the 600 is a great pencil, but I find it uncomfortable to write with - weight and balance.

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My recommendations will likely just be repeats of stuff below

• Pentel P203/5/7 - can never go wrong. Always solid.
• Pentel Smash - another good performer
• Pentel PG5 - One of my favourites. I use it without the clip. Can use it for days.
• Pilto S20 - the wood feels good, nice ergonomics, and now some nice colours to choose
• Platimun Pro use 2 - A bit thicker than others. Feels good and easy to grip despite it being a smooth finish.
• Lamy 2000 - the big daddy. Expensive but one of my favs. Less is often more.

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you went right to the big leagues! rotrings are excellent instruments you just need to get used to their weight. many here start with a kuru-toga, I have two kuru toga roulettes that are amazing because the lead actually self-sharpens while you write by rotating the lead. it’s much lighter than your rotring so could be perfect for subbing in when your hand is tired. but if you like your rotring enough you won’t need anything else other than more of them! my 800 is a mainstay but I also love my rapid pro blue ink rotring, once you get used to the weight nothing can stop you!

Orenz Nero. Consistent thin lines. Notes look neater

Pentel P20X, Pentel Smash, Pilot S10, Tombow Monograph Zero, and Lamy Safari are some good pencils for writing.

pentel smash

Pental Orenz is a good writing instrument, but if you want a better look, then the new Orenz Nero should be perfect. I think you will also like the Graphgears by Pental as well: they are high precision pencils with retractable sleeves, and feel comfortable.

I'm very preferential to the heaviness of metal pens, but I've been enjoying using my .3 DelGuard lx. Lots of labs this semester, broke lead only a couple of times so far.

Pentel p205. No bells or whistles, just something that works and works well.

Pentel Kerry is a solid choice for a pencil with a cap.

Pentel smash (for writing)

Mono 100 in F is a great call, no doubt. In terms of pure writing awesomeness, my personal all-timers (off the top of my head) are:

* Mitsubishi Mark Sheet
* Blackwing Volume 24
* IBM Electrographic
* Tombow Ki Monogatari in B

Some of those can be hard to get, but dang, when I pick one up and start writing I always find myself stopping to look at the pencil like: Wow.

No such thing as “BEST PENCIL” each to their own! Love BLACKWING to write, there are better options for drawing!

That's tombow mono 100 F

IMO there is no best, just varying degrees of good and bad, all situationally dependent and subject to whimsy. Having said that, u/regpo55555's suggestion of the Mono100-F is a damn good one.

Mitsubishi 9850

These are my favorites. I love how they hold their point so well.

Is the eraser good enough?

Agreed! I always go back to these.

So they make pencils and cars?

Good choice; can easily be first and last; they basically have everything to offer in a writing pencil. You don't have to sharpen them constantly, they give a nice, dark line, and are affordable. Oh and the eraser is actually usable, unlike the pink ones.

are you using a lead thicker than 3mm?

I like the Pentel Sharp Kerry, and have used them since I got my first one in middle school a few decades ago! I remember feeling so fancy with that high-dollar (for a middle schooler) pencil!

I prefer 2mm leadholders over mechanical pencils. For one the lead is a lot less fiddly and overall leadholders seem to be more robust. My go to ones are the Rotring Rapid Pro, Faber Castell TK 4600 and the Staedtler Makes Lumograph.

David Rees and I share taste in mechanical pencils.

I quite enjoy the Pentel Graphgear 300, mostly due to its weight distribution, with a center of gravity close to where you hold the pencil, whereas others usually have their CG closer to the middle of the pencil. Other than that it doesn't have any fancy features.
It is, however, on the heavier side, due to being partly made of metal. If you prefer a light pencil, this one isn't for you.

Uni Kura Toga 0.3

How cute they all are! I really like those that have that side button to advance the lead 😁 they are very comfortable for me

This right here! I have 2 600's and a 800. Completely worth.

I also have kura-togas (standard, roulette, and advance), Graphgear 500 and 1000s. The kuratogas are cool due to the lead rotation but they don't have the weight and feeling of the Rotrings. The graphgear 1000's are a great budget pick since they're half the price of a rotring and mostly metal (the grip has some rubber nubs I'm not a fan of). But at the end of the day the rotring takes the cake with a solid metal body (the 800 also has all metal internals) and is the heaviest of all pencils I've tried.

Notable mentions are the Orenz Pencils which go down to .2 size lead. I love this thing for writing Kanji and tiny notes. The delguard from Zebra is also interesting since it makes it so it's very hard to snap lead and lots of pressure ends up just crushing the lead instead.

If we're talking pens. The Uni Jetstream is my goto for ball point. Super smooth, comes in very fine sizes, and looks very sleek (personally I think it edges out the G2 in all factors). However I used fountain pens for some of my engineering notes. The TWSBI ECO holds tons of ink and doesn't break the bank. However the Pilot Vanishing Point FPs are amazing.

Paper also matters! I personally really enjoy using the Kokuyo campus Lined dot paper (has lines but also a dot grid combo) since it's super smooth and works well with fountain pens. But really any non like super cheapo paper holds up much better long term especially when you are flipping back and forth for notes.

I second Rotring. I've had a Rotring 800 for the past 8 years. Expensive, but easily the best pencil I've ever used.

I’m actually looking for primarily writing pencils. Any recommendations?

Kurutoga with alpha gel

It has a nice squishy / easy to hold barrel, and the lead sharpens as you write so it looks almost like pen.

I have two of them. Fantastic pencils especially for those that are left handed as the pushing motion usually wears out the sharpness much faster than regular.

Personally I’m more of a pen user (G2 0.38 Ultra fine). It’s the dark ink that makes this pen worth it.

Totally with you there - had a few stop feeding and although Pentel would replace them, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place

Pentel GraphGear 1000 is an amazing mechanical pencil.

The retractable tip is great too. That's something you don't get on the more expensive rotring 600 (which also leads to a lot of broken/bent tips).

I like this one as well.

My favorite are these and the pentel orenz.2mm

Spoke 4 with the 8.3mm titanium grip. With the aluminum body, the titanium keeps the balance forward and enough weight to satisfy my desire for heavier pencils.

To keep below $10, I'd say the Pentel Smash is very comfortable with its array of square rubber nubs. The Pentel Kerry is also very comfortable. And if you're willing to go to $40 plus shipping, the Spoke 4 and 5 has a great shape that despite being purely metal with rubber assist, is ergonomic.

Pentel smash

Kuru toga alpha gel!

I prefer forward balance with a good grip. Alvin Draftmatics, Koh-I-Noor Rapidomatics, and Rotring 500s all feel great in my hand. It might be because I've been using them so long, that they've become my "default" and others feel "off."