Since the kiddies are headed back to school, I figured I would do a piece on the entry-level pencils out there. I grabbed some from Walmart and Staples and was truly surprised by such a quality gap in some of the brands. Here’s what I picked up:
Starting left to right:
Dixon Ticonderoga “The Worlds BEST Pencil” #2 HB
Made in China
Premium Cedar (Made from sustained yield wood; NO rainforest wood)
Latex Free Eraser
Write Dudes USA Gold
Made in Lewisburg, TN
REAL American Cedar (Made from sustained yield wood; NO rainforest wood)
Latex Free Eraser
Staples Wood Pencils
Made in Indonesia
Compressed Wood (unknown origin)
Latex Free Eraser
Back to School Wood Pencils (Walmart Brand)
Made in Vietnam
Unknown Wood and Eraser
Dixon No.2 HB
Made in China
Made from 100% Real Wood (definitely NOT Cedar)
Latex Free Eraser
My sharpener of choice is also an entry-level Staples Brand:
So sharpening these guys was no easy task. The Staples sharpener frequently clogged and the Walmart and Staples pencils had a hard time holding a point. The Walmart pencil did so poorly in fact that I almost ran out of pencil to sharpen in order to get a decent writing point. As you can see by the different lengths, Staples are Walmart fared the worst:
Writing with these guys ranged from pleasurable to down right frustrating. The Ticonderoga and USA Gold felt the most balanced and smoothest with the Dixon No.2 right below them in regards to weight and writing experience. The Walmart pencil was very soft feeling and the point broke off halfway through my sentence. The Staples pencil had a very gritty lead and made a scratchy noise when writing on paper. The erasers yielded pretty much the same results although the Ticonderoga and the Staples brand left a bit of dust. The USA Gold erased the best if I had to judge- no dust and easy on the paper.
If I had to score these pencils on usability, quality, cost and durability it would look a bit like this:
1. Dixon Ticonderoga
2. USA Gold
3. Dixon No. 2
4. Staples
5. Walmart (if I HAVE to…it’s really that bad)
The Walmart pencil is probably the WORST pencil I have ever used. I nearly got a splinter using it since the finish was so bad and the lead broke so much that there was nothing left after I was done sharpening. I am keeping one for collecting purposes, but throwing away the other 11. Here’s a pic of how bad the paint job/splintering was:
So there you go kiddies! Choose wisely!
Great write-up..and as a Mom of two school going kids and a teacher of thirty more…….I completely agree with you on the Ticonderoga’s. Even if they are a bit pricey, (I pick up at least six boxes to get us through the year with the back to school sale prices) these light yellow pencils with the good quality erasers are really worth it.