24th January 2025 - Drehgriffel
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What is a Drehgriffel, eh? Well it is a type of mechanical pencil 
which uses a twist action to propel the lead out of the tip. It is 
also the name used for a particular pencil model from a favourite 
stationary company, Leuchtturm 1917. 

Leuchtturm have a set of pens and pencils which are based around a 
model from the 1920s. The number 1 is a gel or ball point pen and the 
number 2 is the propelling/mechanical pencil. 

I have looked at these for a while and thought about it. Well I made 
the mistake of looking at a stationary website which was in the midst 
of a sale. Following the success of the colour ranges for the 
notebooks, the pencils and pens are also available in a wide range of 
interesting colours. I saw the Deep Sea colour and it became a buy. 
The colour is dark greeny blue with dark grey ends. It looks nice both 
in photos and in person.

The pencil is rather short. Surprisingly short really but it makes 
perfect sense. Yet, it is an optical illusion. The main body is short 
but there is a long pointed bit where the lead comes out. The weight 
of the pen is reassuring and well balanced. The weight seems to sit in 
the 'thumb/finger crotch' area you want it. It does not feel like it 
will tire the hand. I love how pointy it seems. If it was a pants 
pencil, it would make for a fantastic pointer. I may even end up 
carrying it for that purpose! 

The end twists to propel the lead and you can push the lead back in 
while holding the end in the twisted position. Refills are achieved by 
unscrewing the pointy end. The pencil essentially consists of the 
mechanism and the shaft. A small plug in the mechanism end is removed 
and up to 8 leads can be placed inside. This is better than the 
mechanisms which use rubbish rubbers/erasers as plugs. I am slightly 
worried about losing the plug as it is very narrow but we shall see. 

The only lead option is 0.7 mm thick. I do wonder why I have never 
bothered with this size before. It is easy to add edges to the lead 
and create different line widths as a result. The lead also seems more 
robust. 

The packaging is a nice tobelone-esque affair in cardboard. Two sides 
have a picture of the pencil while the other side has the usual 
information and bar code. The look is smart and simple. The package 
opens by pulling the two halves.

This is not a cheap pencil but it is very nice to use. It feels like 
it will last and the only worry is loss rather than faults developing. 
I do find the crank mechanism nice to use. It propels a small bit of 
lead so it is easy to avoid propelling too much and snapping it as a 
clumsy git. Right, time to doodle for a bit and point at things!