[arenn]

Has anyone noticed how awful the average notebook is? I even see high level managers at many companies scribbling away on legal pads, sprial bound steno pad, or the ever-popular Mead "Composition" notebook. I mean, you can't find anything better than what I high school kid is taking to English class? What the heck are they composing anyway? A low quality, highly visible accessory like this can ruin an entire outfit.

Maybe if you are high enough up the food chain you can get someone else to take notes for you, but otherwise let me suggest that you invest in high quality note taking books.

My personal favorite is the Blueline A9, which is a "composition" sized book but with a solid colored hardshell cover. Simple ruled pages are inside. Simple and classy. Blueline is a Canadian company with very high quality stationary products. You can see the product line at www.bluelineinc.com. In the US, the only people I know with an excellent Blueline range is Mid-States Press (800) 547-0543. I'm not affiliated with that company in any way, but if you all order large quantities from them and tell them I sent you, maybe they will start giving me things! But for now, they are just a vendor I like quite a bit.

Anybody else have good suggestions here?

 

[bystander]

I use the large moleskine, ruled

 

[maxnharry]

I also use a large Moleskine.

 

[Curator]

I've been a moleskine man for some time as well but I find that the paper is not quite subsantial enough to handle fountain pen ink. Looking to trade up to something heavier weight.

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"It is an old trick. The playgoer who does not like dirty plays is denounced as a prude; the music-lover who resents cacophony is told he is a pedant; and in all these matters the final crushing blow administered to the man of discrimination is the ascription to him of a hidebound prejudice against things that are new because they are new." -Royal Cortissoz

 

[ksinc]

I Agree. I use the Circa system sold by levenger.com
Their leather covers are ok. Nice enough, but not TOO NICE.

 

[Fogey]

Smythson of Bond Street has one in black calfskin for £395, for their £11 A-4 pads, called the Lippiatt

https://www.smythson.com/SmythsonSi...ffice_Writing Folders and Cases/wp-bl6503.htm

and a humbler version for £215, available in black calfskin, peabody calfskin, and tan pigskin:

https://www.smythson.com/SmythsonSi...ffice_Writing Folders and Cases/wp-bl3980.htm

It just goes to show that there is someone willing to sell something at any market level.

 

[bystander]

I have not had any problem in using ink and fountain pen (generally a fine nib, but a medium nib once in a while) with moleskine paper. I also use a blotter because the ink can take time to dry up.

 

[AlanC]

I've been using the Rhodia No. 11 as a pocket pad, and I'm about to move up to a larger version, perhaps the No. 16, for notepad. Those of you who find the Moleskine too flimsy, give Rhodia a try.

 

[bystander]

I should add that I also use various sizes of filofax paper (as a notebook in filofax binders); again with fountain pen and ink

 

[bosthist]

I use the Rhodia 14 and 16 for note taking. https://www.vickerey.com/prh505.html I have a couple of other sizes, but find the 14 and 16 most useful. Unfortunately the U.S. retail prices for Rhodia are excessive IMHO (the Rhodia No. 13 I have was 1.20 euros at a time when the euro was weaker than the dollar--it retails now for $3 online) so I stock up when I go to Paris. For projects I use Moleskine sketch books which hold up to fountain pens very well. Each writing project I start gets its own notebook. https://www.vickerey.com/pmo901.html

Moleskine fans should check out:

Regards,

Charles

https://bostonhistory.typepad.com
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.†Leslie Poles Hartley

 

[jasonpraxis]

In my experience, spiral bindings twist and break while legal pads require some kind of cover if I'm going to travel. For some time I used black hardbound Canson sketchbooks, but they proved too heavy to be instinctively convenient. I also tried index cards, but ran into the same difficulties as the legal pad.

I now carry a small Moleskine, and use it for everything from weekly planning to grocery lists. For notes and lectures I vascillate between the Rhodia #16 and the Moleskine Cahier.

 

[Trimmer]

The moleskine is a bit trendy for me. I use a more trad book called the Alwych. They have a flexible 'all-weather' cover and fountain pen friendly paper. They are also cheaper. You can see them on https://www.alwych.co.uk/

Trimmer

 

[Curator]

quote:Originally posted by Trimmer

The moleskine is a bit trendy for me. I use a more trad book called the Alwych. They have a flexible 'all-weather' cover and fountain friendly paper. They are also cheaper. You can see them on https://www.alwych.co.uk/

Trimmer

Great recommendation, I'll pick a few up. Hope they're as good as you say.

-----------------------------------
"It is an old trick. The playgoer who does not like dirty plays is denounced as a prude; the music-lover who resents cacophony is told he is a pedant; and in all these matters the final crushing blow administered to the man of discrimination is the ascription to him of a hidebound prejudice against things that are new because they are new." -Royal Cortissoz

 

[peaked]

Another recommendation for Rhodia. I use the larger notebook and the smaller pad N12 for quick stuff. Being left-handed, I hated using spiral notebooks in college. I wish I had found these sooner in my life.

About a year or two ago after I started using them I saw an interview in the NYT with Paul Smith who professed to using these exclusively. I believe he mentioned he goes through them so quickly for skecthces, notes, etc. but at the same time saves all of them in his office for reference.

 

[DaveInPhilly]

legal pads...lots and lots of legal pads...

 

[zegnamtl]

Clairefontaine, of France, makes some very products,
the papers are very nice, if you use a fountain pen,
you will never look back!

 

[pendennis]

I second zegnamtl. I've been using Clairefontaine for several years, and there is nothing any better. The pads come in spiral- and glue-bound models. I use a fountain pen, and Clairefontaine works very well.

There is also 24lb paper which can be had from office suppliers such as Office Max, Staples, and Office Depot. It's commonly referred to as "resume" paper. I used Microsoft Word to design a lined template in faint gray lines. I ran the paper through the laser-jet printer and came up with very elegant writing paper for my Franklin planner in Monarch size.

I think you'll find that 20lb is about the minimum weight so fountain pen ink doesn't over-penetrate and bleed.

PS - I probably wouldn't have gone to so much trouble, but I write left-handed, and I wanted paper to rest on the left side of my planner. Paper has to been punched on the right side, and most paper is punched to suit right-handed writers.

Dennis
If you wish to control the future, then create it.
Est unusquisque faber ipsae suae fortunae

 

[LabelKing]

Of course, there is always Hermes.

'Naturally, love's the most distant possibility.'

Georges Bataille

 

[bosthist]

quote:Originally posted by peaked

About a year or two ago after I started using them I saw an interview in the NYT with Paul Smith who professed to using these exclusively. I believe he mentioned he goes through them so quickly for skecthces, notes, etc. but at the same time saves all of them in his office for reference.

There is a Paul Smith branded Rhodia. Same orange cover, with a Paul Smith multi-color band along one edge.

Regards,

Charles

https://bostonhistory.typepad.com
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.†Leslie Poles Hartley

 

[bosthist]

quote:Originally posted by Trimmer

The moleskine is a bit trendy for me. I use a more trad book called the Alwych. They have a flexible 'all-weather' cover and fountain pen friendly paper. They are also cheaper. You can see them on https://www.alwych.co.uk/

Trimmer:

Thanks for this link. The first Moleskine I ever bought (in Italy) looked much like the Alwych books. I was never able to find another Moleskine like that one so I'm happy to see these, as I preferred the flexible cover.

Regards,

Charles