Futurelooks’ LANcouver 2011 weekend ended with the highly unconventional pencil sharpening contest. This event put wood to metal as contestants raced to sharpen pencils all the way to the end as fast as possible. The winner would walk away with the highly decorated NZXT Phantom chassis which has also won Futurelooks’ highest honour in our review back in September 2010.
Each heat was asked to sharpen two pencils each until their sharpener could not sharpen any more. As you see in the video coverage above, there were multiple techniques being tried out. Some of the contestants lacked the finish to handle high speed sharpening without breaking their pencils, and bowed out in disqualification. In the end, it came down to a final “sharpen off” between the final two contestants. Each one would select a new sharpening of their choice and a new pencil of their choice for a final show down to the end.
After a blistering sharpen from one end to the other, Chris Tamblin finally came out a head in a convincing lead. Not only did his pencil hold together, but he sharpened it right to the metal ring. He’ll definitely be the man to beat at next year’s LANcouver 2011.
We’d like to thank NZXT for putting up the prize and for LANcouver 2011 for their gracious hospitality over the weekend. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!