Watercolor Crayon Kits comparison

So long as the weather is not hot enough to melt them, watercolor crayon kits make for fairly efficient field sketching and compact coloring kits. Some of them even include waterbrushes, sharpener, mixing wells, and dabbing sponges for cleaning enclosed within a convenient portable case. Thanks to online retailers, Swiss-made Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons and Japanese Pentel Aquash and Pilot watercolor sets are becoming more readily available and are ideally suited for artists' sketchcrawls and doodling while traveling.
When used dry, all 3 brands create similar looking strokes and color swatches. Neocolor II crayons' lay down is very smooth, and they feel almost creamy (or it might be body heat melting them after prolonged exposure - solution to this problem can be found here). Pentel and Pilot crayons feel slightly harder and drier, and the former tends to crumble more under normal pressure leaving debris on the drawing surface. The Pilot twist action refillable holders are the most ergonomic and comfortable drawing tools from this bunch and have the added advantage protecting the crayon leads from breakage and melting in the artists' hands.
The crayon swatches were washed with a Winsor & Newton Sceptre Gold 1/4" flat wash brush. The Neocolor II samples yielded the brightest and more saturated washes. The Pentel Aquash and Neocolor II samples produced even flat washes easily. The Pilot watercolor crayon strokes were slightly harder to solubilize and required more scrubbing that still resulted in somewhat uneven washes.
The compact waterbrush included in the Pilot set is sensitive to the slightest pressure, and it tends to release too much water affording little control . For a more useful sketching kit, I added a regular large size Kuretake waterbrush and transferred the twistable leadholders to a more functional Kokuyo NeoCritz Transformer pencil case for easier transport. So far I feel that it's harder to control the water flow with compact waterbrushes, and that they are little more than novelties to add to my collection.
While it's possible to pick up pigment with a waterbrush directly from the tip of some watercolor crayons like the Neocolor II as if they were regular watercolor pans, it is just not advisable to do so with the Pilot watercolor leads. Being rather short at 2 3/8" (6.0 cm) long and 3.8 mm thin, they crumble and break if moistened with a loaded waterbrush. For versatility, available colors, and pigment load, Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons offer more bang for the buck than the neat Pentel and Pilot crayon sets.
Just for fun, color charts for Pentel Aquash watercolor pan kits: