Pilot Opt Mechanical Pencil

I rarely review pencils on this blog - after all, it is called The PEN Addict - but from time to time I get the jones to try out a new one.  It's not often that I come away as impressed as I am with the Pilot Opt though.  All of the cool designs available at JetPens.com and the ultra-reasonable $3.00 price tag twisted my arm for me, and for it to perform as well as it did was just a bonus.  JetPens explains how this pencil came to be:

The Opt pencil is a quality instrument available at a fraction of its potential price. The sales slogan for this line in Japan is "Dress up!", and it was designed to accompany business people and travelers. It features a broad body for an ergonomic hold, a push clip that can be used to clip this pencil onto thicker objects, and a shaker function! This means that you can just shake the pencil and the internal weight mechanism extends the lead for you! No need to click (though pencil includes this feature)!

The Opt is a very sturdy pencil.  The barrel is well made, and carries a decent weight.  I am not a lead connoisseur, but the stock lead is a bit softer than I prefer, but that is of course easily remedied.  I'm pretty much hooked to shaker mechanisms, to the point when I am using a traditional mechanical pencil I get confused on how to get the lead out.  It looks like five of the ten models JetPens carries are sold out (including the one I have), but just keep an eye out and I'm sure they will restock.  It will be worth the wait.

Click here for the XL photo review.