Here are five pencil accessories. Purchased from JetPens, they are all inexpensive products aimed at children. Four are from Sun-Star, and one from Tombow.
The pencil cap with sharpener allows you to keep a sharpener adjacent to your pencil (if you really want to do this):
I can’t avoid noting that the plastic starts looking less pristine almost immediately after first contact with graphite.
The sharpener works, though the wood shavings from even one sharpening overwhelm the minuscule canister:
Next, a pencil cap which can theoretically become an extender. It looks okay, but I’m not sold on the value.
The Tombow Ippo grip. It has a mushy rubbery surface that I don’t like. This will obviously be a matter of personal preference. I can see it being an aid for anyone, young or old, who is seeking assistance in gripping a pencil.
The “Safety Pencil Knife”. Essentially, a retractable paring knife for pencils.
Of the bunch, this one is the winner for me – it allows for freehand sharp blade use on pencils, in a safe and portable format.
That doesn’t mean it is easy to use – but it works, and is a lot easier and safer to transport than an X-Acto knife.
The Sun-Star multisharpener is another take on a familiar theme. It works well enough.
Pencils sharpened ( l. to r.) with the multisharpener, knife, and cap:
Overall, I think the safety knife product is pretty good, and the grip may be quite helpful to some. The other three products are fine given their prices, but aren’t standouts.
That doesn’t mean it is easy to use – but it works, and is a lot easier and safer to transport than an X-Acto knife.
But isn’t it still inferior in every way to simply using your pocket knife? If the product is marketed to very young children who can’t be trusted with pocket knives, then aren’t they better served with a standard rotary pencil sharpener? I’m straining to think of any person this could possibly be of use to. ;)
Hi elmo, thanks for the comment. You do make a good argument. If it makes a difference, this blade (without performing any sort of formal measurement) does seem sharper than those of pocket knives I own.
I was going to leave a comment, but having recently learned that Canadians tend to—at the slightest provocation—set their own cities ablaze, perhaps I should keep things to myself. ;) Better not tempt fate. Besides, where would all those geese go to live?
Without doubt, recent events have been shocking and alarming.
Thanks for reviewing all these items! I considered getting some of them in the past given my fondness for wooden pencils, but I can see now that with their limited functionality they would add little to my collection. Did you ever try the Stad One-Push Wooden Pencil Holders? or the Uni KH-20 Hand Crank Pencil Sharpeners?
Hi Alberto, I have tried (and like) the Stad Pencil Holder, but have not seen the Uni KH-20.
I agree with Mr Iscariot, and note that a decent pocket sharpener can be got for very little money.
(Oddly, at two different universities that I attended, other students were amazed to see that a pencil could be sharpened by a pocket knife. Kids these days!)