Comments on: Seeking awesome notepad

Question: Seeking awesome notepad

rainy — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:22:29 -0800

I'm looking for a notepad to use with a fountain pen with binding and paper similar to moleskine large (5x8) pads, but at 8x11 size. Moleskine does sell 8x11 pads but they have a less smooth paper that does not work well with fountain pens. Clairefontaine is pretty good but it has thicker, smoother paper.

To sum up, I need:

- thin, fairly smooth paper like moleskine 5x8 size
- about 8x11 size
- preferably in hard cover, not stapled and definitely not wirebound
- also preferably available unlined (plain)
- ideally $12 or less and available with amazon supersaver

Is there such a beast of a notepad out there?...

By: 4ster

4ster — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:46:41 -0800

Rhodia makes good stuff.

By: holgate

holgate — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:13:26 -0800

Seconding Rhodia; Black N'Red does an 8x11-ish size casebound, and their paper is very fountain-pen friendly for the price, though perhaps a little thicker than you'd like, and I don't think they do unlined.

By: feloniousmonk

feloniousmonk — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:13:34 -0800

Have you seen Leuchtturm?

By: feloniousmonk

feloniousmonk — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:18:01 -0800

I think this is the specific one you want, but it is a little pricier than you wanted.

By: holgate

holgate — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:22:10 -0800

Yeah, I was going to add the Leuchtturn 1917 master (slightly bigger than A4), but even the slim variant is double your budget.

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:04:19 -0800

Paper reviews by fountain pen fetishists:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/forum/41-paper-pen-paraphernalia-reviews-and-articles/

By: fremen

fremen — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 09:31:35 -0800

I like the Rhodia webnotebook, but it doesn't come in an A4 size (A5 is the largest). To my knowledge, Rhodia does not make a hard cover bound notebook in that size. I wish they did.

By: rainy

rainy — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:11:15 -0800

Thanks for all the answers, I've ordered rhodia in large size from amazon.

By: rainy

rainy — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 08:55:36 -0800

I have to say, regretfully, that rhodia did not work well for me at all. There are two major issues that work in combination: first, ink (noodler's) never dries up, not even after 10 hours, and imprints on the page above. To fix this, I've tried using tissues between the pages, as I've done with all other notepads I use, but that doesn't work because they slide out very often when I pick up the notepad and put it in my backpack. This is due to the way the notepad folds up and over, creating a small gap between pages even when they are folded back again.

I'm currently using two notepads: a japanese Olives Des Olives which is a bit smaller than I prefer, lined, double spiral and unperforated but otherwise perfect; the second one is the spanish Miquelrius from Target which is the perfect size, perforated, 5 colour coded sections, but the paper is slightly less smooth than I would like, single spiral but seems fairly sturdy, and lined.

I'm thinking of trying Moleskine Volant plain extra large, the paper seems to be the right kind on those.

By: sebastienbailard

sebastienbailard — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 10:58:49 -0800

Try asking the Head Noodler what paper he likes.

By: holgate

holgate — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:54:19 -0800

I have tremendous respect for Nathan Tardif (and own pens that he's custom-nibbed, as well as ones sold under his brand) but Noodler's Ink has that reputation with fine coated papers, especially in its most highly-saturated varieties, and actually works better with lower-grade paper. Perhaps by design, as Nathan's stated goal is to make FP usage once again cheap and accessible.

Knowing your ink preference, FPN is going to be your best port of call, because there are plenty of people in the same situation. Post your query there, and tell them the specific inks you're using, along with the pen and nib size, because that also makes a difference.

You may end up having to compromise somewhere: either sacrifice some smoothness from the paper, or switch to a less saturated ink.

By: rainy

rainy — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:34:18 -0800

I'm not devoted to Noodler's, it just happens to be the only ink I have. The only two pens I have are Lamy Safari and Roetring Core, and I think something bad happened to the latter, last few times I tried it it was leaking into the cap and the flow is far too powerful, it's like writing with a water hose, so I always use Safary. I plan to buy some new pens and inks in the next few months so maybe I'll revisit Rhodia again, because I do like how the paper feels under the pen and the size is perfect, too, and it is unlined.

By: holgate

holgate — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:06:32 -0800

Perhaps try some other German inks with the Safari: Lamy's own brand, Mont Blanc, Pelikan, Rohrer & Klingner. Lamy is fairly quick-drying with decent saturation. Goulet Pens sells samples, so you can find an ink that works for at limited expense.

By: rainy

rainy — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 17:02:49 -0800

That's pretty cool, I did not know samples are available.. will order asap.