What #2 Pencil Should I use?

[jingosaur]

The nice people at the John Marshall Law School just made my LSAT pencil decision easy

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rnPu ... rshall.jpg

Ugh, it's like they want you to get a score in their range.

I assume that their#1 pencils that the scantron machine can't read.

[A → B ⊨ ¬B → ¬A]

Damn, the ticonderoga pencils are beating the crap out of everyone in the poll.

Unfortunately.

Random note for all of my fellow Palomino fans: I had a chance to try out the 602s and the HB on a scantron sheet the other day, and while I don't know if the scantron was the same as the one we'll be having on test day (it seemed similar to my February sheet, but who can remember exactly?), the 602s smeared an unpleasant amount. The HB also smeared a tiny bit when I lay a lot of graphite down, so you really don't need to do the obsessively darkening thing that some of us (*cough* ..such as myself) are often tempted to do. One "light" go is all you need.

Thought that would be worth noting. I'd hate for the 602 diehards to be horrified by smearing on test day.

I just did a smear test and can confirm this. I tested the 602 against a Palomino HB and a Black Ticonderoga (Mexican version). They all smeared. The HB was smeared similarly and slightly darker than the Ticon (I think Ticons are closer to H than HB). The 602 smeared more than the other two, possibly due to its extra wax. "One 'light' go" is cr. The Scantron machines I've used score the darkest mark as long as you didn't bubble more than one completely dark, so if you have an erased A, a filled in B, a smear over to C, and a stray mark on D, you'll be scored for B. Smears by nature are going to be lighter than the mark they came from. I'm not sure how LSAC handles multiple filled bubbles though.

I haven't had a problem with smearing when taking PTs with a 602. I do think they bubble differently though. Because they're not as scratchy, they don't grab the paper as fast when moving in the small circle of a bubble. HBs in comparison are a little more abrasive, so the darkening is more immediate. It's minor, but I thought this would make the HBs faster to fill a bubble, but when I timed them against the 602s filling in rows of bubbles, the 602s were equal. I think this is due to the way I start bubbling lightly and increase the pressure until it's filled (not sure if this is unique to me). The 602s get noticeably darker than the HBs with increased pressure and make up for their slow start.

For game day, I think the HBs hold a point longer than the 602s, but this is only noticeable to me on LG. To keep it consistent, I think I'm going to use HBs for the first 5 Sections and then use the 602s for the writing sample. I just like writing with the 602 better, and they're nice as fuck and make me look like a scholar. I also used a razor to cut a Mars plastic eraser into eraser pieces that fit the 602's ferrule. I decided erasers were stupid and threw them in my desk when I got them, but I forgot how cleanly the Mars gets a mark off and leaves whiteness. There'll be no ghosting if I need to erase. I don't want adcoms to see my fuckups.

I'll probably bring some Golden Bears for giving away, muttering something about america as I hand it out. I've been pretty happy with Palomino's pencils and fast shipping, so maybe they'll get a new customer. I'd never give someone I don't hate a ticonderoga. Dixon fuck-scammed me with calling that outsourced, cost-cutting shit they sold me "The World's Best Pencil" when it's inferior to the originals that earned that title. Now, the world's best #2/HB is undoubtably the Palomino HB, and the world's best pencil for handwriting silky script, looking wise and alpha in front of others, or climbing trees and writing novels in moleskines is the 602. One needs no others.

[Dr. Dre]

The nice people at the John Marshall Law School just made my LSAT pencil decision easy

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rnPu ... rshall.jpg

Ugh, it's like they want you to get a score in their range.

[Dr. Dre]

[A → B ⊨ ¬B → ¬A]

holy shit you just can't make this stuff up

[TheMostDangerousLG]

Damn, the ticonderoga pencils are beating the crap out of everyone in the poll.

Unfortunately.

Random note for all of my fellow Palomino fans: I had a chance to try out the 602s and the HB on a scantron sheet the other day, and while I don't know if the scantron was the same as the one we'll be having on test day (it seemed similar to my February sheet, but who can remember exactly?), the 602s smeared an unpleasant amount. The HB also smeared a tiny bit when I lay a lot of graphite down, so you really don't need to do the obsessively darkening thing that some of us (*cough* ..such as myself) are often tempted to do. One "light" go is all you need.

Thought that would be worth noting. I'd hate for the 602 diehards to be horrified by smearing on test day.

I just did a smear test and can confirm this. I tested the 602 against a Palomino HB and a Black Ticonderoga (Mexican version). They all smeared. The HB was smeared similarly and slightly darker than the Ticon (I think Ticons are closer to H than HB). The 602 smeared more than the other two, possibly due to its extra wax. "One 'light' go" is cr. The Scantron machines I've used score the darkest mark as long as you didn't bubble more than one completely dark, so if you have an erased A, a filled in B, a smear over to C, and a stray mark on D, you'll be scored for B. Smears by nature are going to be lighter than the mark they came from. I'm not sure how LSAC handles multiple filled bubbles though.

I haven't had a problem with smearing when taking PTs with a 602. I do think they bubble differently though. Because they're not as scratchy, they don't grab the paper as fast when moving in the small circle of a bubble. HBs in comparison are a little more abrasive, so the darkening is more immediate. It's minor, but I thought this would make the HBs faster to fill a bubble, but when I timed them against the 602s filling in rows of bubbles, the 602s were equal. I think this is due to the way I start bubbling lightly and increase the pressure until it's filled (not sure if this is unique to me). The 602s get noticeably darker than the HBs with increased pressure and make up for their slow start.

For game day, I think the HBs hold a point longer than the 602s, but this is only noticeable to me on LG. To keep it consistent, I think I'm going to use HBs for the first 5 Sections and then use the 602s for the writing sample. I just like writing with the 602 better, and they're nice as fuck and make me look like a scholar. I also used a razor to cut a Mars plastic eraser into eraser pieces that fit the 602's ferrule. I decided erasers were stupid and threw them in my desk when I got them, but I forgot how cleanly the Mars gets a mark off and leaves whiteness. There'll be no ghosting if I need to erase. I don't want adcoms to see my fuckups.

I'll probably bring some Golden Bears for giving away, muttering something about america as I hand it out. I've been pretty happy with Palomino's pencils and fast shipping, so maybe they'll get a new customer. I'd never give someone I don't hate a ticonderoga. Dixon fuck-scammed me with calling that outsourced, cost-cutting shit they sold me "The World's Best Pencil" when it's inferior to the originals that earned that title. Now, the world's best #2/HB is undoubtably the Palomino HB, and the world's best pencil for handwriting silky script, looking wise and alpha in front of others, or climbing trees and writing novels in moleskines is the 602. One needs no others.

Awesome post. Good info.

Lolol, we are so on the same page with thoughts on the Ticonderoga. Think I'm going to steal your idea and use the 602 on the writing section; brilliant thinking. I hate having to write with pencils, and I don't fucking care if my writing section is scanned okay or not (and I don't think what type of pencil you use will actually make any difference on the writing section regardless), so 602s are perfect for that purpose. Your idea about making custom 602 erasers was also brilliant. Do you think you'll keep a separate eraser on hand for erasing bubbles when you're using the Palomino, will you just grab a customized 602 and erase, or will you just use the Palomino's eraser? Silly Q, but since we're obsessing over details anyway..

[mvonh001]

holy shit you just can't make this stuff up

It's just depressing.

[SteelPenguin]

holy shit you just can't make this stuff up

It's just depressing.

Even that pencil sharpening guy couldn't make those LSAT-worthy.

[rebexness]

Harvard would totally send out Blackwings.

[A → B ⊨ ¬B → ¬A]

Awesome post. Good info.

Lolol, we are so on the same page with thoughts on the Ticonderoga. Think I'm going to steal your idea and use the 602 on the writing section; brilliant thinking. I hate having to write with pencils, and I don't fucking care if my writing section is scanned okay or not (and I don't think what type of pencil you use will actually make any difference on the writing section regardless), so 602s are perfect for that purpose. Your idea about making custom 602 erasers was also brilliant. Do you think you'll keep a separate eraser on hand for erasing bubbles when you're using the Palomino, will you just grab a customized 602 and erase, or will you just use the Palomino's eraser? Silly Q, but since we're obsessing over details anyway..

Writing with a pencil and erasing are totally foreign to me. I won't even use a pen if it isn't waterproof. I've used only these three pens for almost literally everything handwritten in the past 4 years:



602s are like the pens of pencils. I don't really mind writing with them. They have a paint job like a car and write like a stick of butter; however, I hate the idea of not being able to scribble over something stupid on the writing sample and it still being legible after erasing, and rubber erasers just can't get everything up like the Mars plastic can. I'm not really worried about the bubbles. I don't care if they see I changed an answer or misbubbled as long as it's credited. The PHB's eraser get it clean enough to scan correctly, and it takes too long to use a separate eraser.

So, I cut blocks of the Mars plastic that were slightly larger than the ferrule and put them in the silver clip. This is more stable than cutting it the same size as original eraser. While squeezing the curls on the clip into the eraser, I pressed it into the ferrule. The excess that hangs over gets shaved off (it's pretty soft), and after using it a few times I was left with a mushroom cap like this:

[ManOfTheMinute]

The fact that this thread is still alive gives me hope for their legal profession

[doublehoohopeful]

http://i.imgur.com/BXqw5dz.jpg


Now here's a pencil I can get behind.

[A → B ⊨ ¬B → ¬A]

http://i.imgur.com/BXqw5dz.jpg


Now here's a pencil I can get behind.

should be the Blackwing 152 amirite

[Dr. Dre]

Palomino should make a pencil called:

The Palomino 180

[TheMostDangerousLG]

Palomino should make a pencil called:

The Palomino 180

They did, it just goes by another name.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41zbK2AMR9L._SY300_.jpg

;D

[ManoftheHour]

Palomino should make a pencil called:

The Palomino 180

I'd buy those. TLS should endorse them.

[ManoftheHour]

Wtf is this shit. I couldn't get a 125 on the LSAT with this if my life depended on it.

[A → B ⊨ ¬B → ¬A]

Palomino should make a pencil called:

The Palomino 180

If I made a 180, I would send my pencil to the artisanal sharpening guy and frame it.

[TheMostDangerousLG]

Wtf is this shit. I couldn't get a 125 on the LSAT with this if my life depended on it.

I am officially tempted to take a PT using these two pencils, and only these two pencils, just for the hell of it.

[Dr. Dre]

The fact that this thread is still alive gives me hope for their legal profession

180.

[itachiuchiha]

would you all recommend some office depot pencils? How many sharpened pencils should I bring?

[TheMostDangerousLG]

would you all recommend some office depot pencils? How many sharpened pencils should I bring?

Office Depot pencils? You might as well spit in our faces.

[SteelPenguin]

would you all recommend some office depot pencils? How many sharpened pencils should I bring?

Office Depot pencils? You might as well spit in our faces.

Office Depot?! Did you learn nothing from this thread? Go through this thread for better recommendations. Palomino 502s, Ticonderoga, Mirado Black Warrior, and Triconderoga are all acceptable choices. You're going to want to bring at least enough pencils for each section, plus a spare or two in case one breaks. That gives you six or seven solid pencils. Finally, consider bringing an extra pencil or two for the bums that forget one.

[TheMostDangerousLG]

would you all recommend some office depot pencils? How many sharpened pencils should I bring?

Office Depot pencils? You might as well spit in our faces.

Office Depot?! Did you learn nothing from this thread? Go through this thread for better recommendations. Palomino 602s, Ticonderoga, Mirado Black Warrior, and Triconderoga Palomino HBs are all acceptable choices. You're going to want to bring at least enough pencils for each section, plus a spare or two in case one breaks. That gives you six or seven solid pencils. Finally, consider bringing an extra pencil or two for the bums that forget one.

[Balthy]

would you all recommend some office depot pencils? How many sharpened pencils should I bring?

Office Depot pencils? You might as well spit in our faces.

Office Depot?! Did you learn nothing from this thread? Go through this thread for better recommendations. Palomino 502s, Ticonderoga, Mirado Black Warrior, and Triconderoga are all acceptable choices. You're going to want to bring at least enough pencils for each section, plus a spare or two in case one breaks. That gives you six or seven solid pencils. Finally, consider bringing an extra pencil or two for the bums that forget one.

Honestly the newer Mirado Black Warriors are just as bad as the newer Ticonderoga Blacks, if not worse, IMO.