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.
