(These are my impressions of a mechanical pencil that I wrote because I thought it was very neat, but if I get anymore stationary I wanna talk about, I'll write about it)

I've recently begun my second to last college semester and have immediately run into a problem I've had since I was a little kid: I grip my pencils too firmly, and really dig the tip deep into the paper when I write. Because of this, my hand gets sore fast, and since I was little, I've had writer's callus. It's a big bump on my middle finger that makes writing painful and more uncomfortable. Though I've had this problem for a while, I had little means and/or no incentive to fix it, but after one of my last mechanical pencil snapped in half, I started looking into bougie alternatives.

The bump on my middle finger is what I'm talking about. It's very small now that I've been using this pencil, but it used to swell up ugly ugly.

That marks the beginning of my trek into the world of over-engineered mechanical pencils.

If you've ever had the YouTube algorithm recommend you something like an Uni Kuru Toga or a Pentel Orenz Nero, then you already know what I'm talking about (and if you haven't, search those up, they're cool but not specifically what I'll be writing about). If the name doesn't make it obvious, over-engineered mechanical pencils are mechanical pencils goated with some sort of mechanism or design that solves a sort-of nitpicky problem. For example, if you're annoyed with the fact a pencil lead tip can wear down and stop being sharp, there's mechanical pencils that rotate the lead every time you take the lead off the paper. Do you suplex your pencil and risk breaking all your unused leads every time you need to advance it's tip? Well there's pencils you can shake to advance the lead tip, and pencils that automatically let out more lead as you write. These mechanical pencils sound gimmicky, but for people who use them often or professionally, the little things these pencils provide to a writing experience make them worth it.

So as you can imagine, I was absolutely enamored with all the different ergonomic pencils I could chose, and the one I ended up picking is The Zebra DelGuard Type-GR Mechanical Pencil. I ordered it from JetPens along with replacement erasers, a Sakura Sumogrip Eraser, and Pentel Ain 0.5mm HB lead.

The Sumogrip eraser is super great too, I have to fix giant errors often when I'm doing Physics and Calculus problems, and it doesn't leave a big mess!

Being an ergonomic pencil, the Zebra DelGuard Type-GR is made to feel stupid good. It uses this gummy cushioning with a raised end towards the writing tip that keeps your fingers from getting to close to the metal part of the writing end. While I was initially hesitant to get a pencil with a rubbery grip, having this thing as grippy as it is sort of eases your hand into relaxing when you write. It's not something I realized right away, but as I was using it, my fingers figured out they don't have to squeeze the pencil as hard anymore to keep it from slipping away. It's honestly worked wonders for my hand fatigue, though that's not to say that I don't get it anymore. My writer's callus also hasn't gone away, but whereas it would get red, irritated, and stingy-feeling before, it just sort of turns a little red now. Compared to the purple bruising I'd usually get, that's an upgrade.

One criticism is that this thing attracts all kinds of lint, but I think that's to be expected with this kind of thing.

The body the DelGuard Type-GR has is also really spiffy, and works to lessen the strain on a writer's hand. This thing has a very thick body, about as thick if not a little bigger in diameter than a Sharpie. Because of this, my fingers didn't have to squeeze together as closely as they would a typical mechanical pencil. It's also noticeably heftier towards the writing tip, which makes it feel sturdy when I write. I've noticed that it feels a lot more controllable than using a lighter pencil which is weird because you'd think something more lightweight would be easier to work with. In the case of this pencil however, the weight made me feel more wieldy, and it had me lettering things with a lighter pressure. I guess the weight it has works to keep you from impulsively jamming the lead tip of this thing into the paper you're writing with.

A stationary lineup as a comparison.

Even if you still jam this thing into your writing canvas however, it's built with a mechanism that makes writing with it both smooth and safe. DelGuard pencils (not specifically GR) have a mechanism in the tip that lets the lead go back into the shaft if you press on it too hard vertically. And at angles, this thing will shift to protect the lead from breaking. It's a really wild looking thing, but it works big time and I've rarely had my lead break. With this pencil, the reason you push out more lead is if you wear the tip down to the metal shaft.

As you can see, vertical pressure causes the tip to retract, and diagnal pressure gets this plate thingie to come out and sheathe the lead.

Speaking of the shaft, it looks and makes you feel like you're writing with a ballpoint pen. I don't know if that's specifically because of the lead I bought, but even with the lead it came with, this thing felt like gel on paper. It also looks like gel on paper, but like I said, that's probably because of the lead I bought with it. This Ain stuff ain't bad, lemme tell ya.

I really love this design too, its so sleek and not so... manufactored feeling ig?

Overall this thing was worth it, and at a price of about ten bucks, I think its better than buying a pack of multiple pencils. Especially since it seems to be the more environmental and cost-efficient option since you don't throw this thing away when you run out of lead or eraser. In that case, buying more lead and more eraser tips is just easier to do. Plus, its nice getting attached to something like this. It makes writing things feel nicer in a sentimental way. The only problem I see with this is getting addicted to buying more over-engineered mechanical pencils, but with good restraint, this thing can last you forever and ever if you take care of it.

Example

Throwing these at the very end since this blog focused more on what this thing features and how it felt to use it rather than what you can do with it.

Some Calculus 1 notes and doodles. Guess what we're learning first instead of derivates?

A doodle of my OC, Lee Harper Makenzie. Using the DelGuard made me think about values a lot more because of pen pressure. Also, my lines felt a hell-of-a-lot more confident.

Some doodles of my roleplay group OC, Oon. I was trying to practice some more expressive stuff with him since his PuiPui Molcar face was feeling stiff.