In a recent blog post I talked about the new upcycled Noris in the UK. The upcycled version is extruded using a composite wood/plastic material instead of wood. The lead is also extruded and quite different to traditional pencil leads. Glenn, who is a Bleistift blog reader, told me that down South, in London where he lives, the change to the upcycled version of the Noris started last Summer. I guess there’s a higher Noris turnover over there. Around here there are still supermarkets that have not even started stocking the upcycled Noris and only sell the older wood-cased version.
We then also talked about how to recognise if the pencil is upcycled or not. There can be some confusion as I have seen upcycled Noris in the old packaging and Glenn told me that he has seen upcycled Noris pencils that don’t have “Upcycled Wood” written on the barrel.
Here’s a little video that spells out how to recognise which version you are seeing (based on wood grain and lacquer near the cap).
Thanks for the guide – very useful to have a few more techniques to tell them apart. One other thing that helps more experienced “lead-heads” tell them apart is weight: the Upcycled pencils are 75% heavier than the woodcased ones.
The rate at which these Upcycled Wood versions have replaced the older, woodcased ones is astonishing. I’ve not managed to buy any wooden ones online in the last month or so; shops here now only have Upcycled Wood for sale. The only wooden ones left seem to be the eraser-tipped ones. I wonder how long they’ll last?
There’s a similarly fast process of replacement happening with the new linden-wood Tradition. The quieter of the two WH Smiths here has a mix of cedar and linden, but the busier only has linden left.
Thanks, I didn’t think of the weight as I was thinking of looking at the package in a supermarket, but of course you will also feel the weight – doh.
I like the heavier weight, just like a like the heavy weight of a brass Rotring, well that shows that I am not a pro as pros like lighter pencils, see https://bleistift.blog/2020/09/traces-of-graphite-massimo-fecchi-update-2020/
Same here regarding the Noris: now only Waitrose has wooden Noris pencils left, the eraser-tipped version, but it is too expensive to stock up.
Interesting about the Tradition. Thanks for the information.
The upcycled wood Staedler Noris sink when dropped into water….very annoying.
Adrian The Boatbuilder .