I like wood pencils, I buy Faber-Castell 2B, also HB. I use a small razor twist sharpener, not a crank sharpener. Haven't really noticed much of a problem with off-center lead. Haven't tried any Japanese pencils.

I have used the "Mitsu-Bishi" 9800s (the green painted pencil with gold lettering in this article) for years: all sharpen to perfection. I like HBs, but love the 2Bs, which write as smooth as butter. This is the low tier pencil offering at about 50 cents (US) each. I will never try high-end Unis; I can't afford to habituate myself to luxury with the volume I write.

I finally ran out of my 'retro' blackwings and picked up a box of their revival. They are expensive ($2.50 a pencil in packs of 12) but the quality so far has been very consistent. Not sure I'd give them to my kids as likely as they would be to lose or destroy them, but you might consider them for yourself.

For mechanicals I have a Rotring 600 and a Staedtler Mars Technico that is a billion years old.

Expensive pencils are one of those things that totally worth it. I use Faber-Castell pencil, eraser and sharpener, and while they are maybe double or triple the price of a cheap one, they last way longer than that because they do their job.

I have sharpened a cheap pencil more than 3 cm at once because either the lead or the wood keep breaking.

I found a cheap plastic Faber-Castell sharpener in the drawer yesterday. No idea where it came from, but it was razor sharp and the perfect angle for my double-ended Mitsubishi 772 red/blue. I’ll definitely be ordering more of those, and will check out their other offerings too.