What is this madness? The second Gentleman Stationer mechanical pencil review in a month? It's not so much a "new" focus on mechanical pencils, as I've always used them, but rather part of my recent attempt to fill out my years-long review backlog that includes to-date unreviewed pens such as the Pilot Vanishing Point and mechanical pencils such as the Uni Kuru Toga, which I'll talk about today.
The Uni Kuru Toga needs no introduction to many stationery enthusiasts. It's been around for years, and is one of the most popular mechanical pencils in both Japan and the U.S. When you see a "Kuru Toga" branded mechanical pencil, that refers to the lead advancement mechanism in the pencil, which rotates the lead as the pencil writes and allows you to maintain a sharp point on the lead without rotating the pencil in your hand. Honestly, many believe that Uni perfected the mechanical pencil with the Kuru-Tog a mechanism, and for general-purpose writing, I may have to agree with them.
I sometimes find myself rotating the pencil out of habit, but when I make a conscious effort not to do so, holding the pencil at a constant angle using the clip as a visual reference, I'm always amazed at how well the Kuru-Toga mechanism works. It really does keep a crisp point on the lead. That said, even if you don’t really care about the “Kuru Toga” aspect, this is a great mechanical pencil nonetheless.
What do I look for in a mechanical pencil?
Balanced Feel. Balance is important in a mechanical pencil. The pencil can be heavy or light, but it needs to be balanced in the sense that it's not overly front- or back-weighted. Especially on a .5mm or .38mm pencil, if the balance is off the lead tends to catch on the paper and will break frequently.
Protective Sleeve, or Pipe, to Reduce Lead Breakage. While most important in finer .5mm and .38mm (or even .28mm!) mechanical pencils, a metal pipe or sleeve will help to reduce lead breakage. Sometimes this sleeve is retractable, though not on this particular pencil.
Comfortable Grip Section. Many people favor mechanical pencils as precision tools for drafting or annotating rather than longer writing sessions. Often, you’ll find them with a knurled metal grip that’s hard to use for more than short bursts of writing. Other mechanical pencils have a non-textured plastic or metal grip, which some find slippery. Here, you have a gel pad, which is somewhat unique and extremely comfortable.
For my second Alpha Gel Switch, I picked up this neutral version. It’s less eye-catching but also less likely to be “borrowed” than the bright yellow one. ;)
The Uni Kuru Toga Alpha Gel Switch ticks all three of these boxes. It's balanced and also extremely lightweight, making it an ideal choice for a pencil you'd want to use for writing. Combined with the accessible $14 price point, this pencil would shoot to the top of the list of recommendations for office or school use. The gel grip is insanely comfortable, as I mentioned above. The section is slightly firmer than a Pilot Dr. Grip, and the gel strikes a good balance between adequately conforming to your hand without becoming squishy or distorted over time. So far, it’s not developed that "sticky" feeling, or collected a ton of dust and debris. (If you've used one of the older Sensa pens, you'll know exactly what I'm referencing here.)
Ok, so what does the "Switch" refer to?
The "switchability" of this pencil is not a huge selling point to me personally, but some might find it useful. The "Switch" in the name refers to the ability to turn the Kuru Toga rotation mechanism on or off by rotating the clip. In "hold" mode, the lead won't rotate, which some people supposedly prefer for longer writing sessions? Honestly, I can't tell that much of a difference, and prefer the feel of the sharper lead so I leave the Kuru Toga mechanism engaged.
Uni provides a directional arrow showing you how to put the pencil into "hold" mode. Here I’ve rotated the clip on the yellow model.
Takeaways and Where to Buy
It's hard to go wrong with the Alpha Gel Switch for an everyday mechanical pencil. When you combine Uni's rotating mechanism with a comfortable grip and a gorgeous range of colors (including both muted options as well as brighter color combinations such as yellow and black), you have a quality workhorse mechanical pencil priced at less than $15 that you can take anywhere because it’s both reliable and inexpensive to replace if you lose it or it “walks off your desk” at work. I have two in my personal rotation, and used these nearly exclusively at the professional conference I attended last week.
We currently have seven different colors of the Kuru-Toga Alpha Gel Switch available for purchase in our recently expanded pencil section of the shop, along with at least one other version of the Kuru-Toga: the "Elite" or "Roulette" model which features a more traditional, technical-style knurled grip for those who prefer that finish. Both pencils are priced at $14.50. While we carry the .5mm lead size (which I've found to be the most popular), .38mm and even .28mm sizes are also available. The larger diameter .7mm is less common in a Japanese mechanical pencil. Our shop also carries the full range of Uni mechanical pencil refills, including both the basic “smudge-proof” formulation and the higher-end “Hi-Uni” leads.
You don’t see many comparisons of mechanical pencil lead sizes. For me, .5mm is the “sweet spot”, as .7mm tends to be too “dull” of a point, while .38mm requires lighter pressure or else you end up with lead breakage, especially on rougher paper. I’ve never been brave enough to try a .28mm mechanical pencil.
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