Definitely didn't waste half an hour making this

Two. My experience with mechanical pencils is that they're often unreliable and a waste of time. I hate having to reload my pencil, I hate when it breaks if you accidentally make the tip longer than it should be, I hate when you accidentally put one more in the pencil and it gets clogged, I hate having to carry refills all the time, I hate buying an expensive pencil and worrying about losing it (as opposed to just buying a dozen regular pencils for backup)...
Just hand over the regular pencil and a decent sharpener.
- Bonus points for #2 being #2
- If you feel they are unreliable, it may just be that you aren’t using good ones. I use 3 on a regular basis (for Japanese) and never have issues with feeding or lead breaking; I also only have to refill it every few weeks.
  
  I've had the same mechanical pencil for ten years. It's comfortable, reliable, easy to reload, but if I had to choose one for the rest of my life, I'd still go with the traditional wood/graphite pencil. It's cheap, it's everywhere, it's durable, and not a great loss if you lose it.
  
  Same, an actual good quality, properly made and assembled mechanical pencil will just keep going and going, and if you treat it well, you never need to replace it.
  Kinda like a decent quality safety razor.
  All you gotta do is treat it right and replace the razors/graphite, nets out to saving money after probably a month or two of decent use.
  
  I got one because I was intrigued by its lead rotation, but I found that it really didn't rotate the lead enough while I wrote. I kept having to rotate the barrel manually to keep a thin line like I do for every other mechanical pencil, and then would get annoyed every time the clip came around to brush my hand. I've been wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or if Japanese just uses more shorter strokes. Do you also like it when writing English?
- On the topic of sharpeners, those battery powered pressure sharpeners are satisfying as fuck. They're shit and invariably snap the nib, but they're the sharpening equivalent of shoving a Q-tip in your ear and having a good rake about.
  Or if you're all about the procrastination, spending a few minutes every lesson at the classroom sharpener like this one brings back the nostalgia:
  
  The pull out drawer for shavings is top tier.
- Plus a good ol Dixon Ticonderoga can write on stuff other than paper. About the only time I use a pencil is when doing carpentry and mechanical ones just snap.
  
  When I was doing roofing the pica dry mechanical pencils made things so much better. Sure a pencil works good on wood, but what about when I have to mark gray sheet metal? You need something that comes with different colors.
- Since I switched to using 0.9 mm, I almost never break a lead unless I drop it onto a hard floor; it even holds up to some aggressive tapping. Consequently, I hardly ever have to refill. I also never worry about the point snapping or stabbing when tossed loose into a bag, or keeping a sharpener on hand.
  Just my #2 cents.
- "Decent sharpener" aka box cutters.
- Unreliable? I have two Staedtler Mars Micro pens I bought a good 20 years ago and they both work perfectly.
- It also always ends mid-word/stroke, and you start etching the paper with the metal end. Very annoying.
- Back at my school in the 90's you just bought a 10 pack of the cheap black Bic mechanical pencils for like $3 (pic #5) and you were set for the year if you didn't lose too many. They never really broke and you didn't have to refill them if you didn't want to. They also never clogged and if you weren't an idiot you didn't try to use too much lead length to where it would break off.
  They were simple and easy and always sharp.

Why do I feel like I'm participating in market research
- Got em guys. I took down Mr. Bic
- If that were the case, I would imagine that they would have picked a website with a much larger user base.
  
  Why

Gimme one of these bad boys and utility razor.
- Reminds me of when I had to write a physics exam in university and it required a pencil for the Scantron cards. I basically never carried pencils so when my pencil tip broke I had to grab my utility knife out of my backpack and sharpen it to continue writing my exam.
  
  That's vietnam level shit going on there lmao.
- Got in trouble in school once for using one of those way back in the day. Dad was a construction supervisor so they were frequently lying around.

- This image perfectly stretches in the thread display. Incredibly satisfying.
- Except they have no eraser. What good is the black tip??
  
  You use a click eraser or a normal block eraser.
  Only filthy casuals suffer one at the end of the pencil.
  
  5B hardness
- Ja.

This.
- I'm surprised nobody else has rotring... my favorite by a considerable amount. Second place goes to the Uni Kuro Toga. Both fantastic pencils, but the weight and feel of the rotring 600 just leaves everything else in the dust
  
  The rotring is super smooth, but its so heavy. I wanted it to be my favorite, but I ended up reaching for the kuro toga far more. Doesnt help that the tip of the rotring bent and dented out on the first drop. I bent it back and it still works, as long as I don't rotate it.
  
  So I thought the uni would be a neat way to use thicker lead but avoid the weird slant in longer sessions. But I don't write in kanji (sp?) and with my mutated cursive alot of my letters string together. So the rotation is not nearly enough, and I end up still getting the weird slant thing on my lead. Only then it's worse because after I build up a flat surface, it rotates a little bit and then the edge is all wrong.
- Yessss. Use a 500 daily
  
  I have the same phone as you. I love that it's red.
  
  Love to see it! Your eraser game needs some leveling though 😋, may I introduce you to this bad boy:
  
  I'd like to discuss the flashlight. ?
- the correct answer
- Full metall you say? Damnn.
  I didn't know about this brand and now I have been pushed into extensive research of their whole lineup of mechanical pens.
  The 800 looks amazing but I've heard some people complaining about the nib being a bit wobbly, is that true in your experience?
  
  IIRC the 600 is pretty much the same pencil but with a non retractable tip. It might be better for you unless you carry it around.
  
  I don't have a problem with the tip being wobbly, but it's definitely a concern. I think its just a problem that you would get with any retractable tip pencil.
  IMO, even if it did wobble, it's worth the inconvenience. I used to have a mechanical pencil with a non-retractable tip & one drop ruined it.
- That's like an allergen for ADHD
- Damn straight. Best pencil I've ever had. Well, the 0.5mm. I write too small for 0.7.
  
  .5mm or .3mm for me, the only place I use a .7mm or a .9mm is with woodworking.

#8 all the way.
If I had to do sketch design drafting in college with a pen or wooden pencil and not a 0.5 mechanical, I would have probably become a school shooter.
- Yeah, #8 and it's not even close for me.
- I’ve been using Zebra pens and pencils almost exclusively for the last 20 years. My only complaint with the pencil is its eraser. If you need to erase something small it’s fantastic, but I always keep a separate eraser handy.
  
  Honestly that's a complaint I have about nearly every pencil, not just the zebra. They're almost always hard and smudgy because the pencil has been sitting out either in a warehouse or on an office supply shelf for like 5 years.
  I'd rather bring my own hi-poly brick eraser, or even better, a hi-poly retractable eraser that is a lot easier to control and keep a fresh, smudge-free surface on.
- Agreed, I like both their mechanical pencils and pens, even if visually they are a bit too close.

ole reliable
- Yeah, 2 if I need a traditional pencil, and 5 for everything else
- My fidgeting while I was in middle school led me to break every kind of mechanical pencil I used, except for 5. I forced myself to only use those in high school and college so I would always have a reliable pencil.

2
- Same. I press too hard to use mechanical pencils
  
  I just like being able to use a duller point sometimes when I'm drawing.

You missed an option.

Screw #8. Everyone here including OP missed out on the actual best Zebra mechanical pencil. The Zebra DelGuard.
It has this crazy mechanism that resists lead breakage by dropping a shield down if you press too hard.
https://www.zebrapen.com/products/delguard-mechanical-pencil?variant=40738814951630
They even made limited edition Hello Kitty ones years ago I imported. Best 0.3mm mechanical pencil I've ever used.

Someone do this, but with vibrators.
- "you can only write with ONE type of vibrator, ignoring diameter"
  
  Only one?
  downvotes

5 may not be pretty, but it's had my back in some hard times.
- I have a ton of these in the garage for woodworking. Screw the carpenters pencils, these are way better.
- The issue is the plastic internal mechanisms will wear out eventually. The Pentels have a metal core which has never worn out from my usage. I always end up losing the pencils before they break. The same can’t be said for the BICs.

Am I a psychopath for preferring to use a pen, even if it means I have to cross things out every now and then?
- Stay strong brethren
- I also prefer pen. I only use pencil if it's a drawing I'm likely to need to erase/revise. Not a fan of mechanicals though, using them puts my teeth on edge for some reason.
  
  the metal scraping on ur ruler or paper is painful
- Yes.
- Pilot G2 has been my preferred implement since high school. Just have to be careful for smudges, but I hate the feel goopier ink like in a bic pen, so it’s a fair trade off.
- This, I've been writing in inc brand R2s for 16 years now and I will never willingly use a different writing utensil.
- There are a few things where being sble to erase the mark is important enough for a pencil, in which case good ol' #2 fits every need.
- I can't reply what I want to because Id probably dox myself.

By a country mile
- I have 3 of them, one of which is metal and cost me more than I'd like for a pencil but holy hell is it nice to write with.
- What is it like to hold? I have a few nice mechanical pencils but wouldn’t mind to get something a bit less expensive for when I travel to the office (my everyday is a YOL but I don’t like taking it out… ADHD, outside, and nice things do not mix well).

#2
We’ve taken way too many things that don’t need to be plastic and made them plastic
- made them plastic
  #1 is all metal. Retractable tip. Bought one after Adam Savage reviewed them.
  #2 is definitely the best long-term option, but it's really nice not to have to constantly sharpen while you're doing some intricate work.
- +1
  never fails
- Yeah but with mechanical pencils you can buy one and have it for years, only just buying the occasional pack of leads... Saves the trees ¯(ツ)_/¯

A good engineering pencil can be used for anything.

#2
- My handwriting is awful. #2 for me.

2

Ticonderoga is the Cadillac of pencils.
- Can I introduce you to Blackwings? They write so well and the eraser is a little bigger. Is it a lot if hype? Yeah probably, but its also just a good pencil. It's like the Rolls Royce of wood pencils
  
  Blackwings feel like writing with a pen it’s absurd. Plus they look great

Number 2 is the only one that can write effectively on wood. I may not build a lot, but when I have tried to use a mechanical pencil for marking wood, it was a total fail.

Nope. You’re getting some decent conversation out of this so those 30 minutes were definitely put to good use. And that’s a nice photo.
- I just got photos off the internet, cropped them, and smashed them together in a docx.
  
  Haha. I envisioned you meticulously lining them up and spacing them evenly with a ruler. I wondered how you did the lighting because there were shadows under some pencils but not others. That should’ve been a clue that it was a composite.

2

METAL KURU TOGA MY GOAT 👑 👑 👑 🐐 🐐 🐐 🔥🔥🔥

I've never touched a mechanical pencil that didn't suck. 7 is awful, I don't understand what people like about it. The only choice on this is 2.

My choice would've been 3 or 1 just by how they feel in my hand, but I got a new .3 Kuru Toga and god it's too smooth for me not to choose 4
- 0.3mm, I love to write that thin but I can't stop breaking the lead. Agreed that the kuru toga is the best in this lineup though, I've had one for most of the last decade.
- I have #3 and the KH. The KH stays on my desk, but #3’s in my bag and goes everywhere because it has a fully retractable sleeve and I don’t have to worry about bending or breaking it.

The GOAT

If you choose #2 you'll eventually not be able to write anything ever again because you can't just add more lead.
- I think it's the only type of pencil you can use, not the only pencil.
  As in: you can get as many of your preferred pencil as you need, but you cannot use any of the others.
  
  Nobody said you get a sharpener though 😂

I already own that exact same Kuru Toga, so this one's a no-brainer.
Anyone who deliberately picks the Sharpwriter or the Bic needs keeping an eye on; we need to keep those kinds of people on a list.
- I think people use the sharpwriter because US standardized testing requires a #2 pencil and the sharpwriters are cheap.
  
  Same for Bic
- it‘s going to be a very long list, lol
  
  Key word being deliberately. I predict the majorty of people who wind up with either of those ghastly things did so because they were all that was available, easily filched from the supply closet, or it's all their parents would give them because they are above all else cheap.
  I have probably handled and used hundreds of the damn things in my life but I have never once spent a single penny on any of them; they were without exception foisted off on me by circumstance, not intentionally sought out.
  I was a Staedtler nerd in school anyway, any time I was not allowed to use a fountain pen.

3 Kuru Toga

2, always
- 2 in theory but there’s never a good pencil sharpener lying around.
  
  You will never get a sharper tip than with a cutter blade.
  
  I actually bought like 5 pencil sharpeners looking for one that sharpens on a steep angle to get the tip style that comes out of the box instead of the long style you get with most sharpeners. Now I just keep them all over the place.

#9 : Steadler 925 35-05b. It's my first nice mechanical pencil and it's just so nice to use.
The graphgear 1000 seems great too, I've never tried one tho.
- The staedtler 925 is great. I think you might prefer the graphgear 500 over the 1000 though, as the rubber nubs on the 1000 are more annoying than plain knurled metal, imo.

3 Kuru Toga. Every time

I'm a pen/pencil freak who's spent an amazing amount of money on them, and I'd choose 2.

Ticonderoga #2, an absolute classic.

- Don’t lose any of the plastic bits on that fucking nightmare.

#3 is the best mechanical I’ve ever owned, hands down. 3 all day long.
- I actually did stop using other pencils after getting one lol

How about none of the above? But I kind of like those triangular pencils.

Probably #1, I love the weight of the metal at the bottom.

I'd rather fucking kill myself.

Anyone who uses #7 by choice is a freak
- I find myself inordinately amused by the unsolicited vitriol of your comment. Sounds like you have a lot to unpack with that particular model.

This one
- Sorry, I said I wasn't going to kink shame today.

I prefer 2mm mechanical pencils instead of the 0.5mm ones.

The fact that Rotring, Staedtler, Faber-Castell, and K&E mechanical pencils are missing is deeply troubling.
I also have an emotional thing for the Pentel P200 series, and the Pentel Techniclick in black has been my absolute personal favourite for light-duty scribbling and note-taking/math since the 90s.

Who writes with a pencil? Drawing.... Okay... But writing is what fountain pens are for.
- Better not make an error with a pen when you're doing/writing down math.
  
  Okay you got a point. Luckily I don't have to do lots of math on paper in my day to day life.

This is the real personality tests, fuck Myers-Briggs and astrology. I need to know your choices for stationary.

Rotring rapid pro 0.7mm
- What's your opinion on the rotring tikky? I'm personally a big fan of the 0.5 tikky
  
  Tikky II got me through my entire education.
  
  Build quality by rotring is fantastic I don’t have a Tikky but I vouch for the brand

3

Pentel.
Always.
I prefer the p20x series personally but just about every mech pencil I've ever used from them has been excellent

A pen.

I would suggest that the Dixon Ticonderoga is the most reliable, most cost-efficient, and easiest-to-use writing utinsil in the history of humanity.*
Each other option has more points of potential failure and additional complexities over the Ticonderoga. While more complicated tools may net you some improvement in writing style or sharpness, they are massive trade-offs in more basic areas.
This would be much the same question if it were "what car would you drive for the rest of your life" between fancy ones like Ferraris and Lambos to cheaper, more reliable ones like Corollas and Civics. Everyone likes the look of the Ferrari -- but the only car for the rest of your life? It's got to be reliable, or you're going nowhere. You want to be able to keep driving.
The Ticonderoga guarantees you can keep writing.
*intentionally overselling it for humor. But it is a nice, simple, good-quality pencil.

I do all my art with 5.

Come on, where is the Pentel P200 series?
Edit: I'll take the koh-i-noor 2mm of available
- Hiding in the shadow of #1

I'm a Pentel man but the one pictured doesn't look very comfy. I'd want something closer to #6.
- Pentel used to be my pencil of choice, too. You'd probably want something more like the e-Sharp. The one pictured is really more of a precision work one. Drafting, art. Less for long-form writing.
  
  Yeah that looks about right.

Staedtler 35-05B but I guess 3 looks closest so I'll take that