Pica-Dry 3030: Longlife Automatic Pen

Fantastic mechanical pencil, I have had one of these for around two years now and if I could rate it higher I would. Brilliant when hanging things with deep holes. It has an on-board sharpener for finer markings and the graphite lasts ages. The most impressive part must be the plastic sheath that you can clip onto your pencil pocket on your trousers to store the pencil in, it never falls off. The only upgrade I would add is a replaceable eraser to the cap, other than that I wouldn’t change a thing. Don’t be fooled into buying the cheaper brand that looks almost the same as this one it’s no where near as good.

It’s good I’m a joiner and always forget to take my pencil when I’m going from my bench but this in my pocket is good never falls out unlike a pencil on the ear only downfall I find is you have to sharpen it a lot

These are quite good and can produce a narrow accurate mark on most surfaces. Not sure if they are value for money as you can buy a normal pencil for pennies. If you lose one of these, your talking pounds to replace it. Overall I think a normal pencil is better value for money!

It is a very good pencil and can write on nearly anything. It does struggle on some metals but obviously that’s not what it’s for. It is quite expensive but if you look after it it will look after you

Fantastic bit of kit. Simple idea and very effective. Great for marking fixing holes through shower profiles and other normally tricky stuff.

Absolutely fantastic bit of kit spent year using a pencil of sizes and colours came across when a mate had one and tried it out works a treat

For what a thought was pricey at first had got me out of a couple of sticky situations. Got all different colour leads and is easy to use and sharpen. Brilliant for marking up

Fantastic bit of kit until the end snapped, I would still rate is 4 star, I’m back to a pencil as you can’t go wrong, I would use them and recommend them for sure

Having only just got a Pica pencil I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised how handy it is.

Lead protected by case that incorporates a sharpener for keeping lead in good order for marking.
These pencils allow additional colour leads to be used to allow marking out on multiple surfaces.
A great item to have.

Was good until I used the yellow crayon style lead. It broke off and has rendered the pencil unusable. It’s a shame because I did like using it. But I’m sticking with the carpenters pencils from now on.

Absolute game changer. Fantastic design. Saves on having a pocket full of pencils everyday as its impossible to loose. Great value for money.

Purchased one of these after seeing other tradesmen promote them on social media, what a difference this makes to my daily jobs, I used to lose numerous pencils every week but after buying this pencil and glide I’ve managed to not lose it within a year of owning it

I am usually a square carpenters pencil kind of guy and bought one of these on a whim. I liked the idea of having a sheath of my pencil so first it didnt get lost in the depths of my pocket or on the floor. After the first day using it hanging doors I don't think I could go back now. Having the sharpener in the sheath makes it easy to keep the point needle sharp and being able to extend the lead to reach into deeper holes and then retract it back is a nice feature. I do find that the lead does lose its point easily but I have purchased a back of harder graphite refills to see if that solves the problem

Feels solid in the hand and you can feel the quality - I've dropped it, stood on it and still no issues. Works as before the accidents. Marks everything easily, gets into screw holes to mark them easy enough, can sharpen to a fine point instantly as built in, no more trying to find a knife or having a separate sharpener. I rated the features at 5 out of 5 stars because of this built in sharpener as there is not much more that can beat that. Makes life so much easier and the fact you can retract the lead when needed for safety as well or make it longer if needed to get into small holes, makes it perfect for every job. It might seem a lot of money at first for this kind of product but as long as it comes with a few lead replacements it won't seem as bad. Is it worth the money for sure on it's own? I think so having used it but for those that have never used it or known someone who has they could find it steep for a 'pencil' and stick with the free Screwfix ones. NO comparison in reality though - people should invest in this as it makes life so much easier!

I don't think the sleeve is quite right as it is too loose. I think it has design issues. Namely the pen should lock in as it's loose the pen is too easy to lose. You have to keep retracting the pen to put it in the sleeve or the pencil keeps snapping especially on the coloured pencils. It's an old take on the original retractable pencil. I have used retractable pencils for years from my old drawing days and still going strong. I did like the thicker inserts which are good for my trade. Just wish they had gone a bit further. Not a bad price but I think it would grate on me to keep retracting the pencil to put it in the sleeve or have to keep sharpening it if I forgot to retract it, if it locked in place I would not have kept dropping it or worst of all lost it. Would have been well miffed if I lost it after paying 9.99

It's big, it's tough and easy to swap the colour over. The clip is strong and the pencil part detaches with ease whilst the bottom half stays in your pocket. It's slim pencil tip gets in to the smallest holes. You can't get many features on a pencil but what's available is exactly what you need and well thought out. Pricing is competitive against other brands.

This pencil is very easy to find amongst my tools, it has a great feel, very easy to load the graphite, which incidentally marks really well. The choice of colours is really useful also. I like to use a pencil sharpener as a craft knife, so having a sharpener built in saves a lot of time hunting about, can't wait to use it for wood work as well. Very easy to use - no searching for sharpener or any dodgy broken leads. Rated features at 5 stars because of the choice of lead colours, built in tip sharpener, easy to find, good grip, I can clip it to my clothing, and it looks like a pro product. I would just be upset if I lost it at £10 a pop.

Very well made product and the case is great. Easy to use and easy to sharpen the lead or even reload it. Features are much better than others - no competitors. A little pricey if you lose it though.

Good product, good housing, good quality. Easy to use. Marks really good and looks good too. The sharpener is so handy just don't push it too hard! All in all a good bit of kit. Good price for what it does, other prices bit cheaper but not as good.

Have only been using for a few weeks so unable to say about full benefit but have been quite impressed! Quite unique with the holder plus ease of sharpening. The interchange with refills makes it useful.

It hasn't left me since I got it! Used it on everything from tile to plaster, worktops etc. It's far better than what I was using before. It sits in a holder so I have it to hand rather than scrabbling about or looking behind my ear! Everything on it I need, sharpener is on hand, leads easy to replace. It's great value, but that is because I've used it. Guess it sounds a lot for a pencil but it's far superior to what I was using before.