ORIGINAL POST DATE: November 11, 2005

Finding the elusive Blackwing 602 pencil is a lot like bird watching. You need to be in the right place at the right time, and be very patient. If you are lucky enough to find one you will end up feeling like you have just spotted the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker: rare, thought by everyone to be extinct, but lurking in the wild waiting to be discovered by the devoted few.

I have written previously on the NWD blog about Blackwing 602 pencils (HERE and HERE), partly because they are my favorite writing instrument, and partly because I still can't quite accept the truth that they aren't being made anymore. In an attempt to move on in my life and find a way to acceptance I have focused my pencil obsession in a new direction: finding a replacement for the Blackwing 602. I have searched the web, read personal opinions among the comments from Pencil Revolutionaries, and haunted the aisles at my local Staples (until I started getting funny looks from the sales staff). Finally I am able to say that I have found a pencil that meets the challenge, which picks up the gauntlet thrown down by the Blackwing and offers a compelling alternative to the ruling champion of writing instruments.

First, a short eulogy: There is something about the Blackwing 602. Maybe it is the sleek silvery-grey color of the finish or the distinctive eraser shape that sets it above your average pencil. Maybe it is the slogan stamped in gold: Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed. For me it has always been the graphitei core that makes the difference. I love great design and innovative looks, but it is the function that is the ultimate criteria for me, the thing that makes or breaks even the coolest looking product. No other pencil provides that smooth and rich writing experience. But they are no more, driven into extinction from the same quirky detail that set it apart from other pencils; the metal clip that holds the eraser in the ferrule.