I wrote that first sentence to allow disinterested readers to hit another URL immediately. I mean, does anyone really want to spend more than two seconds reading about an eraser? I hope so, because I'll probably spend two seconds times 1000 preparing this post.
For anyone who is still reading . . . I recently acquired a Uni-Ball E-Knock eraser, and I'm quite pleased with my purchase. The E-Knock is basically a 5 mm diameter retractable eraser stick housed in a plastic body. It is shaped and sized to resemble a retractable pen, the body is clear, it has a nerd clip, and it has little indentations that are designed to enhance your grip during extreme erasing activity that might result in sweaty fingers. The overall design is very slick, and the build quality is impressive for something that costs less than two bucks. Not only is this thing super cheap, but eraser refills are available (the environment says "thank you"). The E-Knock is available in different colors (clear, blue, pink, and black), and I got the black version because it looks really menacing when I'm attacking renegade pencil marks.
But how does it work? Well, I don't have a performance scale or an evaluation tool for erasing technology, but I can say with some confidence that it can erase a pencil mark effectively and efficiently. The end result is about the same as the only eraser I've used for most of my life: the Staedtler Mars Plastic. However, compared to the Mars Plastic, the E-Knock leaves more post-erasing dust and plastic remnants on the paper. I can live with extra eraser fragments because the 5 mm tip of the E-Knock is much better for precise and accurate erasing.
The actuation mechanism works well, with good tactile feedback and a satisfying "click" when advancing the eraser stick. I dig the see-through body, which makes it easy to determine when a refill is needed. Although I don't intend to attach this eraser to anything, the pocket clip seems rugged enough for those who feel the urge to nerd out and actually use it.
By the way, although sold as a Uni-Ball product, the E-Knock eraser says "Mitsubishi" on it (along with the standard Mitsubishi logo). Now there's some useless trivia for you.
To summarize: the Uni-Ball E-Knock eraser is inexpensive, well-built, and refillable, it removes erroneous pencil marks as intended. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
