Things that were good, but now are bad, or gone altogether

[Pazuzu]

So, I've been watching lots of Adam Savage's Youtube site (the guy from Mythbusters). He spends lots of time these days just talking about things, answering questions, etc. You should become a fan.
But, i digress. He has a video lamenting some small changes to a cheap throw away mechanical pencil, and 16 minutes of it is so important.
Link below, I won't embed it because you don't need a 16 minute video stuck here.

https://youtu.be/bLwo1kOcwxs?si=KXC6ODE4Cd3QCccG

I wanted to comment, but after 6000 comments, it'll get lost in the noise. so, y'all get to see my thoughts.

I too have a favorite mechanical pencil. Being an astronomy major, we wrote nothing both sheet after sheet after sheet of equations, while taking notes and while deriving things. A good feeling, good writing, and most importantly, good WORKING pencil was very very important. I went through dozens of them. Only one worked for me, and I religiously bought it for years. Then, times changed, I no longer needed to write things day in and day out, computers took over, etc. I didn't buy a pencil for, I dunno, 20 years? More?

I stumbled across my pencil while cleaning the garage, it was in a small bin with my other Very Important Education Tools. Things that I used daily while studying or writing reports or making graphs by hand.

Not just a pencil, but also the leads, and a pack of erasers! If you would have asked me what brand or anything back then, I wouldn't know, it was just the ones I could always buy at the student union or campus bookstore (Folletts FTW!!).

So, I had to see if they still exist. Just like the video above, I don't think so. They were TOO good, TOO well built (Japanese!), Too perfect...so much so that I didn't need to buy one more, which is the WORST think you can say about anything as far the the company is concerned. "No thanks, you built it too well, I don't need to send you any more money, thanks!" There is a newer design, with some sort of rubber padding, but I think it probably ruined the entire feel and use of the pencil by adding that.

So, I now have in front of me my last Pentel 0.5mm Quicker Clicker mechanical pencil in smoke grey, with a pack of 5 (only 4 remain) full sized erasers "for PD and A40 Series Pencils" and a mostly full pack of Pentel 0.5x60mm "Super" Hi-Polymer leads. I know that these were probably purchased around 1998.

Why so good?
0.5mm lead gave a clean line, buy was thin enough to cram more quantum mechanics on the page. High Level physics was HARD WORK...not the learning, but the note taking. You'd be writing tiny little subscript, superscript, differentials, sums, all SORTS of tiny little symbols, and having thin clean lines from the pencil was critical.
Full sized erasers. Remember back in the day, when mechanical pencils had these tiny little nub erasers that broke off, because they were on the same button that initiated the lead advance, so the eraser had to be tiny to make room? Yeah, the Quicker Clicker eraser was FULL SIZED, could be REMOVED so that you could extend it a bit, and was REPLACEABLE. Suddenly, the mechanical pencil was good for extensive use, because the eraser could go the distance.
Why could it be so big? Third upgrade, the side click lead advance. No longer was the eraser stuck in a tiny lead advance button on the top, it had ALL of the real estate to itself. The lead advance was a button on the SIDE, which happened to be where your finger rested anyways. That meant you could advance the lead seamlessly WHILE writing! No need to rearrange the pencil in your hand to click the end cap to advance the lead, which was ergonomically a nightmare. Lead aplenty, on the fly, while holding the pencil naturally.


It lightens my heart to see that I'm not alone, this is the exact version of the pencil I'm talking about:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/11rk8ll/pentel_quicker_clicker_5mm/
https://mleddy.blogspot.com/2014/07/pentel-quicker-clicker.html
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165997653388 <---I assume a joke, otherwise I'll HAPPILY sell mine for $35!!!
https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/tpallz/i_heard_you_guys_like_vintage_mechanical_pencils/

[pwd72s]

For me, it's the Tensor Lamp. Luckily, the one I bought in the 60's still works. Guess they stopped making them in the late 70's or so? Far as I'm concerned, still the best small desk lamp. Just dawned on me...probably not many here would remember 'em. The base is a transformer, turns 110AC into 12VDC. Metal adjustable arms control a small reflector, using a 12V parking light bulb.

[KFC911]

What we have here is a baby "old coot" with a lawn chair and a "Get off my lawn" sign in his future....

"Hello ... My name is Mike"

I suggest an older lawn chair too ... fwiw

[wdfifteen]

I get it. I first used .5 mm pencils for drawing class and learned how perfect they are for writing on paper. I still use them for the crosswords and logic puzzles I do daily. For working in the shop I have some basic yellow wood pencils that have to be sharpened to keep a decent point on them, but they are stronger than the mechanical pencils. They are probably the most basic tool I use.

A side note:
I was fixing the chicken coop Saturday and had a neighborhood kid helping. I was cutting 2x4s and trying to teach the kid something and kept forgetting one of the basics. "Find the pencil first!" So there I was, board on the sawhorse, measuring tape in hand, trying to show this kid how it's done - and I had no idea where the damn pencil was that I need to mark the board with. If the kid learned anything that day it was "Always find the pencil FIRST!"

[KFC911]

^^^^ LOL ....

"Get the Led out" .... first things first .

Being a lefty .... I smear using lead ... and "cartridge pens" were pure evil too...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Things that were good, but now are bad, or gone altogether

The list is long: Shame, discipline, work ethic, civility, respect and so on.

[RANDY P]

Obama's influence

rjp

[cabmandone]

Michael Jackson!

[IROC]

Loved my Pentel pencil, but I was a .7 mm guy. I broke the .5 mm stuff too easily (knuckle-dragging mechanical engineer). I am also old enough to have done a lot of manual (paper and pencil) drafting. Where line width was important, so I routinely used .5, .7 and .9 mm.

Anyway...just pulled this out of my desk drawer:

[GeorgeK]

Had the same Pentel, smoke in color. Loved it.

[vash]

Japan is still at it.

they have actually improved mechanical pencil leads. just bought some Pentel Ain lead that is dark and smooth. I think there is better, but that is a rabbit hole I wasn't prepared for.

there are some legit pencils built for the long run. I still have my college pencil. it's now loaded with the Ain lead. I like .7 lead. stronger.

[911 Rod]

Maybe you guys should start a support group?

[IROC]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Maybe you guys should start a support group?

Can I lament about how devastated that I am that my 42 year old HP-41CV is having issues? It almost breaks my heart.

Luckily, I have an HP41CX app on my phone...

[cockerpunk]

writing on paper is a facinating thing. I can probably actually post about it too. but we spent a solid 3 years on a science program attempting to understand the feeling and sensation of writing on paper, and why its so much better than using a touchscreen or a stylus on glass. i dont think i can tell you the results of that work, but i can say, its an astonishingly complex interaction effect that we take for granted every day.

super interesting. an example of how everything, literally everything that you do, no matter how mundane is actually a facinating set of interactions to study. and how we dont even think about it most of the time, but its an interaction as deep as any stellar phenomena or nuclear effect.

intellectualism is the best philosophy. the more you know about the world the more interesting the world becomes.

[Scott Douglas]

Pulled this out of my desk drawer when I read this post.
Yeah, it's a mess in there but these were easy to find as they're kept in a zip lock bag.
The pencil is older than some of the guys on this board.

[Rot 911]

I too despair of looking for good quality items that are no longer available. But some things are even better than they used to be. For me, they are disposable fountain pens. These pens work great and dry quickly. Which is important when you are like me, left-handed. And you never have to worry about anyone stealing your pen as most people can’t figure out how to write with a fountain pen.

[vash]

^^^ I have that fountain pen. it's very very good. juicy almost.

a good fountain pen needs good paper tho. that's when they shine for me. just taking one and writing in the paper inside a Trapper Keeper doenst get it done for me. bleeding, etc. bleed thru.

[KFC911]

I do NOT belong here ....

Unsubscribing ....

They callz me "Ball Point ...

"No distakes .... with no erasers "

[pwd72s]

Mike nailed it. I'm too ham fisted for .5, always breaking the lead. .07 works, the old scripto long lead even better. That's what I keep in my car for log book entry...yeah, I'm anal about that. A small 6 ring notebook, listing miles, date, etc. on all gas, services, replacements.

[vash]

Japanese pencil ner....err engineers have solved the 0.5 lead breakage. they have pencils that have generously long steel tubing that supports the lead, and the lead self advances..the perfect amount so you can ham-fist all the calculations you want.