“An earth-friendly slim body”, the Lamy Spirit mechanical pencil

“An earth-friendly slim body”, the Lamy Spirit mechanical pencil (palladium finish) 　7,875 JPyen

　　

　Lamy’s slimmest pen of all: the Spirit.

With a body that is so slim, I had only imagined it as a pen for a daily schedule diary.

Certainly, when used in this way it is convenient and even in the manufacturer’s catalogue and so on, it is described as such.

But, I found out just recently that the background from which this originated is, in fact, completely different.

This being the matter of the effective use of resources.

　The Spirit is made by the skilful folding of one sheet of iron. The body is slim so, of course, it is completed with little material.

This is a pen that retains the distinctive Lamy design style, while realising the intention of carefully using resources.

This time, I thought I would like to introduce the Spirit mechanical pencil.

Why the mechanical pencil?

This is because this is not merely a mechanical pencil version of the ball pen but, has been manufactured with construction specifically for a mechanical pencil.

It is this matter which I thought I would like to delve into.

　　

On the exterior there is little to distinguish whether it is a ball pen or mechanical pencil.

　　

Whether it is a ball pen or a mechanical pencil, when it comes down to “Right, let’s write”, to begin with, the very first step that must be taken is to click down the push mechanism.

　　

On this Spirit, at this point identification is made possible by the top of the push mechanism.

On the mechanical pencil alone, a round hole is opened and in there the eraser can be seen.

　　

If there is an eraser then it is already obvious that this is a mechanical pencil.

With Lamy pens, I recall that on such models as this, where both a ball pen and mechanical pencil are available, there is actually a mark imprinted on this push mechanism.
Mainly, on the mechanical pencils, there is a “5” or “7” marked to denote the thickness of the lead.

Obviously, on this Spirit, a mark cannot possibly be made because the surface of the push mechanism is simply far too small so, perhaps, they adopted this technique of opening a hole to show the eraser.

The next point is the eraser.

Having said this, it is not a particularly uncommon thing for a mechanical pencil to have an eraser.

However, given the tiny axis of this Spirit, it can be imagined that this must have been quite difficult.

As proof of this, on the Tombow Zoom 707, which is regarded to be the rival of the
Spirit, there isn’t an eraser.

Remove the cap and an eraser, so extremely slender that you have not laid eyes on anything like it up until now, makes a slight appearance.

　　

Compared to the eraser of the Lamy 2000, the difference is obvious.

　　

The Spirit mechanical pencil leads are only 0.5mm.
Why I dare to say ‘only’, is because the situation is such that European pen manufacturers are sometimes promoting 0.5mm types in Japan, but in their own country they also have a 0.7mm type.

I attempted to get confirmation on Lamy’s own country web site and the Spirit is not available in 0.7mm and only comes in 0.5mm.

As it is 0.5mm, as a matter of course it is possible to write minute letters.

At the same time, this means that such fine letters have to be erased, too.

On this point, because even minute areas are easily rubbed out with this slender eraser, it can be said that this combination makes a lot of sense.

Yet, from the fact that it is slender it can be reasoned that the amount of eraser is also limited, so the problem arises of it quickly diminishing and being used up.

However, here, that has been properly considered and, of all things, the eraser steadily comes forth from inside.

　　

This eraser’s overall length is approximately 4 cm.

In general, the eraser of a mechanical pencil is something that is included for the sake of it and we, the users, while experiencing the sense of security that comes from having an eraser, don’t want it to be used up so, in actuality don’t use it that frequently.

However, if it is found that there is so ample, suddenly there is an overwhelming urge to just go ahead and use it.

　　

Come to think of it, I seem to think that I have seen this extremely slender eraser shape somewhere recently.

That’s right, it was the Tombow “MONO Zero”.

　　

When compared to the 2.3mm extra slim type the slenderness was almost the same.

Is the Tombow perhaps even just a touch thinner..?

　　

There is one more special technique that only applies to mechanical pencils.

Haven’t you ever had this experience when using a mechanical pencil?

Having used a mechanical pencil for a considerably long period of time, such a thing as a shakiness of the pen tip can be felt.

If you look very closely at the pen tip, there can be a situation where a part of the pointed tip of the pen, a component of the writing tip, has, at some point, loosened.

This is despite having no awareness of this component of the writing tip turning.

This condition is not often experienced on a ball pen of the same style. For some reason, it seems that this only occurs frequently with mechanical pencils.

That this might be related to the number of pushes of a mechanical pencil being far greater, is something I personally consider to be the case.

　　

With this Spirit, this is uncommon.
Being curious about this, I tried twisting the writing tip and could hear a turning sound. Removing the external sleeve of the writing tip showed that the inside was equipped with a rubber washer.

　　

Indeed, by this means it is preventing this looseness.

Incidentally, on the Spirit ball pen this washer isn’t there, though it is one that was purchased a lot earlier.

　　

With this pen, being slim is not a case of doing without something but, conversely, equipped with this thin eraser, it is turned into an advantage.

Moreover, being environmentally friendly it is a pen that reflects the times.