Even though I still buy woodcase pencils, when I see a nice looking mech I always feel compelled to try it out. Sakura might not be one of the biggest names in writing instruments but they have some incredible markers and pens. The SumoGrip is a slightly oversized mechanical pencil; one of the nice things about it from an eco-friendly slant is that there are refills for both the lead and eraser. It is well made so you should be able to get a lot of use from it without having to pitch it. The only possible problem is the comfort grip area; I got this in blue first and within about a month it looked horrible because of finger oil and dirt accumulating on it. Since there is no way to clean it you are stuck with something that looks a little on the gross side. Thankfully you can get the Sumo in a couple different color barrels so when I came across it in black I knew that it would work out a lot better for me.

The Sumo is a great mech for people who have trouble with regular pencils; because of the thickness of it you can get a solid group on it without having to squeeze a lot. That means reduced fatigue and the ability to write with less discomfort. The clicker action to advance the lead is not loud and to retract the lead tip all you have to do is press and hold the back cap and push the lead back in. The eraser is pearl white and can be refilled. You do have to be careful when it gets about half way down because if you are erasing unevenly with it, it could end up scraping or ripping the paper. You can get the Sumo in different lead thicknesses so there are options available. This isn't something that I have seen in a ton of retail stores; online you can find them at most of the larger sites however you won't be able to pick the color you want with most sites. I am still trying to track down the companion pen to check it out but so far haven't had any luck locally.

This would make for an excellent mech for teens who take a lot of notes and need something that is dependable; it's almost indestructible because of the thickness of it and the grade of plastic that is used. The comfort grip area also means that they can writer longer without feeling like their hand is going to fall off. Tweens might have a little bit of trouble transitioning to something that is this thick and you also need to be worried about the metal tip on the end of the pencil. It is not a toy and can puncture the skin if they start goofing around with it. The pocket clip is a nice perk if you use something like this on a regular basis but because of the thickness of the pencil it isn't hard to find in a bag or backpack. All of the colors are nice but as mentioned, the comfort grip area can get dirty from finger oil and dirt that it comes in contact with.

This shouldn't be confused with the SumoGrip II; that is a gel pen that has a slightly different design to it. If you are buying this online you need to make sure that you are getting the mechanical pencil and not one of the pens. I grabbed one of these locally for $1.99 and was pretty happy with it. When the blue one got trashed I did switch it up for a black one and that has worked out a lot better for me. The photo shown here is for the black one, the blue one has a really nice glow to it and the barrel is almost completely see through. If there was a way to keep the grip clean or to clean it then chances are I would stick with the blue one. If you do a lot of writing with pencil then this is worth checking out but it is not something that should be used on standardized computer scored tests. For the price this is a nice mech and the fact that it can be refilled gives it an eco-friendly kicker.


^V^ ©Freak369 - 2012 ^V^


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Recommended: Yes