Pencil Bundle: Pencils for Puzzles

The Camel natural pencil has become quite an icon in design and use.  The attachment on the end of the pencil is indeed an eraser, which works surprisingly well and doesn't seem to come loose or fall off.  The HB core writes with a smooth, dark line. Established in 1949, Camel is one of several remaining pencil manufacturers in Japan. They’re known for their unique eraser design, which features on many of their writing pencils. Made in Japan.

This pencil is a great blend of analogue and digital with a stylus instead of an eraser you can use it to do work on your touchscreen device.  It's also a very high quality pencil with a good dark line and fantastic point retention - even if you don't need the stylus. Established in Geneva in 1915, Caran d’Ache is a privately owned family company, making pencils to the high Swiss standard. Considered somewhat of a luxury brand, they are known for creating the first water-soluble pencils and inventing the clutch pencil. Made in Switzerland.

This unique pencil is perfect for sudoku or crosswords, split approximately 60/40 with a 2B graphite pencil in one end, and a rubber eraser in the other.  The ability to sharpen the eraser end makes it perfect for erasing in smaller spaces. One of the oldest stationery companies in the world, Koh-i-Noor was established in the Czech Republic in 1790. The name Koh-i-Noor comes from the name of one of the world’s largest cut diamonds, which is part of the British crown jewels. Made in Czech Republic.

The 'Original' Test Scoring pencil features a soft black reflective graphite that was originally designed for "Scantron" testing. Test Scoring pencils are very popular with avid crossword puzzle enthusiasts because of the dark line they make.  The highly popular IBM Electrographic pencil was originally made by General, so if you've always wanted to try the IBM then this is the pencil could be considered comparable. The General Pencil Company has been in operation since 1889 and has remained family owned and operated across six generations.  Currently it is one of the last pencil factories in the USA, operating in New Jersey. You can see inside the General Pencil factory here. Made in the USA.

Viking make some very interesting and unique pencils and the Mikro is certainly one of them.  Measuring 8.5cm long and around 3.4mm in diameter, the Mikro can go anywhere.  Best sharpened with a nail file or sandpaper, the delicate Mikro looks and writes like any full-size pencil. Established in Denmark in 1914, Viking was originally a matchstick company. After changing hands in 2010, this small company has experienced a re-birth as a producer of quality stationery products. To Viking, the purpose of life is to find the courage to express oneself. Made in Denmark.