Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Kokuyo Twin Ring Edge Title Notebook Review

A lot of Pen Addicts are looking for a new favorite paper right now, due to the uncertainty of Tomoe River's future. It can be frustrating when favorite products fade away, but I find a lot of joy in the quest for new favorites, because you have to play. And playing with stationery is the best.

If you're a paper nerd, you probably already have your runners-up to favorites that you can fall back on that are enjoyable and reliable and will do just fine. But one paper brand that doesn't get the paper nerd worship it deserves is Kokuyo. People are starting to pick up on its awesomeness, but I still feel the need to sing its praises from the rooftops because I don't see it mentioned often enough in "I love this paper" discussions.

For all my playing with paper, this is the closest I've found to a substitute for Tomoe paper in thickness, texture, and performance. It doesn't have quite as much of the sheen-popping power of Tomoe, but it has the thin, crispy texture with the ability to handle puddles of ink with no bleedthrough. You can get it in a variety of formats, and it is remarkably inexpensive.

The specific notebook I'm playing with this week is the Twin Ring Edge Title A5 notebook that came with the Systemic cover system I reviewed a few weeks ago. It's a double wire-bound book with 50 sheets in a unique and useful format that is ideal for work, school, or custom planner pages. Each page is divided into sections, with space on the margins for you to add color coding with markers or highlighters. Each section can be assigned to a task, a day, a journal entry, or you can ignore the label spaces and use it as a 6mm lined notebook.

The paper is archival quality, pH neutral, and acid free, so it will never turn yellow or brittle. It has enough texture to handle pencils of any type, and doesn't bleed or feather with any fountain pen I've ever tried. Even marker sits neatly on the surface with very little show-through. The Sharpie bled slightly, only where the tip of the pen paused at the beginnings or ends of letters.

If you are currently on a paper quest, I highly recommend you try this notebook. It's also only $7. If that still feels too steep for an experiment, you can pick up some of their Campus notebooks for around $3, which have the same excellent paper qualities. And don't forget to enjoy the quest! Discovering a new favorite stationery product is always rewarding, but it's rarely as fun as the search itself.

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

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Posted on May 20, 2021 by Sarah Read and filed under Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.

Kokuyo Systemic Cover 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!)

When I first opened the Kokuyo Systemic Cover Notebook up and started exploring its features, it reminded me of the times when my kids would bring me their transformer robots and ask me to make them back into cars. What goes where? Are there three arms? Sorry, kid, Bumblebee wants to stay a robot forever. But after working with it and seeing all the cool stuff it can do? Now I'm a fan.

The cover is a tri-fold design, and each of its thirds is full of features, so I think it makes the most sense to describe it from left to right. The first third is the piece that forms the front cover. on the front it has a canvas pocket over the faux leather that's big enough to hold a small notebook or some pens or papers. Inside that flap is a flexible plastic sheet split into two parts. This can be used as a folder for papers, or as a sleeve to insert an A5 notebook cover behind, or, thanks to the split, a sleeve to fit a top-bound notepad.

At the fold between the first and second parts, there is a double-ribbon bookmark. One can be used for the left notebook, and one can be used for another notebook that can be inserted into the sleeve that's in the middle section. The middle section forms the back of the cover itself. On the outside, it has another canvas pocket just like the front does. Inside, it has a canvas sleeve for notebooks or papers. And stitched on top of that pocket are three smaller card-slot pockets.

The final third of the cover is a plastic sleeve, where the Kokuyo A5 Twin Ring notebook fits. The cover comes with one notebook, but refills can also be purchased. I'll review the notebook another day because it's also full of unique features worth talking about at length. Other A5 notebooks would also fit in this space, and because this sleeve is also split, a top-bound notebook would work as well. This plastic sleeve also has a card slot and ribbon bookmark to use in that notebook. On the right side is an elastic pen loop. When all is folded up together, it can be secured with an elastic band that stretches around from the back of the cover.

You can fit a lot of notebooks in this bad boy (slaps hand on Kokuyo Systemic Cover). And that is my love language. I have five notebooks in mine right now, and that's not counting the small sticky note pads that are tucked away in the pockets. Granted, all of them are slim books. I was, however, able to fit my Seven Seas Writer in the right-hand side, and still keep a slim Midori and Field Notes in the other two spots, and a Field Notes Dime Novel edition in the front pocket. It's stuffed, and I can't use the smaller interior pockets, but it fits. I also managed to fit three Leuchtturm softcover notebooks, which also works as long as you don't plan to use the small pockets. It's full of notebooks AND surprises.

The last surprise is that it's only $25. I think it would be great for work and even better for students. It works perfectly for my writing, too, as my everyday writing uses a three-notebook system. It comes in several muted, professional colors. But the plastic sleeves are perfect for placing stickers, if professional isn't your vibe. Whatever your purpose, this transformer of notebook systems can almost certainly meet your needs.

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

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Posted on May 6, 2021 by Sarah Read and filed under Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.

TRU RED Explore Journal Review

Traditional office supplies always make me happy, so when I had the opportunity to try out several TRU RED products from Staples.com, I was happy to put them to the test.

The Quick Dry Gel ink pens I reviewed last week are the exact definition of a traditional office supply, but does the Explore Journal I’m reviewing this week fall into that category as well? In today’s modern office, it absolutely does.

There was a time in my office heyday where not even I, the person who brought their own stationery to the office, would use a 200 page hardbound notebook for work. Nowadays, I’d consider it almost mandatory to use a notebook like this - along with a litany of other pens and paper.

The Explore Journal is TRU Red’s mid-size journal, designed to help you get your writing and note-taking organized, with a few helpful tips along the way. It contains 192 white paper pages, with a dot grid pattern, black hardbound cover, elastic band, and two bookmarks. The little black notebook basics, if you will. Those basics also include an 8” x 5” format, which is A5-ish, Smart Sized, or whatever non-standard name you wish to call it. I ride or die with paper-size standards, but you can’t win them all!

What this notebook offers in addition to those features are a few smaller details that office brands don’t normally add to their offerings, like a several-page index, page numbers, an Objectives list, a recap page, and a spine label for the exterior for when you’ve filled it up. There is even an insert to give you tips on various note taking and journaling styles.

All of these specs and features are well and good, but the real question us users have is “Is it any good?” Yes, with the standard fountain pen caveats.

What I really like about this notebook is the stark white paper stock. It’s not ivory, not cream, not yellow. It’s white, which is a bit of an outlier, comparatively speaking. Gel, rollerball, and ballpoints work well, as do drawing pens and graphite pencils. There is no feathering or bleeding, and you can use the back side of the page easily. I did my written review with a Retro 51 loaded with a Schmidt P8127 rollerball ink refill. That is a dark, wet ink, and it worked perfectly.

Fountain pens are another story. Fine nibs were great. They were fine enough to not bleed or feather, and the paper is smooth enough for them to feel nice when writing. The feel is the same with larger, wider, wetter nibs and inks, but it’s at this point that you start to see a bit of feathering and bleed through to the back of the page. From this perspective, the Explore Journal would fall in between Moleskine and Leuchtturm1917 performance-wise for fountain pen users.

That’s the thing about perspective when reviewing products. This is a journal that is made for Staples.com and their core customer. That core is likely 90%-plus standard pen and pencil users. And that core is going to love this product, especially at $16.99. It’s honestly cool to see the commitment to this type of journal for what I would consider a store-branded product.

Staples.com has gone all-in on the Tru Red product lineup, especially on the notebook and journal side of the ledger. While the products may not crack my own personal writing rotation, what they are offering has certainly made me sit up and pay attention. And I like what I’m seeing from a broader stationery perspective.

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

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