Has anything been heard about the Kuru Toga Dive in the last few months? It looked like a very interesting pencil, if somewhat overpriced. It was released, but never in more than small batches, and now seems to have disappeared.

  • Curious Canid@lemmy.caOP
    1·
    11 months ago

    Strangely enough, I just managed to acquire one. It was on eBay for only a bit over the retail price and I somehow got it.

    I am very pleased with it. How well tricks like autoadvance work depend heavily on the specifics ways you use the pencil, but this mechanism works perfectly for me. I can open the pen and write as much as I want without touching the knock button. The rotation also works reasonably well for me. It doesn’t keep the lead sharp, but it does keep me from writing with the flat side of it. That is a big improvement over manually turning the pencil.

    The cap may be the best feature for me. I carry mine all the time, in a short pocket covered with a flap. Any pencil in there gets pushed down on quite regularly. That not only pushes out the lead, it also deploys the tip on many pencils where it can be retracted. The Dive’s cap solves both problems neatly.

    I can understand why people think it’s overpriced for a plastic-bodied pencil. They really should have used aluminum or brass at this price point, even if that meant bumping the price slightly higher. Casual users are not going to spend this kind of money for a pencil anyway and non-casual users know enough to want something better. Despite my own preference for metal, the Dive hasn’t bothered me. The weight and balance are both reasonable.

    The width of the grip is going to be a problem for some people. It feels comfortable to me, but I’m not sure why they made it so thick. I can’t believe the mechanism requires it.

    So I think the cautions are all valid, but they have not kept me from thoroughly enjoying mine.