2B or Not 2B
The other day my youngest told me he needed more pencils for school. The Japanese school year ends in March so it's almost over, but I guess he can't wait. Luckily I have a drawer full of stationery that I pick up whenever it's on sale because I know my kids are going to need something from there eventually. So I opened it up, grabbed a handful of pencils and gave them to my boy.
"No, Papa," he said. "These are HB. They have to be 2B!"
Oh yeah...
In America, the #2 pencil is the most common. That's what America calls the HB pencil. HB and #2 are both the middle point between soft and hard. Graphite is fairly soft when it is pure; it makes a very dark line, but that dark line is prone to smudging. Pencil makers add in clay in the making process to make the graphite harder (and less prone to smudging, but lighter in color). The more clay they add, the harder the graphite gets. The full range of pencil grades usually goes from a really hard and light 8H to a really soft and dark 8B. Art students might use the entire range so you can find them all at art stores, but general stores usually only carry the middle grades. Or only the direct middle grade HB/#2 in America's case.
via Wikipedia
All through school, every single year my supply list would have #2 pencils as a requirement. Schools required them and tests required them. In fact, over the years they have become pretty much the only grade of pencil available to buy in America outside of specialized art stores.
I asked ChatGPT why HB/#2 is the standard for America. It replied:
In the United States, the HB pencil, also known as a #2 pencil, is the standard requirement for exams and standardized tests, such as the SAT or ACT. The HB/#2 pencil strikes a balance between hardness and darkness, making it suitable for both writing and optical scantron systems used to grade multiple-choice exams. The preference for HB pencils in the US is based on their performance with the technology used in these grading systems, ensuring marks are clearly readable without smudging or being too light to detect.
Jumping across the Pacific to Japan, when I moved here many years ago and went to the store to buy some pencils for a teaching project, I immediately noticed that different grades are available. Most stores will have 2B, B, and HB. Sometimes you might find an F or even an H, but those are not especially common outside art stores. F & H would be #2 1/2 and #3 in the American system, if you can find them. When I was in elementary school stores would sometimes carry them, but by the time I was in high school, you couldn't find anything beyond #2.
When my kids started school, I discovered that their schools demanded 2B pencils. The supply sheet cautioned that B was acceptable but 2B was better and that HB wasn't acceptable. I asked ChatGPT why 2B is the standard in Japanese school. It replied:
Japanese schools commonly require students to use 2B pencils, especially for filling out answer sheets for exams and standardized tests. The 2B pencil lead is preferred because it is darker and softer than HB, making it easier for optical answer sheet readers to recognize the marks. This requirement can vary by school and the specific needs of different exams, but 2B pencils are widely used in the Japanese education system for their readability and ease of use.
Funny how according to ChatGPT, both America and Japan require their pencil grade of choice for the exact same reason, in part to make it easier for optical systems to check. I guess the optical systems both countries use are different.
I don't really use pencils enough to have any preference, but if I had to pick, I would say 2B is a little more comfortable to write with. The softer graphite makes it a little easier to use, requiring less hand pressure and therefore making longer writing more comfortable, and the darker pencil mark looks nicer too.
But that said, as you saw at the top with that exchange between me and my son, I often don't really care enough to pay attention to this when I buy them.
What grade of pencil is the standard in your country?
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Twitter or Mastodon. |
Whoops... my finger must has slipped and I put this in the wrong community. Or I was in too much of a hurry. I apologize for the mistake @wesphilbin.
@dbooster...
It never hurts to be thoughtful about pencils! I appreciate the shout-out brother. But your content is always of a positive and thoughtful nature. No worries 👍
Interesting. I didn’t really care about what pencil to use before. In tests though it’s usually #2 or HB pencil. So from then on, I’ve been drawn to use HB pencils.
Japan is so particular with pencils even for a young student.
Japan is pretty particular about everything in the schools, at least at the elementary level, which I am dealing with with my kids.
I use a variety of style pencil in woodworking depending on what type of wood I’m using. On woods from South Africa I have to use white pencils the oil content of the wood absorbs regular graphite pencils.
Oh that's interesting. I didn't even consider woodworking pencils.
Standards are not about finding the best solution. Standards are about making things uniform. So, the test reading equipment in Japan is optimized for one type of pencil, the test reading equipment in the US is optimized for another.
The advocates of standards always pretend that their standard is best when in fact the choice of standards is often happenstance.
This happens with almost every product. You will often see companies becoming the standard even when their product is second rate. One need look no further than Microsoft. They never had the best technology, but Bill Gates was adept at getting people to accept his second rate products as the standard.
!WINE
Very true. You put it well.
well...I'm Cuban and around here, all my life I have used any type of pencil , I don't remember a time when I could choose. But I do have my preferences, When I have used the 2B I find it more pleasant, I don't like hard and clear pencils. To that I add that when I was a student I liked to draw the corners of the notebook pages 😁😉 and a soft pencil makes the shadows prettier.
I don't think that in Cuba there is a standardization for the pencils to use, having any pencil is enough.
Greetings from Havana 🤗
Greetings! I think you are the first Cuban I've ever had the pleasure of talking to. Interesting to hear there is no specific requirement there.
There are no requirements because it is difficult to maintain a stable market for anything. Cuba works very differently from the world, mired in constant economic crises for 6 decades now.
Ah I see. I understand. Are things improving there or is it the same as always?
I remember having to get some specialized pencils when I was in art class. It was quite interesting the difference between them.
Yeah, I think so too.
we use 2B because computer scanner can read it. And that's the sole reason why people here using 2B. Before computer stuffs, HB was the king here.
only a small group of people, mostly artist, use all for drawing because it gives different results
That's interesting. What age do they allow mechanical pencils? My oldest is still a year away from middle school so I haven't see there yet.
Amazing content, indeed. Now I understand what HB/#2 looks like. 😌
I hate number 2 pencils! They give me recurring nightmares from test taking in high school, college and post grad!
!BBH
@dbooster! Your Content Is Awesome so I just sent 1 $BBH (Bitcoin Backed Hive) to your account on behalf of @thebighigg. (2/50)
haha yeah I remember going through so many pencils. I don't mind pencils now, but when I was in school I hated them.
Soft pencils run out quickly. I used to use 4B when I learned pencil writing in calligraphy class, but I had to buy a lot of them because they ran out so fast.
I prefer HB myself.
That's a good point! Using a softer pencil an be more expensive! It's funny—I let my oldest son use a fountain pen for his art at home. I have to refill the ink maybe once a week for him because he draws a lot. But that pen and ink is less expensive than all the pencils I've bought for his school over the years...
I honestly thought the "#2 pencil" meant 2H, not HB! I learned something today! 😮
Glad to be useful 😃
Not too sure what the standard is here in Australia but recently a dear friend bought me a couple pencils, an eraser and a drawing pad as a gift. Both the pencils are HB so more than likely that's the case here... 😏
I have rarely used a pencil as an adult. I have a few in the house and I realized they are probably very old. One year, many years ago, I gave out some pencilsk which I had added large erasers on top, out to the children at Halloween for Trick or Treats. I was surprised when the next day or the next, a little boy who I didn't know, knocked on my my door and when I answered, he asked if I had any more pencils ! I did and I gave him a handful. He was SO happy !
It was interesting to read what you wrote about the pencils. I am normally curious about everything that comes along, but I have never given a thought to the difference in pencils. In school, my parents bought me whatever kind I needed and as an adult, I preferred pens. I mostly didn't buy pencils unless someone else needed them. Occasionally I would end up with a pencil that was so light when I used it that you could barely see what I wrote and I didn't like those, but I never thought about checking out why it was that way.