Scribe

I'm sorry, it's just, as a white man, I feel like I'm not talking enough.

Welcome to episode 404 of the erasable podcast. I'm your host, Mike Hagan, and my co hosts tonight are Les and Topher. Tonight we're going to be talking about the bullding, mechanical pencils, lead holders, and all the adjacent ephemera associated with them. But first, let's talk a little bit about what we're consuming and what we're riding with the tools of the trade. Topher, you're up first, buddy.

Well, since I spent a lot of time with the family lately, I am all out of alcohol, so I am drinking just a Coke that I poured into a Powerade bottle since all the glasses are dirty.

But the Powerade bottle was clean somehow or is it just got a little bit of the residual blue in it?

Well, you know, white cherry and coat goes well together. They're pairing. Nice. I am writing on some Baron Fig index cards with a Sharpie marker fine point. Ultra fine point, actually.

I'm sorry, is that the one that has like the. Almost exactly like the Sharpie pen?

Yes.

Nice. All right, Les, what about you?

I've been rewatching Lost Girl, this time with my wife. She's never seen the series before and I'd intended to binge watch it on my own, and I made the mistake of starting the series episode one when she was home, and she's like, oh, I need to watch this. So now every time, like she gave me this guilty puppy dog look when I was. She came in the room, she's like, you're watching episode four without me. She's like, darn it. So, yeah, so now I'm like, I have to wait until she's home before I start watching. And I'm also finishing up the second season of Jessica Jones. And you know, I don't know what it is, but I really love watching Jessica Jones and just her self destructive behavior and sort of how everyone around her is also unraveling in their life. It's really sad, but it's also really good to watch. And I have been sucked into a urban fantasy series that I didn't expect to like. I got. I got the first book and started reading Danika Dark's Cross Breed series. It's so trashy. Yeah, it's like, it's about vampires and magicians and it's just.

So are the magicians and vampires cross bred?

Well, one person is, and they're incredibly rare. So

in this urban fantasy novel.

Yes, It's. It's so bad. But it's so. It's so. I like to read really trashy stuff after I get out of work to unwind. And this just fits. It fits everything that I need after work because it's so outlandish that some of it you just laugh at and it's kind of fun. And the main character kicks butt the whole time and does crazy stuff. So, yeah, I mean, it's a good way to unwind after a rough day at work. And my additional way to unwind after a rough day at work is I'm drinking an Old Fashioned, nice and heavy on the alcohol.

We can blame Topher for that.

That is Topher's fault tonight. And I don't. I don't usually drink when I'm recording podcasts, so I hope I'm not slurring my words by the end of this episode, but I might be.

Awesome.

Don't worry, I naturally slur my words.

I do have a pronounced stutter that happens when I. When I get super tired. So if I start losing my words, you know why. So I am writing with an odo sharp pencil 2.0 filled with a Kitaboshi 2 millimeter lead in B. And I'm writing in one of those Kickstarter Nomad notebooks, which they're okay.

How's the paper?

You're telling me there was a kick Kickstarter product that is just okay?

Yeah, I am. That's amazing, isn't it? It's very difficult to believe

you helped make that. You kick started that and now it's not good. So it's mostly your fault.

Well, what I don't like about it is, is that the. The paper's okay. The paper is actually all right. And it's okay with fountain pens. It's okay with pencil. I actually quite like it with pencil more than fountain pen. But what I don't like about it is that I got the mixed pack

of

grid and graph and the entire notebook is mixed grid and graph. And I thought each notebook was going to be. And this is my fault. Like, I didn't read the Kickstarter close enough. So it's like the whole notebook is different types of graph, and the graph is not the right size for my handwriting. So it's super tiny. And I don't like to write super tiny in my pocket notebooks. I don't. You know, I'm writing down quick notes and stuff like that. I don't want to, like, think too hard about what I'm writing. You know my handwriting, what I'm writing in a pocket notebook and I kind of have to with this because, you know, there are lines and I feel constrained. But I. Yeah. Anyway, the paper's nice. The grid and graph is eh. For my handwriting. Anyway. Mike, what about you? What are you drinking?

I am consuming some colonel Eh Taylor bourbon just on the rocks, just with whatever like trash fridge ice was in my. When I. When I hit the thing.

So you don't make special ice for your bourbon?

No, I actually used to.

I.

My old thing I used to do was I used to fill up water balloons and freeze them and then so that's the best way to make like a big round ball as opposed to paying for one of those gigantic round ball ice making.

I actually have a pair of those. I got them as a gift or

you know, they have those like machines you can plug in and it'll make you a fresh round ball, like, I don't know, stupid. So I just actually would fill up a water balloon and then, you know, you'd tear it off and then I would rinse like the outside of it. Um, because I think if you like look into ice or whatever quote unquote, you. You find that like most of the heavy metals and whatever else that's in the water freezes or like sits on the outside of it. So if you like. Supposedly some people rinse ice. I don't know, I just picked whatever trash fridge ice was in my fridge and. And drank it with that because I'm just not that crazy about it. But each Taylor bourbon is pretty good, pretty good bourbon. So it's 50 proof, so. Or 100 proof, so 50% alcohol. So it's a overproof than like your normal gym beam or something like that. And I just finished watching I binged it. Because Laylee was on vacation this last week with her mom down in Florida visiting her sister. So I had plenty of time to just binge stuff and sit with my little French bulldog. And I watched the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel over this past week and I really liked it. I don't know if you've heard of it or seen it, is that it's really, really hilarious and it's really good.

Okay.

It's on Amazon prime and it was created by the woman Amy Sherman Palladino and her husband Dan Palladino. They like have basically worked together since Gilmore Girls. And you know, she's like so hilarious. And of course Gilmore Girls is hilarious, but this is a different type of thing. Like it's. It's about this housewife in the 50s, like in the late 50s, that her husband wants to be this like big time comedian and they go to this little like downtown, you know, crappy, like club nightclub and he gets a spot to do stand up and he sucks at it and he rips off Bob or. Yeah, Bob Newhart and, and he just, he's terrible at it and he basically gets booed off the stage or whatever

and

he, he like gets all upset and leaves her. This all happens in the first episode, so I'm not giving anything away. And she gets drunk that night and goes in and does this hilarious stand up set. And the, the woman that kind of like runs the place, I forget her name. Alex something or other. She's been on Mad TV and was on some other Amy Sherman Palladino stuff. Anyway, she, she sees her and like wants to like do a, like a whole like, you know, make her into a star. So it's basically about her becoming a woman stand up in the late 50s and like the tribulations that she goes through being, you know, a single mother and living with her parents and dealing with this divorce that's, you know, happening throughout the whole of the, of the series or the first season anyway. And then also trying to be, you know, like work on, you know, at a department store and be a stand up at night and like juggle all those things and also just be like this Perfect quote unquote late 50s woman that she had been before. It all kind of came tumbling down around her. But it's all with like very hilarious stand up routines. And there's a guy that plays Lenny Bruce in it that's really good and I just love it. I love that. I can't wait for season two. I and I kind of like always liked Gilmore Girls and was always a fan of it, but just never like really kind of. I was like, oh yeah, the lady that made Gilmore Girls made another show. I'll catch it when I catch it. But I'm so glad I finally just decided to sit down and watch it because I was like really happy to have watched it. And then we just like your situation. Les Layla kind of starts shows and then I'm like, oh, hey, we need to watch that together. So she just got home and she started watching Hannibal and I'm like, oh, hey Hannibal, that looks pretty good. And I watched like an episode with her and I don't know if she's gonna like wait for me or not. I think she didn't because I worked today and I think she watched, like, a bunch of it. So anyway, I'm gonna probably start watching that on my own, too.

And then my wife really liked Hannibal. I couldn't get into it, but she loved it. She just, like. She binge watched that.

I like that actor Matt Nicholson or whatever.

Yeah, Bond movies.

What's that say?

That movie?

Oh, yeah, he was in the Bond movie. With his bloody eye.

Yeah. Bloody tears.

Yeah. He was also in this movie called Valhalla Rising. I think that was, like, really crazy. And I'm riding with. I guess they're called Pentel Sharp, right? But it's. It says Pentel P205 on the barrel, and it's got a nanodea 2B lead inside of it. And I'm writing on a don paper large flap jotter book that I recently reviewed on the website. So we're gonna get into fresh points, and I guess. What am I supposed to start? Yeah, I think I'm starting. So this is a Kickstarter I want to talk about. It launched a while back, and it's already funded and. And. But it should be arriving anytime. It's called the Pencil plus, and it kind of fits in with what we're talking about. It's. It's not a lead holder or a mechanical pencil, but it is like a stub holder. And it's kind of in the vein of, you know, like that Staedtler 925 kind of stub holder, except for instead of an eraser on the end, it has a sharpener on the other end. And I, like, I funded it. I was like, not gonna fund it because it looked like maybe it might be vaporware. And I was like, I don't know. And then I just decided. I was like, all right, you know what? I'm just gonna fund it and see what happens. So apparently it's on track to be shipping anytime, so I'm kind of excited for it, and it kind of fits, like, with what. What we're talking about today. Also, I just recently got the newest CW pencils box. And I mean, the thing has been out for. For a couple weeks now, so I think that we're safe to talk about it, wouldn't you say?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, we're definitely safe.

Okay, so it's a. It's the color box is what it's called, and I'm opening it up. I actually still have it all in the box. I haven't messed with most of it, but this box has more in it than any of the other boxes previous. So it has. Each box usually comes with like one postcard. This one has four postcards. And they all are black and white ink illustrations that can be like colored in. And so they have given you also four stamps to send these postcards to whoever you would like to send them to. So that's pretty neat in there. And then it comes with six pencils, two of which are the same. They're those. Those new Apsara matte magic pencils. So those are the ones that have the colored wood and they have the extra dark Apsara core. And they look. I haven't sharpened one yet, but they look a little bit thicker than like a normal pencil core. So like probably close to like the Apsara absolute at least core size. And then it has a caran d', ache, like the graphic pencil, like the one with the zebra stripes or whatever. It has a Uni Mitsubishi 2B palette, like the Uni palette pencil. That's that triangular pencil they have. Has a pencil from. Going to butcher this because it's in French papier tigre or whatever. That paper tiger. I'm assuming that's what it means. But it has a pencil from them. And then it has a Koh I noor hardmouth puzzle pencil where it looks like puzzle pieces all together, like a rainbow colors. So it has that. So six pencils. And then. But then you also get a complete full box of viarco colored pencils. 12 pencils in it. So I thought that was pretty cool. You know, like, usually. Yeah, I mean, usually they give you the six pencils and a couple, like, little, you know, things to mess around with in a postcard, and that's that. But you. So you get the full box of colored pencils. They get those Ippo, the Tombow Ippo point protectors, which fit together. Those pencil caps that fit together like they slide together or whatever. So you can fit like four pencils and like keep them all together in your pencil bag. So those are pretty cool. And then it also comes with an eraser. Iwako E W or I W a K O a Waco eraser. And it's like a. Supposedly a puzzle. It says like, it's a ice cream bar. It looks like a red. It actually looks like a piece of candy corn because it's white, orange and yellow. But it's. It's supposed to. It looks like an ice cream bar. It's like shaped like an ice cream bar. And it comes apart and you can put it back together. So that's the CW pencils box it's pretty neat. I'd say this one was probably like the one that was worth the most of the previous ones. So, you know, like, it had the most in it anyway, so. And it was the. Excuse me, it was the same price, so it was pretty neat. And then the new. I have in hand the new field notes, Coastal editions. And I just started on my daily carry doing one of the west coast ones. I actually can't tell which. I know it's west coast, but I can't tell which, like, area it is because they don't quite fit up perfectly. So I'm not sure exactly what, like, part of the west coast that is, but there's some islands and off the side.

So, you know, there's so many states along the West Coasters. At least, what, 10 states along the West Coast.

There's three.

Like, there's three. So again, there's. There's three of them. And you can't figure it out.

No, because it's not the whole, like, it. It's not state separated. It's not like that. It's just the coastline. But what I'm saying is they don't fit together as far as like the top and the bottom. Like, they have like, if you like, slide them over or whatever. But I'm looking at the website and it looks as if it's the bottom of California. Yeah, like around, like Baja California area. But, like, I'm not sure.

Did they really, like. I. I would think that one would have to be California by itself.

No, they didn't.

The other one would have to be California. They're not lined up that way. But I'm just saying by mass, like, one of them has to be all of. Not all of California, but I think

this is like Southern into Northern California, and then there's like Northern California into Oregon, and then there's like Oregon into Washington maybe. I'm not sure. But I think this is the. I mean, I'm just looking at their website and the way they have them laid together, and it looks like this one is Southern California. So anyway, you know, these are cool. I like the, the COVID design. Like, it's really neat. I kind of don't like foil, so, like, I'm kind of more of a plain guy. So. These are cool. Like, they're definitely cool, but I'm just not like, super into, like, all the, like, crazy, you know, designs or whatever.

I.

If they, like, Shenandoah was one of my favorites because it was just like green colors, you know, Like, I just kind of like that.

But that was also before they, like, totally sold out. And, you know, I just want to remind everyone about Abercrombie and Fitch. Everyone, all the bros, all you white dudes are just ready to move on and just pick up field notes. Again, whatever.

I'm not sure. Probably were just ready to move on. I mean, they obviously did that, and that was wrong. But then they made this edition, which, like, has Florida, and I just don't see how they're going to come back from that. I fully agree. I can never buy another field notes product because of the Florida thing and because of that. That store thing they did with the retail store.

That is dark and smells really bad.

Oh, God, it smells like ax. It's like Axe Body spray. It's like my brother in high school.

So it was basically just smelling like teenagers.

Yeah.

So what? The one thing I did want to mention about these is that reticle grid inside.

Oh, I love a reticle.

Damn it. Why do they tempt me?

So the thing they did is, like, it's alternating pages of, like, green and blue reticle grid. And I. Oh, I thought because they said their reticle grid was printed with split fountain of ink, which I don't understand what that means. A split fountain of ink.

A split. A split fountain of ink means that they put green ink on one side of the roller and blue ink on the other side and allowed it to merge in the middle. And so as it rolls through the printing press. Yeah, you can probably. The middle. Like, the middle would be a blue green color.

See, I looked for that because that's what I kind of thought. Like, there was going to be some sort of, like, gradient into, like, from blue into green. And I flipped through every single page of the three of the one pack that I opened. The west coast pack I opened, and I. I see nothing of, like, a color change. It's just like, it seems like one page is green, one page is blue, one page is green, one page is blue.

It might be that yours came off the press really early. So the. When you do a splint fountain, the early stages have really easily divided. You can see the division between the two layers, the two colors of ink. And then as the press goes on, there's a little bit more of a merge.

I see. Well, I looked through all three of the books and didn't see anything, like, anything that I could detect. Anyway, let's put it that way. I'm not saying it's not there, but, you know, and it's not Like, I went through it with a fine tooth comb, but I, like, turned to one page like, oh, these are all green. Like, every single one of them. And then turning the next page, oh, these are all blue. These are all green. Like, I didn't see any, like, kind of, like changing it at all. So, I mean, it is what it is. Whatever. There's. I do, like, radical grid, so it's still. It's still pretty cool. But like you said, we're all ready to just get over it less.

It's done. Less. Less sweet. We talked about this on the last, what, 30 episodes? Like, you need. They did something. It offended you. That's fine. You can just stop. No, really.

Are you telling me to move on?

You going there was bad. Okay, Les, you going there was bad.

And in our next episode of Topher mansplains less.

Tell me about that Volume 54. Topher.

The Volume 54 of the Black Wings. I got them in hand, I looked at them, and I. I really thought, this is one of the best design pencils that they have ever done. And I read the back of the box and saw that they designed it by what I guess is splitting up the pencil into five core parts, making options for them, and I guess putting those options into their marketing guy's collection of fedoras and picking them out one at a time. And that's how this pencil came.

So what the story is, they. They used a style from the surrealists, right?

Yeah, they use the Exquisite Corpse. But you can't really do that, like, because. Have you ever. Have you guys ever done an Exquisite Corpse?

No.

Yes.

Okay. So you take a piece of paper, you fold it into thirds. The first person draws legs.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

I know what you're talking about. Yeah.

But how do you do that with a pencil? Like, here, you're gonna draw the core, you're gonna draw the body. Like,

I think the way it made it sound to me anyway, was like they had choices or some. One person wrote what they wanted to see as the lacquer. The next person wrote what they wanted to see as the. The imprint, not knowing what the previous person wrote. And then they just. And then when they opened it all up, it was just, you know, pink barrel and teal imprint and silver feral and blue eraser and extra firm core. Like, they chose all the items without. Without knowing the other choices. I guess that's the way it sounded to me, anyway. On the back of the box.

I guess that's an okay adaptation of the Exquisite Corpse.

Does so do. But, I mean, our first pink black wing. Are we happy?

I am not a big pink fan, so. But you know what? I'm probably gonna see if I can trade with someone to get one of these because it has that extra firm core.

Yeah, I'm super happy about that. I love. I don't care what the color is, as long as they have an extra firm core.

I wish they'd gone. They'd swapped it so that it was teal with pink imprint. Because I love me some teal.

You know, the whole, like, crazy color, you know, like, with, like, teal. The whole teal thing. I'm like, I went through. Unless you're probably the same way we went through this the first time it came around.

Y.

So, like, it reminds me of wearing it like San Jose Sharks or Charlotte Hornets. Like, you know, starter jacket in high school. Like, I don't need. I don't need teal.

I had. I had or. It's good. No, I love me some teal. I wish I still had my San Jose Sharks all cap covered in paint from the studio. I could. I would still rock that.

People only bought that because it was teal.

I know. No one liked the Sharks ever.

Or the Charlotte Hornets, really.

No. No one cared about them.

Yeah.

Oh, it's teal, though. I'm going to buy that teal.

I need to buy that. It's teal.

Teal and purple. So, yes, the. The 90s are definitely back. Right? I mean, like, I just keep hearing. I just. Well, right, so let's get some grunge bands going, then.

Oh, God, Please. Can we? Please.

Actually, for Tools of the Trade, I'm also consuming the new Breeders album, which is pretty good.

I haven't heard it yet.

Yeah, it's really good.

Yeah, me either.

All right, I'm gonna pull that up on Spotify when I get off of here.

Nice. Okay, so we ready to go into the main topic?

Absolutely.

So we wanted to do something that Andy, Johnny, and Tim have kept on neglecting to do.

You're not supposed to mention. You're not supposed to mention.

I'm going to mention them all. I want to.

We're not supposed to.

Are we really not supposed to. All right, Andy, you're gonna have to edit this, literally.

What? We're not supposed to break the rules.

Topher's just making it up.

I'm not making it up. Andy said that.

Okay.

The first email. I'm all for breaking the rules. I'll start swearing like a saint. I don't get this.

All Right, Andy, here's your edit point. So we wanted to do something that we've been neglecting to do. We thought we'd talk about mechanical pencils a little bit. I personally am by no means an expert, but I have a little bit of experience with the ones that I consider my favorites. So this is by no means a guide to mechanical pencils, but we at least wanted to hit on the subject a little bit. Let's start by talking about true mechanical pencils and then we'll get into the topic of lead holders and other kind of mechanical pencil adjacent topics. So first off, mechanical pencils, let's just go around the group and say like what our favorites are. We'll start with you, Les.

I was already starting, so we're going to start with me. I really like the carry, the Pentel Carry. It's a very small mechanical pencil. It's very well designed. It is a 0.7 lead though, so there's not a lot of lead options for me. I also really enjoy the Rotrine Rapid Pro. It's a very slim mechanical pencil. Very strongly made. Pretty good. Do not like the eraser on it though. Do not like that eraser. I'm looking at the eraser and it's disappointing me, so I'm going to cover that back up. What do you like, Mike?

Let's go to Les. What do you like, Les?

I'm a big fan of the TWSBI Precision and I have it in 7 millimeter with a matte black finish. What I like about it is that it has a really smooth but knurled grip and it's made out of brass, so it has a really nice weight. And I have the one where the retractable pipe so I can actually carry it in my bag. This is what I use in my planner at work. So I have it in a little pen holder, pencil holder on my planner and I just whip it out and make notes or actually appointments for clients. And then I like the Rotring 600 in 5 millimeter and I like the Uni Kuratoga in 5 millimeter as well. And I you tend to use softer leads. So like a B or 2B and the uni Nanodia. Those are my favorites.

Nice. I personally, I like the Kuratoga, the Uni Kuratoga. I have the Kuratoga roulette model which is the like silver one or the one I is the silver one. And you know the. The whole thing about the Kuratogo is it rotates the lead as you. As you pick it up. So I do like that. Although sometimes I do have some of the cheaper ones too, like the plastic bodied ones. But sometimes the problem with the Kuratoga is the writing angle I use sometimes doesn't engage that and that's not. Yeah. So sometimes depending on, on the writing angle, I may not engage the twist and then it'll flatten out and then trying to get it back like is, is not so good. So at that point I just kind of almost have to break it off and start fresh again. Because if it, if I start writing with it, you know, in the rotating properly again, you know, position, it'll just rotate to, you know, from flat to sharp to flat to sharp a lot as opposed to always being sharp. So I just break it off and start again. And then my other favorite that I like is that the Pentel Sharp series, like that, the P2O X, you know, like either 205, 207, 209. I have one of each actually. I have a 207 and I think the 207 is my favorite. Like the 7 millimeter lead is probably my favorite to write with in this one. Although the first one I ever got was the 9 millimeter lead. And I like that because it's a little bit more close to, it's a little bit closer to like regular pencil lead, like thickness wise. So. But I've kind of moved on to the 07 at this point. So those are my favorites. So we're gonna start with mechanical pencils and I want to start with just a few of the like super well known big, you know, box store brands like Bic, Papermate, those type of things. Like my girlfriend, I have tried to get her to use woodcase pencils. I have tried to get her to use a nicer mechanical pencil and she is stuck on those Bic number two, you know, seven millimeter crap pencils. I don't know why, but she loves them. The dog chews them up all the time. Like so, you know, even the dog is with me.

So.

But she just, she loves them, she uses them all the time and they have their fans just kind of, I

think like the big crystals are middle school kids, right?

No, like even in the group that's a middle school in the group there's some people that have their, that the, that like them. And I gotta be honest, I wrote with one the other day just to test it because we were playing for this episode and I gotta say, it's not terrible.

I actually really like the lead in those.

Yeah.

Yeah. If they Sold the lead separately. I would totally buy the Bic mechanical pencil lead in a package for my mechanical pencils.

Yeah. Because it's a good HB lead that acts like hb. Like, the one thing I can always say about, like, other than the BIC led, is it seems a little bit harder than graded. You know, like, that's what I've always thought about, like, an hb. You know, like, an HB is just the normal generic Pentel lead that they give you when you buy the Pentel P205 or whatever. It feels a little bit harder than, like, an HP that I would like anyway. And I don't know if that's because of, you know, it's got to stay together a little bit, you know, because it's just basically lead hanging out. But I don't know. I've always felt that lead, and that's why I use, like, 2B lead in most of my mechanical pencils, is because I'm looking for, like, a nice, dark HB style, and I get that when I use, like, say, the Nanodia 2B lead.

Les, since you like this lead, have you considered just buying the Bic pencils and throwing them away? I mean, I wouldn't really consider that a waste of money.

It's a super waste of plastic, and I can't bring myself to do that when I can just buy, like, uni nanodia leads in B or 2B. And it makes me happy.

Does it really make you happy?

It does.

Those nanodilads are awesome.

They are so.

They are super good. I have a few different leads, and I never remember which one I'm using in a pen in a pencil. And I'm always like, oh, I really like this one. And then I go back and say, I have, like, five different types of lead, so I need. Do you all have a system to, like, track that in some bullet journal or something?

No.

I feel like that's, like, the same problem I have with fountain pens because I, like, love green ink. So I just put green ink in all my fountain pens, and then I forget about what one I put in. What? And I'm like, I'm not sure if this.

You don't have a swatch book?

No, I do, but they're also similar. I'm just like, I don't know. I do have. I actually have that coloring from Anna Reiner, but I do not know what is in half of my mechanical pencils, and I do not know what is in half of my. My fountain pens. To be honest, I'm like, oh, it's unknown green ink.

So you're not really actually qualified to be hosting this show.

I am. About woodcase pencils. Yes.

Well, that's not what this episode is about.

Well, this particular episode, but all the other episodes we've done up to this point have been about woodcase pencils. So. Yes, but yeah, I have. I run into the same situation. Topper. I don't. I'm like unknown lead. Because I was right. I don't know if you guys do this when you write like say in like a journal entry or something. I always write what I wrote it with, like in the header. I'll be like, oh yeah, today's date written with Blackwing 602 or whatever. And if I use the mechanical pencil, I'm like written with, you know, unicura Toga roulette, Unknown lead.

I do something similar. Yeah.

Wait, this is a thing both of you do.

You don't write what you're. Oh yeah, because you always just write with the Swisswood, so.

No, no, even when I write with other things, I don't really find that important enough to include in my journals.

It's just a little, you know, like sub header to the header date header that I put in. So I mean, it is what it is.

Well, you don't have to worry about future biographers. I guess I'm very considerate.

Well, you know, like. Oh, you know, he really preferred the extra firm blackwing. You know, maybe my biographer will just

know that totally important information in there about what you enjoy.

But another, another one of the big, well known big store brands is that Paper Mate. You know that kind of yellow, mustard yellow one with like the. The one that's supposed to look kind of like a pencil and then. But it has the twit you like twist it at the bottom and that brings the lead out that way instead of clicking. What is that called? Paper Mate. Like Easy Writer or something like that.

Oh, I am going to have to look this up because I have no idea what you're talking about, but I think I know what you're talking about. Easy Writer, you said.

I. I think it's that. It's. It's something. Anyway, looks, I think. Or maybe it's called like Paper Mate Mates or something. No, that's the one that looks like a pencil. Like a colored pencil. It's really like. Anyway, regardless, it. You basically like twist the bottom of it and it pulls the lid out that way and they're super cheap and.

Oh yes, I know what you're talking about. My wife loves those.

Yeah. I had a guy that I used to sell beer to the. On this liquor store and that's all he used.

That's a weird. That's a weird. I only use this.

Yeah, I mean like it was just. That was all over his. His place. Like he had these little charts and whatever where he kept all his stuff and that's. That's just what was there. He always had those. Sharp writer I think it's called.

I am looking at the sharp writers and I am. Oh, I know exactly these. Yep, these are. These made up my middle school. I thought they came with teeth mark in them, but apparently they do not. A Papermate Sharp rite is what someone would hand you when you would ask to borrow a pencil in middle school. And the erasure would be gone because. Not because the eraser can be taken out but because they chewed the tip of it and the eraser naturally came out but they didn't choke on it and die. So natural selection no longer works. Oh, I am remembering these. And it is not bringing back good things.

So what other cheap mechanical pencils are there? I feel like the Bic is like the most ubiquitous.

It really is. I can't really think of any other super cheap. Oh, you know what's actually really cheap? Those zebra self propelling little sort of half size pencils. Oh yeah, yeah those they like you like as you write with them. They self propel.

They're plastic, right?

Yeah, they're all plastic and they look like they're made to look like a regular pencil but with printing on them. And they're sort of already at Steinbeck stage I think.

Andy@woodclinch.com yeah, he had a post about those and about how he hated the. The papermate versions of those but loved the zebra versions of those.

We should have them on one day.

Yeah, he would be a good guest to be on the show.

I think we should totally interview him.

Yep. Yeah. One of these days we'll have him on maybe next episode. I'm not sure.

On an episode. On an episode I'm not on for. That would be great.

Yeah. I know you guys don't really quite get along. I've seen your Twitter battles.

Well drama there. Do we need to talk about that drama?

Anyway, I'm sure so I'm sure he's a nice guy. I'm sure in person he's a nice person as a person. But I really think he over brands

himself that, you know, I. Yeah. What about step ups from the store brand and the big names.

So things that you can get at like maybe not a big box store, but maybe a Staples or an Office Depot or that type of thing. Not a Walmart, but maybe so.

No, I was thinking about the Ticonderoga Sensamatic. Have you guys seen these?

Oh, no. Yeah, yeah.

They're made to look like the silver Ticonderogas and they're refillable, but they look just like a Ticonderoga. And then they self propel like the little mini zebras.

So as the lead gets shorter, it just comes out more.

Yeah, as you, as you write with it, it sort of wiggles out a little bit extra.

Why would, why does the Kuratoga not do that? I mean, it already rotates. Let's move it out too. That'd be like perfect.

Oh my God. Yeah. Kuratoga Uni. You have, this is your next plan.

We have the technology.

You can do it.

I think that Pentel Sharp that I really like is one of those step up brands. I mean you can get them at Office Depot or Staples or whatever. And you can get most of the sizes. I think usually it's. It's the 0.5 and the 0.7. Although I've seen the 0.9. I really like the 0.9 look because it's mustard yellow. And I'm kind of like love all the old crappy 70s stuff, you know, like colors and stuff like that. So I love mustard yellow and, and so I've seen, I love that look. And I bought, that's why I bought it in the first place. And I was like, yeah, this leads too thick. But I wish they had the mustard yellow and like the 0.7. I'd be perfect. It'd be perfect.

They now have the 205 and the 200 and a whole variety of colors at Target, including metallic colors.

Nice. Nice. If they, if they get that mustard yellow. I do have a 205. Generally the, the rule of thumb for it was the yellow one was the 209, the blue one was the 207 and the black one was the 205.

Yep. Now it's, now it's, it's all over the map.

So I have a green 205 that I just love and I wish it was a 207 because I like the 2 of the 7 millimeter just a little bit more. But I use the 205 a lot more just because I love dark green. And so I'm just like, I'm picking it for, you know, the way it looks as opposed to the size.

So during my extensive research of this topic, which just happened, there's actually side advancing mechanical pencils.

Oh, where you click on the side.

Yeah. Which doesn't make any sense to me. I, I can understand the idea that you don't want to, I don't know, reposition your hand for a fraction of a second, but have y' all used any of these?

I've seen those, and they're. They have some of those, like, in the store brand too. Right. Like some of the cheaper ones do.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm seeing staples, and it just seems like a really almost good idea because it seems like if you were writing with it, you would hit that sometimes. And if it wasn't that close to you, you would still have to reposition your hand.

Yeah, I would kind of. Like, I have a problem with kung fu death gripping my pencils when I and my pens when I write. So, like, it probably would not be good for me.

Yeah.

Constantly be advancing the lead and, and having a problem.

So we're all in agreement that they're, they're terrible.

Great idea on paper in practice.

Not for me.

Then. Other step up that I like is that Zebra M301. So like those Zebra G301 metal gel pens. Those like, kind of. They're almost at Steinbeck stage. And they're. I use them because of the perfect server pencil. And as my second job after being. After my first job, I do serving on side. And so they're like the perfect server pencil or pen. And so I love the pencil version of that too.

Those, those were all basically before because I'm old. Before there was a stationary Internet. I was a big fan of the Zebra 301 series.

Who wasn't?

I love it.

Was the stainless steel and the black plastic made to look like molded rubber that we all liked in the 90s.

Oh, yeah. Because. Whereas it looked like molded rubber, but it was made out of plastic. So I didn't hate it because I hate rubber grips. I, I, I don't see the point of them. Do you, Do y' all enjoy rubberized grips in any way? They, they seem sweaty to me.

Sometimes I like them, but not always. Like, I get. I use on my Kitaboshi lead holder and some, some of my pencils, I use a jelly rubber pencil grip because it feels good, but it's also glittery.

I feel like some people's, like, individual body chemistry kind of breaks those down sometimes and they get to feel slick and weird if maybe.

Yeah, I didn't think about that. I'm probably just toxic. That that would explain a lot, even my personal life.

So as far as middle of the road mechanical pencil, some that are like a step up from the steps up of the store brand ones I would consider maybe like the Ooni Kuratoga one of those. I mean you can buy those at Staples and you can buy the cheap ones but then they have higher end ones too like the, like the Roulette series that I have. I also have some of the cheaper ones from Staples as well. Somebody wrote in Here the Rotring 3002 the Platinum Pro use and the Pentel carries so less. Those are some that you have a little bit of experience with. Why don't you take us through those?

Yeah. One of the reasons that I like the Platinum Pro use is that it's got a narrow body but the grip is expanded so it's a little wider so it, it's really comfortable to grip and hold on to and they're just kind of a fun look.

Okay, so let's talk about, let's actually use that point to talk about mechanical pencils in general. Some of them are thicker and definitely thicker than wood case pencil. And then some of them are you know, kind of pencil size. So like the Pentel Sharp series is definitely pencil sized. Those cheap bits are pencil size. Those paper mate cheap ones are pencil sized but like so the Kuratoga's are always a little bit thicker. Right. And I wish I really want a Kuratoga to be super thin like the Pentel and rotate still. But I don't think they have, they can quite put that technology in.

Quite. Yeah, yeah I think, I think that would be hard for that rotating. They have a name for it. Oh yeah, the Kuratoga engine. They, they wouldn't be able to fit, yeah, they wouldn't be able to fit the engine into that.

So that roulette model is thin at the top like a pencil and then it thickens out at the bottom.

I like that though. I, I, I like having a little more oomph to hold on to.

Yeah, that's why I like the Baron Fig Squire because of that taper.

Yeah.

This doesn't quite taper as much like, I mean it just, it does taper in the middle but then like the whole barrel at the bottom is, yeah. Flares more than taper and the whole barrel at the bottom is, is thicker and knurled and let's see here. Do we want to talk about some higher end ones? So Rotring has a whole series of higher end ones. Lamy has a series Ohto Twisby Precision. What do we think about the hiring?

How do I feel about Ohto just as an entity?

You know, I have a lot of issues with Odo because I feel like they kind of and Sorry, sorry Andy, you're gonna have to ding this. They kind of half everything. Like all of their stuff looks really beautiful on the outside, but then the interior has little issues. Take the pencil I'm wr with today, the sharp pencil. It's, it's a lovely lead holder. It feels great in the hand. It's you know, made out of wood. It looks like a fat pencil. But because they kind of didn't, didn't take it, they didn't do it right. When you, if you don't modify it like I have it, it jiggles and it makes noise as you write with it and it's really off putting to use. And I think Odo does that really often with their pens. I also had the Odo needle sharp pen which was, you know, looked great. It was, it was made out of metal, felt great in the hand. But then the nock was like grating and like it was like this metal on metal sound and then sometimes it would like click out. It was just not a great pen. And I think Odo like I've had so many experiences with Odo pens and pencils and mechanical pencils that I wouldn't pay over $15 for an ODO pen or pencil at this point.

Yeah. How did you modify it, out of curiosity?

So my issue with the sharp pencil was that the eraser knock mechanism clicked against the sort of the ferrule of the pencil. So I literally wrapped a 2 or 3 millimeter piece of satin tape around it. And that keeps it from making a metal on metal noise and keeps the knock just a little more snug in the pencil so it doesn't make that noise. It doesn't rattle around anymore because it can't. Doesn't have room to.

One thing I would like to just say about less in general is the stationary community owes you quite a bit for your hacking abilities. Everything that I have learned, like great hacks of like keeping things nice or like you know, fixing something that like ships broken has come from your website. So I do want to say kudos to that.

Yes. Plus I wish we didn't need you, but we do. No, no. Not because you're a bad person, but because that's part of it. But most because Odo shouldn't be making things like at All. I don't trust them. I don't like them. They should be called oh, no.

Jesus.

I have no faith in them as a company.

Well, I think that if they just took their designs one step further, they would fix all of these issues. Do you know what I mean? Like, if they just said, oh, okay, we're making this sharp pencil 2.0, and. And if they just modified the design a tiny little bit, the troubling metal on metal noise wouldn't have been there. And I think that's the case with a lot of their items, like the grading metal on metal on the needle point. It wouldn't have been there. They just needed to take their design to the next level.

Right.

I fully agree. But if all their designs need to be taken to a next level, maybe they're just not able to get to that level. And if they're not able to get to that level, they shouldn't get so close to it.

Right.

So I have a question for you guys. Are any of you willing to pay $55 for a Lamy 2000 mechanical pencil?

Nope.

I just was looking it up on Jetpens, and I'm like, oh, that's a lot.

I do not. I like Lamy as a company, but that. I don't see why people like that design of the pen or the mechanical pencil. I just. Something in me, I do not like it.

Yeah, I don't know. I like some of them. I'm not. I don't know. I like Lammy. Not enough to buy. Spend 55 bucks on a mechanical pencil.

Well, that's the 2000 they have. The Safari. That's like 20 bucks. But I kind of have the safari

in front of me.

The Safari mechanical pencil.

Yep.

And what do you think?

I. I actually really like the grip on it. It has a similar grip to their Safari fountain pen, but it's. It's actually three indentations instead of just the two. So you. You. You get the. The good grip, but you also have a little. Little place for your. Your middle finger.

So I have the Safari rollerball. And it's the same way.

Yeah.

Because it doesn't. Because the rollerball doesn't force you to keep it in one way, in one grip like the fountain pen does. So the fountain pen forces you to keep it in that one way. And so that's why there's not that third grip area or whatever on the back. But I. I feel like the. I would like the way that grips, but I still rotate no matter what, even if I'm If I'm with a mechanical pencil, which you do have to rotate, unless it's a kuratoga that rotates itself, you know, because you're. You just flatten out. Or with a regular woodcase pencil, you have to rotate too. So I, I mean, I struggle with fountain pens to not rotate when I write because it's just so ingrained in me from not using fountain pens so much.

I have the same issue.

Yeah.

Yep. Anyway, let's get back to those high end or higher end mechanical pencils. You brought up the TWSBI precision. And I've already talked about how much I like that pencil. But I. It's, you know, it's. We say high end and it's still only 25 ish dollars at JetPens.

Right.

So. But it's just really well made. You know, it just feels really good in the hand. It's like my Rotring 600. I don't have the 800 because I didn't at the time, I didn't care about the retractable pipe on it. And that's the difference between the 600 and the 800.

Okay, question. I have the Rokin Rapid Pro and it has the retractable tip.

Like, is that a 800 then? I don't know.

It doesn't have 800 on it. It says Rapid Pro. I think I Mandela effect that, like, I don't think this is actually a thing maybe

because.

Because I showed them to people and they're like, oh, is that the 300, the 800? No, it's an actual thing. It's the Rotring Rapid Pro.

Yeah. It's available on Jetpens.

Yeah. It's only $30 and it's great.

It's different. It's neither.

Okay, good. I like that one.

It's its own thing.

Well, I think everyone should buy this one because it's really good.

I think that's the interesting thing with higher end mechanical pencils compared to like fountain pens is that the highest end mechanical pencil is, you know What? In the $50 range versus roughly much, much more expensive. I think I paid like 25 or $30 for my Rotring 600 on Massdrop back when I was still using them.

Oh, did you stop using massdrop for any reason?

I did, but I don't want to go on to it on the podcast.

Okay, cool.

Offline, we could talk about that. We could put a pin in that and talk about it offline.

So the most expensive mechanical pencil on Jetpens for sale right now is the Kaweco Al Sport mechanical pencil and 7 millimeter or 0.7 millimeter 6725.

Yeah. So you can get something really nice. Yeah, that's, that's high I think for that. But that's also the Koeco sports in the aluminum finishes tend to be outrageously, stupidly expensive.

Yeah. For pins that aren't that great. What do you all think about the new twsbi? The, the new mechanical pencils that coming out? The new everyday pencil I haven't actually looked at. Oh, they're. They're only three. $3 and 50 cents. They come in three colors and they are beautiful.

What is it called?

Twisbi Junior Pagoda mechanical pencil.

I haven't actually looked at them yet.

So they come in blue, white and marmalade.

They. Yeah, I, I have seen these and they look pretty cool.

Yeah, they, the design looks, I don't know, it looks like. It doesn't look fancy, but it definitely looks like it's something you would find in your grandfather's pencils cup. And they don't make them anymore. They were made like 30 years ago.

Yeah.

And they got $. See how crap.

I want one of these.

I want each of them.

Yeah, yeah.

I want, I want one of these.

I'm in 0.5 and 0.7. So there's only six different ones in total.

I think you can buy a 12 pack.

Yeah, they come in a 12 pack but they don't come in a mixed 12 pack which I think is ridiculous. I want four of each color.

So that's a, that's a, that's a. Something that would have been win for them but they lost it right there is what you're saying.

No, I'm still gonna buy them. I'll just. Three 12 packs.

Nice. At 350 a piece, they're not super bad. I mean like you know, refillable. And obviously, you know, that's the thing about these mechanical pencils. Even the cheapest bics are refillable. Even though they're like somewhat throwaway. They are refillable.

Yeah. And I, I kind of feel like that spot. Like I, I thought white Bic would have come up with a way to make that not happen at this point.

I always thought that Bic, you know, they have the most stolen items on the planet. Pins and letters.

This is true.

Oh, speaking of stealing stuff, what stationary item have you stolen most in your life? Out of curiosity, Post it notes. Post it notes, Mike.

Probably pins from server jobs back in the day.

Oh no, I'm talking about, like, actual choplifting.

Oh, shoplifting. I don't shoplift. Tougher.

Oh, cool.

The statue of limitations aren't up yet. I'm not admitting to anything.

I'm just saying space pins were really expensive for, you know, a high school kid, and I had like 20 of them.

Nice.

Yeah, you take them out of the packaging. You put the packaging in the Office Depot, like, safe file in the safe to make it even more funny. That's what you do if you were to do that, which would be bad.

All right, we want to talk about lead holders now.

Absolutely.

Well, okay. Before we go on for mechanical pencils. I'm sorry, we need to do. We do need to talk about, like, our favorite leads, I think.

Yeah, sure.

So, Les, what do you think? What's your favorite?

I like nanodia leads in B, 2B, 3B and 4B. I have, you know, at least one pencil with each of those at all times.

I am also a Nanodia fan. I have 2B and HB in 0.05 and 0.07 or 0.7 and 0.5 millimeter. I do like the pentel. How do you say it?

Ain.

I mean, it's spelled, so those pentel. Whatever. Ain eins are pretty good leads as well, and they definitely have their fans. But I guess because I like the wood case nano dia so much that I just. I was like, oh, yeah, I'm just going to buy the. The, you know, lead version of that too. Cuz that's what it started out as. Right. And then they made a wood case version.

I don't know.

That's what I. That's what I thought I heard.

But anyway, y' all use a special curatoga lead for your kurogas.

Nope. I don't like it.

You don't like it?

Even the kurotogas come with the nanodilate.

Well, they. They also sell kuratoga lead, which works really well in them.

Really?

Yeah. Super.

Like harder on the outside than they are on the inside or something like that. Something.

It's the opposite. It's the opposite of whatever normal lead is turns out.

Thanks for explaining that to me.

You're welcome, Mike. Anytime. Anytime.

And let's talk about erasers on mechanical pencils. I hate the fact that that's might be one reason why I would even pick a Bic because they actually have a real eraser on the end of it.

Yeah, I. I don't like erasers attached to instruments at all, to be honest.

I'm totally USA all the way on that. I like erasers on the end of my pencils.

I always use a separate eraser.

See, Les, that is correct. Mike can't pull off not having an eraser on his instrument. You look at Mike and you're like, that guy is going to make mistakes.

I do have favorite erasers that like solo erasers, but. And that I don't use. But what's that?

The seed. Super gold.

I do like the seed. I just don't like the gold one. I like the. The radar, like the colors, and I like the green one.

Yeah, the green one is great.

I love. Actually, my favorite right now is the Faber Castell Art eraser. That dark green eraser. That one is awesome because I can keep it in my pencil pouch. And, you know, even though it picks up a ton of graphite that's hanging out in there, it doesn't look all dingy like white erasers do. So I do like that. But anyway, I think that's one reason why I can't get Laylee to switch from using these crappy bics because she needs the eraser on the other side and she can't be bothered to carry an eraser with her or have the tiny, you know, Pentel eraser in hers. So I think.

Oh, those. Yeah. See, that's why I'm actually against mechanical pencils with erasers, because of the refillability of them.

Well, they're so tiny. Like, they're.

I mean, they're not good at all. They're. They're bad quality. But also, you replace it and you'll notice the eraser is actually three times longer than the amount you can actually use. And that seems. That seems super wasteful to a guy who would buy pencils and just throw them away and use that seems super wasteful to me.

All right, so we talked about, like, kind of the adjacent stuff from mechanical pencils. Let's move on to lead holders. For me, personally, my favorite lead holder, the one that I use the most, is the Statler Mars Technico. That blue one it's in. I have a 2 millimeter version of that, and I really like it. It's thin, it's got a nice knurled grip. Has a sharpener in the. In the end. So that's one. One that I really like. I have yet to hold a sharpener. Yeah, there's a sharpener in the end.

Or. Yeah, I thought it was point. Okay. That's the term I was looking for. I was trying to figure out what they were called.

It. It does Sharpen the lead, doesn't it?

I don't know. Do you cut things with a blade then? No, it points it.

Well then there is a blade in it, right?

There is a blade in it. I think, you know, it could be just like a little kind of gritty, like pointed, you know, cylinder or something.

Yeah. I'm going through my pages and pages of jet pin orders to try and find one that I had and loved.

There is a. There is lead pointers though that do have blades. The lead pointer in the. Like that coom.

Yeah. 233 and the 250. Yeah, those all have. They have their own little mini blades.

Well and then there's that. Just that regular kum. Not the masterpiece but the other one. Just the stand auto long point. Yeah, that has.

Yeah, they have two versions of that.

They have a version that has a lead pointer too on both sides.

It has two. Yeah, it has a two millimeter and then a three and a half millimeter.

Yeah.

Lead pointer in it.

Yeah. Yeah. I asked somebody about that one day and felt very stupid when they told me.

Well, the other thing is you could just like Jet, you know, use the first stage of that and get the core extended and then probably sharpen it with the pointer and then have that kind of more of a drafting cut of a sharpened pencil than. Than you would if you just use the second stage of the sharpener.

Yeah, I have bought a lot of

things from Jetpens, so the state of.

You ever go through your order history

And I tried not to.

Yeah.

I'm looking through this right now and thinking like I could have bought things that I still use.

So one of the most popular lead lead holders is the Caran Dash fix pencil. That thing is probably one of the most like well known and. And iconic lead holders. I've actually never used one, so. Neither have I personally.

That's not on the advance because they. They don't really advance. But it's a three prong system that holds it in. At least on mine I think it was. And it just. It looks. It looks weird when you let it out some. And that's enough for me not to like it, but. Okay. I found the one I was thinking of, the Queco graphic lead holder. Have y' all ever seen those? Kaweco Waco. Yeah, Kaweco. I'm sorry,

the graphic lead holder. No, I personally haven't used one.

I don't use a lot of clutch or Kaweco Sketchup.

Yeah, I've used. I've used the E M version. So it's like a wood body that's dyed and then has a silver tip similar to the Kaweco.

Yeah, those. How is that? I've always seen EM products, but for some reason, I own none of them.

They're really sturdy, really well made, and very comfortable in hand.

Okay.

I mean, I use it for sketching.

Yeah, I was gonna say, is sketching the use for, like, such a thick lead?

Yeah. Because you're looking at using it in a variety of different ways that you wouldn't necessarily use a regular pencil. That's just for writing. So you want the thicker lead to kind of lay down, like, shading and broad areas of darkness instead of just a fine point.

Have y' all seen the EM move their mechanical pencil?

I haven't. You know, it's interesting. Like, I have a whole bunch of mechanical pencils, and since I've acquired them, I haven't bought new ones, which is kind of like the space I am in right now with all of my purchasing. Like, I have the stuff I like to use, and I haven't, you know, acquired a ton of new stuff lately. So I'm kind of out of touch.

If you want to spend $26.95, I would suggest you look at the EM move. 1.1.8 mechanical pencil in walnut.

Yeah, that looks pretty sweet. It's. It's thick and fat, but, yeah, I'm

just gonna be able to.

I was gonna say my problem with that is that it has. Uses a 1.18 millimeter lead, and I. There aren't enough 1.18 millimeter leads out there that I like that I'd want to have a pencil that does just that. I have enough vintage pencils that use that size lead that I don't like. I'm not gonna be able to get a B or 2B or 3B lead in 1.18 millimeter, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. That seems like an odd, like, especially if it's not going to be super thick enough to be kind of doing sketching with or, you know, for, like, drafting stuff, like the 2 millimeter. I don't know. That just seems like an odd 1.18 millimeter. Seems very odd to me.

Okay, so you're saying I should not put in my PayPal password? Because I. I trust you guys.

I'm against anything where I have to use just their version of the refill. So, you know, if, like, they're the only one that makes the lead or the. You know, there's only, like, one version of the lead for it. Like, like if you click on the Jet pins, you know, refill thing for that specific thing, there's only E M lead or Koeco LED for it. And it's like eh, that's not enough.

There are other leads available. Like if you look under pencils and then actually it's weird refills and ink. So their search for pencil refills is not great. But like they do have like 1.18 in other brands. It's just, you know, like it's retro 51s and it's HB and it's really hard.

Yeah.

So you have to really like hb.

Yeah.

One of my favorite lead holders is the Kitaboshi wooden lead holder with a clip.

Oh yeah, that's.

Yeah. It's made out of cedar so it feels. It has the weight of a regular pencil and it's the same diameter as a like blackwing. So it feels like a regular pencil. And then you can use the Kitaboshi lead. And I love the Kitaboshi refills. They're nice and smooth and have a really nice feel on paper. So that's my. That's my favorite lead holder. I mean the mechanism isn't as nice as other lead holders. It's really simplistic. But the whole thing just feels really. I just. I don't know, I like it a lot. It just feels good.

That is really simple and good looking.

Yeah. Minimalistic.

Do you have the Kidobashi lead pointer as well?

Yeah. It's crap.

Is it crap?

Okay.

Yeah. It produces a really blunt point that I don't like. I like a slightly longer point on my leads. So I use the kum on it 233 or the kum on it 250 to point my leads because it gives a nice long point.

All right, Are we all just looking at the JetPens website buying stuff or is it just

you? I am there.

Okay.

Well, I'm looking at it but I'm not buying anything.

Wait, wait, hold on. Since you are there, I need you to do a little church for the Pintel Multi8 lead holder.

I saw that. I've. I've seen a couple of reviews of it that people like. But also the other thing is that the.

It's ridiculous.

It's ridiculous. But also like the colored mechanical pencil leads are so faint and really pale. So you don't like. I don't know. I don't like them at all. So

I just. It seems almost like a good idea on paper. But like you don't get to pick what colors. Like, you can, but the colors are actually labeled on the barrel of the pencil, the pillow. Oh, that is so disappointing.

I'm not a. I'm not a big fan of colored pencil leads because, like, you said, especially, like, something like red or, you know, things that you would generally use a colored pencil for, like, not for coloring is, you know, red and blue are two of the most popular ones. I mean, that's why they make, you know, one side blue, one side red colored pencils. Right. So the reds are always really terrible. Like, just not even good at all. Always really light in mechanical pencils. Yeah, that I see. So I'm just. Yeah, I'm just totally mad on them.

I don't.

I don't even. It doesn't even enter into my, like, thought process. I just don't even want one. I'll just use a wood case colored pencil for those purposes.

I'm with you on that.

I. I agree. I fully agree. I just. I thought it was ridiculous. I still think it's ridiculous. I think almost all multi pins of any kind are ridiculous. I bought the Lammy. The Lammy one Lamy. Where you have to tilt it. I didn't know you had to tilt it to get the color. Terrible. This whole show is just me now going through my Jet 10 border and in real time telling you what I regret.

I wish I had that credit card transaction back.

Oh, this is just. This is pathetic. Why did I buy so many Parker Jarters when I didn't like the first one I bought?

All right, so are we finished up talking? We got any other things we want to talk about with it? When it comes to lead holders?

No, I think we just about. We got. We got to the extent of our knowledge.

That's true. That's true. Which is, you know, coming from wood case land is very, very small and. And insignificant. But is there anything else in just mechanical pencils or lead holders in general that we want to talk about? We talked about leads. We talked about erasers.

You're good.

Is that what you said?

I'm good.

What about you, Topher? Can you peel yourself away from your Jetpens history too long enough to. To say yay or nay?

Why did I buy a memo pad? That is a. Hold on, hold on. It's a graph memo pad. Right. But the dotted lines are perforated, called a free cut memo pad. Why did I buy that?

So each line, the graph.

Yes, yes.

How is that even possible?

It's gonna fall apart.

Yeah, I bought it. It's called the free Cut. You can look it up on Jetpens. I wonder if they still sell it.

All right, well, now that the Topher's Jetpens history podcast is over, let's have three more pages.

I don't know what you're talking what's.

So Les, where can we find you?

You can find me@confortable shoestudio.com Facebook @confortable shoes Studio, Instagram and Twitter at original lcharbor. What about you, Topher?

You can find me on Twitter if you're desperate. You can also find me on Instagram where my account is private. You can ask to follow me. I'll probably let you. There's a Snapchat. I'm not sure what that is. You can find me at my stationary website. Grab a little tell.com you can I'm on Facebook at Toffer. I'm at my house usually from noon until 4 o'clock in the morning if you want to hang out.

And you can find me Mike Hagan@ledfast.org I'm also on Instagram edfast and I am on Twitter, which very rarely because Twitter annoys me@I'm leadfast.org all spelled out leadfast.org so because somebody has Leadfast on Twitter and doesn't use it, but whatever. So you can find the Erasable podcast at erasable US. You can find this episode at erasable US/93. The Facebook group is the Erasable Podcast Facebook group@facebook.com groups erasable and our Facebook page is facebook.com erasable podcast. That's where you could follow us for like announcements and whatever. We are on Twitter, Raceable Podcast and Instagram Raceable Podcast Please rate us and review us on itunes, recommend us on Overcast or your podcast player of choice. Thanks for listening and we will all see you next time.

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You can check out their music at www.thismountainband.com.

This has happened before.

All I said.