Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil Review

The fact that I’m sitting here thinking about if the Leuchtturm Drehgriffel Mechanical Pencil is better than the Drehgriffel Ballpoint pen I already love tells you what I think about this pencil. Is it better, though? Maybe. Is it better than a traditional mechanical pencil? That’s a tougher question to answer, but I’m going to give it a shot today.

The Mechanical Pencil was a surprise entrant into the Drehgriffel lineup, at least for me. The Ballpoint seemed to be a success, so why not a pencil? From standard colors, to gel ink refills, to building your own pen from an array of colors, I’ve enjoyed all things Drehgriffel. Would I enjoy the pencil? Clearly, yes.

Matching packaging!

What is it about this lineup that I like so much? The design is wonderful. It has a vintage feel with modern colors. It’s small and slim, so it fits in many places, including in the hand nicely when it’s time to write. The aluminum barrel feels sturdy, and both models - Ballpoint and Mechanical Pencil - use a twist mechanism to extend and retract the tip or graphite.

My custom built ballpoint.

The pencil ships with 0.7 mm HB graphite, and it does a nice job. I do find it to be slightly on the Hard side of the scale, but that works well if you are looking for a portable pencil. That’s where this Drehgriffel thrives. In other areas, like when compared to more traditional mechanical pencils, it falls a bit short.

For starters, there is no eraser. That’s not a deal-breaker for me, but is mandatory for others. What may be closer to a deal-breaker, is the aforementioned twist mechanism. To extend the graphite, you give the mechanism on the end of the pencil a quarter-twist, counter-clockwise, for each stage you would like to extend. For me, that’s two clicks (it’s a ratchet-style mechanism that snaps back after each twist,) to get my preferred writing length.

Rotring 600, left. Pentel Sharp, right.

While this mechanism is functional, it becomes weird when it is time to retract the lead. For that, you will hold the twist instead of letting it go, and push the graphite back in, either with your finger or on the page or desk. It’s easy enough, and it feels weird to complain about something that works fine, but decades of standard mechanical pencil operation had me overthinking this.

You may have to grip the Drehgriffel further back on the barrel.

Another design element to consider is the grip section. While it matches the entire Drehgriffel design aesthetic, the large nose cone is more befitting of a traditional wooden pencil than a mechanical one. Most typical mechanical pencils, especially of the engineering variety, have some form of straight-sided grip section. There are some notable exceptions - the Pentel Sharp is a big one - so keep that in mind if that is important to you.

With all of the pros and cons laid out, there is of course one more detail to consider: price. This is a $34 mechanical pencil, which puts it well into the upper end of the price spectrum for mechanical pencils. I think that limits who this pencil is for. Leuchtturm fans will enjoy it, as will stationery nerds like myself. It would also make for a good gift. Otherwise, I think it might be a tough sell for a user needing a mechanical pencil, or a random stationery purchase.

For me, I enjoy it and I can see using it frequently. It will be a nice travel companion since it doesn’t have a lead pipe on the front that can get bent, and it is more writer-ish than my favorite travel pencil, the Caran d’Ache Fixpencil. And who knows, if Leuchtturm ever offers the opportunity to build your own, I may add another one to the arsenal.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Staedtler Wopex Pencil Review

Ok, fine. The Staedtler Wopex is not the worst pencil of all time.

Sure, I like to make that joke frequently, and the pencil itself has become a bit of a meme in our community, but it’s not that bad. Right?

I question myself, because it’s not great to write with. It’s just not the worst. What’s the worst pencil on the market? I’m not sure, but ones with cores that crumble when writing would top the list. The Wopex at least writes. And, depending on your expectations, writes well.

With the Wopex, Staedtler has built more eco-friendly pencil using wood waste (70%) in combination with plastic (30%) to form material than can then be extruded to make this pencil. Assumedly, Staedtler takes the waste from the production of their more traditional wooden slat pencils and uses it to make more pencils. Honestly, that sounds smart, and I appreciate that Staedtler has committed to this process for one of their products.

Does HB even mean anything?

While I can appreciate the environmentally friendly bonafides the Wopex brings to the market, what I don’t get along with is the core. There is less information on that formulation than with the barrel, but the graphite, if it can be called that, has a waxy, plastic-like feel. I’m guessing the core needed to be modified to fit the expectation of the pencil. And also to match the weight of the pencil - the extruded barrel is heavier and denser than a traditional wooden barrel, so it likely needed a stronger core to match.

Marked on the barrel as HB #2, the Wopex writes nothing like any HB #2 pencil I have ever used. It is so firm, and so light, that in comparison to traditional wooden pencil cores, I’d put it all the way up in the 2H-4H range. My handwriting looks fantastic with it, but it is very light. Too light for heavy usage.

On performance alone, I wonder where the Staedtler Wopex sits for hobbyist pencil users. Special conditions only, maybe? Under no circumstances is it better than any traditional pencil I own, for any use case. If I wanted output on the page like the Wopex, I’d just grab a 4H pencil whose graphite is much more enjoyable.

There are some good things to mention about the Wopex. I appreciate Staedtler’s focus on recycling and using the waste products they create during production of their other pencils. The color and style is fantastic. The feel is nice too, despite the relatively heavy weight. The eraser is decent, which is high praise compared to most. They are inexpensive, coming in at less than 30 cents in bulk (Amazon affiliate link.) Finally, the Wopex might actually survive nuclear fallout, along with cockroaches.

On the left, sharpened with the Uni KH-20. On the right, with a KUM handheld. Even with a good blade in the KUM, you can see how both the graphite and barrel are sharpened inconsistently.

The downsides? The lead isn’t good for me, but others may enjoy it. And sharpening the Wopex with a handheld sharpener is an exercise in frustration. I used my Uni KH-20 desktop sharpener for this review and it worked well. I’ve used handhelds with the Wopex in the past and it doesn’t sharpen the barrel cleanly, sometimes leaving a ragged edge. The barrel material makes it difficult.

So there is my look at the Staedtler Wopex, a pencil I have come to love because of how weird it is. If you want to become a part of the weirdness, it is at least inexpensive to try. And who knows, maybe it will become your new favorite pencil.

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What Is In Your Perfect Pencil Kit?

As my pencil month experiment winds down, I’ve been thinking about some of my favorite products I’ve had in use. And, if I took some of these products and put them together as a kit, what would it include, and how would I set it up? Here are the options I settled on for my personal pencil kit:

A writing pencil. This should be the core of your setup, and your most-used pencil. What pencil do you want to use the majority of the time? For me, that means a dark, firm core with solid point retention. Bonus points for looks. The Mitsubishi 9850 comes to mind here, as does the Blackwing Eras - two of my favorite pencils to just pick up and write. There are no questions here, only solid performance every time I pick it up.

A sketching pencil. This could go a few different ways depending on your needs, but for me, it means something on the soft side, or B side, of the graphite scale. For example, the Tombow Mono KM-KKS 4B, which features a much softer core than the writing options above, but one that is rock solid for such a soft, dark pencil.

A detail pencil. This is my H side option. I’ve toned it down over the years from the 4H range to 2H, which is still plenty aggressive for what I need. This Tombow-made Tajima 2H - for hi-precision drafting, it says - is a perfect choice.

A fun pencil. Do you like a certain character that you can buy pencils for? A wild color? A unique material, either for the wood barrel or core? I always want to have some fun in any kit, whether it is my favorite Aggretsuko pencil, or the Caran d’Ache Stinkwood, which is always a good time.

A color pencil. Or three. Honestly, you can never have too many color options. A magic pencil works wonderfully here, as do the two-sided pencils, like the classic Mitsubishi Vermillion/Prussian Blue, or my favorite, The Editor, a collaboration between Caran d’Ache and the artist formally known as CW Pencil Enterprise.

A self-contained sharpener. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to make a mess unless I am prepared to make a mess. That means that unless I have a trash can handy to sharpen over, I want the pencil shavings to be stored inside the sharpener until I can empty them safely. The KUM Long Point is my favorite option for this. If you don’t care about containing the shavings, then you could opt for the open-blade KUM Masterpiece. The Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener does do a fantastic job of sharpening and containing the shavings, as long as you get a good blade on order.

An eraser. This is a do as I say, not as I do moment. I don’t use erasers, even the ones attached to the pencil. I scratch out and move on, as if I were using a pen. That said, I do like having one on hand just in case. Tombow makes the best in this category, or you can toss in something cool like this Seed Clear Radar eraser, which comes in two sizes: small, and smaller.

A pencil cap. I mean, we are nerds about this stuff, right? I don’t put pencil caps on all of the pencils I carry (that’s why I carry a sharpener,) but I will usually put it on my writing pencil because it is likely the most used pencil. I feel better knowing that if I am banging it around the most that it is protected when I need to pick it up and write quickly.

Pencil paper. What is pencil paper? Take what you like for fountain pens, and choose the exact opposite. Ok, maybe that’s a bit much, but you don’t necessarily want a smooth, slow-drying paper for graphite. The paper doesn’t have to be toothy, but you want some grab from the pencil tip so that it leaves a solid and consistent mark. Field Notes fit the kit size perfectly.

A pouch. Is this the toughest part of the pencil kit? I think so. I made my perfect pencil pouch when Nock Co. was going (R.I.P.) which was exceedingly simple. It didn’t need to hold too much, but it needed to be long enough to hold an unsharpened Blackwing. That was the measurement we used because Blackwing’s are the longest pencil on the market, and longer than most standard pencils off the shelf. Rickshaw makes a nice option for this.

What else? I think I’ve covered my bases here - what else do you put in your pencil kit? Let me know in the comments below.

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!