I did some online searching and found several specialty sites with matching "special" prices. But nice, steel-and-plastic drafts-person mechanical pencils that would last for decades.
Then I was in some "everything" drug store and found 0.9 mm plastic pencils - a bag of 10 for less than $10 if I recall.
(But one bag of cheapies like that was around 30% defective: the lead-gripping mechanism slipped if you pressed hard. I forget whether the "bad bag" was 0.7 mm or 0.9 mm.)
It wouldn't surprise me if some office supply stores had the 0.9 mm size at a reasonable price and quality point. They do make even thicker leads "for children". But my bad handwriting already fills up a mini-blind slat without 1.2 or 1.3 mm lead.
