STAEDTLER Mars Tehnical Mechanical Pencil, 2mm (#2) Lead Holder with Built-in Sharpener - Drawing & Sketching Pencil with Metal Clip & Push-Button Lead Advance

I love this pencil. It has a built-in lead sharpener in the cap. Remember to empty it out though. It is weighty, has a very smooth mechanism, and works great. Any 2.0mm lead works in it, but if you want it to feel like the lead of a normal wood pencil, get HB lead. 2.0mm lead has never broken for me, very thick and sturdy. Overall an amazing mechanical pencil and I love the clutch mechanism.

Great mechanical pencil. Make sure you buy the one that has the sharpener built into the cap. There are different models, apparently.

I have no idea where my 30yo Staedtler drafting pencil is, but this is a much younger clone. As Tony the Tiger said, they're GREAT!!!

Five Stars for everything!!! This is a lead holder, rather than a mechanical pencil that dispenses little tiny leads. This one contains a lead equal to what you would find in a No.2 pencil. It cleverly has a way to sharpen the lead with a little hole in the clicker to advance the lead. I really like this lead holder. You can buy a variety of leads for it, all 2mm, but with different hardness or colors. The holder is easy to grip, with a crosshatched metal part where you grip the instrument. It only holds one lead at a time, but it is long and would be like saying you only use one pencil at a time. I really love the way this feels, the weight is there, but not too much. It feels sturdy, and I'm not tempted to chew on it at all. That's a good thing :-) If you are happy using regular wood pencils, this may be superfluous, but if you like using holders and having back-up lead instead of backup pencils, this could be just your thing. I am considering getting another one in a different color, to mark that it has colored lead in it. I really enjoy being able to retract the lead entirely when not using this, so there is no worry about lead breakage. This is a fine lead holder, and I cannot find anything negative to say about it.

Bought this to replace the one I had in tech school. I think it's as good as that pro quality "lead holder".

Nice quality, good size lead. I like built in sharpener in pen top.

There are certain Artists/Engineers that prefer using a mechanical pencil for drawing/drafting. The small widths of the 0.3-0.7 mm lengths tend to keep a sharp point and are great for drawing without stopping every minute to sharpen the point. The drawback to these mechanical pencils is that it also tends to snap on you with the slightest bit of pressure. Besides being annoying it can sometimes leave a mark on your paper as well. Now the 1.0 mm leads are thicker but the points seem duller and they also snap on you when drawing (maybe not as easily or as often). Another drawback with these types of pencils is they often don't come with varying degrees of hardness (9B-9H) as your wood encased pencils often do. Staedtler has taken the best of both and fused them into this Lead holder. At 2.0 mm the leads are very sturdy and can take a greater measure of pressure. For all intents and purposes this lead holder is very similar to mechanical pencils. Although they are the tools I use most often they are not without their drawbacks as well. Here is a summary of the pros and cons IMO: Pros: 1. Staedtler leads are one of the best products. 2. Very light-weight and comfortable design. 3. The thick lead makes it very durable. It hardly ever snaps on me. 4. A variety of hardness degrees are available (EB, 6B-B, HB, F, H-9H). 5. There is a lead pointer located at the end of each pencil. Therefore you don't have to buy one separately. However, Staedtler does make Staedtler Mars Rotary Action Lead Pointer and Tub for 2mm Leads, 502BKA6 , which works very well. 6. The individual leads are labeled with the various degrees. 7. You don't have to worry about unevenly centered lead cores, which can happen with the standard pencil. Resulting in breakage and waste. 8. The lead keeps a point longer than a standard pencil. You can create both a sharp point and dull point as needed with the above sharpener. 9. Since you are only sharpening the lead, you can save yourself time and money. Whenever you sharpen a standard pencil, you eat away a lot of the wood casing along with the lead. 10. Refills are cheaper than buying a new standard pencil. Cons: 1. Unless you want to switch out the lead each time you need a different degree, you need to buy a lead holder for each degree you need. (Tip: The staedtler graphite/lead is what I love. There are a variety of 2.0 mm lead holders available.) 2. There is a lead pointer located at the end of each pencil. It does pull off to sharpen the lead but it is very small and difficult to maneuver. There is only one type of point to sharpen your lead to. (Sharp point) 3. After sharpening your lead, the shavings have to go somewhere. If you don't remember to dump the end, you will certainly end up with a mess somewhere. 4. Although the individual leads are labeled with the various degrees, the lead holder itself has no mechanism to let you know which degree of lead you are using. However, Staedtler does provide inter-changeable color-coded pencil ends to mark which lead is in each holder. However, this is only provided with the purchase of 12 count refill leads. (I use tape to identify the different leads. I also bought Paper Mate Foohy Gooshy Grips (73740) , which adds comfort to my grip and the color coding helps me to visually see the pencil degree I need. 5. No built in eraser. Not always used, but still nice to have. 6. Push button advance is a bit of an exaggeration. You push the button and it releases the lead. Not controlled advancements that you would find with a traditional mechanical pencil. I still think that the pros far outweigh the cons. Either which way, I still love the Staedtler graphite and think it is one of the best products for sketching and drawing.

This is a great entry-level lead holder. It's affordable just like mechanical pencils, but a lot more durable. The casing is all plastic just as other reviewers mentioned, but I don't find it flimsy at all. It will definitely survive accident drops (desk to floor), but the drop itself is unlikely to happen since part of the barrel has been shaped specifically to prevent it. The lead holder came with a single piece of 2H lead - this is really important if you're trying to draw with it - because 2H is hard enough to break if you pressure it to much. The provided 2H lead gives really light lines and should be used for fine drawing. It's easy to erase though. If you want to use this for drawing, definitely get a box of 2B or darker lead with it (which I luckily did). Just beware that since this is a budget lead holder, any pieces of lead you purchase will probably cost more. There's a lead sharpener at the "eraser" end of the pencil - which is really convenient. (There is no eraser.) However, the sharpener isn't as easy to use as you would expect. The hole is quite deep, so if you're used to drawing with a short lead tip, remember to get it out before trying to sharpen it. Also, unlike dedicated lead sharpeners out there, the sharpener on this pencil does not have a place to store the lead residue, nor a second hole to let them out. This means you'll have to frequently remove the lead powder manually by tapping it backwards on some hard surface that you aren't concerned with getting lead spread everywhere. Overall, this lead holder is a great value at its price, but if you're planning to use it "professionally" it might be a good idea to invest in a nicer sharpener and some good quality lead.