Pencil Things

Review: California Republic Golden Bear Blue

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I've tried and tried to give the Golden Bear a chance. It's made by California Republic, so I know that it comes from good people. But try as I might, I cannot give it a good review.

First, I'd like to point out its best feature, and to many people, that counts for a lot: it's a darn good looking pencil. Take a look:

That blue is just gorgeous, isn't it? Combined with the bright orange eraser and the brass ferrule with a blue metallic stripe in the middle, it looks like a superhero.

Sigh. Unfortunately, it doesn't act like one. I started out with just one, and then I asked Don to send me another one to make sure it wasn't a fluke. The second one wasn't much better. The wood won't sharpen for anything. I tried several small KUM sharpeners, a generic hand-held sharpener that came with a set of Ticonderogas, a wall-mounted Boston-like sharpener, and even one of those plug-in electric sharpeners. Every time, the wood catches, splinters, and weakens its hold on the lead point.

I know California Republic doesn't have this problem with their other products. The Prospector and the Palomino, two of my favorite pencils of all time, sharpen smoothly, and never splinters. I tried taking pictures of the Golden Bear's point side by side with the Palomino's point, but I can't get a picture in focus. Trust me; they look the same.

I pressed my fingernail against the exposed wood on the point, and realized that the Golden Bear's wood is harder. I can easily make an indentation into the Palomino's wood, while it takes a harder push to indent the Golden Bear's.

So, does that make the wood harder and more brittle? I think so.

Conversely, with as hard as the wood was, the lead was soft. Too soft. I had a hard time keeping a point, even when I wrote softly. The trade-off wasn't even that great -- I didn't have a darker line when comparing it to a Palomino with a bit firmer lead. (Keep in mind that these pencils are all HB -- I'm sure that varies significantly if I switch to a harder lead.)

I can give it props for it's orange eraser, though. Sometimes when erasers are bright colors, they tend to more rubbery and less... eraser-y. This one, however, erases cleanly and without an excess of residue left on the page.

On one hand, I bemoan my opinion of the Golden Bear. It is made by a fine pencil company, after all, and it seems like they would know what they are doing. On the other hand, I feel like I put it through a fair trial (as fair as any other pencil I've reviewed). So maybe it deserves its rating.

A superhero it is not. Maybe a super model -- it is very attractive without too much else going for it.

Overall rating: 1.5 out of 5 points

-Andy Welfle

Pencil Points: KUM Left-handed sharpener

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• As with KUM's myriad of other products, the blade sharpens pencil wood like a machete with a stick of butter. It is smooth.
• The small rectangular shape is easy to hold.
• The blade is positioned on the opposite side of the shaft so left handers can hold the pencil in their left, the sharpener in their right, and turn the pencil away from them.
• There are two holes -- one for regular-diameter pencils, and one for oversized/triangular pencils.
• Unfortunately, the clear plastic case which contains the shavings cracks easily. I've gone through two.
• The case doesn't have much of a capacity. If I am sharpening a brand new pencil for the first time, I have to stop half-way through, empty the sharpener, and continue.
• On a positive note, the point it creates is perfect -- a little over half-an-inch from tip to the barrel. Just enough room to grip the pencil while maintaining a sharp point.
• Overall: Thanks, KUM, for thinking of us 8-15% of the population who use our other hands! Remember what they say -- if right-handed people use the left parts of their brains predominantly, that means us lefties are the only ones in our right minds!
• Overall points: 3.5 out of 5 points

Sharpening the Dixon Tri-Conderoga Pencil

The Tri-Conderoga pencil is a little difficult to sharpen well. Dixon supplies a dual-hole sharpener in its dozen pack. The large hole on the Dixon sharpener, though, is too large. It is difficult to not wobble your pencil during sharpening, which often results in broken tips and curiously-shaped lead -- which itself is easily broken.

A KUM dual-hole sharpener, manufactured specifically for triangular pencils, has just the right size hole -- so no wobble or broken lead. Just like the Dixon sharpener, however, the KUM sharpener can leave some wood almost to the very tip. So, here's a hint. Sharpen the Tri-Conderoga with the KUM in the larger hole designed for triangular pencils. Then make finishing touches on the lead by moving the pencil to the small hole and carefully rotating the lead against the blade. Now, you'll have a nicely sharpened Tri-Conderoga!

It is also important to have spare blades on hand for sharpening triangular pencils, particularly the larger diameter pencils, like the Tri-Conderoga. A dull blade will hang up on the three "corners" of the pencil, almost forcing jerky sharpening. The result can be a broken tip.  |  Don Bell, Proprietor, Pencil Things

Pencil Points: Rhodia Triangular HB pencil

Rhodia Triangular HB Pencil
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• This pencil matches my Rhodia notepad perfectly, but is stylish enough to write on its own. Even though the ONLY two colors are orange and black, it doesn't give off a cheap Halloween vibe at all.
• In many pencils with dyed wood, there is often a problem with sharpening -- the wood is almost too saturated and soft. It feels waterlogged. Not so with this pencil. The wood feels smooth; similar to a Palamino's wood. Except jet black.
• As always, the triangular shape pleases me. It is comfortable to write with, and it's lightweight enough where it whips around when you use it.
• Negative point: The lacquer is matte, and it gets dirty REALLY easily. If stored with any other pencils, the barrel gets dirty, and although sometimes it just rubs off, sometimes it doesn't. So far, I have been able to clean it with a paper towel damp with window cleaner, but I'm waiting for the day I ding it, or get something indelible on it. It will look terrible, because it shows up brightly against the orange.
• The eraser is average, and does erase clearly, with minimal residue left on the page. I wish the ferrule and the eraser were the same shape as the barrel, like the Dixon Triconderogas, but, ah well, no pencil is perfect.
• Overall: 4 out of 5 points

-Andy Welfle

Vintage Pencils

If you have fond memories about a pencil you once used, I encourage you to find it again. For, every time you see it, and handle it, and write something down, those memories will well up and you'll have some happy moments! True, you may not be able to find a certain pencil readily because it has been out of production for a long time. It may be a "vintage" collector’s item now and, hence, more costly than you recall. But it is worth the effort of searching.

You can find almost any pencil if you are enthusiastic and persistent! If you pass by an old stationery or art supply shop, take a minute to walk in and browse at their pencils -- and ask questions of the staff! You'd be surprised what they have on the back shelves! Search on eBay, of course. And ask at boutique pencil and pen shops. I have, for example, hundreds of vintage pencils which I have collected over the years and which I intend to put back into circulation. I acquired them to write with, and I still search for more to experience. Some vintage brands and models I already know quite well: doesn't Venus Velvet ring a bell! Many are strangers whose acquaintance I want to make.

A hint about the erasers on vintage and old pencils: To clean the eraser’s surface, erase it with a fresh eraser. Although you cannot restore the eraser to its original supple condition, you will find that it looks nice and erases well. It may be rough on both fine and cheap paper, but it will work well enough on typical office and notebook paper.

So, you can buy vintage pencils – even those tipped with well-past-their-prime erasers – and get a lot of use and pleasure from them. They are a part of history, maybe even a part of your history. While you are using a vintage pencil, you can’t help but reflect back to some of your own good old days!  |  Don Bell, Proprietor, Pencil Things

Mongol Trio - large diameter triangular pencil

Many writers like a triangular-barreled pencil, such as the California Republic Prospector HB pencil. The triangular barrel seems to fit better into the triangular channel formed by the fingers when gripping a pencil. Many claim that this comfortable fit reduces writing fatigue. Some men, however, are not comfortable with the smaller gripping diameter most triangular-shaped pencils present. The Mongol Trio is a triangular pencil at the large end of the spectrum. It is slightly larger in diameter than the increasingly popular Dixon triangular pencil, called the Tri-Conderoga, which might be called a "mid-size diameter" triangular pencil. The Mongol Trio is big enough that it could also serve well as an hexagonal carpenter pencil  |  Don Bell, Proprietor, Pencil Things