Ahah, true.
I remember they had a jacket for another pencil but I don’t remember which pencil that was.
Zebra Delguard
That’s it!
(Should have gone for that one, in fact – I like the Delguards way more than the Kuru Togas)
Why is that?
Basically, I prefer thicker leads and a more gestural writing — and the Delguard system is quite ingenious in that respect, it allows you to use 05s like a 07 or a 09. The Kuru Togas feel more rigid to me.
Also the design — none of the kuru togas so far really caught my attention, even though I quite like the fully transparent (or the yellow) Advance model and it feels strangely compact, like the Zebras. The Delguard LX especially is a very nice pencil. The other experiments with protruding gigantic erasers and that sort of thing doesn’t interest me as much. The Delguard ER has a nice chunkiness to it but alas it is too light (and somehow not having a clip bothers me a bit i don’t know why)
IDK in a way it’s the overall look that makes me prefer one pencil over the other, something of their own inscrutable gestalt. I try not to rationalise those prefs too much.
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I’d rather shunned the Delguard on the principle that I believe it’s compensating for too much force used when writing. So rather than someone learning how to write lighter, they continue to write with a lot of pressure, and the Delguard compensates by significantly reducing lead breakage.
However, it did eventually dawn on me that someone might want to intentionally apply extra pressure. Either to make an impression in the paper that helps with permanence, or perhaps even to make an impression through to the next page, almost like a form of “ghost tracing paper.”
I haven’t really explored the Delguard series much at all. I almost bought an “Ironman” MARVEL version a year or so back, because I liked the coloration… but since it wasn’t an LX, I decided against it. Any particular LX model you would suggest?
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Afaik, they’re all pretty similar. Not counting with those special editions (Marvel, etc) I’m aware of 3 different iterations of the LX but only one of them really differs from the standard model
- Standard LX
- LX limited colour - same as standard but with fully black or fully silver models (pushbuttons aren’t colour-coded like in the standard model)
- LX limited colour with lacquered/gloss grip (different colours + grips are “lacquered” with a thick glossy paint) – this models are a little heavier and feel top quality just by looking at them, but imo all the 3 versions feel top quality.
I’m away from my specimens and the computer, I’ll add more info later. And maybe fellow Knockologists remember or know more ahout other versions.
Edit
The glossy ones (3.) and last two on the right are the original limited colours variants (2.) There was also a white one 0.3mm if I remember correctly.
Pic found online
To me the nicest is the fully black (2) because the clip and fittings are painted in a nice matte black. I also have a glossy yellow one but it seems I’ve misplaced it somewhere, I can’t find it right now.
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Why not embrace any and/or all niche pencils or utilities? If it provides a unique experience, how can that be a negative?
When or where has limiting choice been a GOOD thing?
Features should encourage best practice use. Those that compensate for not doing best practice generally go against that grain. It bugs me. But as I said, I shifted my view that the Delguard being able to accommodate extra pressure that’s intended, is a good thing.
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I can admire a light gesture, more than a heavy psychologically charged one. In fact that’s what painting and artistic practices are about these days or “should” be — light gestures and humble displays instead of 5m long paintings that are gorillas that sit wherever they want to sit (as Thomas Nozkowski used to say)…
But the Delguard isn’t about allowing you to be a brute 
In fact you can write with it as light as with any other pencil. The thing is it also allows you to press more on the lead and instead of having a dull instrument it becomes a more expressive tool.
I was just checking the pencils I have here (which I actually never did very seriously until now) and I concluded that
— wow, the 03 can take quite a beating, the lead doesn’t break even when you press it hard and quickly
— you have a thin lead instrument that can be as expressive as a 2mm pencil (which are better for freehand drawing exactly because they have a wider range of expression)
Basically, if I was a young kid in school in Japan (which I believe are the target market for these pencils) I’d be very happy that I can do tiny calligraphies, draft or draw with a wider range of marks all with the same pencil.
A small correction to what I wrote earlier: the type ER isn’t about a big eraser coming out but a “drop eraser” that you activate by turning the pencil up side down and strangely you can use the eraser immediately and it doesn’t retract.
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There’s an important aspect about mechanical pencils that I think we as collectors and users tend to disregard (and please correct me if I’m wrong or if you think otherwise) but that manufacturers like Zebra are particularly focused upon — which is lead grades.
As collectors, we look at functionality in a rather abstract way (gestalt, variations, features… sort of an EDC fashionista expertise taken to an extreme, hehe) and as knowledgeable users that are aware of hundreds of pencils we will appreciate the eccentricities of a certain pencil and even a bit of the story behind the brands, etc — but we hardly ever consider that a normal 03 pencil can’t go above an HB or a B lead grade (B… hmm) before becoming inoperative.
Assuming it was the first pencil to do this (to my knowledge the orenznero came afterwards, even though they probably emerged at the same time in the Japanese engineering mindset), I think the Zebra Delguard specifically addresses this forgotten aspect of usability and is truly successful about it: they’ve come up with a mechanism that allows you to use B leads on a 03 or 2B leads on a 05 safely (I wonder if there is such a thing as a 0.5 4B…) or basically use whichever lead crosses your path and that’s no small achievement. In fact, it allows us to be just collectors again and don’t mind that problem at all. That’s what great engineering does.
That’s why I’m a Zebra/Pentel fan when it comes to mainstream pencils. Zebra usually makes such a great compromise of quality, design and innovation in a time when most things are put together with poor materials in a maximising profit and fail-to-sell-again logic — that I just cannot let it go unsung. And if you also use a lot of fude oil pens for drawings, I’m certain you’ll agree with me 
Short version here: I think the Delguard has a great mindset attached to it. Just like the Orenznero.
That’s it! I won’t hi-jack the Kuru Toga Metal topic any more. There’s a lot of charm and intelligence in those pencils also. Kudos. Happy Easter! 
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I don’t want to hi-jack the Kuru Toga Metal topic either so just a short comment.
I only use Pilot Neox Graphite 2B 0.3 mm leads and never had any problems.
Yes, it is – both Pilot and Pentel offer these (I haven’t checked Mitsubishi, though).
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@ulfesharpe and @Gunther All the three companies you mentioned offer 0.5mm lead cores in 4B, and they are all amazing:
• Pilot NEOX Graphite (transparent container with yellow cap)
• Pentel AIN Stein (yellow container)
• Mitsubishi UNI (white container)
• Mitsubishi Hi-UNI (semi-transparent container)
Not sure about other manufacturers, but I’ve tested all these lead cores, and it’s hard to tell which beats which when it comes to super-soft grades.
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Thx for the info @Gunther + @Leonov, god of winds!
I realise now that I have a few Ain Steins and Neoxs lying around that I’ve never used. I’ll try those on the Horizon which I found out is a wobbly enough 05er to make for a rich writing experience — and I use it all the time now for notes, etc
I’ve been using 2mm technograph leads for the most part — caran d’ache leads are easy to find here and I also buy vintage 3mm 4B and 6B ones when I find them. I was using them a lot in the first years in Drawing classes but even at that rate they last forever. In reality, you don’t really need to buy as many as I did so far, ahah. No wonder I’m always broke.
More recently I got a box of vintage Staedtler’s Atlas red wooden pencils. They were lo-fi, common pencils at the time… But they are my faves now! They leave residue and are uneven, the lead is more inconsistent than in high grade pencils and they have a mood of their own. I look at them as full fledged entities, which I respect and demand their permission to use. I’m joking of course, but they convey a certain loss of control in drawings that helps me keep on the lookout for new stuff to happen — I like to be the antenna, the “operário”, the middle man between worlds, not the absolute “maker”. Many lesser materials/instruments help you achieve that role.
That, and the Sator Square — which is sort of an ambiguous heritage we got from the Romans. You can look into it like you do at an abyss
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Wow! Atlas is one of Staedtler’s two oldest brands which are still in use; it was registered in 1896 (Minerva was registered the same year). Only Elefant is older, registered the year before, but this brand is no longer used.
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They are great!
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I’m happy to hear that! Do you happen to have a photo? (Maybe per PM as not to clutter this thread with off-topic stuff). I’m curious
I went looking for them — but I can’t find them! I suspect I may have left the box at art school (which means they’re gone) or maybe I took them up north to a house in the country side and I left them there 
I haven’t used them in 6 months or so… I can’t find a single one, which is odd, I thought they were in a drawing box I keep near me but no, no Atlas there… Hmm. I’m pretty sure there were 4 or 5 left.
edit
I found them! Too many boxes around I guess 
…
DM sent
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Anyone here watch Seasar Stationary on YouTube?
He just did a review on the KT Metal and said there is a component called a “Nidamper” built-in that eliminates the tip wobble that is so inherent with these pencils. I’m really excited to check this out now.
It’s around 5:00 in the video.
Edit: I’m relying on YouTube’s auto translate so Nipamper may or may not be what it’s actually called
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On the box it reads “NIB DAMPER”; maybe that’s what it refers to.
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