I made two posts awhile back (https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/80nqfh/new_items_made_to_last/ and here https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/80pikk/vote_to_become_rold_calculators/) stating my discontentment with the BIFL subreddit at the time, as nearly all the posts were about old calculators and items no longer available to buy new. I stated that I would start posting some reviews of such items that could still be bought and, to my knowledge, could last at least a few decades if used for several days a week or more. I apologize for the delay. Let's get started.
I have owned my Rotring Rapid Pro for nearly two years. It is made nearly entirely out of brass, except for the inner plastic connecting the top half of the pencil to the bottom half. It is not recommended to carry around most other Rotring pencils as pencils are often dropped, and usually they land on the nib. Now this would not be so much of an issue for most mechanical pencils, but Rotring pencils are much heavier than the standard plastic variety due to them being made mostly from metals. This causes the nib to bend wildly due to the momentum of the pencil hitting an object, often requiring the owner to shell out money for an entirely new pencil.
What makes the Rotring Rapid Pro so special is that the nib is retractable. Not only this, but if the pencil lands on the nib, the contact with the floor causes the nib to simply retract back into the pencil. I have had much experience with this as I have used this pencil while on ladders late into the night, times when I have been on the verge of falling asleep right then and there. I have dropped this incredibly heavy pencil many, many times. Nearly every time it has hit the nib, and every time the nib has simply retracted back into the pencil, safe from harm.
The retractability also occurs when the user presses down too hard, preventing the lead from breaking.
Be weary though, as this pencil is twice the mass of a standard Rotring pencil, which is already much heavier than the standard mechanical pencil. Though when people borrow my pencil, they always comment on how solid and well built it feels, along with how they no longer need to press down on the paper, as the pencil's mass does the work for them.
The mechanical pencil version comes in 0.5mm and 0.7mm
Pros:
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Entire pencil made of solid brass, except the apparent strong plastic connecting the top and bottom.
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Knurling used as grip instead of rubber.
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Retractable nib, preventing the leading cause of mechanical pencil woes.
Cons:
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More expensive than the average mechanical pencil.
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Heaviness of pencil could tire the hand, depending on how you write.
I would stay away from the official website and instead buy from the likes of other sources such as Amazon or Ebay, as they can be found new for half of retail. I bought mine (0.7mm) for about 25USD, but now it seems to hover around 30USD
Hopefully everyone finds this review helpful. Please comment if there is anything you wish to know. Thank you!
Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/fxcoIai
Submitted April 21, 2018 at 10:33PM by carma143 https://ift.tt/2qPfYkX
