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Life can be complicated, and sometimes we pen folk add another level of complication to our days. If you’re anything like me, there so many daily decisions to be made. What type of pen? What color pen? What color ink? What nib or tip size? Blah, blah, blah. Sometimes I wear myself out with all of the pen chatter that streams through my head.
Sometimes I just want to write a quick note. Like, without belaboring it.
And here’s the perfect tool for keeping things simple(ish).
Stabilo All 8008 pencils
The backstory (because, of course, there is one): When my great aunt moved into a nursing home, I was part of the family team that packed up her belongings. Because she had to drastically pare down her belongings, we spent the last afternoon of packing divvying up what was left behind. I didn’t take much…just a lovely sweater, a stack of cookbooks, and two pencils. Two Stabilo pencils. The pencils turned out to be DIVINE, which I didn’t realize when I tucked them in my purse. The lead is creamy smooth, and the line soft and dark. (My favorite.) I’ve been milking those pencils since November 2008, partly because they were Aunt Clara’s, but also because they are SUPERB pencils. Who knew? (Apparently Aunt Clara did.)
Aunt Clara’s vintage Stabilo on top. New Stabilo on bottom. Equally wonderful.
And so the quest for a NEW stash of Stabilo pencils began, because those two originals weren’t going to last forever, no matter how sparingly I sharpened them. I eventually tracked down a box of 12 at misterart.com. Ahhhh, replenished!
Stash o’ Stabilos
You’ll notice that the pencils are missing an eraser, but I usually use a separate eraser any way, so no big deal. And in place of the eraser, you get a lovely little swan. So much better than a lousy eraser, isn’t it?
A bevy of swans
So while it would be SUPER simple of grab any old pencil, that’s not how we pen types roll. Grab a STABILO pencil to jot a note, balance a checkbook, or make a grocery list. You’ll enjoy the writing experience without having to make all of those pen-related decisions.
Choosing a Stabilo is simple(ish).
Must sharpen to perfection.
From the Pen Cup 
These are undeniably great pencils, but they’re not regular graphite pencils meant for extended writing sessions–the lead is much too soft for that–they are wax pencils intended to mark up (and to be easily wiped from) surfaces which are not ordinarily conducive to being written upon with anything other than permanent markers. It’s their temporariness which gives them an edge over permanent markers for some applications such as pricing glassware for a jumble sale.
I do see that indicated on the pencil, but I haven’t found these to be very good at marking on glass or plastic. Maybe the colored versions are better suited for that?
Great article! This is a very under-appreciated pencil indeed! Because it’s water-soluble, you can use this pencil for some nice grey washes (though I am not good at it myself). I’ve always loved the graphics on the end, with the nice green rings.
The color (they even have brown!) variety is very nice for marking glass/plastic/etc. — but not as fun to write with.
I love the green rings. Wonderfully classic look.
Funny that I took the same journey. Found an old one at work. Loved the graphics but thought no, for sure they don’t make em any more as the one I had was at least 20 years old. Sure enough found an art supply store with them and bought 2 boxes. Wonderfully smooth and waxy with good cores. Loved your nice story.
Enjoyed YOUR story, too. It’s nice to know that something stood the test of time. Usually, if I like it, it can’t be found!
Enjoyed your story! and you have a nice handwriting , i always buy my pens at http://www.stabilostiften.com but that’s a dutch site. Keep up the nice work you put in your site!
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I’ve been using these pencils for 35 years and they’re just as good now as they were back then. Love ’em.
I don’t see them talked about very much in the “pencil world,” but at least two of us know the secret, right?! They’re awesome.
A pencil without an eraser is like a bed without pillows. When you are doing puzzles, you need a pencil with an eraser. A pencil w/out one is a useless affectation.
You’ve got it backwards. The erasers they put on those things are usually crap and don’t last. I prefer my pencils without one.
@Joe Dick. Some pencils have high quality erasers. I’ve bought quite a few brands of pencils, of which only a few had horrible erasers. The rest did the job! When a person is doing puzzles (crossword, 4 word or cryptoquote) we don’t have time to put the pencil down and reach for an eraser, an eraser that is usually too large and awkward for the job.
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