Uni Alpha-Gel Kuru Toga Mechanical Pencil, 0.5 mm, Red Body (M5858GG1P.15)...

Writing notes and doing math problems, I developed a little painful callous on my middle finger. There alpha gel relieved that problem. Kuru toga is an awesome feature, and I swear that it makes my handwriting better.

This is one of the better versions of the auto rotate function and it has a comfy, squishy grip! The only downside to these pencils is the awful eraser. It's so small I just don't use it. Also, if you wear it down it's hard to get out to reload the lead into the pencil. I'm surprised they haven't fixed that feature yet. When you're using an eraser you usually want a big one anyway since you'll need something that will last more than a few uses.

I have both the cheaper regular "starter" 0.7 mm Kuru Toga and this Alpha-Gel 0.5mm model, and I'm torn. The Alpha-Gel is definitely more comfortable to hold, but I prefer the writing feel and handwriting appearance of the 0.7 mm model. Not a big difference, and likely just personal preference. The other thing to keep in mind is that this Alpha-Gel does not come with a spare eraser or extra pencil leads, so you'll need to buy those. The 0.7mm starter comes with a pack of pencil leads and two erasers, at about two-thirds the price of this one. If you haven't tried this variety of pencil before, I'd start with the cheaper version. I will say that both are superior to every other mechanical pencil I've used before.

I have the standard version of the kuro toga pencil and love it, but the weight of this pencil along with the gel, makes this one much more comfortable to write with. I write, mostly numbers and notes, a lot. The rotating mechanism of the pencil does not work properly if you write in cursive, and I tend to mix my print and cursive letters. I purchased the pencil knowing that and I'm still very pleased with how well it writes and how strong the lead is. I've had the pencil for about a month now and have not had the lead break once. This is my new go to pencil.

Delivery came few days before hand, and was packaged COMPLETELY beyond expectation, for a small item like this pencil it was packaged through a large box filled with protective gear, like inflated plastic bags. For the product itself is very amazing. The kurutoga engine is very useful and works like it says. One concern I had was that the red color was very vivid, but I kind of actually like it. Overall amazing product!