Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review

(67 customer reviews)
2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful
I really, really like...,
December 17, 2011
I really, really like this pencil. As an English teacher I write a lot (not
"allot") of comments to my students. I only write my comments in graphite. I
have had this pencil for one and a half years, but it feels as if I purchased it
yesterday. This was a great buy, and I highly recomend it for other teachers,
students, etc.
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
For a while, my dad hated...,
January 12, 2013
For a while, my dad hated these pencils. he thought there was no comparison
between them and Ticonderoga pencils(for some sick, twisted reason). He had
never used this pencil before, and we did a test between them. Once he started
writing with this Uni, he was immediately hooked on it. I love this pencil, its
lead width is superior for writing and it doesn't snap like the 0.3mm I have. It
writes really smoothly and doesn't leave your hand tired after hours of drawing
and writing because it is so well weighted at the bottom end. The locking
mechanism is awesome for protecting the pipe and it is one-hand-friendly, you
just have to know how. Cosmetically, the paint wears out on the top after a
while, but that has absolutely nothing to do with its performance. For writing
and drawing, go with this. It will never let you down and will last you for
ever.
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
This is a great pencil....,
July 11, 2011
This is a great pencil. It has a "bottom-heavy" feel which lessens the force
needed to apply the pencil to the paper. The metal bottom half of the pencil
(knurled) grip is amazing, it's my favorite feature. The upper part is plastic
made, and you can definitely feel that the bottom portion outweights the top
portion by a lot.
Like someone else said, when the pencil is locked and the "nib" in retracted
,the pencil has "loose feel" due to the pipe shift mechanism. But when its
loaded and ready to go, it has a TIGHT feel.
It's a great concept, and great way to protect the nib and allow it in your
pocket. It writes great, and because of the lower weight, you don't have to
apply that much pressure. It's really cool looking too, I purchased the one in
silver.
I only give it 4 stars because if the upper body where made from a metal, and
more tight feeling, it would be perfect.
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
The Uni-ball Shift wins...,
February 2, 2011
The Uni-ball Shift wins my vote for most innovative design. It is a very stylish
Drafting Pencil that will have people asking you where you bought it mostly in
part to the unique locking mechanism.
Pro's:
-Locking mechanism works flawlessly.
-Grip is very comfortable for writing and drawing despite looks.
-Very stylish design.
-When locked in use mode the pencil is very sturdy and the weight very well
balanced.
Con's:
-Top part above the grip is plastic that feels very cheap.
-When pencil is locked in non-use mode, the piece that is revealed (blue in this
case) also seems very cheap and it feels as if it can break very easy.
-No lead indicator.
Overall:
I must say that overall the Pro's outweigh the Con's and this is a very solid
piece to add to any artist or writer's collection, it is a wonderful piece to
own.
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
This is my absolute favorite...,
January 3, 2011
This is my absolute favorite pencil ever. I am a student with allot of knowledge
on Japanese stationary. This is definetely the best mechanical pencil I have
ever used.
Pro's:
Great grip
front weighted
guide pipe is protected
Con's:
Top half is plastic
No lead hardness indicator
The cons don't matter to me that much I was just pointing it out for some picky
buyers.
Overall: It's a great for its price. It'also a nice sturdy pencil, I highly
recommend it for students who have heavy note taking.
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
Great design, but I find...,
June 9, 2010
Great design, but I find myself not using this pencil as much as the Staetler
925-05, the locking mechanism on this pencil is a little counter-intuitive for
me and there are stages of the lock as you twist it, I would prefer more of a
push/pull design on the lock. If you have ever used a twist style retractable
pen this pencil seems to function similarly but in an opposite direction from
what I am used to. I will say that there is NO play in the tip when you are
writing with it, it doesnt rattle or anything, so as far as a retractable pencil
this is the best design I have seen. But I do wish that the Twist mechanism was
more one hand friendly.
I will add that to extend you twist it till it stops, then pull it out (spring
loaded so it pushes itself out) and then turn it one more click till it stops
again, same for reverse, except opposite directions. To me the twist is
counter-intuitive and I would expect to turn the pencil the opposite way to
extend it so it would be more friendly if using only one hand.
1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
When I first got the...,
December 1, 2009
When I first got the pencil in the mail, I was surprised at how heavy it was. It
is not exceptionally heavy, but it still wasn't right for me. Later on after a
few weeks, the tip of the pencil got bent. I was pretty upset about this, as it
was very hard to use it without the lead breaking every few minutes. It is a
good pencil, but make sure that you actually use the lock function every time
that you put it away.
the pencil is heavily...,
November 17, 2012
the pencil is heavily weighted on the tip and feels good in the hand. it is a
little heavy and is not meant for a lot of writing. it has a tendency to break
the lead inside the pencil though, but the color looks fantastic
This pencil is very cool....,
October 25, 2012
This pencil is very cool. I have no complaints
Love this pencil so far!...,
August 11, 2012
Love this pencil so far! Received it this morning and used it all day today
taking notes at work and sketching out a nice Spongebob for my daughter. This is
my first drafting pencil, but it probably won't be my last. Top notch product. I
only wish that the top half of the body was aluminum. 0.5 is the perfect lead
size.
I have to say that this...,
March 24, 2011
I have to say that this pencil is exactly what i thought it would be. Nice and
sturdy, nothing has been broken or paint chipping, dropped it couple of times
already. The locking mechanism will stay in position, you will most likely feel
it click into place. What i've just noticed recently is that the clip on the
shaft of the pencil has alittle roller on it for easy clip-ons.
Good pencil that can...,
February 9, 2011
Good pencil that can be safely taken with you everywhere. However, the pencil is
a bit pricy and the body is plastic.
This is my absolute favorite...,
January 3, 2011
This is my absolute favorite pencil ever. I am a student with allot of knowledge
on Japanese stationary. This is definetely the best mechanical pencil I have
ever used.
Pro's:
Great grip
front weighted
guide pipe is protected
Con's:
Top half is plastic
No lead hardness indicator
The cons don't matter to me that much I was just pointing it out for some picky
buyers.
Overall: It's a great for its price. It'also a nice sturdy pencil, I highly
recommend it for students who have heavy note taking.
This is the best pencil....,
October 18, 2010
This is the best pencil. Nice looking and also good to write/draw.
Thanks Jetpens. Now i know where to get all my japanese stuff.
I really like this pencil...,
October 11, 2010
I really like this pencil and how sterdy it is. I have bought three of these but
only 0.5 but that is my personal favorite. The only complante i have is that if
held wrong though the grip can kind of hurt. Otherwise i would recomend it to
anyone.
I just got this pencil...,
April 18, 2010
I just got this pencil yesterday and i was amazed with it. The pipe lock
mechanism works amazingly. It protects the sleeve from being bent, and prevents
it from poking me while i put it in my pocket. The grip is absolutely wonderful.
The metal grooves provide a great grip. Overall this pencil just looks stunning
and i would recommend it to all my friends.
This pencil is so awesome....,
March 9, 2010
This pencil is so awesome. I love the shift body and most of all, the GRIP. The
metal grip has grooves that are perfect, and the shifting body is perfect for
people like me who simply slip their pencil in their pocket. The blue color is
also a little lighter than it is in the image, which is perfect for me because I
was deciding between the 0.3 version and this version. I settled for this one.
Love this pencil. It...,
October 13, 2009
Love this pencil. It is perfect for drawing. I also write with it comfortably,
but everyone has a different style when it comes to both drawing and writing.
Love the way the tip can be twisted back inside the pencil so no injuries too
body from tip.
I do not get why pencil makers do not make more retractable type of pencils,
just cannot understand it.
My favorite retractable pencil from Pilot [Vanishing Point] has been
discontinued recently [only in the US I guess,, not in Japan] here is a link
http://www.amazon.com/PIL50028-Drafting-Pencil-Refillable-Millimeter/dp/B000
GAU2WU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1255466191&sr=8-1-fkmr0
Anyway, I use the all black and the all red Uni shift pencils instead of the
silver one. The red one I often use with red color graphite and the black one
with B or 2B Nano Dia Uni graphite.
Perfect.
The tip is too short...,
February 20, 2009
The tip is too short and the grip feels like it is too close to the
paper...almost to the point where it covers your writing or work that you have
written.
The shift mechanism is loosely put together and makes the feel really unsolid.
This pencil is good for writers that like to write with the pencil straight,
perpendicular to the paper...not good for those that use the pencil at an angle
0 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
my favorite pencil yet....,
December 17, 2010
my favorite pencil yet. AWESOME!
0 out of 1 people found the following review helpful
This pencil is BEAST...,
February 4, 2010
This pencil is BEAST
3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful
An excellent pencil....,
May 24, 2011
This review is from
Uni-ball Shift Pipe Lock Drafting Pencil - Color Body Series - 0.5 mm - Black Body with Smoke Accent
An excellent pencil. I am a high school senior planning on using this pencil all
throughout college, if i can keep it from being stolen that is.
Pros:
- Metal, but somewhat soft grip: It's odd, but the knurled grip, though metal,
feels almost soft to the touch. It's less fatiguing too, because it does not
give like other soft rubber grips.
- No lead wiggle: The lead sleeve perfectly holds the lead, so I feel no
wobbling of the led, making writing to feel much smoother overall.
- Distance between grip and lead: I prefer to hold my pencil lower, where most
other pencils' grips end. This pencil gives you this option with a shorter head
than most.
- Sleek design: Just look at it, it's so sleek.
- Plastic body, metal grip: This gives a nice weight to the pencil and shifts
the weight toward the tip, which feels solid while writing. Though plastic, it
doesn't feel cheap either.
Cons:
- Lead sleeve retracting mechanism: If you like to write with a lot of lead
advanced, then you should push the lead back in after use, because the point of
the lead might stick out after retracting the lead sleeve. This isn't a huge
problem though, but a problem nonetheless.
- Price: This could be a con if you tend to lose pencils often, but if not, this
pencil will last for many years. I believe that it is an excellent investment to
buy a comfortable pencil or pen.
3 out of 3 people found the following review helpful
I LOVE THIS PENCIL!!!
...,
May 2, 2010
This review is from
Uni-ball Shift Pipe Lock Drafting Pencil - Color Body Series - 0.5 mm - Red Body with Smoke Accent
I LOVE THIS PENCIL!!!
I am a sketch artist and an amateur aerospace designer and I have never come
across a drafting pencil that is even half as good as these. I know that the
price tag on it might seem like a bit much, to any beginning artists out there,
but if I had a choice between this pencil and its weight in gold, I would be
tempted to choose the pencil. More so than the gold.
I bought this model, the Shift 0.9mm Silver barrel with Red Accent, 0.5mm
grade-B Uni-ball NanoDia and 0.9mm grade-B Uni-ball Shu Leads, and the E-Knock
eraser. I would be more than happy to buy them all again.
The pencils are great, they might seem a bit heavy when you hold them in your
hand, but when you start writing/drawing/sketching/drafting you will start
noticing a key difference that makes this pencil unique (besides, of course, the
Shift locking mechanism, which has yet to fail me, and its aesthetically
pleasing design). The single most helpful aspect, as I believe it to be, is the
weight distribution of this pencil. If I were to hold this and an X-acto knife
in my hands, without looking, I couldn't tell you which one was was so precise,
that it could be used to perform open-heart surgery, and which one was the
X-acto knife! The majority of this pencil's weight, like a scalpel, is centered
around the grip. This means that when you use it, controlling the tip of the
pencil will seem like an effortless task because your fingers will naturally
support the weight of the grip (where most of the weight is). If this does not
make enough sense, please just take my word for it, buy one of these wonderful
pencils, and see for your self just how great they are.
Now when it comes to pencil leads, I like to stick with the same brands. So it
seemed only fitting for me to buy Uni-ball leads. Out of all the pencil lead
brands that I have used [Foray(6/10), Pentel(8/10), Sharp(7.5/10),
Ticonderoga(8/10), etc.] no brand has kept its promises as well as Uni-ball has,
thus far. The 0.9mm grade-B Shu leads will only break if you intentionally
overload them (or if you write like you're trying to kill the page and the desk
beneath it!). The 0.5mm grade-B NanoDia leads are also pretty strong, for their
size. Both lead types are extremely low wear (each lead lasts a long time before
needing to be replaced) and erase very cleanly with the E-Knock, which I will
get to next...
When I was looking for a good eraser I wanted to stay with the Uni-ball brand
because, in the past, I learned that using one brand of lead and a different
brand of eraser had a tendency to make erasing more like smudging. With the
E-Knock eraser I never have that problem so long as I am erasing a mark from a
Uni-ball lead. I am not currently sure how well the E-Knock erases most other
brands (it doesn't erase Ticonderoga lead quite as well as it erases Uni-ball
lead, I have not yet experimented with any brands other than those two), but I
am fairly sure it can handle at least one or two other mainstream brand names.
It erases with wonderful precision, I would recommend buying it with the Shift
drafting pencil, because the eraser on the pencil doesn't look like it would
last very long.
2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful
I have this one and the...,
July 19, 2011
This review is from
Uni-ball Shift Pipe Lock Drafting Pencil - Color Body Series - 0.5 mm - Red Body with Smoke Accent
I have this one and the silver version in 0.5 It's a cool looking pencil, and
the metal grip is awesome. Give's it a bottom heavy feel.
If I were going to nitpick, it would probably be on the plastic top portion, but
overall, it's that plastic that gives the bottom heavy feel the pencil. and it's
awesome you can retract the tip and put it in your pocket.
If only they could combine the retractable tip + kura toga mechanism, made out
of metal, that would be the ultimate pencil.
2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful
This pencil is quite...,
January 28, 2009
This review is from
Uni-ball Shift Pipe Lock Drafting Pencil - 0.3 mm - Silver Body with Light Blue Accent
This pencil is quite pretty and writes very well - unfortunately the main barrel
is plastic, and the silver paint comes of very quickly just from being in a bag
with other pencils or a pocket. I've had my pencil for two weeks, and it the
barrel is already quite worn down. I was hoping, at this price point, that it
would be similar quality/construction to the Pentel Graphgear 1000 (which I
love) - the barrel on that seems to be more of a metal construction and doesn't
wear down, even over a year of use. I guess I'm sticking with the pentel!