Product Review: Hashi Pastel Holder

 

Some of my many Neocolor II stubs. 

Last week, I complained that I keep breaking my Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons. At home, I can use a stub as is until it’s too short to hold comfortably. In the field, though, the problem is worse: Stubs fall to the bottom of my crayon holder and become irretrievable or forgotten.

I started looking around for an extender that would make it possible to use broken crayons on location. Not many will accommodate 9mm crayons. The best is probably the Caran d’Ache Fixpencil Pastel Holder, which is intended for use with Cd’A’s own Neocolor I, Neocolor II and Neoart pastels. But at more than $36, it seemed like a typically overpriced (and overbuilt) Caran d’Ache product. If it’s like the lead holders that came with the Museum Aquarelle lead set, the pastel holder will be well made but built like a tank – and too heavy to use comfortably.

I eventually found Hashi Pastel Holders, which came in a two-pack. At less than four bucks each, the price was right, but the design was unexpected. Intended for use with traditional soft oil pastels, they have the benefit of accommodating varying sizes of pastels by opening like a clamp. Skeptical, I wondered if the jaws would slip on wax pastels, which are harder than soft oil pastels, but they don’t seem to.

Hashi Pastel Holders

A straightforward but unexpected design: Pinching the end at left opens the jaws, where the stub is inserted.

One of my favorite greens back in service!

The holders are made of lightweight plastic, which is exactly what I want. The downside is that they are bulky, and my tiny, slim (actually, a bit chunky lately), everyday-carry bag has no millimeter of space to spare. Inserting a small stub of a favorite green that had broken in two places, I crammed one into my overstuffed bag anyway (time for a much-needed diet, I’m afraid).

I took it out for its first outing last Sunday to Bothell Landing. So far, it’s doing its job, taking even the shortest of Neocolor II stubs without slipping.

Speaking of my Neocolor IIs, here’s an update for those who may have been experiencing sympathetic anxiety on my behalf: I found my Cobalt Blue! As reported a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that Cobalt Blue and Emerald Green were missing from their usual storage container. Cobalt turned up in my life-drawing bag when I went to drink & draw at Gage Academy last week. I had forgotten that I kept a few Neocolors in that bag. Unfortunately, Emerald Green wasn’t among them and is still at large.