Pentel Super Hi-Polymer Lead Refill 0.5mm Fine, 2B, 36 Pieces of Lead (C505BP32B-K6), Gray, 3 pack

Love this lead. It feels just as sturdy as regular HB lead but is a bit darker, which I love. I thought it was smudge a bit more but it doesn’t any more than HB does! Really happy with this lead!

Love the Pentel quality erasers! Completely removes Pentel pencil lead mistakes and do not abrade paper surface.

Years of experience have taught me that in the long run PENTEL products are the best quality and most economical mechanical pencils, lead refills, and erasers available and perform as expected. These refills are for the 2B lead refills which are darker than the normal lead refill and work great when applying patterns while woodworking. The darker lead is easier to see and helps keeps cut’s exactly where desired. The 2B is softer so care is needed when using because it will break easier.

I don't know much about the artsy world of lead and their hardness/darkness, but I definitely wanted something that would write darker and still be a pencil. I think 2B is a good hardness if you want to get darker writing but not have a completely weak stick of lead. At first, when I switched from HB to 2B, I couldn't tell the difference between which lead was writing what. I started to get a little frustrated, actually. Then I switched back to HB, and there was a world of difference. 2B is so much smoother (no crusty scratching noise on the paper), and the darker lead writes a bolder (if only slightly) line -- something I don't like personally, so I will probably go down to 0.3mm lead with 2B. When writing on front/back of papers, it does leave a heavier imprint on the previous page because of the darker lead, so be wary of that if you like spiral-bound notebooks and write on the back of the paper. All in all, this is amazing lead. It is definitely worth the price, and I will continue to purchase 2B over HB lead, even if that means hunting it down to purchase online.

I am a medical student, and I take copious handwritten notes, all day, every day. In the past I was using the plastic mechanical pencils you can buy at Walmart. A while back I received a Pentel Graph Gear pencil as a gift, and it opened my eyes to what I've been missing. Since then I've experimented with a few different lead types, and this is my favorite. For those who are curious, the lead scale has twelve stages, and 2B is three away from the extreme end of the darkest and softest of lead. I find 2B is a good balance between a readable, dark imprint, but without being as soft as crumble or break under the force of my writing. If you have a heavy hand you might want to consider B or even harder HB, but those leads will come at the cost of a lighter imprint. In the other direction 3B and the softest available 4B do make a darker imprint, but unfortunately I find those leads often turn into crumbs even under a moderate hand.

I like the larger lead-sized mechanical pencils. These are perfect for note-making and other daily needs. I use them in short mechanical pencils. They can also be used for simple diagrams and sketches... Or even on the golf course. I have had good performance from these leads.

I've tried some other, slightly cheaper, brands of pencil lead, only to be disappointed at how easily they broke or how hard they were to write with. These, however, I am very satisfied with. They're as soft and dark as I'd expect from 2B leads while hardly ever breaking.

I love 0.9 because it does not break very easily. I am fairly heavy-handed and write pretty hard; this stuff does not break often. Love!