Pencil Revolution

Review of PaperMate Mirado Black Warrior.

It has been a long time since we posted a review of a pencil, and that is one of the purposes this site was meant to serve when I started it. Among the pencils that keep popping up on the list of what Comrades would like to see reviewed is the Mirado Black Warrior, the pencil which will lead the charge in this resolution to a more consistent program of posting reviews.

Material: California Incense Cedar.
Shape: Round.
Finish: Glossy black with gold lettering.
Ferrule: Red-banded brass.
Eraser: Genuine Pink Pearl.
Core: Waxed-ceramic/graphite composite. Available in #1/B, #2/HB, #2.5/F, #3/H.
Markings: “USA/Mirado Black Warrior/HB/[two hearts].”
Packaging: Varies from open-stock, to packs of eight or ten, to boxes of a dozen.
Origin: Made in Lewisburg, Tennessee, United States by the Sanford Corporation.
Availability: Widely available in office supply stores, art supply stores, university bookstores, department stores and online.

What the Mirado Black Warrior has over other pencils that are as widely available is that it is obviously of a higher quality. It is not nicer than the Mirado Classic, but the latter’s yellow color does little to set it apart from cheapos you might find discarded on the sidewalk. The Black Warrior, with it’s black finish, banded brass ferrule and rounded shape, stands out among American pencils when on a desk or sticking out of a shirt pocket.

The obviousness of its quality does not end with the appearance. PaperMate bills the Mirado pencils as the smoothest writing pencils in the world. While that is certainly a matter for debate, the core of the Mirado is smooth, due to being impregnated with wax. This has its ups and downs. On the bright side, you get the above-mentioned smoothness and a superior strength of point that resists breakage and lasts long between sharpenings. On the not-so-bright side, the ultra-smoothness has the price of leaving a very faint line, even for an HB pencil. As a partial remedy, you could try the #1/B grade, which maintains the legendary smoothness and generates a darkness of line that runs a little darker than a Dixon #2/HB. Personally, I prefer this grade for writing and the HB for underlining and marginalia in books.

There is debate over whether “rough” erasers like the Pink Pearl damage paper too much compared with something like the Staedtler Mars plastic eraser. With the pumice in the Pink Pearl, this may very well be the case, and I would never use one on watercolor paper or the like. But that is not the purpose of the Pink Pearl or the Mirado. While one can certainly sketch away with a Black Warrior (and I have attended boring lectures where people did just that), the primary purpose of Mirado pencils is writing. A new Mirado with a semi-soft Pink Pearl will not burn holes through the pages you write on. It might remove a small layer, but only an overly heavy hand or inferior paper will cause ruin for pages of writing with a Pink Pearl. If one is concerned about the microscopic flaws such a rough eraser might cause on writing paper, one might not like a Mirado. Not caring about that myself, I prefer the eraser on Mirado pencils to the eraser on any other Sanford pencil, by far. The eraser does what it should do, while managing to last far longer than softer erasers. They are a bit on the messy side, but no one said this Revolution was going to be a tidy one.

Writing with a Black Warrior is a new experience for someone used to hexagonal pencils. With the glossy finish, even only slightly damp hands make getting a good grip a bit difficult. On the other hand, the round shape allows for holding the pencil in different positions, and I imagine that Comrades who have had the corners of a pencil embedded into fingers will appreciate the gentler shape of the Black Warrior. They fall right off the desk, so angle them carefully.

Of course, the Black Warrior smells heavenly because of its cedar construction, and sharpening a rounded wooden pencil is a breeze with any quality sharpener. And there are always some times that a very sharp and light-marking pencil is exactly the tool for the job, such as writing in precious LOA volumes. Still, with the softest grade, one can enjoy the smoothness and the darkness of a fine American pencil. Considering their relatively inexpensive price tag, wide availability and impressive quality, the Black Warrior is a formidable tool to have in a Comrade’s graphite arsenal.

[Text and images, J.G.]

43 Comments so far
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I know that the Papermate hearts on the barrel do not affect the quality of this pencil, but ever since they appeared on the Black Warrior, I have not been able to regard it with the same degree of respect. I suspect that I am not alone in this (granted, irrational) feeling. Papermate might do well to remove their tasteless logo from the Black Warrior and restore the cursive Mirado name. I notice that they do not put hearts on their top-of-the-line Mirado yellow. The Black Warrior is a better pencil than the Mirado yellow and should be treated with the same care.

Yeah this pencil could use a disheartening, but amen to the point about sanfords erasors. They could learn something from PinkPearl but they stick with crap on the Americans most of the time. Why????? Granted idealy one would want a mini magic rub up there or nothing at all (for those who like balance)but this is closer than their usual fare. Nice review and cool site. It is so nice to find some people who share my interests…er…obsessions. By the way when are you going to get around to some sort of pamphlet? The Pencil Manifesto perhaps? Adieu Comrades

Good comments. The Black Warrior was a disappointment, at least for me- being used to writing a bold black line. This one writes a bit too grey. I wind up carrying a white Staedtler eraser to go with the Sanford Draughting pencils I use daily.
A suggestion as an alternative to the Mirado (if you can find these) is the fabulous Helix Oxford HB. It actually has a white eraser on it- and writes bold line. These are terrific, but very hard to find.

I prefer the darker line of the Paper Mate American, but the erasers totally suck. I find putting one of those cap erasers works pretty well. Having said that, I’ll take the Dixon Ticonderoga over any Paper Mate even though the line isn’t as dark…

The Musgrave HB Natural Finish pencil has a white eraser and it’s available at Pencil Things. I just got some so I haven’t had much chance to try them but it seems like a pretty nice pencil.

I like the twin hearts logo!

I used to like the Black Warrior, but after trying several other pencils, it seems very, very scratchy relative, so I actually gave three or four boxes away in favour of others, including Palominos (expensive) and ForestChoice (more economical). I probably won’t go back.

For writing, the softer grade Mirados are very nice, but they are hard to find offline.

My biggest gripe is that the finishing of Mirado pencils has gone downhill. The paint overlaps the ferrule, and I regularly pull them out of the box chipped, scratched or with otherwise bad paint jobs. While I still use Mirados sometimes (I never stick to one kind for long), if Sanford cuts any more corners, I won’t be using them any longer.

I love the Musgrave natural finish (got them at PencilThings.com as well).

PencilRevolution-Too bad I didn’t know-I had two or three dozen #1s I could have sent you!

Good post as usual, thanks! Still loving my Faber-Castell grips. ;-)

The paint job on these Black Warriors is a definite mark against them. I have a box of twelve, five of which have chipped paint and/or divots in the wood itself. One actually fell apart as I sharpened it. The #1s are the only Mirados I can write with. The others write entirely too light.

I guess that’s why there’s chocolate and vanilla. I like the Black Warrior in grade 2.5. But I hate the hearts. Papermate totally screwed up sticking their ugly logo and those STUPID hearts on the Mirados–especially the Black Warrior. Who puts teenage anime love hearts on a Warrior?!

Nice review. I particularly like the part about the revolution being messy.

Thanks for the tip about the #1’s. I stopped by my local stationer and grabed a box. Interestingly the Sanford were labeled as 2B and the Papermate as B.
unfortunately i only was able to grab the papermates as i wanted the full dozen.
Good pencils but two gripes. The finish doesnt hold up and it needs a diheartenig desperatly. if i were less economical i would have grabbed the incomplete sanford dozen.

True, the paint more or less sucks on these nowadays:) But the lead in the #1s is very nice;)

Without question but why the change from 2B to B? I thought that was strange. Dark enough though.

I stumbled across the Mirado Black Warrior when I asked to borrow a pencil before a meeting. I was handed a Mirado Black Warrior and liked it immediately.

The round shape feels better than the more common hexagonal type. I thought it wrote well, and most importantly (to me) it erases very cleanly. No matter how nice the lead writes, if the eraser is poor, it’s a bad pencil IMHO.

I have written with pencils with worthless erasers for so long. The main thing for me was that with my mistakes being rare enough to just cross out i wanted to be able to see the writing. Dark lead was the
prerequisite for penciling to me. for a time I was exclusively using 2B art pencils or the ocasional 4B. these pencils had no eraser whatever but 5 years down the line i can still read those worthless essays written with them.When i swithced over to doing mostly notation the eraser again became more nessesary. For the last week now the Black Warrior and I have completed about 10 pages and i still end up reaching for the Magic Rub. Old Habits die hard eh?

After a bad experience on a standardized test with an Office Depot special, I swore I’d never buy anything but Dixon Ticonderogas. We just got the supplies list from the school, and my daughter’s 4th grade teacher has specified only Mirado Blacks. Thanks for the review! I feel much better about buying these things now.

(The teacher insists we send 3 dozen of them, but that’s another rant.)

I love this Pencil. I know what you said about how these pencils are good for writing, but I feel they also have great merit in the drawing world as well. Also, I guess I can say this is the answer to the previously posed question “Who puts teenage anime love hearts on a pencil?”. Who cares? Even if it had tufts of pink and yellow feathers coming out of it I’d still use this pencil. The fainter lines are great for drafting and if you intend to go over it with ink is just a breeze. Being a tad bit heavy handed, I like the fact that it doesn’t leave such an obvious mark after being erased, using the eraser the pencil comes with or not. I didn’t understand why before, but I think the comment about the smooth marks and strong tip answer why all of my best artwork has been done with Mirado Black Warriors, cushy hearts or not.

Black Warriors are the gold standard by which all pencils shall be judged. Having first realized the distinctives of this instrument back in 1982 I have been satisfied with nothing less since. Do not buy or use a Black Warrior unless you are willing forever more to use nothing less. Otherwise, they will only break your heart.

you guys are nuts! bring on the hearts, i would prefer to see at least seven on any given pencil. seriously, in this day and age we need to spread the love.

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I went to browse OfficeMax last weekend and ended up buying a pack of Mirado Woodtone pencils, an 8 pack for $2.50 including tax. The finish on these pencils seems to be much better than on the yellow Mirados and the Black Warriors but YMMV. These pencils look really good, but suprisingly the erasers in the ferrules are really really horrible. I have a few Sanford American pencils at home with erasers that are much better than the Woodtone’ eraser. It’s wierd, I know - but it is what it is.

Another thing I noticed was that while the pencil cartoon says they are made of cedar wood, I do not get the fragerence of Cedar from these pencils. The Dixon Tikes smell so Cedarish, fresh and woody when sharpened, but not these Mirado Woodtone pencils. I wonder…

While the Mirado Woodtone writes reasonably well, I think I still prefer Dixon Tikes..

Ugh I meant ‘Papermate American’ not ‘Sanford American’.

RE: A suggestion as an alternative to the Mirado (if you can find these) is the fabulous Helix Oxford HB. It actually has a white eraser on it- and writes bold line. These are terrific, but very hard to find.

www.pencilthings.com has them now!

M up double down

black mirado warrior 4 lyfe

A couple days ago, I saw a beautiful black shiny pencil laying on the floor of my school. I decided to pick i up and use it. I then found out that there is a god. The Mirado Black Warrior is god. The smoothness of its lead is amazing. The way it glides across the paper is just fantastic. The Mirado Black Warrior is the perfect pencil that was ever made. I recommend it to everyone!

Actually, the Mirado Black Warrior is now just as bad as its competitors… I just threw one away that had no lead in more than half of it!

Is this a sign of a dying civilization… when no one can produce a decent pencil!

I have had a box of Mirado Black Warriors that i got quite a few years ago, more than 5, less than 10, and I finally used the last one up recently. For most of my writing I use Ticonderogas, but that’s because I live in a small town and pencil quality is a low priority here, I can’t get Black Warriors. I just purchased 3 dozen online, and i’m hoping that the quality of them hasn’t gone down in the meantime. My old ones were dependable, long-lasting, bold(in appearance, not in line color), and tough, like any warrior should be. This is a cool site, because everyone I know thinks I’m crazy with how picky I am about any writing or drawing utensil.

I am a carpenter by trade, and probally use my pencil more in a day than most folks do in a week. I like the Mirado Black Warrior for its durability and true wood composition. They are easy to sharpen with a pocket or utility knife, mechanical or manual sharpener. The 2HB version widely available works well for most of my applicatiions. However for the darker grains and pressure treated lumber I have begun a search for a darker lead. Most of the manufacturers and suppliers of these pencils need to package them in larger quanties. I go through a twelve pack from Walmart every two weeks at a cost of $2.24 per pack.
Very informative web-site, THANK YOU!!!

It’s a good pencil

The quality of this product is outstanding! The quality really goes in before the name goes on.

wow, i never knew people had so much appreciation towards the pencil like i did so this is a very nice discovery. nice review by the way.

We use this pencil when we go to do field work, one of our co-workers like this class of pencil so much that we decide to call him “MIRADO” and he loves it.

i have in my possession a barely-been-used Mirado Black Warrior. the eraser has broken off but everything else works fine. i will start the bidding at 89 cents.

I was looking at Wal-Mart when I stumbled upon some Black Warriors with a matte black paint job!!! What the heck happened?? Was it a paint flaw? Who knows. They were actually really nice with the matte though.

I love this pencil, it kicks ass comparied to the cheapo OfficeDepot brand pencils my mom trys to buy me. I’m an *artist*, and I’ve found the Mirado Black Warrior the best, although it is hard to erase lines completely.

I dont know whats the problem with the people who dislike the hearts, I think it adds a girlish touch, and I enjoy it!

hey there
alot of praise….can it outclass a berrol…?

The name is Black WARRIOR. The hearts need to go……..

I can’t believe there is a discussion going on about the pros and cons of different pencils. Excellent site. I stumbled onto it while researching Blackfeet pencils. Now I’m torn between trying the Helix Oxford HB and the Mirado Black Warrior.

As far as Papermate having to mark its territory, they need to give it a rest. Putting the hearts on the barrel is like Oral Roberts putting his face on the bible.

The Mirado Black Warrior shouldn’t do “girly.”

Bring on the Revolution.

(This site makes me want to make my own pencils and sell them. I wish I had all that Blackfeet machinery that is now long gone.)

I seem to be allergic to something in the eraser. Does it have Cancer-causing petroleum or other chemicals in it? I get little headaches and sinus stuff everytime I’m within smelling distance of the pencil. Other than that, it’s a good pencil.

I needed pencils one day, and after browsing a while I found the Mirado Black Warrior pencil. Three years later and I still won’t use anything else. They are the pencil equivalent to a god in writing or art, the latter of which I deal in. The erasers are good, but I truthfully prefer a cap eraser. Now that my local Walmart has stopped carrying them I’ll have to order them, which will drive my dad insane; he just dosen’t grasp the concept their being differences in pencils.
Also the rumor is that Stephen King writes with them, but don’t hold me to that.

RoxyWolf

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Review of PaperMate Mirado Black Warrior.

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