Faber Castell Poly Matic mechanical pencil

After a long intermission, in which I had a more busy schedule and a lot of procrastination and excuses, I read the book Atomic Habits and I started reading The Power of Habit. Now I am trying to apply the principles from the books to my life. Apparently when setting better daily habits I forgot about adding the blog as a daily or weekly activity :) Now I am back and want to share with you my opinions on the recently acquired Faber Castell Poly Matic, mechanical pencil. 

I saw this pencil available in local stores only recently and at first look I liked it a lot. The design is very nice and modern. This is a general writing mechanical pencil, t is not intended for drafting. The Poly Matic had an automatic lead advancement as well as a traditional push to advance system, and it has a retractable tip. The automatic lead advancement works ok. The push isn't that satisfying, even if it works perfectly, but there is no click to it.

I bought the 0.7 mm version. The Poly Matic pencil comes with 0.5 mm lead, and it can be bought as a ball pen. It has a plastic body that is the star of the show. The body is a very smooth and satin like plastic that is a joy to the fingers. It is quite chunky at the back and slims down to a perfect fit around the grip area. For extra comfort, it has some circular grooves in the grip section for extra comfort. Even though it has a triangular shape, it is very subtle and pleasant in hand. I have the black or better said dark gray color which looks impressive. The finish is mate and gives it a premium look. The pencil of course comes in other colors, some of them quite bold.

The only shiny parts on the pencil are the tip of the pencil, the clip and a small ring that delimits the pencil from the eraser.

The clip of the pencil is curvy, shiny and very strong.

To refill the pencil, you have to pull out the eraser unit, and this is how you get access. The Eraser unit is  quite big, and to extend the eraser you have to rotate it. The erasers protrude one or  two mm even when it is retracted all the way.

Narcos, pens and fountain pens

I am a big fan of the Narcos series and during this long winter break, I had time to watch Narcos Mexico, the third and final season. After 6 seasons of Narcos 3 in the original series where the action takes place in Colombia and the Narcos Mexico, will make a recap of the pens shown on the movie. There were many pens and pencils.

In the original series, first and second season, the action revolves around the Medellín Cartel, and mostly around Pablo Escobar. In the third season the action is shifted in a post Escobar Colombia, to a rival cartel, the Cali cartel.

Murphy and Pena the DEA agents which are trying to take down the Medellin cartel.

 

Looks very much like a Parker Jotter.

The second one not very clear.

A possible silver gold Parker IM ball point

In the third season, the action has shifted from Pablo to the Cali cartel. In episode 3 of the third series there is an insert with president Nixon, signing the act in which American banks have to announce all transactions over 10k $.

 

The act seems to be signed with a Parker 75 

 

The Cali cartel is being controlled is represented by Miguel

He is writing with a Parker Urban Premium

Narcos Mexico, which followed the original Narcos starts with a Parker Jotter used by the director of the newspaper La Voz

A typewriter, a notebook and a Parker. Great setup.

Season 3 of Narcos Mexico, Benjamin, the leader of the Tijuana cartel, receives a gift for his 40th birthday. It is a fountain pen that is supposed to be used by three presidents. It doesn't specify which presidents used it but still a cool gift.

It is not a clear image, it could be an Aurora Talentum. All this just before an intense moment, where in a club Chapo is trying to get them (a lot of shooting involved)

 

 

If you haven't seen the TV series, I highly recommend giving it a try. It is very good and even if you think things or characters will not live up to the previous season, you will be in for a treat.

Koh-I-Noor 5219, 2 mm clutch pencil with metal grip section

I do not think that many people still use clutch pencils, but for those of you who still enjoy them, Koh-I-Noor has you covered with a wide range of clutch mechanical pencils. I have reviewed several of them, at the end of the post there are links to the other pencils.

The Koh-I-Noor 5219 is a typical clutch mechanism, meaning it has the jaws that keep the lead and by releasing them you slide the lead in or out. The pencil comes in five different colors, red, blue, green, purple and yellow.

The construction of the pencil is a mix of metal and plastic. As you can see, it has a shiny metal tip and a knurled grip. The rest of the barrel is made out of plastic, with Koh-I-Noor painted on and the model number 5219.

This particular model features a strong clip  that has stamped on the brand. And as any Koh-I-Noor clutch pencil in the push button, it has a basic sharpener.

This is not the best mechanical pencil you can get from Koh-I-Noor. It has a more modern look but, it is not built at the same quality standards as his brothers and sisters. The knurling on the grip is very shallow. I wouldn't say it is bad, but I think it could have been better. Even so, the comfort during longer writing sessions is superior compared to the vintage styled pencils from Koh-I-Noor which tend to slip in hand due to the fine painted metal.

The jaws that hold the lead, are not perfectly aligned, at least on the model I have. One of them doesn't close all the way, leaving a gap between it and the lead. It doesn't affect the writing in any way as the lead is firmly gripped, but if you care about small details like this it will bug you a lot. I do not know if this a more common problem, or I was unlucky.

Also, the guts of the pencil don't scream confidence, as the lead tube is made out of a soft plastic. I am not saying that this will not hold well over time. I am sure it will, but I would have liked to see a bit more metal in the pencil.

Which are the best pencils?

According to the Wirecutter, the best pencils for writing and schoolwork are:

1) Palomino Golden Bear
2) Dixon Ticonderoga
3) Palomino Blackwing 602
honorable mention Faber-Castell Grip Graphite Eco pencil with eraser

I have to disagree with the author of the article right from the start. No doubt the pencils are great, and appreciated by many people, but saying the best pencil for writing and schoolwork is Palomino, Dixon or other brand is not true.

For writing, people will appreciate a no fuss approach. A pencil that needs sharpening on a regular basis, doesn't have a constant line width, makes a mess on your desk is far from being the best. In this regard any decent mechanical pencil will offer you a better experience to any of the pencils above. The lead advances at a push of a button, shake or automatic. There is no need for sharpening ever, because of this you don't have to carry a sharpener with you. Any mechanical pencil can store a multitude of leads inside, so you do not run out. You can swap the leads with different hardness ones. There are several widths available, from ultra-thin to normal tip size. In general, wooden pencils have a worse grip than their mechanical counterparts. Choose a mechanical pencil that suits you and is comfortable in your hand, and it will remain that way after writing with it, as the length of the pencil will stay the same virtually forever.

Saying that the best pencil for schoolwork and writing is a wooden pencil is the same as saying the best watch for timekeeping is a mechanical watch (insert brand name here). A $20 Casio will be a better watch in regard of timekeeping, or for that matter a cheaper no name digital watch will do a better job keeping time compared with watches that cost thousands of dollars.

I am not saying that wooden pencils or mechanical watches for that matter don't have a place in this world. Many like them, including myself, but I wouldn't go around saying that they are the best for writing or timekeeping. There are other reasons to praise these products and to appreciate them, the craftsmanship used in producing them, the quality, the feeling you get while using them. In some cases, these things are works of art.