Review by Tina Koyama
When the Tokyo Slider Twin Pencil Holder ($11.50) first came out, it caught my eye for several reasons. One is that conventional-size woodcased pencils are a little too slim for my comfort, and I experience less hand fatigue if I fatten the barrel with a holder. Another is that I have a thing for bicolor pencils, and my secret desire is to someday make my own (with something like the Tsunago concept, except one that works for colored pencils). While pencil holders and extenders for one pencil are commonplace, I’d never seen a twin holder before: I immediately saw the bicolor potential. Finally, I rarely see pencil holders/extenders made of wood, and the Slider’s smooth, round barrel appealed to me.
I chose the reddish-brown wood. The Tokyo Slider also comes in a single-pencil version and in white wood and red wood.
To test the holder, I chose a conventional yellow pencil that’s getting too short to use easily and a tiny stub that’s so short it must be sharpened with a knife (both hexagonal).
A cap on either end of the Slider screws off, revealing an inner sleeve. Place the pencil into the sleeve, and replace the cap to secure.
The tiny stub was easy to install securely, too.
Even with two pencils installed Darth Maul-style, the Slider is surprisingly lightweight and comfortable to use. The barrel is exactly the diameter I find comfortable in hand and for long writing or drawing use.
I also tested a conventional diameter round pencil and triangular pencil, and they both fit fine. The whole barrel is hollow, so I could even install a full-length pencil (using one end of the holder only).
Final Impressions
As expected, my colored pencils with larger-than-average-diameter barrels (such as Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle and Luminance) would not fit. But all the rest fit well, so I’m going to go through my stubs and make a handy bicolor. (In fact, I think I’m going to get a couple more Sliders – six colors in the space of three would make a very portable sketch kit!)
Darth Maul, eat your heart out.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Thanks! I will have to pick one up. I have an extender that is made of metal and really ugly.
For larger than average diameter pencils (think Tombow Mono, not an actual jumbo pencil) I have had great luck with the kutsuwa hiline pencil holder, also known as the ‘knock’ pencil holder. It’s a clutch holder with replaceable eraser. It actually has trouble fitting some skinnier pencils like ticonderogas and faber-castells, but it’s perfect for my General’s pencils and Blackwing stubs. I’ve made a few customizations, most crucially to add a pocket clip from an old mechanical pencil to keep the thing from rolling off the table, but overall it’s a fantastic, lightweight pencil holder that hasn’t seemed to get much love on the pencil review blogosphere.