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The first pencil for which I ever paid more than $10 per dozen, and it remains my favorite workhorse of all time. With that said, I give you the 2021 Top Five: For example, because pencils are consumable products, you can churn through a lot of them if you write a lot, and the rising price of high-end pencils like Blackwings make them difficult to recommend for general office supply or student use, especially where there are exceptionally good offerings from the same maker at lower cost. While I continue to use all of the pencils in the original “Top Five”, and most remain favorites, I have removed some or relegated them to “Honorable Mention”. The Palomino is the whole package: a dark core, aromatic cedar smell, thick lacquer on the wood, and an excellent eraser.You will see that I’ve reworked this list a bit. My “gateway drug” into nice pencils, and the first pencils that I ordered where I paid more than $10 for a dozen. I especially like the "semi-hex" rounded edges, which are much more comfortable than the rather sharp hexagonal edges of pencils made by Musgrave, such as the Musgrave Test-Scoring 100 and the Palomino Golden Bear (made by Musgrave). Some might find the graphite gritty, but again, that's my preference. My favorite of the last American-made yellow #2s, and it's getting a bit harder to find. The graphite used in the Chinese version (typically sold at Target) is pleasantly dark and soft, as opposed to the Mexican graphite which I find harder and extremely scratchy, even for me. Dixon has now moved production to China and Mexico, but the quality is still there-you just have to look a bit harder. What used to be the flagship U.S.-made #2 pencil, that most of us (well, at least those of us above the age of 25) learned to write with in school. Some people find the core a touch scratchy, but I personally prefer a little grit in my graphite.ĭixon Ticonderoga (Made in China). (Literally, you get a dozen pencils for the cost of one Blackwing.) The wood on the Forest Choice also develops a nice patina with long-term use. At $2.95 for a dozen, it's a fraction of the cost. My personal favorite of the natural-finish pencils ends could be called the frugal man/woman's version of the Blackwing Volumes 211. The 211 is perhaps my favorite purchase from the past year, but it’s a limited edition, so it can’t merit it’s own place on a Top-5 list. I’ll also include the Blackwing Volumes 211 here, because it uses the same core. Palomino’s resurrection of the classic Eberhard Faber pencil looks great and has what I consider to be the perfect balance of point retention and darkness. Without further ado, here are my top five pencils that I enjoy for everyday writing: Pencil Enterprises and, high-quality woodcase pencils are more available than ever (though they may be more expensive than when we were kids).
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Due in part to the efforts of pencil-pushers like the folks at C.W. Editor’s Note: I recently updated this Top Five List! Be sure to check out My Five Best Pencils for Everyday Writing, Five Years Later !Ģ015 was the year of the pencil for many, and I was no exception.