[Pen/Pencil Review] The Paper Mate Infinite Lead 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil
Back to “old school”, low tech writing instruments after last week’s high tech gadget pen. I’m looking at the PaperMate Infinite Lead 0.5mm mechanical pencil. Yes, Paper Mate makes mechanical pencils, even though you wouldn’t know it from their website or social media streams. They’re focused on their “Ink Joy” pens (which I’m still not overly impressed with, especially since you can’t find their Fine Points anywhere but online, and I don’t want a dozen of them).
In fact, the Infinite Lead pencil isn’t even on the official Paper Mate website. I picked the Infinite Lead mechanical pencil up at Office Depot with a “rewards coupon”. According to Google, the Paper Mate Infinite Lead mechanical pencil is available at just about every convenient retail location.
I still have no idea what makes the Infinite Lead pencil…infinite. It does come prefilled with 12 leads, which may be the “infinite” part, but I haven’t seen anything in the lead itself that makes it any better than other typical mechanical pencils. But with the sheer amount of lead, it does go quite a while before needing attention.
The body itself is kind of cool. The blue and white body with gray clip is sleek, and the grip has enough texture and padding to be comfortable. With lead retracted, the pencil is about 5.75″ long, which gives it enough length to be balanced in my hand. 
But the one feature I really dig about this pencil is the advancement cap — the whole cap that you click to advance the pencil lead is one giant, mushroom-shaped, eraser. And that’s always been an issue with me and some pencils – the eraser is long gone before I’m done with the pencil. That’s a nice feature, for those of us who like to erase.
NOTE: In doing some other searching, it could be that the Infinite Lead pencil is being phased out and replaced with the Mega Lead Mechanical Pencil., but they
Now to the numbers:
1. How does it work? – 0.5 – it works about as well as I can expect. It’s an inexpensive mechanical pencil. If you have a heavy hand, the lead snaps. I still
2. Grip and feel – 1 – For a relatively inexpensive mechanical pencil, it’s got a good feel. The grip is that in-between too squishy and hard. It’s long enough to be comfortable. I’ve used it quite a bit.
3. Material – 0.5 This is kind of “meh”. I mean it’s an inexpensive mechanical pencil, made out of inexpensive materials.
4. Overall Design – 1 – For what it is, I like the design, if just for the eraser cap. It’s an interesting design detail that gives the pencil a bit of novelty without adding bulk to the pencil. And 12 leads in the chamber does give it a longevity you don’t see in many other mechanical pencils.
5. Price Point – 1 – For an inexpensive pencil, it’s inexpensive. Online, they’re running about $1 apiece, which is actually a good price considering the length of time you can use it.
I give it 4 out of 5 bronze pencils.
