Really? They’re dirt cheap off Amazon [Other retailers are available].
Why not sharpen both ends of the pencil…saves carrying a spare.
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Health and safety!!
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I do that already but doesn’t stop you losing the pencil in the heather/grass etc. I try to put it down in the box of bits that holds the key, keyer and cables etc. but often stick it in the ground. Then I can’t find it. I lost both of them once and took 5 mins to find one of them. The second was found when I was packing up.
I think I’ll up my pencil count to three and up my brand from ASDA’s own to something more exclusive. I just need to finish off the remaining pencils…only 25 to go and the 2 in use from a box of 30 bought in 2006. I’ve lost a few so far.
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In case you’re not joking - this is becoming absurd - a pencil weighs 3g. I won’t tell you by how much I am overweight, but let’s just say there there are weight savings to be made elsewhere.
6000 pencils in my case.
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I use the stubby ones from ScrewFix/Argos as spares. They’re small, light and you can’t argue over the price 
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Don’t you find they’re easily lost though Jon? (I know Screwfix and Argus are forever losing them) 
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Had you been sitting on it? 
What was useless yesterday may be tomorrow’s lifesaver.
I’ve learned to carry HT antenna in my socks. A Safety pin secures it . The long bone serves to protect the whips and they don’t interfere with walking.
Use tape or bandages to secure pencils to your forearms.
What’s useless? The disregard and ignorance of preparation and safety.
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No. I had thought of that. It wasn’t behind my ear either!
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Yes, but there seems to be enough of them that they keep re-appearing all over the garage
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I’ve ‘lost’ a pencil a few times that way only to discover it whilst walking down the hill (Thank goodness for the back up pencil).
My most useless item is usually my lunch. Many a time have I taken it back to the car having been too busy concentrating on activating to eat it. On those occasions that I do manage to eat it, the microphone is passed back to me just as I’ve taken a bite. It’s much safer on CW.
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I’ve been carrying a small Sony voice recorder in a clear plastic bag which also contains my tent pegs, guys, spare pencil, cable ties, ear buds, rolled velcro and a pencil sharpener.
I really don’t know why I carry the voice recorder, or the ear buds for that matter.
Fraser
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I’ve solved that problem by eating it on the way up. You need the food energy well before you sit down for an hour or two in the cold at the summit. I find it helps if I have it in several small plastic boxes that fit into my jacket pockets and top zip compartment of my rucksack. Energy bars and fruit (like apples, pears, oranges) are very convenient too,
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Exercise lets me eat chocolate. There is never any unused chocolate in bag on the way down 
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I’ve carried a few stupid items up a hill in the past, usually as a result of forgetting to remove them from my backpack.
Here’s a few items which I personally have carried onto a SOTA summit which I wish to nominate as most useless items ever carried:-
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Spare battery (as several others have already said)
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Mains charger for my radio (no idea where I would plug that in on top of a SOTA summit)
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Solar charger for the leisure batteries in my caravan (minus the solar panels)
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AAA batteries (my torch, GPS & spare battery pack for my radio all take AA batteries)
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An empty water bottle which I had forgotten to refill (I later discovered that it had a split in it, so couldn’t be filled anyway)
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A spare handheld radio with a flat battery (& no spare battery or method of recharging)
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Myself!!!
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I think it becomes snobbery when you start carrying Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencils. 
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It’s the 72 pack of Derwents used only for logging that really takes the cake, though.
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