Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Dingbats A5 Wildlife Blue Whale Notebook Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Earth day is this week! I feel that makes it an excellent time to feature a sustainable maker of stationery goods, and I'm totally falling for this Dingbats notebook.

The Dingbats company carries some impressive environmental credentials, including the Mark of the Forest Stewardship Council. They are entirely green and vegan and recyclable, and their website has several fancy environmental certificates. This makes my heart happy, as I often feel the weight of my notebook consumption weighing on my shoulders.

A lot of times, when I go for an eco-friendly notebook, I'm sacrificing some other preferred quality. Usually that is the paper. I don't find many fountain pen friendly notebooks that are also green. Well, now I have. In fact, this paper is more than just friendly--it's phenomenal. According to their site, they are the oldest established paper company in Lebanon. This paper is 100gsm silk cream, acid-free, and fsc-certified. I'm not even sure what all of that means, but I can tell you that the performance is excellent. I tried a whole cup full of pens, and it handles everything. There was some show-through with a sharpie, but it wasn't even a full bleed-through. There was no feathering, and it showed shading nicely. This is dreamy paper to have in any notebook.

Each of the 96 sheets is micro-perforated. They're sturdy enough as pages, but can be cleanly removed where needed. This notebook comes with either 7mm lines, 5mm dot grid, 5mm grid, or blank. The over is vegan leather, with a satisfying pebble texture to it. The book is called the Blue Whale, but it has what looks more like a dolphin debossed in the center of the cover. It has an elastic closure.

Inside, there is a name page with a decorated endpaper--this one with tiny adorable fishies. At the back is a generously expanding pocket. There is a single ribbon bookmark (other of their designs have a double). There is also an elastic pen holder. It's narrow, but expands enough to hold a big pen.

It does not have an index page or page numbers, but since the pages are removable, that makes sense. Overall, this is a well-made, and responsibly-made notebook. They have a number of cute designs, with elephants, tigers, deer, hippos, ducks, kangaroos...and an ecosystem series with some beautiful silhouettes. There are quite a few that catch my eye.

They are not inexpensive at $19.95, but I don't think they are at all overpriced. For the quality, build, number of pages, and features, I think that is a very fair price. And their commitment to the environment is priceless.

Happy Earth day!

(Dingbats provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 23, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Dingbats, Notebook Reviews.

Kokuyo Campus Business Notebook Review

Kokuyo has some of the best affordable, high-quality paper on the market. The majority of their audience appears to be students, with style and designs that scream "school supplies" in the best way possible. There's an abundance of bright colors and pastels, with innovations designed to improve student life. But if you're not a student, and you want a mature-looking notebook with great paper that doesn't break the bank, Kokuyo have their Business line.

These slim softcover notebooks come in navy blue with white printed branding. The cover is thin cardstock bound with linen tape that allows the notebook to lay flat. Inside are 50 sheets of Kokuyo's awesome paper, which can handle anything except alcohol markers like Sharpies. Even my BB Pelikan firehose pen with black ink in it barely shows a shadow through the page. You can easily use both sides of the 50 sheets with paper like this.

The top of each page has some open space, with room for the date. This version has 5mm grid, though there are also lined and blank versions available. The 6mm lined version also has a faint dot every 5mm along the line, to allow for better organization and outlining, which is a brilliant design element, in my opinion. You get the benefit of the grid, but without the distraction of the vertical lines.

There are a few sizes available: A5, A4, and B5. Whether you're using this for class notes, meeting notes, a diary, or agenda, these have all the advantages of Kokuyo's full line of notebooks without the cotton candy covers. Which I do love. I'd take the full rainbow pack of Kokuyos any day! But if you're conducting Very Serious Business, it may behoove you to have the same quality product dressed in a business suit.

The Kokuyo Campus Business notebooks range in price from $3.30 for the smallest to $8.75 for the largest. All are a great value for their quality.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 16, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.

Tomoe River Kanso B5 Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Tomoe River paper is something really special that took the stationery world by storm a few years back. It's extremely thin paper that is able to handle a ridiculous amount of ink without bleeding through or feathering across the page. It's a fantastic paper formula, and it's no wonder that everyone wants to get their hands on this stuff. In the beginning, it was difficult to come by, but that's a problem of the past for the most part.

The latest paper product that I've tried that uses Tomoe Paper is Tomoe's own Kanso Notebook. This is a plain B5 notebook with a clean thread binding and 30 sheets of beautiful 52gsm Tomoe River paper. You can also get this notebook in a cream color paper, but the one I have uses bright white paper.

As far as notebook specs go, this one is pretty plain. There is absolutely zero branding on this notebook. The covers are plain white with no words, graphics. or debossed logos. The binding tape is plain black, the corners of the notebook are squared, and the pages are entirely blank. If Tomoe River were competing in a minimalistic notebook contest, they've won it with the Kanso.

Honestly, I'm fine with the lack of branding on this notebook. It's all business, and I'm sure that knocks a few cents off the end price as well. What everyone really cares about in this notebook is the paper. It's fabulous. Writing on Tomoe River paper is a smooth experience. There's very little feedback on the nib, but just enough to let you control your strokes. I've never been able to make a pen or ink cause bleeding or feathering on Tomoe River paper. Show through is a problem, but that's due to the extreme thinness of this paper. It's the main downside of this paper, but I suspect everyone is already aware of that before they purchase any Tomoe River products. Dry time is fairly quick due to how quickly this paper absorbs the ink. But, you'll need to be careful and avoid shutting the notebook too quickly after writing, or you'll end up with ink ghosting on the opposite page.

In terms of durability, there's nothing special here. I don't expect the corners of this notebook to hold up very well after a few days of being carried in a bag. The sharp corners are begging to be bent and caught on all kinds of fabric and nearby objects. The cover material isn't very thick, either, so I expect the covers to tear and discolor rapidly. Since B5 is a fairly common notebook size, there are plenty of options for covering this notebook with a folio, case, or binder of some kind. My preferred cover is the Kokuyo Systemic, but there are plenty of other options if you look around.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the Kanso notebook! It's a no-frills worker of a notebook that showcases the wonderful Tomoe River paper. At $15, it's a good deal considering how much Tomoe River paper normally costs. This is a great introductory price and notebook format to try if you've never had the pleasure of using Tomoe River paper!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!