depending on the color. You have two choices- silver or black. I do not see tips sold separately. The Twist starts at $37.50 and you can buy tips and clips and caps separately.

Anyway, I know which BP I reach for over and over again, and it isn’t the BPTT.

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Friend in Need

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Well folks, I just learned that Jay of Huckleberry Woodchuck’s home burned down. He’s part of the duo that brought us the awesome Twist Bullet Pencil. He’s a nice dude and Jon Fontaine is trying to raise some cash for him to help him through this troubled time.

This is from Jon:

As you now know Jay [Huckleberry Woodchuck] lost his home and shop in a fire the other night. I’m hoping to raise some funds to help him out through a raffle of one of our prototype bullet pencils. After the first prototype we made 6 other for the Kickstarter photos. These are slightly different than the production ones. Biggest difference is the eraser end is not threaded so it will not hold the pocket clip & cap system we have. It also only accepts the white erasers (I’ll include a bunch).

So the raffle is for the pencil shown with all four bullets. A bunch of erasers and some Blackwing 602 pencil nubs. Thanks to Cliff Gillies we also will include a Northerly Edition single.

Each raffle is $5 paypal friend and family to jon@gosimracer.com I was originally targeting 3/31 but may extend a bit to raise more.

There are a bunch of great things that will be given away in this raffle, so even if this isn’t a 503c charity with tax exempt status, Jon and Jay are great guys, and Jay could use some help. Buy a raffle ticket and be entered to win one of the many great prizes.

Practical Carry

You can see my Twist on the right next to my Kershaw Chive knife.

 

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.Twist

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.Twist

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.TwistOn 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.Twist Twist

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. TwistBecause 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.TwistTwistAnyway, 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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