Traveler's Company Brass Pencil Factory Green Limited Edition Review

As I was discovering Japanese stationery in the early days of this blog, I remember being fascinated by the Midori Brass Bullet Pencil Holder. It would show up in the hands of friends, and in all types of stationery marketing. I knew Patrick Ng was a huge fan, and still is, after all of these years. And so am I.

While the brand naming convention has changed, dropping both Midori and Bullet (for different reasons, I’m sure,) the Traveler’s Company Brass Pencil is still alive and thriving, so much so that the brand has decided to include various limited editions over the year, including this beautiful Factory Green model.

Let’s get the main talking point of this pencil out of the way up front: This is a clear style over substance product. Despite how amazing it looks, and how much I will fawn over it for the rest of this review, things like an average eraser, huge clip that gets in the way, and some fidgeting to fit in your favorite pencil refills, make it hard to recommend from a pure functionality perspective.

And I’m completely fine with that. There are some products for some people where the style and the story rate higher than performance. The Traveler’s Co. Brass Pencil is one such product for me. Also, it is easier to feel this way about a $30 product than a $300 product.

The out of the box writing experience with the included Traveler’s HB pencil is a good one. The core is dark and soft for an HB, and feels exactly like the quality I would expect from parent company Midori. If this were the pencil I kept in the Factory Green holder, I’d be sure to keep a pencil sharpener at the ready. But swapping out pencils to make them even more perfect for you? That’s where the fun of this product comes in.

I’m surprised at how many pencils fit naturally into the bullet tip of this pencil. I didn’t perform exhaustive testing, but in grabbing some of my favorite Uni Mitsubishi, Tombow, Blackwing, General’s, and Midori pencils, I was surprised at how many fit in without modification. In fact, a few of the Mitsubishi pencils fit so well it’s almost as they were tailor-made for it. Others were slightly looser, but usable. And the ones that didn’t would work fine if you shaved down the end of the pencil to fit better.

I chose the eraser-less Mitsubishi 9800 for my first swap out, measuring two lengths of pencil to match the existing Traveler’s pencil length. I scored around the barrel of the pencil, carefully, with a pocket knife, and then snapped the pencil to the appropriate length. Boom - perfect inserts!

The Traveler’s Company Brass Pencil is one of those products that I hope never goes away. Is it a best in class product for price or performance? No. But it doesn’t need to be to be an absolute joy to own and use.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener Review

(Update: Blackwing sent me a replacement sharpener, and it is working as well as I expected the first one to work. I tested both sharpeners on new, unsharpened Blackwing Volumes No. 3 Ravi Shankar pencils. The original performed as poorly as it did previously, and the new one performed as well as all of the praise that has been heaped on it.

Original sharpener, top, new sharpener, bottom.

Blackwing is sending me replacement blades for the first sharpener to see if we can narrow down the issue. With the way the second sharpener performed, I would have no hesitation recommending it to anyone looking for a premium pencil sharpener experience.)

New sharpener, left, old sharpener, right. If you didn’t have anything to compare it to you might think the original sharpener was fine, but comparisons show it wasn’t.

--Original Review--

If there is anything I have learned about Blackwing over years of reviewing their products, I have learned that you should always wait until version two of their accessory releases to make your purchase. The new Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener is no exception to that rule.

I can't argue that this isn't a compelling looking sharpener. The design is modern, and fits Blackwing’s new art style and aesthetic. The big problem with it is that it doesn't sharpen pencils well. That's kind of its job, right?

I was able to quickly test out this sharpener at the Baltimore Pen Show earlier this year and felt that it performed poorly. I chalked that up to the moment, and the minute or two I had with it. I looked forward to receiving my own model to test at home to see what I missed the first time around. Nothing, apparently.

On paper, the sharpener should give you a short, sharp, clean, concave tip on your favorite pencil. I was able to get sharp, sometimes. Other times, the tip of the graphite broke off inside the sharpener, despite my trying different hand pressures when sharpening. At least three times for this review alone I had to unscrew the top to retrieve a snapped lead.

Sharpened with Pollux, top, and Blackwing One-Step, bottom.

Concave I could get, too. The problem is that the concave cedar was left ragged and messy. The results looked terrible. Worse than any other sharpener I recall using. To use this sharpener was an exercise in frustration.

There is no pencil sharpener I own that isn't better than this one.

Side by side tests were the most telling. Blackwing's own Two-Step Long Point sharpener is far superior, and is half the price. So is the KUM Masterpiece, and the glorious Pollux, which is what this sharpener strives to be. The results show that it’s not anywhere close. The desktop Uni KH-20 sharpener is a far better investment if portability isn’t required.

Yes, all of these fall into the expensive sharpener range, but at $20, so does the Blackwing One-Step Long Point Sharpener. If you are paying this price, you expect performance commensurate with that. It's not in the ballpark, and is close to unusable - especially when compared to every other sharpener in existence.

Hyperbolic? Sure. But this sharpener continues a long line of version one Blackwing products that perform poorly. Hopefully there is a version two in the pipeline that works as well as the most basic sharpeners on the market. Until then, there are numerous better choices.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Caran d'Ache Fixpencil Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Mechanical pencils aren't my main niche, but I do appreciate them and always jump at the opportunity to try something new. Up until I tried the Fixpencil from Caran d'Ache, I had never used a lead holder before. What's a lead holder? It's a specific kind of mechanical pencil that holds a large piece of graphite with a clutch system. Instead of small (0.5mm, etc.) lead sizes, you can use larger 2 or 3mm lead for much greater control and variance.

Just like a wood case pencil, the larger graphite core used in a lead holder wears down the same way. It's a tool used by drafters and artists, and you can probably imagine why it is such a useful tool for anyone who uses graphite.

While the Fixpencil version that I have uses 3mm lead, you can find lead holders that use 5+mm lead! That's a thick chunk of graphite! Of course, you can also use different lead grades with these pencils, from the standard HB to other grades on either side. The lead I'm using is 3B, which lays down a thick and dark line with very little pressure. The point wears down very quickly as a result of this, so it's not the best lead for general writing. But, if you're a drafter or artist, you can probably put this lead to much better use. The ability to hold the pencil at a sharp angle and quickly shade in an area is quite a treat. And, you can easily control the amount of lead that protrudes from the end of the pencil. I imagine this comes down entirely to use case and personal preference, but it's something you can only get away with when using the thick lead core that lead holders use.

Aside from the fascination with this unique type of writing instrument or drawing tool, it's still a pencil. It makes marks when you move the graphite end on paper, but what else does it do? Well, for one, it looks fantastic.

Based on the famous Caran d'Ache 849 line of pens and mechanical pencils, the Fixpencil features some very familiar lines. The hexagonal barrel tapers down to a smooth cone at the front of the barrel, and the shiny chrome clip accentuates the industrial barrel with a subdued elegance. The cap on the top of the pen (red in my case) is chosen randomly when you purchase the pencil. You'll receive either a red, blue, or black with the pencil, but you can also purchase other colors separately in order to easily distinguish different lead types if you use several of these pencils at once.

The inside of the cap (or button) has a hidden lead sharpener that you can use in a pinch. I wasn't too happy with the wide tip it sharpened onto the lead, so I recommend using a better sharpener to get the point you want. Just remember to be gentle because the lead will snap easily if you bend it the wrong way!

Pushing the cap or button down releases the clutch jaws around the lead. You can hold the button down and use your fingers to adjust the amount of lead that protrudes from the tip. Once you're happy, just release the cap and the spring-loaded jaws hold the lead tight. Once you're ready to pack up, just open the jaws again and hide the lead inside the body. When the jaws are empty, they close together to prevent the lead core from sliding out. Nifty!

Writing with the pencil is incredibly comfortable. The hexagonal shape of the barrel and the smooth cone feel great in the hand, and there's enough texture on the barrel to provide good grip.

The clip is really strong and has no problem securing the pencil to whatever you clip it to. As an added bonus, it also keeps the pencil from rolling away when you lay it on your work surface. There isn't much branding on this pencil, aside from a tiny Caran d'Ache Fixpencil logo (and the lead size) underneath the clip, and a small "SWISS MADE" logo above the clip. The branding is small and adds a touch of elegance to the pencil.

There are plenty of lead options to keep you happy and occupied with your art. The lead cores are about 3.5 inches long. The amount of time they last comes down to how you use it and how soft or hard the lead grade is.

If 3mm is a little too large, there's also a 2mm version of the same pencil.

You'll know if this pencil is something you'd enjoy using, and the price is also low enough to make it a great option. The Caran d'Ache Fixpencil is a great tool that offers a ton of flexibility.

(Goldspot provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!