Pica-Dry Longlife Automatic Pencil 3030

This is the best mechanical carpenter's pencil that I have found. It has several nice features.1. Sheath - it has a holster which works great. The holster stays securely connected to my pocket, belt, apron. The pencil stays securely in the sheath even if you just drop it in. The sheath is round so that you can drop the pencil in without lining anything up. I like my Thorvald, but with no sheath it is much more work to take it in and out of pockets and toolbelts. One of the teeth that holds the Thorvald broke quickly.2. Cap - The cap stays on solidly. Most of the time I grabbed my Thorvald, the cap came out but the pencil stayed.3. Sharpener - The sharpener gives a very nice, sharp tip that still does not break too much. The downside to the sharpener is that you have to pull the sheath out to sharpen the pencil. Not too big of a deal because I do not need to sharpen often.4. Lead holding, loading, advancement - the leads go in easily, advance nicely and does not slip.5. Ability to mark in deep pockets. The end tube is pretty thin (similar to almost all of its competetors) making it easier to mark inside small diameter wholes. You can also advance the lead quite a ways, so you can mark in any hole as wide as the lead diameter.The only downside to the pica is that it is round, so more likely to roll off of a table. There is a roll stop in the collar, but it is still more prone to roll than something like the ox. Still, I prefer the round Pica because it makes it easier to drop into the sheath.The Pica leads seem to be great, but I went with the Hultafors refill pack. They are slightly different diameter to the Pica leads, but work just fine. I went with the Hultafors refill pack because of the cool dispenser that clips on my tool pouch. That way I always have refills with me. Tracer makes a similar, even smaller refill.If you are looking for a mechanical carpenter's pencil, buy the Pica Dry. It works great.

16 bucks for a pencil, 1$ a stick for the refills, how is it worth it you may ask? Well, every once in a while it’s nice to spend money on the small things we use everyday but don’t think about how often we really do use them.I am a commercial/industrial electrician. We do massive piping infrastructures in every building we work in. Miles of large and small pipes being ran, bent, and cut. And with every stick there’s generally a mark or two that needs to be made. Constant pencil sharpening with razor knifes, pencil always falling out of your ear or hard hat or snapping in your pocket, etc.Well this pencil is the answer to most of those problems. Heavy duty graphite that doesn’t break easily by any means, I use it daily on block and concrete walls, Sheetrock, rigid and emt piping that’s loaded with oil, and for writing material lists or bending situations we need to achieve.This pencil is hands down the best writing apparatus I have used in the field. The oils and paints on concrete or piping tend to destroy the sharpie marker tips rather quickly. Yet this pencil marks thru it all and never gets messy. It has a nice holder that you can place In your pocket or attach to your hard hat like I have, and on the end of the holder there is a sharpener for adding a point to the lead.I’ve been using it daily for about 3 weeks and the first lead stick is still going strong. I bought the 10 pack of refills for it as well. Seems like they will last me quite a while. They also sell colored graphite as well as just black. If you are in the trades of any type then this pencil is worth the premium price it asks for. Longevity will be the only factor that determines whether or not I purchase another one. But only time will tell. For now it’s a 5 star worthy purchase.The only con I have is it doesn’t have an eraser. Not that they ever do a great job anyways but sometimes it would be nice to have it. But I feel that the pencil is designed to last a long time and the erasers never do so that’s probably the reason why it doesn’t exist.*****Update*****After about 14 months of owning this pencil it is still functioning like the first day I got it. It is super durable and just a very well made device. The lead lasts forever when marking on pipes or using as a writing tool. Concrete or block tends to run thru it faster but still not bad. I’ve since purchased the colored inks as well (Green, Blue, White) They are an amazing add esp when working in dimly lit areas for visual purposes. The colors work great on pipe and walls but they go much faster than the regular lead.Just wanted to write this update to say this is indeed a worthy investment and since my first purchase I’ve bought a second pencil for use at home because I can’t go back to regular pencils even for home projects now haha.

A bit pricey, but really good for my uses.If mine were to break or get lost, I would probably buy a new one pretty quickly.It's hard to explain through words, but the engineering on this is really good, possibly over engineered.I work carpentry and general maintenance every day.I wear a belt holster for a multitool, and it has a space for a pen and this fits great in it.The lead that it comes with is very soft, maybe a 4-6B, resulting in a rich, dark, and smooth application.It doesn't stay sharp for long, but the holder has it's own sharpener, which is fantastic.My only real complaint, other than the price, is that since I wear this on my belt, sometimes it gets in the way. Meaning, it gets stuck on my shirt, get's pressed/extended while I'm moving/working, etc.I think this would be fantastic for people that wear it in a shirt pocket.For budget minded people, just carry a carpentry pencil.

The best pencil durable functional clip and sharpener and the size is perfect!

The Pica Dry is an excellent pencil however after about 6 months of use it tends to fall-off the holder because the friction that holds in place has worn out.

This is the best writing/marking device I’ve ever purchased. I always keep it clipped in my pocket while I’m working in my shop. It has a sharpener attached to the bottom. You can buy tons of different color refills. It’s intuitive and marks nearly every surface. The only thing you’ll regret is not having two, lol! One to keep in the car and one to keep in the garage. Perfect gift for any crafty person around you. It works incredible. I’ve been using these exact pens for about 8 years.