Pencil Extenders

©Carrie Lewis

When I showed you a comparison of sharpeners last week, I touched upon the pain of ending up with a small stub of a pencil when they've been sharpened just a little too much to comfortably hold. Using a great sharpener like the T'GAAL works wonders for keeping those pencils longer for longer, but the eventual reality is that your favourites will end up tiny one day. You may think that this is the end for your precious Prismas or prized Polychromos but there is a solution!

Despite being a colouring book and art material reviewer for the best part of a year now, I am slightly ashamed to admit that I hadn't heard of pencil extenders before, but it seems like such an obvious product when you see how handy they are! I have 3 to show you today, so you can make your mind up about which one suits you best.

e+m Peanpole Pencil Extender, £4

This German-made pencil extender is the same diameter and hexagonal shape as most pencils, so feels like a natural extension in the hand. It's very light and narrow, so won't weigh you down, and has several wooden finishes with a nickel-plated grip. It holds the pencil by sliding a ring down as far as you can, which secures the pencil in place until you slide the ring back down to release. Its 8mm opening fits most pencils (prismas, poly) comfortably and without scraping the paint.

Caran d'Ache Pencil Extender, £2.84

This extender is finished in a glossy red lacquer and is quite short, meaning it will easily fit in the pencil case or pocket. It's extremely light, and works by simply pushing the pencil up into the opening which stretches the split and grips the stub. Although it says suitable for all standard size pencils, I struggled to push the pencil in and when I finally did, it had scraped all the paint off. My Polychromos wouldn't fit into it at all.

Kutsuwa Stad Pencil Holder, £6.98

This pencil holder works differently again, by pushing the top down to release a metal claw which automatically retracts after gripping the pencil. It opens up quite wide at its maximum, meaning you'll have no issues with using triangular pencils as well as regular, and there's minimal damage to the wood. There are ridges inside the claw for excellent grip, and you can fit longer pencils in it too. They've even included a handy rubber inside the top! Again it is very light, but its wide diameter gives it a clunky feel and is less natural to hold. Its aluminium barrel comes in an assortment of metallic colours.

I hope you've enjoyed this look into some pencil holders that are currently available to purchase at Cult Pens, but there are loads more to choose from on the site with varying mechanisms, lengths and widths, so select one that is best for you and get those old pencil stubs out of storage!