Reddit mentions of Ticonderoga Pencils, Wood-Cased, Graphite #2 HB Soft, Black, 24-Pack (13926)

Can we talk about the Dixon Ticonderoga for a minute?

It is, by far, the best pencil on the market. And let me tell you why: because the little nub of rubber on top of it actually erases things. I'm sure that other pencils had this feature too, long ago, but at some point in history, pencilmakers everywhere decided that instead of a useful eraser, what consumers really wanted on top of their pencil was a shitty little piece of plastic that left a pinkish, streaky mess all over the paper.

But not Dixon. The Ticonderoga still can actually erase. And for that, I salute you, Dixon.

EDIT: Thanks for the gold. But for less than the price of reddit gold, you could have bought a fresh, new pack of Ticonderogas and almost had enough money left over for another fresh, new pack of Ticonderogas.

EDIT 2: Lots of people trashing the Ticonderoga and trying to push the Palamaladingdong Black Wing 602. These cost $1.90 per pencil. And that is ridiculous. The good people at Dixon aren't going to rip you off like that. And you know what? They make a black Ticonderoga that is equally sexy, IF NOT SEXIER, than the Black Wing 602. AND a black Ticonderoga will only run you about 21 cents per pencil, which is a much better deal.


EDIT 3: Some people are trying to push mechanical pencils. Sure, people can use those. Mechanical pencils are all well and good. But here is why the Dixon Ticonderoga is better than any mechanical pencil.

#1. The Ticonderoga has its graphite embedded inside of it. This guarantees that the graphite will never slip up inside of the pencil body if you press down too hard, which tends to happen frequently with low-end mechanical pencils. It may happen less frequently with high-grade ones, but it will never happen with a Ticonderoga.

#2. You must sharpen the Ticonderoga. Some people may think that this is a weakness, but I assure you that it is a strength. After writing a few pages, you'll see that your once-sharp tip is now a dull nub. It's a fine indication of all of the work you've done thus far. That dull nub tells you that you've accomplished something. And once you've sharpened it and started writing again? Boy oh boy, there is no finer feeling that using a freshly-sharpened pencil.

#3. Sharpening the Ticonderoga releases a delectable wood scent into the air. The wood used in Dixon brand Ticonderogas is of a high quality, and is pleasant to smell. This cannot be achieved while using a mechanical pencil without also purchasing some sort of artificial wood scent spray.

#4. The Ticonderoga is made of wood. This means that the pencil is always pleasant to the touch. It has a solid, natural feel to it, which you can't get with low-grade mechanical pencils, which are made of plastic. High-end mech pencils tend to be metal. When I wake up first thing in the morning, and grab one of my several Ticonderogas to start the day's crossword puzzle, do you know what I don't feel? The biting cold of a metallic pencil body against my fingers. What a way to ruin a perfectly good morning.

EDIT 4: If anyone from the good people at Dixon are reading this: I would love some free pencils.

EDIT 5: The good folks at Dixon just contacted me and are going to send me a box of sweet, sweet Ticonderogas. Either that, or I just gave my home address to a random redditor. In either case, I'll let you guys know when they get here.

EDIT 6: They came in!



Just for the record, I don't work for Dixon, nor did anyone from their company ask me to make any of these posts. I'm just a simple man who loves good-quality, affordable pencils.

Don't buy your books at the campus store, order them online, Amazon is a good place to do this. Also don't buy your books until at least the first class meeting, sometimes professors will tell you that some of the books listed for the class are optional. Sharing a book with somebody is an option for some people, just be sure you both will have access to it when you need it.

As others have said, fans. Box fans are nice and cheap, but depending on your room's layout, one that stands on its own might work better. If you have a window with the hinge on the bottom that pulls towards you, try putting a box fan on top of the opened window and lean it back against the unopened window.

If you're a guy, please do not stock up on axe to "pick up the ladies", it is obnoxiously terrible, and a lot of people find it immature.

Good writing utensils that you will be comfortable using for long periods of time. My favorite are these. Also, a durable, spacious and, comfortable backpack is important, preferably with something on the sides to hold bottles, be sure to keep a bottle to hold water at all times, not buying a drink when you go somewhere to get food that isn't a cafeteria can save you a good bit of money.

A flash drive is very useful, as is your own personal printer, you will probably need to print something at 2 A.M. at some point.

Decent speakers that can get relatively loud are nice to have, if only to drown out distracting noises around you while having some kind of sound. People also like to listen to music sometimes.

A first-aid kit for obvious reasons. Also keep something for headaches around, as well as cough and cold medicine.

Food that you really like can help pick you up and relax.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Just some general advice, take part in any freshmen activities meant to help you meet people and make friends, having friends can help you emotionally and also with your work. If your dorm has a lobby, consider doing your homework there, you might meet somebody new. Don't miss classes, once you start, it can be hard to stop, and if you keep asking people what you missed and if there was any homework, they might get annoyed. Your professors are people too, whether you have a problem or not, talk to them, you might end up having a friend that can help you out more than a student or an English professor that will help with your papers down the road.

Don't be afraid to have fun and try new things. Take advantage of campus facilities, like a gym. Also don't be afraid of parties and drinking, but always be careful, spiked drinks, food, and general assholery happens more than your school would like to admit. Have fun and relax too, going weeks at a time without unwinding in some way is an easy way to end up depressed. Do look into groups and clubs, do not complain that there is not one for you unless you have tried to make one, I co-founded one, and it was a great decision.

In case you haven't seen the u/chicklepip rewarded rant on this issue:

>Can we talk about the Dixon Ticonderoga for a minute?

>It is, by far, the best pencil on the market. And let me tell you why: because the little nub of rubber on top of it actually erases things. I'm sure that other pencils had this feature too, long ago, but at some point in history, pencilmakers everywhere decided that instead of a useful eraser, what consumers really wanted on top of their pencil was a shitty little piece of plastic that left a pinkish, streaky mess all over the paper.

>But not Dixon. The Ticonderoga still can actually erase. And for that, I salute you, Dixon.

>EDIT: Thanks for the gold. But for less than the price of reddit gold, you could have bought a fresh, new pack of Ticonderogas and almost had enough money left over for another fresh, new pack of Ticonderogas.

>EDIT 2: Lots of people trashing the Ticonderoga and trying to push the Palamaladingdong Black Wing 602. These cost $1.90 per pencil. And that is ridiculous. The good people at Dixon aren't going to rip you off like that. And you know what? They make a black Ticonderoga that is equally sexy, IF NOT SEXIER, than the Black Wing 602. AND a black Ticonderoga will only run you about 21 cents per pencil, which is a much better deal.


>EDIT 3: Some people are trying to push mechanical pencils. Sure, people can use those. Mechanical pencils are all well and good. But here is why the Dixon Ticonderoga is better than any mechanical pencil.

>#1. The Ticonderoga has its graphite embedded inside of it. This guarantees that the graphite will never slip up inside of the pencil body if you press down too hard, which tends to happen frequently with low-end mechanical pencils. It may happen less frequently with high-grade ones, but it will never happen with a Ticonderoga.

>#2. You must sharpen the Ticonderoga. Some people may think that this is a weakness, but I assure you that it is a strength. After writing a few pages, you'll see that your once-sharp tip is now a dull nub. It's a fine indication of all of the work you've done thus far. That dull nub tells you that you've accomplished something. And once you've sharpened it and started writing again? Boy oh boy, there is no finer feeling that using a freshly-sharpened pencil.

>#3. Sharpening the Ticonderoga releases a delectable wood scent into the air. The wood used in Dixon brand Ticonderogas is of a high quality, and is pleasant to smell. This cannot be achieved while using a mechanical pencil without also purchasing some sort of artificial wood scent spray.

>#4. The Ticonderoga is made of wood. This means that the pencil is always pleasant to the touch. It has a solid, natural feel to it, which you can't get with low-grade mechanical pencils, which are made of plastic. High-end mech pencils tend to be metal. When I wake up first thing in the morning, and grab one of my several Ticonderogas to start the day's crossword puzzle, do you know what I don't feel? The biting cold of a metallic pencil body against my fingers. What a way to ruin a perfectly good morning.

>EDIT 4: If anyone from the good people at Dixon are reading this: I would love some free pencils.

>EDIT 5: The good folks at Dixon just contacted me and are going to send me a box of sweet, sweet Ticonderogas. Either that, or I just gave my home address to a random redditor. In either case, I'll let you guys know when they get here.

>EDIT 6: They came! Thanks, Dixon!

>Just for the record, I don't work for Dixon, nor did anyone from their company ask me to make any of these posts. I'm just a simple man who loves good-quality, affordable pencils.

• Pelican case $59.99
  
  
• Coins (x3) $37.38
  
  
• Microtech Combat Troodon $457.96
  
  
• Ultratech $257.87
  
  
• Box of pencils $7.29
  
  That's a difference of $1779... Factor in some shipping and customization.. I must have at least saved you $1500!
  

Hi! Just took the CA Bar and am about to start packing out of my on campus apartment, so I'm feeling a bit whimsical and some of this may be more directed at her.

Writing, Notetaking, and Organization

If you're particular about writing instruments, which some people are, it will take trial and error to find your right fit. This was my go-to, and it got me through three years of time, four years of credits, and three different employers.

Sharpie Liquid Highlighters, Chisel Tip, 5 Colors


Pros

• Great color, easy grip, chisel tip allows full line highlighting and underlining.
  
• Pen format works well in almost every bag or organizer.
  
• Five colors allows you to book brief (she will know what that means, and probably shouldn't do it until she knows how to craft a good one page case brief) in FIRAC format.
  
  Cons
  
  
• Getting harder and more expensive to find.
  
• Go through ink fairly quickly.
  
  
  uni-ball Jetstream RT Ballpoint Pens, Bold Point (1.0mm)
  
  Pros
  
  
• I mainly used the capped .07mm, but the retractable .07mm work well too.
  
  Cons
  
  
• This is less of a Con and more of a comment. Things like line width, pressure, and paper type make a solid rec hard to make here. There's so much personal preference. My general rule of thumb is it should cost enough that you can rely on it without being expensive enough to make you think too hard about losing one occasionally.
  
  Freeleaf® Yellow Annotation Ruled Pads Letter
  
  Pros
  
  
• Excellent weight, color, and ink retention.
  
• Pre-formatted organization structure, so you know what everything is if it gets mixed up before you file it.
  
  Cons
  
  
• It's $7 a pad. You're not going to find good quality pads for that much cheaper, but you fill find stuff that will get the job done cheaper. I maybe spent $200 during law school on pads, because I hand wrote notes. There's empirical studies that show it helps to write notes, but it was dying out at my school and I'd be surprised if my class would show any correlation between rank and note taking style.
  
  Ticonderoga Pencils, Wood-Cased, Graphite #2 HB Soft, Black
  
  Pros
  
  
• Best quality pencil for the price, hands down.
  
  Cons
  
  
• You could spend more on Blackwing, but the marginal utility is nil outside an artistry context, if then. Save the money for other things.
  
  BIC 4-Color Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point (1.0mm)
  
  Pros
  
  
• Great quality, incredibly durable, great form factor.
  
• Makes grading papers (self grading, or if she becomes a TA) turned in via hard copy a bit simpler. I had my own system that I maintained so that students could understand (Green - Good, Red - Rework, Blue - Style, Black - Final Comments)
  
  
  
  
  Since I am pickiest about those things, I will give more general comments about the rest.
  
  
• Battery phone case, back up laptop charger, extra phone cables all work wonders. Having an extra on hand lets you not stress about the tools you need to succeed.
  
  
• A good padfolio is both useful and a nod to the history of our profession in some circles. I went with Levenger, but everyone has their preferences.
  
  
• The best bookstand on the market, in my humble opinion.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is more general, and beyond the scope of what you asked, but I felt like giving unasked for advice so you can take it or leave it.
  Sleeping & Home Life
  
  
• The surliest 2L will casually throw around comments about sleep being for the weak, but there is literally no other way to get the kind of rest your mind and body needs. Invest in the things and habits that make great sleep possible, whatever that may be for her. And do the best you can to never be a barrier to it.
  
• Sundays should be for rest and keeping everying not-school related on track. Need to visit friends or family? A few hours on Sunday is a great time to do that. Pre-plan meals and do bulk cooking to keep work down during the week. Get all the laundry done, get the kitchen clean, make sure you don't run out of toothpaste on Wednesday morning. Sunday evening you can get your reading done for Monday, but finish the night doing something restful so you don't go into Monday feeling you're jumping off a cliff.
  
• Low-effort acts of kindness do a lot of work. Writing a note, leaving a message, suprising her with a small and thoughtful gift are all great ways to show you care without imposing too much on her time and autonomy. Date night is important, and keeping a running list of things you can do at a drop of a hat for different amounts of time and money is helpful, but keeping your relationship strong through what in all likelihood will be a time of incredible change and transformation is about putting in the effort without demanding an equal or greater act of reciprocation. Even when the thank you text gets delayed more than it should, or she snaps at you unfairly, the body of love you show will find its way through to the end. The best way to show you love her is to enable her success and let her respond in ways that make sense while she figures this whole thing out.
  
• This is a very personal area that I will not spend too much time on, but here it goes. You may think you are a good lover now, and I hope you are. Try to be the best version of that for her now, in whatever form that takes. It helps a lot, proportionately to how much it's important to your relationship.
  
  Health & Wellness
  
  
• This is not a gendered comment, even and especially coming from the perspective of a guy who had some bad habits he broke before and took into law school. Any habits you thought were hard to break before law school are going to be multiples harder in law school. Dealing with this may be damage control, or require more work, depending on what it is. A caffiene fiend is going to reach unparalled heights. None of my friends who smoked going into law school found a way to quit. The moderate drinkers became heavy drinkers. Some people took up the gym as a new religion, but most stayed true to form. The only real way to know how to handle this is to either stop it quick or find an adult and productive way to keeps things reasonable.
  
  
• For the love of all that is holy, exercise. It is proven to help brain function whether in cognitive skills or emotional health or stress reduction. If it's nonexistent now, start small and try to build up to some routine of significance while it can become a habit and before the midsemester crunch hits.

I'm a Ticonderoga Black man myself. There's two sharpened and ready for action on my desk at all times. There's something visceral about writing with a proper wooden pencil. Especially, a good one.

>Lots of people trashing the Ticonderoga and trying to push the Palamaladingdong Black Wing 602. These cost $1.90 per pencil. And that is ridiculous. The good people at Dixon aren't going to rip you off like that. And you know what? They make a black Ticonderoga that is equally sexy, IF NOT SEXIER, than the Black Wing 602. AND a black Ticonderoga will only run you about 21 cents per pencil, which is a much better deal.

They make them in black now too: Amazon