Like micro-tip gel ink pens, mechanical pencils are a tool I like to have handy everywhere I may be writing. There is something about their technical design and fine lines that speak to me, and the Pentel Graph Gear 800 is a nice addition to my lineup.
Pentel’s Graph Gear lineup is well known and widely respected. The 1000 model drafting pencil and ballpoint are hugely popular with their aluminum barrel construction, but there is a definite place for the plastic barrel of the 800 lineup. The key is in the grip. It is metal, giving it the proper weight and balance for a drafting pencil, and features the same rubber pads that give other Graph Gear models an excellent feel.
Pentel color codes their barrels to match lead diameters, with black for 0.5 mm, blue for 0.7 mm, and yellow for 0.9 mm (green is 0.4 mm and brown is 0.3 mm for those product lines that use them). This is helpful for professionals who may have a lineup of pencils on their table when having to switch up line widths.
I find using the Graph Gear 800 to be a real pleasure. It is a comfortable writer while retaining the solid feel of the twice as expensive 1000 model. I prefer it over the less expensive Pentel Sharp model as well. The grip alone is worth the added cost.
Overall, this is a quality drafting pencil that I’m happy to have at my desk.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
