Kitaboshi 2.0mm Mechanical Pencil, Wooden Barrel, With Lead Sharpener, #1 B, Black Lead, 1ea (OTP-680NST), natural wood color w/sharpener

This is one of the finest lead holders money can buy. If you love writing with wood case pencils this may be the lead holder for you. It is made out of quality cedar, rigid and sturdy while still being lightweight. It is the perfect hexagon shape, not too wide, and the length feels comfy. It weighs in at 10.5 grams (with lead in) and has a really nice balance. The one difference in feel from a wood case pencil is that it has a rounded conical metal tip, rather than a classic triangular conical tip, but this is super super nit picky. I use it with an eraser cap, they do fit but are very very tight and can be annoying when advancing lead, not an issue for me. The lead is amazing, so smooth and dark, but you will need to sharpen often. I would suggest using a long point sharpener like a Uni lead pointer. The one downside to this pencil for me is that it is an incremental clutch. I personally like the feel of a drop clutch as it grabs the lead right at the tip and gives you a very stable point to write/draw from, much more similar to wood case. Many incremental clutch designs let the lead wobble ever so slightly within the tip sleeve. With that said Kitaboshi has done an exceptional job at dealing with this issue, there is the tiniest tiniest amount of wobble from the lead. Most people would not notice and is a total non issue, but I can notice when switching between wood case and my other clutch pencils. For now I still prefer my Koh-I-Noor Versatil 5211 and 5201, both are great balanced hexagonal lead holders. Downside to 5211 is that it is plastic and bends a bit when writing/drawing. The 5201 is the sturdiest pencil I have, but the downside is that it is a bit heavy for me and my hand gets tired from time to time. Still waiting for someone to make a quality drop clutch wood case Lead Holder!!!

I have to admit, I love this pencil. It's a mechanical pencil that feels just like a regular pencil - the wood barrel is just a fraction thicker than a standard pencil. The satin finish to the wood barrel makes it easy to hold. I bought 4h leads for it to make light undersketches for watercolors. The great thing about using a 2mm lead is that you can tilt it to create thicker lines, but using a hard lead means the sketch is less likely to wash out, making your watercolor look dirty. It comes with a very different looking sharpener (meant for sharpening the lead only), but it works great. It's very easy to change/refill leads too. You can pull out the clicker off the end and drop it in that way, but I think it's easier to just hold the clicker down and drop the new lead in through the point. No messy wood chips, very comfortable to hold.

The packaging states that this is a "Pencil for Adults" -or so I read, and that statement defines in part what this mechanical pencil is all about. Compared to the more common 2.0mm lead holder variants, this pencil is longer -almost the size of a regular ferruled pencil- and a tiny bit thicker. The clutch mechanism has lead advancement as opposed to drop type; it has no sharpener or eraser integrated (thou a somewhat portable sharpener is included in the package), but the wood body is what really sets it apart. It has a smooth finish, a lovely texture and a nice pink-shaded color to it. Along with the mushroom-like lead advancement button up top and the metal cone on the tip, both with a nice chrome finish, makes for very elegant writing instrument that looks far more expensive than it really is. It's got a nice and solid feel while holding and writing and there is not a single part that rattles or shakes. The provided B-grade lead is very smooth and dark (it's even darker than some Western 2B leads) which makes it great for writing in a journal or a diary. Obviously you can also sketch with this pencil, but I don't recommend it as a drafting pencil substitute. It's simply not designed for this. The wood finish is very delicate and can get dents, scratches or tiny bits lost -specially around the body's end below the button- if you're not careful, so I would not recommend this pencil for kids or youngsters. As stated in the packaging -it's an Adult's pencil! The included sharpener gets you a nice diamond-like point on the lead, just not very sharp. It has an integrated reservoir for the shavings and it's got a cap so you can take it along. Personally I prefer my Uni 2mm lead sharpener which gives a much sharper point and it's much smaller. This lead pencil is also sold under the Penco Brand in a series called "Prime Timber 2.0" that comes in the same packaging with the same sharpener; the only difference being the two-tone color paint over the wood. Considering is also more expensive, I would definitely recommend going for this, the original Kita-Boshi.

Nice feel 2mm lead holder comes with a sharpener.

I found this pencil very refreshing to use. Brought back some of the more romantic and true feel and use of a regular pencil. This isn't a clutch pencil, its a pump actin pencil with a very slight but pleasant cedar like aroma with it. The scent of the cedar helped me relax while using it. The weight can take some getting used to. Ad your mind automatically thinks its a regular pencil. The balance is excellent and the punp action function is great and holds the 2mm graphite very secure. However my only issue with this pencil is the tip cap came loose very easily in my daypack after only 3 day's. Id make sure to keep this in a pencil box or organizer to protect it and to keep it from breaking. Overall i like it a lot, it gives your hsnd a pleasant grip and the excellent balance allowed me to use it in the wand technique and for more direct sketching and detailed drawings. The weight is Great afer you get used to it. Using it once you get the hang of it doesn't leave in roads on your paper, depending on your choice of paper though. Im pleased and happy i bought it. Every bit of a more real pencil sensation gives you great freeness and relaxed approach to drawing. Plus i love the slight aroma of cedar wood. Very pleased with this pencil. Definitely recommend for helping artists relax and have fun again instead of focusing on the perfect image this pencil gives back that old school free feeling of just holding a pencil and letting your heart and mind lead your hand. Great buy

Kitaboshi is my favorite mechanical pencil. Basically the pencil feels good in the hand & provides a fairly smooth writing experience for a pencil. But the selling point for me was the dark black lead (graphite?) color! So many pencils write in such a light a grey (even some #1s) but this lead is DARK and wonderful! You can even sharpen it to as fine a point as you like with the included sharpener. I just ordered more refills for this pencil, but then ended up also just buying another one of these Kitaboshi pencils in black. I still adore the natural wood color of this one, but decided to try the black one also since you can't own too many favourite mechanical pencils. I hope they never stop making this pencil.

Pencils, brings back loving memories of scantron tests of ye wonderful middle school era! Such fondness it brings... anyways. Mechanical pencils, the invention to stave off the unholiest of duties, sharpening one's own pencil until it has a razor-sharp point, only for it to break the second it even gets close to the paper. The small leads make it have a semi sharp point most of the time, but we all know how easily they can break, and heaven forbid you have only short broken leads, because the pencil acts like it dont know wtf you talking about. This pencil has a 2.0, because the .0 makes is fancy, mm lead that can take quite a bit of pressure before breaking, if it ever breaks. The sharpener is specialized, but it comes with one if you need it, and can sharpen it to a fine point. They also have refills in packs of 5, which is handy. I have a wood pencil for everyday and a red pencil with red lead for when I really want to be substitute teacher kind of assertive! Its a joy to write with, no breakage, and people will ask you about it. Something about the thickness of the lead brings all the boys to the yard while making them feel inadequate at the same time. It isnt expensive, but this is still a luxury pencil that we all deserve. Hope you get to enjoy one soon!

Low center of gravity compared to most other 2mm holders I've used from staedtler, uni, rotring, and pacific arc, which is great for comfortable writing and drawing with a nice wood feel. Using the metal "cap" and the internal clutch mechanism, it can advance the lead steadily with each click. Comes with an interesting 4-blade lead sharpener that allows you to collect, close, and pour out the graphite should you want to blend with it at some point. Only default shortcoming is the part of the grip where the wooden hexagonal tube screws to the metal cap at the tip; the hexagon pencil shape of the wooden barrel is rough and flat, so the six points of wood will hurt your grip if you hold too close to the tip for too long. The solution is to sand or dremel the wooden points until they're smooth. It's easy to do so carefully and the grip feels much nicer after you smoothen it out. Give it a try.