Staedtler 771 1.3mm Mechanical Pencil Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Every now and then, I get my hands on a writing instrument that is so far outside of my normal wheel of interest. Sometimes it's a delightful surprise, and other times it ends up being a short-lived interest. Either way, trying new things is the ultimate goal. In the case of this mechanical pencil, I've been grinning so much while using it to jot notes and doodles.

The Staedtler 771 mechanical pencil is a bold, playful pencil that features 1.3 mm HB lead that lays down thick, smooth lines of graphite. The 771 is comically large, and I really giggled when I first grabbed it. Despite the loud yellow and black color scheme, it's incredibly comfortable and easy to use. After using it a few seconds, it reminded me of the large diameter (10mm) pencils students were given in kindergarten and first grade while we learned to write our alphabet. The large diameter is easier to hold and control for little hands, and the same is definitely true for this mechanical pencil.

If I had to guess, one of the main business cases for this pencil is for school children who are learning to write. It's a robust, ergonomic pencil that doesn't require sharpening. Plus, it comes with a substantial eraser that will last quite a while since you can extend more as you wear it down.

The 1.3mm lead size isn't unheard of, but it's not common in mechanical pencils. This lead is wide, and it wears down to a flat surface in just a few strokes. If you continually rotate the pencil while writing to prevent a flat side, you end up with a wonderfully stubby round piece of lead that makes roughly 1mm lines when writing. For me, I don't really enjoy rotating this pencil as I write since it has a clip and a three-sided body that messes with how the pen feels in my hand.

While this pencil is great for young people who are learning how to write by hand, this is also a great choice for artists that want a wide line that maxes out at just 1.3mm. Graphite and pencils have a larger diameter core that eventually gets ruined by the necessity of sharpening the pencil or graphite stick. You can do a lot of shading with this 1.3mm pencil, and you never have to sharpen it or constantly determine how the line is changing as the lead wears down closer to the wood casing.

And you can also compare this to the more engineering-focused lead holders, though those typically use large lead sizes as well. Still, the perk of the Staedtler 771 compared to a lead holder is ease-of-use. Need more lead? Just click the back of the pencil to extend some more. Want to retract the lead so you can safely stow it in a pocket or bag? Easy. Not so much with a lead holder.

Along with the large body, triangular grip, and wide lead, there's also a lead cushioning system built in to the pencil to protect the lead from excessive pressure. Again, a great feature for people that are learning how to write. In my testing, it works well at preventing lead breaks.

Whenever I see a pencil with a tiny eraser, I mumble and complain about how pointless it is. If you're going to put an eraser on a pencil, make sure it's a useful one. The erasers you find a woodcase pencil are great, but when they're gone, they're gone for good. The 771 features an extendable eraser that should last for many mistakes, and does a great job at disappearing the wide 1.3mm graphite marks. And if you need more erasers, they're easy to replace and don't cost much either (about $2 for a 3-pack).

Writing with the pencil is comfortable thanks to the wide body, triangular shape, and rubber grip section, but this isn't a pencil that I reach for when I want to write notes. The large lead size just doesn't pair well with my relatively small writing style — the letters are hard to read. But, this has been a go-to for drawing and doodling since you can get a lot of different line widths from different sides of the lead, and it also does a great job at shading.

At $9.75, the Staedtler 771 1.3mm mechanical pencil is a lot of fun, and I think it meets its purpose beautifully. It looks silly, but that's okay. It's supposed to be fun because learning to write and drawing is fun. If the school-themed yellow/black colorway isn't your thing, there are other colors too (white, black, and blue)! Just be sure to pick up some extra lead with your order since you'll go through it quickly while rediscovering your inner child.

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

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Posted on May 15, 2024 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Staedtler, Mechanical Pencil, Pencil Reviews.

Randomizing Pen And Ink Choices

What happens when you let other people pick out your next fountain pen and ink combination? Magic.

That’s what took place last week in Thursday’s Twitch stream, and the experience was so enjoyable I thought I would take the time to write up how complete randomness turned in to something awesome.

One of the interactive parts of Twitch is a tool called Channel Points. Viewers watch the stream, and passively build up a bank of points. As a streamer, I can then create Point Redemptions for the viewers to make me do different tasks. For a few points, you can make me hydrate, or check my posture - which are things often missed while streaming. For more points, you can get me to run a stationery giveaway on stream, or, as in this case, ink up a fountain pen. That’s where the fun came in!

This point redemption allows the user to pick any fountain pen I own and make me ink it up with any ink I own. When this redemption happens, it turns into interactive awesomeness between myself and the stream, with discussions around what they should make me do.

In this particular case, the point redeemer, let’s call them Alan, leaned into the randomness by not having any pre-planned ideas for the pen and ink choice. So, what did we do? We rolled the dice.

I had recently received several random dice to use for my solo journaling games (more on that another day,) so we put them into action. My Toyooka Craft 100 pen box is the perfect partner for dice rolls with 5 trays of 20 pens each, so we grabbed the two dice needed for a D100 roll and fired them across the desk.

The result? 69. You cannot make this up. Nice!

That put us into the 9th slot of the fourth tray, which held the elusive Franklin-Christoph Model 20 Italian Ice. This is a pen that was on my shopping list for years before I was able to acquire it, and it will be around for years more. That said, it hasn’t been inked up for a while, so this was a wonderful choice.

While picking the pen was rather straightforward, my ink is not in a well-organized situation that would make it easy to match up with dice. We decided to roll a d20 and a d6 to pick a letter of the alphabet that we could match with an ink brand or color name. We hit 8 on the roll, meaning we had to come up with something related to “H”. It took a second, and then “Herbin” was shouted. Jacques Herbin! I have plenty of those, especially of the shimmer variety. My favorite of those, Shogun, was mentioned, and Alan decided that yes, that needs to be inked in the Italian Ice.

These results made me want to write this post. I love my Franklin-Christoph Italian Ice. I also love J. Herbin Shogun. Not in a million years would I sit here and put those two together, and to someone who often gets stuck in safe pen and ink pairing ruts, this is a goldmine of fun. I want more of it.

Maybe one of these days, I’ll go full Omakase at a pen show and see what kind of trouble we can get in to.

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!

Posted on May 13, 2024 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Fountain Pens, Ink Test, Dice.