Pictured Above & Reviewed Below

I picked up this pencil because I wanted the wooden Shorty 3000 to be much better than it was. One of the indictments against it I didn’t mention in that pencil’s review was something quite apparent visually. Between the wooden body and the metal clutch leaves was a plastic nose cone. The transition from body to cone was right where you’d try to hold it, and just sharp enough to be uncomfortable. Enter the Hexagonal, closer in appearance to the shorty, seemingly “all” wood, and lacking a clip.

I say closer to the Shorty, but that’s only if you judge the closeness by how it feels in hand. Compare the Shorty 3000 and the Hexagonal to the Shorty mechanically, looking only at the clutch release and it’s clearly a sport. Normally, I’d abhor the lack of a clip but the six facets are broad enough to stop any rolling. In fact, at it’s short length the absence of the clip helps it due to the practicality of rotating it in use.

A lead over two millimeters is a strange animal. Decimal leads need no pointing. The standard two millimeter technical pencil leads generally have a specialty pointer, as do the five and up leads. Around three, there’s nothing. One’s either burning up the sandpaper or cursing a blade. Unless you get through all the stages of grief to acceptance. Know you’re not going to have a sharp point, maintain the point you do have by rotating the pencil ever now and again. Without a clip bumping the hand it remains comfortable in all positions.

I like this pencil quite a lot. It’s alive to the touch, visually appealing, and practical. For $26 USD plus shipping I’d buy it again if it was lost or damaged. I do not expect it would be universally loved. One must be comfortable with a short instrument to find in it anything but novelty.

Available from: The Online Pen Co., Cult Pens,