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Another Pencil - Rotring 300, 2.0mm
March 26, 2023
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           .===============ooo
 ____  ____'    \_____________________________________
/    / |:::|    |r0tring 300 / 2,0mm      ::::::::::::''--..._
\____\ |:B:|    |                         ::::::::::::__..--'
      `---------------------------------''''''''''''''
   
   Now to describe my mixed experiences with the pencil I carry every
day on my personal time, the r0tring 300.  Like the previous Pentel
P209, this is a plastic-body mechanical manufactured in once-glorious
Nippon.  Unlike the Pentel with its 0.7mm lead in a click advance,
this takes 2.0mm leads in a collet that lets it slide in and out
freely when the button is depressed.  As a standard mechanical, the
P209 never needed sharpened while this does with its lead the width
of that in a wooden pencil.  As such, it has a sharpening (pointing)
hole in the button cap and no eraser under, as the P209 featured.

   Speaking of features, the r0tring 300 sports a rotating collar
above the pocket clip.  There is a viewing window cut in this collar
to display the letter codes of various lead grades which may be
loaded.  This is not a complete listing but probably good enough for
the average person.  I personally ignore it as I almost always have
either F or HB loaded and the collar gets tweaked out of proper
alignment regularly, anyway.

   The model 300 fits my hand well and r0tring's branded HB lead with
which it comes is quality.  The relatively long point the integral
sharpener grinds is also a nice touch.  But there is a problem.

   The three-jaw clutch is fragile and one jaw periodically bends
inward, binding the lead.  This seems to happen at inopportune
moments and requires disassembly to tweak it outboard and reassembly.
As the metal jaw is passing its elastic limits both ways each time,
this will eventually cause a fracture and snap the jaw clean off.


   When that time comes, I will have to decide if it will be replaced
by an identical 300 or a Staedtler as I carry at work.  The Staedtler
is more robust in the collet but does not fit me as well, has a
stiffer button, and the sharpener in the cap grinds a shorter point
which I dislike.  Decisions, decidions...

   Anyway, for the average person, the r0tring 300 is a very nice
clutch pencil that is worth consideration.  Life in a pencil bag or
pack would be much more gentle than an active outdoorsman's pocket.

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