Ask Mr. Pencil: the Perfect Test Pencil

Jacqueline from Los Angeles, CA, writes:

Hello Mr. Pencil,

I am hoping to learn from your pencil expertise.  I am currently looking for the "perfect test pencil."  I have discovered that I will have to sit for the hardest test of my career that only allows "regular pencils" (i.e. no mechanicals) and I am used to writing with only mechanicals/pens.  This test is 4 hours long and I will need a pencil that is good for bubbling, doing complicated math problems, and drawing complex diagrams.

Thus, I am looking for a pencil that is:

• Good for endurance in weight/shape/lead
• Good for crappy thin fibrous test paper (won't break through or smudge paper)
• Easy to erase
• A #2
• Smooth and easy to write

Good sharpening is not key because it is suggested to bring 10 pencils to each test and to practice/study with them because there will be no time for sharpening.

Could you please suggest a pencil type/shape/weight that would be perfect for this?  Can you also suggest an eraser and grip attachment since I have heard the eraser unbalances the pencil?

Can you also suggest a place/supplier of those pencils so that I can buy in bulk?  I estimate needing at least 200 or so (hopefully affordable).

Thanks!

Jacqueline,

Thanks for your question!

Ah, you gotta love those crazy standardized tests that have so many different requirements. Technically, there is absolutely no difference in the lead of a #2 woodclinched pencil and that of #2 mechanical, but I understand that you want to stay within the letter of the law, so to speak. Although the mechanical is more comfortable for you, it's not worth risking this big test over a small matter like that.

But wow — 200 pencils! That's a huge test. Are you passing these out to others? You're right, you'll need a good pencil. I could just tell you that it makes more economic sense to go to Office Depot and get some plain ol' yellow pencils, but in reality, those Office Depot brand pencils are not comfortable to hold, hard to erase, and aren't smooth. Although your wallet will thank you (they're about $3.99 for 72 of them), your hand will not.

My primary recommendation the Palomino by California Republic. (Product Page) Here are the main reasons why:

• It has a smooth, glossy lacquer on it, making it comfortable for extended periods of clutching it in terror.
• There is no eraser on the end, so it is extremely lightweight (though not unsubstantial-feeling!)
• The graphite (you need to buy a hardness of HB to equal #2) is thick and dark.

My only concern is the price. It is a high-end pencil, so it is expensive. If you were going to buy less than a dozen, it would cost you about $1.19 per pencil. I talked to Don, our glorious PencilThings.com leader, and he says if you want to buy a quantity as large as 200, he can get you a significant discount.

If price is indeed the breaking point for you, a close second is the Mongol 482 Natural-finish pencil.(Product Page, Review) It has a really nice graphite that rubs off smooth and dark and stays sharp longer than most. It also has an unlaquered surface, so although it isn't glossy and won't cushion your hand as you hold it, your skin's oils will condition it as time goes on. You know what I like most about nice unlaquered pencils? They smell good. Mongols are made out of an incensed cedar, and when you sniff it, it has a scent of cedar chips.

Mostly, the benefit over a Palomino is the price. It is $.41 instead of $1.19, and if you order a gross (144) or more, the price goes down almost by half.

One more thing: if you decide to go with the Palomino, make sure to buy an eraser or two! Since it doesn't have one on the end, you'll want one to erase those mistakes. Plus, individual erasers are superior to the ones at the end of your pencil, and will erase more evenly, comfortably, gently, and cleanly. I recommend the Mercur original eraser, one of the best erasers I've ever used. Actually, I'd recommend this even if you go with the Mongol. I'm not impressed with their erasers.

I'm afraid I can't honestly give advice on a pencil grip, because I don't use them. I find them to be cumbersome and uncomfortable. Plus, the extra bulk makes my already bad handwriting WAY worse. I've used these, and they weren't awful. Honestly, though, if you get the Palominos, I don't think you'll need a grip — the lacquer is nice and thick and cushions your fingers nicely.

Anyone else have any recommendations? Post them in the comments, and Jacqueline — let me know what you decide, and good luck with your test!

—Andy, er, Mr. Pencil

Comments

[Jacqueline]

Hi all Pencil Aficionados,

It's early July so I thought I would give all of you an update on what I have tried. I'm hoping Don and Andy will read this comment because I'm really hoping Don will get back to me. :)

Pencil: For my first practice test, I chose a cheapy Office Max pencil that had a natural wood finish. It was too light, smudged a lot, and was insubstantial in weight. My hand hurt after the first 35 minute section.

Dixon Ticonderogas: Out of desperation, I went to Staples and looked around. Unfortunately, they only sell one "fancy" kind of pencil, the dixon Ticonderogas. They had a special one which is extra thick and triangular, touted as "the most comfortable pencil in the world." For now, it's impressive but the thickness makes it difficult to sharpen. I can never get it to a fine point and the enclosed pencil sharpener is useless. Also, I think it "smells too much" because it leaves wood residue all over my fingers. I'm very allergic to strong smells so it's taken me awhile to get used to the wood smell.

Maybe any of you have a suggestion to sharpen thicker/triangular pencils?

And what is grainy paper?

I did try a clay eraser and a mercury eraser both of which smudged on the test paper. When I order through Don, I will try to get an eraser sampler pack too.

Mostly, I am sincerely touched that all of you would take the effort to respond to my questions/posts. My class and I are especially stressed as we're all trying to work 12 hr days, study 3+ hours/day, and a full-time classes on Saturday and Sunday.

All of you are contributing in a real and important way to a group of young people. Plus, I am opening their eyes to the "way of the pencil" as most of them borrow my pencils on test day and we all agreed that there's no way we can ever use an OfficeMax pencil again! ;)

- Jacqueline

[slywy]

Andy, I can't say I have. They've been pretty good erasers for me, although I'm used to using separate ones (just got a bunch of Mercur Prisms and Faber-Castells).

I do have a box of Mongol Naturals #! and a box of Mongol Naturals #2, and I am beginning to wonder if both boxes and pencils are mislabeled, or if there's a different convention going on. The #! is firm/non-smudgy, while the #2 is soft and very smudgy -- the opposite of what I would expect. I keep thinking it's me, but each time it's been the same. #1 -- lighter, not smudgy. #2 -- darker, smudgy as heck. Weird.

[Andy Welfle]

slywy, you are right! They are great pencils, and they feel so nice and fresh in your hand. I don't care for their erasers, though... They crumble and break off too quickly. Have you had this experience?

[slywy]

>Musgrave
HB Natural Finish Writing Pencil

Yes, that's the one I was referring to. Aren't they wonderful? They also seem to have a slightly larger barrel than the Ticonderogas, which have trimmed down. They're certainly affordable, and they are a marvel for the price.

[oasisob1]

To comment on Andy Welfle's comment, the Musgrave Scoring Pencils make a beautifully dark mark, the erasers are junk, and they do have those sharply defined edges. I'd recommend the pencil, any of the vinyl or other 'new tech' erasers, as they erase with a very light touch and don't create a lot of residue (o'bon oops erase well, but vanish FAST!). Or you can check with the experts over at http://eraserjoy.blogspot.com/.
As for your poor little fingers, get some duct tape, or a wide-ish vinyl tape (wide electrical tape?) and throw a few turns around your pencil to soften it up. Or wear gloves. Seriously.

[Barrel Of A Pencil]

I think slywy is referring to the "Musgrave
HB Natural Finish Writing Pencil" (as listed on the Pencil Things website). I have just used one of these for the first time and I am blown away by its awesome pencilness. It writes so dark it is hard to believe it is an HB and not a softer artist grade. To boot, it is every bit as smooth and waxy as a Palomino 2B, so close in ease of laydown that it is difficult to decide which is the better writer. Certainly the Musgrave crumbles less but that may be a function of degree--also because it is an HB it keeps a point longer. In my impromptu unscientific comparison of these graphite heavyweights on copier paper I came away impressed how equally matched these contenders were and how good the lowly pencil can be. The white eraser plug on the Musgrave HB Natural seems less smeary than the red eraser on Musgrave's 100 Test Scoring Pencil which is to say it erases adequately if you use it patiently and keep it clean. Not only is the Musgrave HB Natural a great performer, it is an out-and-out looker. Much attention is paid to detail. The lacquer beautifully highlights the natural woodgrain. The gold foil lettering is printed perfectly, precisely. And the decorative purple stripe painted on the brass ferrule is applied with equal care. This is the real article. This is genuine loving craftsmanship. John is probably right that for Jacqueline's purposes the Ticonderoga will do. The Ticonderoga is cheaper still than the very affordable Musgrave and may or may not be as good a writer, but I can no longer tolerate their shoddy appearance. The old Ticonderogas were aesthetically pleasing. Offshore Ticonderogas quite simply are not. I have always found that they erase well.

[slywy]

You might also try the Musgrave naturals (I can't recall exactly what they're called -- Don would know). They write nicely although their circumference seems a bit larger than other pencils to me, and the finish might be a bit slick.

[Jacqueline]

All, I am pleasantly surprised and truly impressed with your comments and care. Now, I almost wish I could buy a "sampler pack" from Don. I think I will try that when I speak to Don so that I can try the Palominos, the Mongol, the Dixon Ticonderogas, the Forest Choice, the Helix Oxfords, and the Musgrave 100 test scoring pencil.

Since I'm not the only one to take this test, I will report my findings back to this blog and share it with others.

And yes, I'm studying like crazy. Now that I'm investing this much time/energy into my writing instrument, I am putting even more energy into studying...even after 10 hour work days.

Thanks, Jacqueline

[john]

Personally I think that 200 palominos is simply to expensive.
I would suggest Dixon Ticonderogas, they have a terrific eraser, write a nice smooth dark HB#2 line, and are not too too expensive. They also come in a triangular, slightly thicker shape, with a black finish. They are called "Tri-Conderoga No. 2 Pencils", and are very comfortable to hold.

A good eraserless pencil is the mars lumograph, available online, at staples and elsewhere, but 200 of these would also be quite expensive.

The best eraser i have used is the Mars Plastic. It also comes in a stick form, which works like a mechanical pencil. This would mean that you could continue to erase small things.

ps. you should get the ticonderogas

On another note, i thought mechanical lead used different polymers in the lead, and therefore actually is different.

[slywy]

I made my comments yesterday afternoon—did they not go through?

DS

[slywy]

My nickel:

- The Palominos are pricey and wear down quickly. I just wore down a sharp point to a nub on three and one-half 5-1/2" x 3-5/8" pages.

- The new Mongols don't write nearly as smoothly as ForestChoice -- I'd pick FC over them.

- For this, I don't know what the answer is. I happen to like the lead, size, finish, and eraser on the Helix Oxfords and would probably go with them if it were me for this purpose.

- I'd definitely go with the Mercur erasers and a stick one like a Clic or Staedtler for small fixes.

- I like a particular type of grip; this could be the result of a little arthritis, which probably isn't an issue here. This grip is a thin, rounded triangular one that can be used as an eraser (don't recommend it). I bought a gross once from a teaching materials supply site, but I don't often seem them. They come in green, pink, purple, and orange. They're not the big, hard, clunky triangular ones that are everywhere online.

[Andy Welfle]

Thank you, Barrel for that suggestion! Although I have run across that on the PencilThings.com storefront, I haven't ever used it, so I couldn't give a fair opinion about it. Both the Palomino and the Mongol are juft good multi-functional pencils, so if Jacqueline won't be using them all for tests, they'll be great for just plain ol' writing as well. And yes, I forgot to mention a good grainy piece of blank paper to re-sharpen her point when she needs to!

[Barrel Of A Pencil]

Hey there Mr. Pencil, nice to see you back in the saddle!

I'm kind of surprised you didn't recommend the Musgrave 100 Test Scoring Pencil, which I gather was designed specifically for the type of paper surface encountered in standardized testing. Although I can't vouch that the 100 Testing Pencil is in fact a number two grade pencil (and Musgrave nor PencilThings specifies what grade lead is used in this implement), it probably is in all likelihood or Musgrave would not have gone to such lengths to promote its suitability for taking standardized tests which, as far as I know, all require No. 2 pencils. So as far as Jacqueline's desiderata are concerned, the Musgrave 100 meets the key criterion that it be dark and easy to write. But the 100 does fall short in other ways. One of Jackie's requirements is that her selection is comfortable enough in the hand to use for an extended test-taking session (four hours!). I am sad to say that whatever the 100's virtues, and there are several, it has the most sharply defined edges of any hexagonal pencil I have ever used (on a par with Musgrave's own excellent Unigraph I think), and four hours might just be too long a time to use this pencil comfortably. Also, based on my experience, the eraser plug on the end of the 100 is very smeary on copier paper. It may be ideal for standardized test blanks but I cannot speak to this. Too, the Test Scoring Pencil is economical compared to the stellar but expensive Palomino, so what I would suggest is that Jacqueline find some pencil grips that work for her, try out the 100 ahead of time, and bring with her a good plastic or vinyl eraser like the Mercur or Mitsubishi Boxy to the test site, and very importantly, a sheet of paper with good tooth on which she may periodically freshen her eraser to prevent smudging (I sense though that Jackie is not the kind of girl given to too many mistakes :>))).

[jgodsey]

I agree, the California Palomino never lets me down. I find all others pale in comparison. I just buy the 6 packs that have attached vinyl erasers.