DM03 Draft/Matic® Mechanical Pencil, 0.3mm, Stainless Steel Drawing and Design Tool for Students and Professionals, Great for Drafting, Architecture, Engineering, and Art

This pencil is amazing. True, the metal tip is sensitive to denting, so it's best to be careful with it. But, given appropriate caution, this writing utensil can be a God-send to people who write or draw or generally use a pencil a lot. As for me, I'm a college student, and as such have a lot to write down. I take notes by hand in class (can't stand to type my notes), and I tend to at least begin papers by freewriting in pencil. However, most pencils would leave my hand cramped after only a few minutes. Not to mention the usual problems of lead breaking or having to constantly sharpen in the case of classic wooden pencils (half my classrooms don't even have pencil sharpeners anymore. I feel old and I'm not even out of my 20s.)Enter the Alvin. I can't say why, but I could write for hours straight with this pencil and never cramp. Maybe it's because the barrel has a little more girth than your average pencil or because of the added weight, but this pencil is probably single-handedly reducing my chance for arthritis. It also makes my handwriting about 20 times better. The lead smoothly glides across the paper and doesn't drag or lurch like other mechanical pencils seem to do. The lead will come out reliably in small increments. It won't suddenly jet out all at once like I've experienced with cheap plastic mechanical pencils. It's got fantastic fit and finish, feels solid the whole way through and won't jingle or rattle as you write. In short, once you've written with this pencil, you will not ever want to go back to buying those cheap packs of 20 mechanical pencils. The $10 price tag is definitely worth it. Hell, if the tip were a little more sturdy, I'd pay $30 for this pencil in a heartbeat. It's THAT good. Buy it, you'll love it, and you'll wonder why the hell you didn't shell out 10 measly dollars for this pencil earlier.

The media could not be loaded. This is by far the best pencil I've ever used. I've been using it for about 2 and a half years now. It's literally amazing, I've been throwing it around and I've never babied it. Even then, it is still in brand new condition. The plastic part of the pencil is really really really strong. It's much stronger than your regular plastic and it's high quality. It also has a lead protection feature and my lead has never broken on me and i press down hard when i write. It's definitely worth it

works well

I have been using the Pentel P207 for years, and decided I wanted something different and a little better. The P207 is a very good pencil. I really didn't have any complaints about it... until now!The Alvin Draftmatic 0.5 is less fatiguing to use than the P207. The straight barrel grip is more comfortable to me than the tapered grip. So now that is my only complaint about the P207.I acquired several different mechanical pencils to get a feel for what other people thought were good pencils.I bought the following:Graphgear 500 (was actually a gift to me)Rotring 600 in both .5 and .7Staedtler 925 35 in both .5 and .7Alvin Draftmatic in both .5 and .7After owning and using all of these pencils, I discovered that the one that most often ended up in my hand was the Alvin Draftmatic 0.5. (the knurl on the .7 was a bit aggressive for me - but I only have the one, so it may be a fluke).Nothing says this is the best of the bunch quite like the evidence that it is the one I end up using the most often. I think I am done looking!Durability has not been a problem for me. I have been using my 0.5 and 0.7 for over a year now, and don't have any problems with them. Admittedly, the 0.5 is getting the lions share of the work.Hope this helps!

Love the pencil and hate the sticky tag wrapping around the pencil

What a great 0.3mm mechanical pencil. The metal portion where it is held between fingers has just a terrific knurling that really makes gripping the pencil easy. The barrel portion in the middle is plastic but that's okay. It doesn't have the heft and nice weighty-ness of the Rotring 600 model pencil's all metal mechanical pencils. The knurling on this Alvin is more aggressive than the finer knurling on the Rotring mechanical pencils. For me, I must use 2H hardness lead for writing as I can't help but press down hard. 2H helps in less lead tip breaking during writing. This Alvin pencil is definitely two thumbs up! 👍 👍

Great pencil. For some reason I've decided to buy pretty much every mechanical pencil available to try them out, pick the best and buy a few more of each type so I don't end up unable to buy a pencil that goes out of production as writing with mechanical pencils is getting as rare as manual transmissions. Pencils walk away from my desk ... what I mean is that students steal my nice pens. I leave my office door open (well, I used to) when I run down the hall, so the fault is mine for being a trusting small town hick (growing up we never locked our house). Heck, I've had somebody steal a Seiko diver watch off my desk before. When I bought an exact replacement and wore it to class the next week, the eyes on one student 'bout came out of his head when he looked at my watch. Heh ... I wonder if we went home and looked in his drawer after class.Anyhow, this particular pencil is fantastic, with the sole limitation that the tip is not retractable, something I obviously knew before buying but does limit this one as a carry in your pocket pencil (better on desk duty or carried in a pencil tote). Oh, the eraser is that tiny pretty much useless type, and the shaft and lead guides are plastic, but that doesn't detract from performance, and the price point is icing on the cake.Oh, there is one last problem. Its name. Alvin. Who names a mechanical pencil Alvin? This is a Pete if I ever saw one.Pete, the pencil. Duh.