Our Favorite Pencil Life Hacks

Popular blog Lifehacker.com strives to make readers’ lives a little easier.  The blog posts great deals, encouraging video and literature, technological tidbits, and creative DIY projects and more to help readers ‘hack’ shortcuts into their lives to make life simpler and to free up time.

We came across a video that shows guitar players how to make a capo out of a pencil and rubber bands, saving forgetful guitarists everywhere from the horrors of misplacing a capo.  It got us wondering – what other ‘life hacks’ might pencils play a part in?  After rummaging around, we came up with the best pencil-assisted ‘life hacks’ on the site.  From convenience to survival, there are plenty of little-known uses for pencils well beyond what they’re meant for.

Turning a Pencil into a Six-Sided Die

A few pencils can provide a simple fix for your lack of dice.  The next time you open up an old board game to find the dice missing, grab a couple of No. 2 pencils and number each of the six sides.  This requires hexagonal pencils, of course.

Though rolling a pencil may not have the same effect as rolling a die, this quick replacement will make do in a tight situation requiring a six-sided tool of chance.

Create an iPhone Stand out of Pencils and Rubber Bands

Have you ever found it difficult to share a video or slideshow on your smartphone with a group of people?  Save your arms by putting together five pencils and four rubber bands to make a mini easel for your phone.  This takes more pencils than the capo fix, but it makes us wonder: what else can you make out of pencils and rubber bands?

Use a Pencil to Clean Out your Dirty Shoe Treads

Should you find yourself getting down and dirty in your boots or stepping into something unappealing, go home and clean out your treads with a pencil.  According to Lifehacker, pencils are versatile tread cleaners because the eraser can clear the wide openings while the point can fit into those fine crevasses.

Start a Fire with a Pencil and Jumper Cables

If you’re stranded on the roadside with nothing but a car, a pencil, and jumper cables, don’t despair.  By using a pencil to receive the voltage from jumper cables connected to your car battery, you can create enough heat to light a quick fire.

Don’t use this life hack lightly – it’s a potentially hazardous source of electricity that could seriously harm and injure.  In a tight bind, though, a pencil makes flame easily attainable.

Do you know any ultra-useful life hacks using pencils that we haven’t covered?  Drop us a comment.

Want to try some of these for yourself?  Shop our pencils for a great selection of these all-purpose tools.

[product_category category=”all-pencils” per_page=”4″ columns=”4″ orderby=”date” order=”desc”]