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Picked Up A New Pencil - Pentel P209
December 6, 2022
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   As much as I love a good, wooden pencil, they are tough to carry 
day-to-day.  Yes, they can be improved with the cap from something
like a Bic Crystal pen but are still fragile in the pocket.  
Mechanical pencils get the nod, then.  But not the fragile 0.5mm that
is so common.  Nor the academic and artistic joke that is a 0.3mm
lead holder.  The stout 2.0mm clutch pencil serves me best in a 
pocket for everything from notes to marking wood.  

   Despite my appreciation for clutch pencils, I do still appreciate
a standard-style clicky mechanical.  My favorite for sticking in the 
pen slot of my work shirt pocket has been a 0.7mm Pentel P207.  It
takes a beating, has reasonably strong lead, does not need sharpening,
and can still write fine enough text in a pocket notebook or 3x5"
notepad.  This makes for a simple arrangement in which my usual
off-the-clock clutch pencil lives in my personal stuff and the clicky
Pentel stays with my work kit.

   At least it would be nice were life so simple.  Curiosity finally
got the better of me and ended in acquisition of a few 0.9mm variants
of my work pencil, the Pentel P209.  Having spent a lifetime dabbling
in nearly every other lead size, it felt time to give this one a go.
Why when I already have a nice 1.1mm pencil that lives on my home desk
is beyond me.

   The proof of the pudding is in the eating, however.  Paper 
specifications don't themselves mean a thing.  And this 0.9mm is a 
mixed bag.  It does leave a nice line thickness for writing notes to
other people that more closely approximates a wooden or clutch pencil
than an anorexic scratch smaller lead sizes can tend toward.  But it
is a bit much for the small notebooks I use at work and play.  So, I
will give it the week to get a proper feel before coming to ay final
decision.  The P207 is probably going back on duty when that is done,
however.  Then the P209s may scatter to the winds; one clipped to a 
legal pad cover, another on the communal notepad in the living room,
and one buried in a pencil bag to bide its time.

   One great use for the P209 has shown to be sketching.  For that
alone, they will earn their keep.

   While probably not for me as a go-to, it is a cheap little 
experiment and I at least have specific uses for them in the end.

===== 
kimek 
[gopher://sdf.org/1/users/kimek]