I simply can’t be the first person who’s figured this out, so apologies if this is an obvious hack…

Yesterday I was at the hardware store and picked up a Listo Pencil. It claimed to write on an impressive number of surfaces (glass, metal, plastic, etc.) and was only $2.00, so I couldn’t resist.

When I got home and opened it up, I realized that the “lead” itself is relatively tiny, especially compared to the pencil as a whole. After thinking it through, it seemed like the best thing to do was to ditch the pencil casing, and wrap the lead in something else, and use it that way.

To my surprise, using a trimmed down drinking straw that was then melted around the lead worked perfectly. I wouldn’t want to do lots of writing with it, but as an addition to my Altoids Tin Urban Survival Kit, it’s a perfect fit.

Here’s what it looks like:

More information can be found on my blog.