What #2 Pencil Should I use? Forum

TheMostDangerousLG · Post by **TheMostDangerousLG** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 1:38 am

Pneumonia wrote:
TheMostDangerousLG wrote:How did this thread end up on page 7? Don't you guys know ~~there's a war on~~ there's a test tomorrow? And no one is panicking about their pencil choice? My god, I shudder to think of what pieces of wooden dreck you all will be carrying in your ziplocs tomorrow morning.
yeah you would think there would have been at least a few strivers who are taking this february for the '14-'15 cycle. PSA: Tri-cons.

Kids these days. And you with your Tri-cons.. What is this world coming to?

ManoftheHour · Post by **ManoftheHour** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 4:08 am

I don't get Tri-cons either. All about the original black Ticons.

On that note, I'm so glad that I didn't even know that the LSAT was this Saturday. Feels good to be done...even if not by choice.

SteelPenguin · Post by **SteelPenguin** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 1:12 pm

ManoftheHour wrote:I don't get Tri-cons either. All about the original black Ticons.

On that note, I'm so glad that I didn't even know that the LSAT was this Saturday. Feels good to be done...even if not by choice.

Using the world's most comfortable pencil definitely helped me on my retakes, and I doubt Pneumonia would have done as well if he was dealing with discomfort throughout the test.

Loaded · Post by **Loaded** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 4:11 pm

I've been trying the Staedtler Wopex Eco pencil and am really enjoying it. The first thing I noticed is this pencil is less noisy (scratchy) than most pencils. I assume this is due to the barrel and lead materials. The barrel is made of recycled scrap wood. The lead is made of polymer & graphite like is found in mechanical pencil lead. Clay & graphite is standard in wooden pencils.

The polymer based lead makes this pencil a little more expensive than standard pencils, but it definitely lives up to the 2x point retention claim. My only complaint is that the lines are not as dark with the same amount of pressure applied to a standard wooden pencil.

http://www.staples-3p.com/s7/is/image/S ... ?$splssku$

Straw_Mandible · Post by **Straw_Mandible** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:23 pm

I have been using those green Wopex pencils as well. They have excellent point retention, as you mentioned, but the eraser is horrible. For this reason, I use them only for LR and RC. I use Black Ticons for LG, in order to service my diagramming (and occasional mis-diagramming) needs. The black eraser is top notch.

Stanley Otto Swift · Post by **Stanley Otto Swift** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:08 pm

The best pencil I have found is the General Pencil Company's Cedar Pointe #2. They have an excellent eraser, great lead, and very good quality control as they are one of the last pencil manufacturers--along with Musgrave--operating in the US. They blow away Chinese/Mexican made Ticonderogas and have a much better eraser than the Mirado Black Warriors. Current cost on amazon is $4.61 for 12 pencils plus free shipping for prime members. Less than 40 cents per unit is an absolute steal for a pencil of this quality. The only pencils I've found of similar quality at this price are deadstock American-made Dixon Ticonderogas on ebay, but even if you're lucky enough to find them the erasers suck because they've been sitting in someone's attic or garage for years.

paully · Post by **paully** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 10:57 pm

There's nothing quite like the Blackwing. Elegance, performance, and virility, all in one package.

Loaded · Post by **Loaded** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 12:33 pm

If you are a fan of the blue or orange Palomino HB with an eraser tip, you may want to buy some asap. Pencils.com announced the complete redesign of the Palomino.

--LinkRemoved--

Clyde Frog · Post by **Clyde Frog** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:22 pm

I can't believe this thread is still going strong....

ManoftheHour · Post by **ManoftheHour** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:28 pm

It's going to be crazy once it gets closer to June.

Pneumonia · Post by **Pneumonia** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:52 pm

ManoftheHour wrote:It's going to be crazy once it gets closer to June.

Strivers gonna strive. Idk why though; everyone should just get tri-cons.

haus · Post by **haus** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:02 pm

Pneumonia wrote:
ManoftheHour wrote:It's going to be crazy once it gets closer to June.
Strivers gonna strive. Idk why though; everyone should just get tri-cons.

no love at all for the Hi-Uni or Tombow, ouch.

paully · Post by **paully** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:06 pm

ManoftheHour wrote:It's going to be crazy once it gets closer to June.

I've already developed a strange nervous tick of sharpening dozens of pencils in one sitting. There is something satisfying about turning a shitty USA gold pencil into something halfway decent with my Kum long point sharpener.

Just ordered a blackwing branded Kum sharpener. Looks pretty... sharp.

I fear for my sanity.

haus · Post by **haus** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:07 pm

paully wrote:
I fear for my sanity.

It will be OK.

Sanity is overrated.

Pneumonia · Post by **Pneumonia** » Sat Feb 15, 2014 11:26 pm

paully wrote:
ManoftheHour wrote:It's going to be crazy once it gets closer to June.
I've already developed a strange nervous tick of sharpening dozens of pencils in one sitting. There is something satisfying about turning a shitty USA gold pencil into something halfway decent with my Kum long point sharpener.

Just ordered a blackwing branded Kum sharpener. Looks pretty... sharp.

I fear for my sanity.

I still have like 40 left over from my prep, and sharpening is still cathartic even if no longer useful.

TheMostDangerousLG · Post by **TheMostDangerousLG** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 9:06 pm

Loaded wrote:If you are a fan of the blue or orange Palomino HB with an eraser tip, you may want to buy some asap. Pencils.com announced the complete redesign of the Palomino.

--LinkRemoved--

Noooooooooooooooo!

Goodbye, my beautiful friend. You served me well.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:33 am

Post removed.

ManoftheHour · Post by **ManoftheHour** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:23 pm

mornincounselor wrote:Just got my Black Tikes shipped. Now we're discussing sharpeners too? lol

The best pencils are useless if your sharpener is TTT.

Cerebro · Post by **Cerebro** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:33 pm

ManoftheHour wrote:
mornincounselor wrote:Just got my Black Tikes shipped. Now we're discussing sharpeners too? lol
The best pencils are useless if your sharpener is TTT.

Unless your sharpener can sharpen wits, it is but little use to a dullard.

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:48 pm

Wow.... over 40 pages on what kind of pencil to use? This is a whole new world I never knew about.

I'm a pen snob, so I was really disappointed to think I had to go back to a pencil for this test, but it looks like there's ample opportunity for me to indulge my writing-implement-elitism anyway! *runs off to Amazon for different types of pencils*

PourMeTea · Post by **PourMeTea** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:06 pm

Post removed.

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:25 pm

PourMeTea wrote: Palomino Blackwings look fierce/bourgeois & intimidate your opponents, and they are 180 to use on the writing sample HTH

I'll look into them. I wish there was a pencil grab-bag so I could try out just 1 or 2 of each of these different kinds that everyone is recommending. Gotta admit, the Ticonderogas really grab my interest visually. Sleek, black lines make me think it's the limo of pencils.

Pneumonia · Post by **Pneumonia** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:28 pm

Twitch wrote:
PourMeTea wrote: Palomino Blackwings look fierce/bourgeois & intimidate your opponents, and they are 180 to use on the writing sample HTH
I'll look into them. I wish there was a pencil grab-bag so I could try out just 1 or 2 of each of these different kinds that everyone is recommending. Gotta admit, the Ticonderogas really grab my interest visually. Sleek, black lines make me think it's the limo of pencils.

you should go for the tri-cons: the finish is like velvet. regular ticons are more of a workhorse than a limo.

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:33 pm

Pneumonia wrote:
Twitch wrote:
PourMeTea wrote: Palomino Blackwings look fierce/bourgeois & intimidate your opponents, and they are 180 to use on the writing sample HTH
I'll look into them. I wish there was a pencil grab-bag so I could try out just 1 or 2 of each of these different kinds that everyone is recommending. Gotta admit, the Ticonderogas really grab my interest visually. Sleek, black lines make me think it's the limo of pencils.
you should go for the tri-cons: the finish is like velvet. regular ticons are more of a workhorse than a limo.

Sold.

Perfect description of what I want out of my writing tool; you are obviously a connoisseur.

paully · Post by **paully** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 2:26 pm

Pneumonia wrote:
paully wrote:
ManoftheHour wrote:It's going to be crazy once it gets closer to June.
I've already developed a strange nervous tick of sharpening dozens of pencils in one sitting. There is something satisfying about turning a shitty USA gold pencil into something halfway decent with my Kum long point sharpener.

Just ordered a blackwing branded Kum sharpener. Looks pretty... sharp.

I fear for my sanity.
I still have like 40 left over from my prep, and sharpening is still cathartic even if no longer useful.

Cathartic is the perfect way to describe this. I just bought 50 black warriors for $8 on Amazon and I'm fiending.