These are a few of my favorite pencils

A bit ago, Rhodia Drive put out a call for photos of your favorite pencil. Of course I want to participate. But picking favorites is hard! I ended up taking this photo instead: a handful of pencils I've been particularly enjoying. Not sure if it'll qualify or not! I figured I'd share it here as well.

Left to right:
General's Cedar Pointe, Pentel Clic Eraser, Pentel Sharp Kerry, General's Semi-Hex, Palomino HB, Forest Choice HB, and a Musgrave Test Scoring 100 across the bottom.

● The first pencil that popped into my head when considering favorites was the Musgrave Test Scoring 100: that silver pencil at the bottom of the photo. I love these. They may not be perfect, but every time I pick one up, my mind gives a little contented sigh. If I'm ever a famous eccentric writer, these are the pencils people who want to be just like LFP should covet and imbue with magical powers.

● The Pentel Sharp Kerry would have to be my favorite mechanical pencil. It makes for a great pocket or purse pencil since it has a cap. Mine takes 0.5mm leads, which is skinny...but means I can fit long lists or notes on the index cards I carry with me.

● It doesn't really have an eraser, so one of the Pentel Clic erasers accompanies it in my purse pocket.

● The General's Semi-Hex is just a superb all-arounder. Nothing really quirky about it: it's a very high quality classic HB pencil.

● The General's Cedar Pointe is a bit rougher than the Semi-Hex in more ways than one. The lead seems a bit harder than most HBs (which makes it pretty smear-resistant), but can on occasion be a little scratchy. Some days I like that more than others. I love the unfinished cedar, and the way it changes color with time and use. These are so ruggedly handsome they make me a little swoony. They're also reassuringly grippy.

● The Forest Choice HB is also a natural beauty, but with a light seal over the wood so the color remains consistent and they have a more standard smooth feel. These are ubiquitous around my writing spots: early on I bought a HUGE box of them ('cause I like 'em), so I don't feel like I need to ration them. There are Forest Choice pencils in my pencil cups at home and at work, in my carry-around pencil case, by my music stand, in my purse.... They're another reliable all-rounder, they're attractive, and they smell great.

● I feel like the poor Palomino has been a bit overshadowed by its Blackwing brethren. Which is sad, really. These may not get the flashy marketing (as much, anyway), but they are beautiful pencils, nicely finished and smooth writing. One of these days I want to try some 2Bs. Those I currently have are HB.

Although not in the photo, I *could* give honorable mention to serveral others. A few examples: I like Ticonderogas (the Chinese ones), USA Gold, General's Test Scoring 580s, Golden Bears, Helix Oxfords, and yes, the Palomino Blackwing 602s (haven't tried the other flavors), though maybe not enough to justify the price and the fact that the oversized ferrule starts getting in the way when the pencil gets short.

What are your favorites?

Faster Than the Speed of Write

I was rushing out the door to ride to work this morning when I remembered I'd meant to grab another Musgrave Test Scoring 100 pencil. The one at work was down to not much more than a nubbin. I'd already buckled my pannier closed, so I tucked the pencil in with my [messily bundled] jacket under the elastic net on the top of the rack and let it ride in the open air.

Looks kinda like a little silver rocket back there, doesn't it? Maybe if I added a few more, they'd make me faster.

(I can dream.)

And the old guy it replaces, just stubbin' in the sun...

Musgrave Test Scoring 100 Pencil

I have a number of well-liked pencil varieties...more than I should probably confess to. Many or most have been heavily reviewed elsewhere. So today...I want to stick in a plug for a pencil that's a bit of an underdog: the Musgrave Test Scoring 100, made right here in the US in Shelbyville, TN.

I'm only aware of a few reviews--here and here, for example. And I'll say up front, I'm not an experienced, competent reviewer like these folks. You should almost certainly trust their reviews (rather lukewarm or negative as they are) over mine. I take no responsibility for consequences stemming from my words here.

That said, I would like to go out on a limb and state another thing up front: I flippin' love these pencils.

I even love their appearance: that thin, somewhat chintzy silver-colored paint, for one. It warms the heart of anyone who has ever used silver spray paint to make cardboard robots or other such backyard crafts. It's so wonderfully tacky. And the unapologetically plain pink eraser and unpainted ferrule also tug at my heartstrings. The whole thing reminds me of some sort of homemade toy, which makes me smile. They're so ugly, they're adorable.

But it's a pencil: a writing instrument, first and foremost. How does it write?

As the little icony graphic surrounding the pencil's name illustrates, these pencils were designed to be used for filling in the little bubbles on multiple-choice tests: they are meant to make a good, solid, dark mark, easily read by those Scantron machines. And making dark marks is what they do. They are a little on the soft side, and slightly waxy. Some dark pencils can be a little powdery in feel, easily worn down and somewhat prone to crumbling. These are less so, and less prone to smearing as well, but if you look very closely at the dark writing, you can see a bit of texture to it. At a microscopic level, it may not cover the paper quite as thoroughly as the more powdery pencils.

Hard to see from this scan, but it's actually somewhat darker than the Ticonderoga, but perhaps less sharp

Somewhat blurry close-up attempt to show the texture I'm referring to.

They do wear down a little faster than at least some HB pencils--they're more akin to 2B grade, I'd say--but aren't unreasonably fast-wearing. And I've had zero issues with lead breakage. Most importantly, I just plain love the way they feel on the page. They require very little pressure, and they are very smooth, yet...chewy. Chocolatey. I don't know quite how to put it. It's not the almost chalky smoothness of, say, a California Republic Palomino HB, but something slightly more substantial. It almost reminds me of the silky-yet-springy feel some mechanical pencil leads have, to my mind. Others have stated they found the lead scratchy, which makes me question my sanity...but what else is new? Another point in their favor: the leads have been perfectly centered in all I've sharpened so far--poorly centered leads being a serious pet peeve of mine. And the pencils sharpen easily and cleanly. I believe the wood is either cedar or basswood. They don't have a strong aroma.

Aside from the slight texture to the writing they produce, their other potential downside is the pointiness of the corners. Unlike vintage pencils, most pencils these days are actually semi-hexagonal rather than straight hexagonal: the corners are softly rounded off. Musgrave doesn't do this. These corners are straight cut. They aren't sharp, but they're definitely more cornered than your average modern pencil shape. This looks classy and makes them reassuringly grippy at first, but during long writing stints, you start to notice the edges, and not necessarily in a comfortable way. On the bright side, they will build up your writing callouses and help you feel like a serious old-school writer, if this is your dream.

The eraser is...your average rubbery eraser. It is no worse than most attached erasers: i.e. it will do in a pinch, but I vastly prefer my Papermate Black Pearls and Mars Plastic erasers. The ferrule is plain, unmarked metal.

From what I can determine, for standard consumers, these are most easily available via Pencil Things--either directly from their website at PencilThings.com, or (in packs of three dozen) via their store on Amazon.com.

Smear test--it does smear a tiny bit more easily than a standard Ticonderoga HB

And now, one of these days I need to get my hands on some Musgrave's HB pencils!