Pentel GraphGear 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil (0.3mm), Black Accents, 1 Each (PG1013G) & Refill Eraser for Mechanical Pencils, 3 Tubes per pack, 4 erasers per tube

I like that it writes thin and doesn’t smudge. I use it to write notes in study books

I’ve used the .3mm Pentel GraphGear 1000 mechanical pencil as my daily carry pencil for a few years now. Actually, it’s not my daily driver. I don’t carry a mechanical pencil every day. I primarily use them for writing notes in book margins, and I do that about three or four days a week. So I’m reviewing this pencil from a specific point of view which may not be yours. But here goes…This .3mm pencil is the perfect size lead for writing in the margins of books. I used to use my fountain pens, but the colorful notes were too obtrusive upon re-reading the book and the ink would bleed making small notes nearly illegible and large notes too big to be accommodated in the margins of books.This pencil is the perfect size. BUT, .3mm lead is so thin that it often acts like a knife and cuts the paper you’re writing on, especially if it’s cheaper paperback paper. So you have a trade off: use the .3mm pencil and you can fit more on the page, but use them and you also end up with holes and tears in your page.But the real problem with the .3mm pencils that has brought me to stop using them is that the leads break fantastically easily. They break with even the slightest pressure. Perhaps if I bought only Pentel lead I wouldn’t have the problem, but Pentel lead is expensive, so I bought cheaper lead and it breaks and breaks and breaks.As much as I like the .3mm pen in theory I’ve had to reject it in practice. My last .3mm Pentel pencil broke this week and though I bought a new one, I bought several Rotring .5mm pencils as well and I’m converting to them.Let me add that I’ve found GraphGear pencils fairly reliable, but not bulletproof. I’ve had difficulty with lead sticking and not feeding with most of my GraphGear pencils, and I’ve had to throw several out which weren’t otherwise worn out at all in consequence. I don’t like to still be on my first eraser for a mechanical pencil and to be throwing the pen away because it won’t feed…