Here are 4 reasons why I love this pencil:

• It Looks Great

I actually really enjoy the pastel colors, even as a guy, I don’t have a problem using them (well, maybe not the pink one) But, I love that they are super unique, and there won’t be any confusion between you and a standpartner, even if you forget it somewhere-it’s very identifiable.

• It feels Great

The first time you pick it up, you notice that it is much lighter than a standard wood pencil.

Not having a ferrel at the top means the weight difference and balance point, it much different than what you’ve grown up with. It has a hexagonal shape, which is pretty much the only thing that makes it different than the Ito-Ya pencils. I think hexagonal pencils are easier to grab quickly than round pencils.

• The Eraser is Great

It’s a very nice and soft eraser…a lot like the mechanical pencil erasers.  It would be nice to have more of an eraser. That is what I like that about the Blackwings…but I don’t like the unwieldiness of a blacking, (and they are also just really expensive).

I really love not having a metal ferrel, because they can be kind of dangerous around your really expensive instrument.  They can fall on your instrument when you’re unpacking or packing up, and the metal ferrel can seriously scratch your instrument. So, that’s a big reason why I like these. 

For big erasing jobs, you’ll want to bust out your Staedler, or something similar, but for just changing some bowings here or there, it’s great.

• The Writing Experience is Super Smooth.

All these other issues would be awfully vain, if it wasn’t actually a good pencil. But this is the best part of the pencil, because I love the softness and the darkness.

So, the HB Pastel pencil here is very close to the standard No. 2 pencil, but it is softer, and darker than your average ugly yellow No. 2 pencil.

So the pencil feels great writing, there’s less drag, less scratchiness, but it’s still hard enough, that it doesn’t go dull too quickly, and it also doesn’t get too smudgy like even softer pencils do.

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So, here’s the bottom line. Do you need a premium pencil?

Probably not.

You can do just fine with the one you got for free at your bank, or found laying on the ground after rehearsal.

But, if you want a softer, more luxurious writing experience, check out the Camel HB Pastel. You can click the link below to purchase the set of 7 pencils.