Mechanical or Regular Pencils?

By: Andy Chen

Students have long fought over which writing utensil is best: mechanical pencils or regular wooden pencils.
Those who stick to traditional wooden pencils benefit from reduced costs and easy accessibility, as they’re able to buy in bulk. Wooden pencils users also don’t have to fumble with refilling lead — although they do have to sharpen their pencils occasionally.

While mechanical pencils definitely cost more on average than wooden pencils, mechanical pencil users believe the benefits outweigh the costs; in fact, many mechanical pencil users snob at wooden pencil users, similar to how iPhone users act toward Android users. Mechanical pencils are safer and last longer than normal pencils, since lead can be replenished in a mechanical pencil, whereas wooden pencils whittle away little by little. Additionally, they remain the same length for the entirety of their lifetime, allowing students using mechanical pencils to gain a consistent grip, promoting good writing habits.
However, students who use mechanical pencils should keep standardized testing in mind — think Scantrons on SAT, AP and ACT multiple choice tests. For these tests, wooden pencils are standard, so students should always bubble using an HB2 wooden pencil; better safe than sorry.
At the very least, whether you’re a mechanical or wooden pencil person, there’s at least one thing you can agree on: at least you’re not a pen person.