I’ve been using mechanical pencils for as long as I can remember. Over the years I have tried many different brands and styles, but I always come back to the
Pentel Quicker Clicker Automatic Pencil.
The Basics
The Pentel Quicker Clicker Automatic Pencil is a mechanical pencil available in .5mm, .7mm and .9mm lead. There is a large variety of colors, some with solid barrels and some transparent to allow you to see the lead. The lead advance is located on the side of the barrel within the soft rubber grip. There is a clip and soft white eraser with cover at the end. Both the lead and eraser are refillable.
Our Experience
The Pentel Quicker Clicker is always my first choice in mechanical pencils. I like the comfort grip as it increases the diameter of the barrel slightly and makes it more comfortable to write for long periods of time. We purchase the transparent smoke barrels with .5mm fine lead in multi-packs at Costco since pencils are easy to lose.
The design is well thought out. Many mechanical pencils place the lead advance button on top of the pencil so when you go to use the eraser you often end up advancing the lead as well. With the advance on the side this problem is eliminated. The metal tip provides a lot of stability for the lead making it much less likely to break than pencils with plastic tips. The lead always writes smoothly and I use the pencils mostly for crossword and SuDoku and puzzles. My oldest also uses these to practice her writing. I did purchase her a chubby “first” pencil, but since we don’t own anything more than those tiny handheld pencil sharpeners she prefers the sharp point she gets from my pencil. The soft grip also seems to make it easier for her to keep a firm grasp on the pencil. I am sure I will get an earful from her kindergarten teacher next year!
However the Pentel Quicker Clicker is not perfect. My chief complaint is with the eraser design. The small eraser sits in a metal clip which then sits in the end of the pencil. To change the eraser or add more lead to the pencil barrel you need to pry out the metal clip. After doing this a few the metal weakens and eventually the eraser holder falls out. Since the holder keeps the lead from falling out of the pencil without the holder the pencil can only hold one piece of lead. Not being the type of people to throw anything out we actually have a drawer with half a dozen pencils without their eraser tops. You can stuff something into the empty eraser end of the pencil but we just go out and buy more pencils.
To avoid this problem I try not to remove the eraser. Once the original eraser is worn down I do not bother replacing it. To add more lead I unscrew the tip, hold down the lead advance and slip the lead down into the barrel that way. It takes longer but worth it in the long run. You can fit a full 12-pack of refills into the barrel for lots of writing. The eraser is nice, although a bit short, so I purchase the
Pentel Clic Eraser instead.
Should You Buy a Pentel Quicker Clicker Pencil?
These are the most comfortable mechanical pencils I have ever used. It is worth putting up with their minor design flaw for the large comfort grip and side advance mechanism. If you like mechanical pencils and don’t mind using a separate eraser then give the Quicker Clicker a try.
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