Which Pencil for the JMT?

Pencils and pens are for the amateur, for those afraid of their own voices, insecure that their words will not stand the test of time.

Personally, I carry stonemason's tools and inscribe monoliths.

I prefer a highly visible yellow golf pencil from some tacky miniature golf course in Kansas. Space Pens can run out of ink, you know. You can sharpen a golf pencil with your teeth…

You can order an advance copy of my forthcoming book, "Pencil or Pen? An In-Depth Analysis of Techniques and Tools For Writing While Hiking." Simon & Schuster, 450 pages.

Picking up on Paul Harvey’s famous tagline, “The rest of the story,” here is

A Pencil for the JMT

"I went medical school, but I only made it through the handwriting course"

In the defense of MD penmanship, I can sympathize. Even as an EMT, having to write things like "periorbital ecchymosis" on the pre-hospital care report when all I want to say is "dude has two black eyes" (and am happy when I can spell my own name), I think MD penmanship allows for some Kentucky windage where they can fudge it a bit.

Of course I'm not med school material so YMMV.

"Pencils and pens are for the amateur, for those afraid of their own voices, insecure that their words will not stand the test of time."

LOL

Okay, for the truth…

I know you are an artist, and I bet you have a sketchbook full of pencil and even pen drawings.

:)

Chief Tom (after our very own Tom Kirchner), Thunder Basin, Sierra…a quick sunset sketch.

I like the Fisher Space Pen. For a ballpoint the ink flows well and I like the sleek little bullet design a lot. But usually I prefer pencil, charcoal, and conte crayon the best. Quick mountain snapshots are fun for me.

When I'm not imprinting clay tablets or carving monoliths, that is.

Good grief! Congratulations on planning to keep a hiking journal. Take any pencils you can sharpen. I met a long distance hiker who instead of using a camera, recored memorable locations by sketching them. He carried a box of colored pencils. He was a hiker who stopped to smell the roses

John Muir was an avid wilderness sketcher. Of course in those days cameras were weight prohibitive.

"in those days cameras were weight prohibitive."

Tell that to William Henry Jackson. He had an assistant named Hypo who carried his camera, very large format glass plates, and field darkroom. That was during the heroic age of camping and photography. Hypo was a burro. Nowadays Hypo would be six llamas. Wait! Do we still use wet plate photography? Ok, Hypo would be replaced by an iPhone, or maybe . . . a pencil.

Here's a NYTimes video on Faber Castell, oldest pencil maker:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jHzrzP_AqJQ

James,

you missed the Faber / John Muir connection.

On Muir's 1,000 mile walk he ended up in Cedar Keys, FL and worked in a saw mill there, harvesting redcedar, which was used for pencil manufacturing.

Both Faber and the Eagle pencil company used this wood for pencil making. I don't know if he worked in the mill owned by Faber. Might be interesting research.

I feel foolish giving a serious reply to this but I can't resist. I use a typical mechanical pencil with #2 lead at 1.2 mm diameter. Mine — with eraser — weighs .03 ounces or 008 grams.

I have owned a used bookstore for 20 years and have always used these for putting prices in books(though for a time it was hard to find the ones that could accept this "fat" lead). I need the #2 lead because thinner ones tend to etch the price into rather than writing it onto the paper — thus adding a new and permanent feature to the books. The pencil is reliable and carries extra leads in its body. It has a VERY long life expectancy. I know many think 8 grams is way too much, but it works.

"weighs .03 ounces or 008 grams."

Is there a decimal place error here?

–B.G.–

…

Bob, of course you are right: 00.3 ounces. Good thing I was not claiming to be mistake free like Roger Dodger!

I will admit I am astounded that someone read my comments!

"I feel foolish giving a serious reply to this but I can't resist"

You doubt the importance of the subject?

Nick,

I’m not sure your pencil apprenticeship is complete … have you read How to Sharpen Pencils?

The author is even a Blackwing fan.

"I'm not sure your pencil apprenticeship is complete … have you read How to Sharpen Pencils?"

The wood from pencil shavings will make a good fire starter. Wow, you want to talk about multiple use!

–B.G.–

Why read the book? Mr. Rees will personally sharpen my pencils for only $35 each. A much better deal than a Faux-dini that doesn't fit.

BTW, I did read about him and viewed his documentary video when researching the subject, which many, unlike me, did not consider a serious or important backpacking subject.

http://www.pencils.com/blog/david-rees-and-blackwing-artisanal-pencil-sharpener/

The book is humorous in a very dry, subdued way. If you brought all his suggested tools for sharpening your pencil while on the JMT, it would certainly not be lightweight!

Au contraire, Stephen…

I dutifully documented and weighed the JMT Pencil Solution in true BPL fashion, recording statistics in both grams and ounces in the link provided earlier. Here it is again, with apologies to the French.

A Pencil for the JMT

I am awestruck! Mr Rees is a saint.

What's a Faux-dini? No, no, I take it back! Don't tell me. Let's keep this thread pure and beautiful.

As if death and taxes aren't enough, the thought of a mechanical pencil breakdown is more than I can bear. It's wood for me.

When you realize there is no pencil per se, only an idea/thought of pencil temporally vibrating in this level of the one field of consciousness, then can you start on the path to true freedom, and then when you can react with compassion and patience to any temporal pencil stabbing you in the temporal back (ouch!), can you move out of this system into more expanded ones.

Who knew pencils were so deep and transformative of a concept.