A Nice Pencil But Not Very Eraser Friendly; PaperMate American Pencils, # 2 Soft Lead
Written: Oct 26 '05
Product Rating:
Pros: Sharpens nicely, points rarely break, great for school, inexpensive.
Cons: Erasers get funky, lead smears on certain types of paper.
The Bottom Line: A great pencil for school, office and by the phone. The eraser quality could use a little work but overall they are a nice pick for the kids.
As much as I hate to admit it, pencils aren’t one of my favorite things to have to work with. I do like the more modern automatic pencils and prefer them over the old school ones that need to be sharpened but there are times when I need to use them. Most of the time we only get these when the brood have to take standardized tests - you know, the ones that require you to use a number 2 pencil and fill in the multiple choice answers. These are usually scored by a machine that reads this type of lead the easiest. When I came across the PaperMate American Pencils for .69 cents a package I couldn’t pass up getting them, to sweeten the deal, when I got to the register they rang up at .50 cents a pack so I went back and grabbed a few more of them. Eventually they will get used by someone so it wasn’t like I was buying something that would sit there forever and get thrown out. As luck would have it, one of the brood came stomping down the hall complaining about not having any pencils. His bliss didn’t last long, about a half hour later he was once again stomping down the hall complaining about the erasers. I tell you, some days there’s just no pleasing them.
PaperMate American Pencils #2 Medium Soft Lead
To me a pencil is a pencil, as long as it sharpens easily, the tip doesn’t break and the lead doesn’t smear, I am a pretty happy person. With that being said, this pencil gets average marks from me. The lead is dark and doesn’t smear when you are writing on a hard surface but if you are writing in a notebook or on several sheets of paper, you will get some flakes and some smearing. I use an old hand held pencil sharpener but the brood use an electric one; these sharpen nicely in either of them but with the automatic pencil sharpener the points do come out nicer. This was the first time we used the “soft lead” # 2 pencils, most of the time we go with the HB # 2 pencils when they want to have the wooden ones. This might be part of the problem with the erasing issues we had but PaperMate does have an advert on the front saying “smudge resistant eraser” so it’s anyone’s guess as to why we had some troubles.
If you are buying these for kids who are going to be taking standardized tests you will want to make sure that they are acceptable. When I talked to a few teachers that administer these tests they said that any type of # 2 pencil will work but one of them said that they recommend the HB version because it gives a darker shading with less work from the person being tested. These are made from wood so they can be sharpened in any type of sharpener, electric or hand held, without having to exert a lot of force. When the boys use these they do go through them quickly because they are borderline obsessive about having sharp points on them. It’s hard to say how much writing you can get from one of them because it all depends on how often you need to sharpen them and the amount of force you are using when writing. For general note taking these are the most cost effective pencils on the market, if you lose one it’s no big deal. To top it all off, you can find these almost everywhere; grocery stores, drug stores and places like Wal-Mart and Target. You will get the best price on them at the larger office supply stores but to save the most, hit those back to school sales!
The Eraser Issue
I have nothing against the erasers that come on these pencils but after a few uses they tend to get funky. I don’t think there is an actual term for what happens to them but they get this black gunk build up on them that makes it impossible to use the eraser. We encountered this when we used Mead and Top Flight loose leaf paper, after some moderate erasing the erasers were useless and we had to use replacement tops for them. So far we haven’t been able to figure out if it is the lead, the paper or just the wrong combination of them. When I tried this out on a Mead Five Star Notebook I didn’t have any troubles and the eraser didn’t get the black build up on it. Maybe the pencils that we got were old stock and the erasers were dried out or brittle [if that is possible] or simply the combination we used [paper and pencil] weren’t all that compatible. So, heads up, if you are going to use these for school, give them a try with your notebooks and loose leaf to make sure you don’t have the same bad luck we had.
Price
As I mentioned I got these on sale for .69 cents a package but when I got to the check out they came up at .50 cents. These were on sale, the normal price ranges anywhere from $1.29 to $1.89 depending on where you happen to be shopping. For this price it’s best to stock up on them when stores are having the back to school sales. If you give these a try and don’t like them, PaperMate does offer you a money back guarantee. If you aren’t happy with them or encounter a problem, return it to them [the address is on the package] for a refund, replacement or exchange. These are about the same price as the PaperMate HB # 2 pencils so when it comes time to stock up I’ll be looking at the cost because both of them work nicely [barring the smudge issues that is]. Bottom line, which ever is cheapest or on sale is what will go in the cart.
The Bottom Line
Until I purchased the PaperMate Mirado pencils, I had no idea that there was a Pencil Makers Association [PMA] and that they had their own guidelines for judging pencils. These are certified non-toxic so if you have a nasty habit of gnawing on them while you are working, you won’t get sick from them. That doesn’t mean that you can have them for a snack [sarcasm] or that you should let kids get in to the habit of biting or chewing on them, it just means that the wood, lead and varnish on them are all considered non-toxic. These are a good pick for general school work, note taking and to have around the house to jot down notes and if you can catch them on sale, it makes the deal even sweeter. We usually go with the # 2 HB when we are buying these types of pencils but now that everyone has had a chance to try them out they’ve said that they like them. That doesn’t mean that I’ll be buying these exclusively but if they are on sale, I will definately buy more of them.
Yellow, hexagon barrel ensures a slip-free writing experience that won't roll away when put down. Ceramic, non-waxed, and bonded lead provides extra p...More at Business-Supply
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