Staedtler 925-35 2.0 mm Lead Holder Review

(This is a guest post by Nick Folz. You can find more of Nick and his work on his blog, Smallberry Drive, Twitter, and Instagram.)

Staedtler finally pitched me over the edge of Mechanical Pencilville, into Lead Holder Valley. Lead holders, for the uninitiated, are mechanical pencils whose lead is 2.0 mm or larger. They have a couple of lead advancement systems, the most common is a “clutch” system that holds onto the lead like a claw until you hit the knock and then it releases, dropping the lead until you let off the knock and it grabs it again. This is fine if you have a free hand to stop the lead, otherwise it’s hitting the floor. The Staedtler 925 35-20 thankfully has a typical lead advancement, like what you would expect from a regular mechanical pencil; each click extends the lead bit by bit. Its navy blue all metal body and precise construction are attention grabbers from the get go. This pencil is as no nonsense as it is aesthetically pleasing. There are some nitpicks and strange decisions, but Staedtler's 925-35 2.0 mm Lead Holder is one stunner of a tool.

The all metal build is not overly heavy, thanks to aluminum. The knurled grip is a series of textured ring areas. The knurling is not extreme, but just enough to be grippy. The lead guide is fixed, but since it is such a wide diameter it is pocket safe. Toward the body of the pen is the lead grade indicator, so you can mark what type of lead is currently in the pencil (2B for life). The slick blue body features their name and logo. I think just the helmet logo would have looked better, but I am nitpicking.

The clip is okay, not great. It has a tendency to slide a bit, by a bit I mean a few centimeters a week with pocket carrying the whole time. I usually prefer a built in clip so that might be a personal bias. You can remove it if you want. The cap in has “2.0” printed on it, and it has a satisfying resistance to it when advancing the lead.

I am not sure why they opted out of putting a sharpener on the inside of the cap. It is a feature that most mid-level lead holders have, so if you want to put a point on the lead you can do it on the fly without having to grab another tool. I might have understood if they swapped it for an eraser - I would still rather have a sharpener - but even that is absent. The lack of an eraser is not as egregious as the missing sharpener, since it would be eaten alive by this amount of lead. I wound up buying a little plastic sharpener and a kneaded rubber eraser that I keep in an Altoids mini tin. These tins are quickly becoming a favorite storage device of mine.

This goes for all lead holders, but it's worth mentioning, these are garbage for taking notes or writing unless you print very large. I like a thick mechanical pencil lead, .7mm and .9mm usually, but this is too much. I had to adjust the size of my lettering to be able to write anything legible at all. You can get a fine point with a sharpener, but it wears down quick, especially my soft 2B lead. If you are looking primarily for a writing device you should probably look elsewhere, otherwise you'll be sharpening this thing non-stop.

All and all the results are sort of mixed bag. Once I got used to the larger lead size I really enjoyed the experience. I kind of liken it to brushes versus ballpoints, you can get a ton more expression out of a lead holder versus a typical mechanical pencil. The drawbacks weren't enough to keep this thing out of my pocket day in and day out, but if I did more writing than drawing you can bet it would have not lasted long. One of the things that really helps this pencil is the aesthetic and its price. At $20 it is top tier quality at a mid level cost. The blue is very eye catching and the weight and feel is solid. If you are in the market for a quality lead holder that looks as good as it works, this is going to be a serious contender.

The Staedtler 925-35 2.0 mm Lead Holder is available from JetPens and also comes in standard mechanical pencil sizes (which have erasers in the cap).

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Staedtler Intium Lignum Fountain Pen Giveaway

Once upon a time there was a pen that surprised me in all the right ways. I didn't expect it to happen, but it was a real treat to use. And now, I want that pen to surprise someone else.

The Staedtler Intium Lignum Fountain Pen is a stunner. It's well put together, looks beautiful, and writes wonderfully. And I'm giving it away to one lucky reader.

Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now and Friday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and International readers.

2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

3. The contest winner will be posted on Saturday, July 11th. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

My thanks once again to Staedtler for sending me this pen for review, and now giveaway!

Staedtler Intium Lignum Fountain Pen Review

Staedtler makes fountain pens?

That was my first reaction when Staedtler PR reached out to me asking if I wanted to take a look at their new fountain pen lineup. Ok great, this will be a school pen along the lines of the Pelikan Twist, right? A good pen, no doubt, but aimed at the beginner/student market.

Oh how all of my assumptions were wrong.

Staedtler has introduced The Intium Collection, a premiun linuep of pens which contains two fountain pen models: The Resina, with it’s sharp, irridescent resin barrel, and the one they sent me, the Lignum, a wood barrel fountain pen.

When unboxing it for the first time I was immediately impressed. The plum wood is a warm caramel color and is set off nicely by a brushed steel cap and section. The feel of the pen is rock solid as well. You pick it up and you call tell it is a well-constructed writing instrument. Every bit of it is tight and on point.

The clip design on the Staedtler Lignum is a knockout. It’s wide and long, running nearly the full length of the cap, but is set at a low profile to give it a clean, sleek look. It is tight, but not overly so, giving it the perfect pocket tension when attaching and removing. Very well implemented.

Inking it up, I was a little nervous putting the nib to the page, not knowing if the steel nib would live up to the standard the rest of the pen had already set. Once again, my worries were quickly brushed aside with the first stroke. This is one of the cleanest, sharpest writing steel extra fine nibs I have ever used. I was so impressed, I emailed my contact at Staedtler to find out more. I asked point blank who made the nib:

“Our nibs, along with all other components/articles within our Premium Collection with the exception of the inks, are manufactured in Germany. As the nibs are manufactured specially for the STAEDTLER Premium Collection, this is proprietary information.”

I figured that was as good as I was going to get. ;) It’s a splendid nib though, and it better be due to the cost of the pen.

Price is one of my main concerns with the Lignum. MSRP is $279, street price is closer to $225. For a steel nib pen at that price it better be good, and this one is. Still, perceived value will be at the forefront of most buying decisions, and many will balk when they can get a gold nib pen for half the cost in some instances. In situations like this, I always like to refer people to Brian Gray’s excellent article “In Praise Of Steel Nibs.”

My other concern is minor, and more of a question in my head than anything. The plum wood barrel is unfinished. Meaning, there is no coating, lacquer, etc. on top of the wood to seal it. It’s essentially raw, smooth wood. It feels great, but I wonder if natural oils in the hand will stain it, or, more concerning, stray fountain pen ink. To be determined.

The Staedtler Intium Lignum impressed me. I know this because as I was using it I kept stopping writing to look at the pen quizzically, as if to say "is this really happening?" I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it never did. It was an enjoyable experience, and I think Staedtler has something nice on their hands here.

My thanks to Staedtler for sending me this pen at no charge for the purposes of review.

Familiar looking ink bottle...