The first of my full reviews for the Pencils.com palomino pencil pack is for my favorite of the mid-range pencils, the Palomino Prospector. The prospector is available in 2 different finishes clear and bright green. The ferrule on both is a light golden color and holds a white eraser. The imprint is gold foil. The quality of these pencils is top notch. On both my pencils the finish is flawless, smooth and crisp. The ferrule is fitted strongly to the pencil and even after repeated use doesn’t get loose. The eraser is okay but not great. For writing the eraser does okay but for sketching you’ll need a block or stick eraser to do a good job.
I’d rate the pencil an HB when compared to sketching pencils. For writing this is a fantastic pencils. I used it for note taking during class and was quite happy with it’s performance. It’s just hard enough that I’m not sharpening it after every written word. For sketching the pencil is quite nice. Again, it’s HB so it won’t give you deep darks or huge range of shades but it does quite well. It’s a good starting pencil for drawing. After getting the bones of a drawing down with this pencil you can shift to a darker pencil.
The pencil sharpens well with every sharpener used. It holds a long point from the KUM long point sharpener well. It also does well with wedge sharpeners and other sharpeners. 
These pencils are fantastic. I’m quite taken with the natural clear finished pencil. The clear finish is thick and smooth. Not only is it a great looking pencil it performs really well. These are my favorite of the mid level pencils in this pack. 
These pencils were once produced in Thailand but are now made in the US. The wood of the pencil is Basswood which is soft and sharpens easily. It doesn’t smell as nice as cedar but looks great. At $1.95 per 12-pack these are an affordable HB pencil that is fantastic for writing or sketching.