On a daily basis, I use legal pads constantly for note-keeping. At home, I use the small-sized ones, when I'm out and about I use the full-sized ones in a leather case for meetings, etc.

I don't like the yellow ones, makes my eyes hurt after a while, so I buy white ones. As I have a local Office Max, I buy the Ampad "Gold Fibre" ones, and they work very well with virtually no bleed, and are quite smooth. I admit, I've never worn out a nip on any of my FP's over decades.

I go through a fair number of these, sometimes using 10-15 pages/day. Do any of the more qualified members of this forum have a better recommendation? I'd need something that is standard legal pad size and reasonably economical.

Thanks for anyone's input.

Ampad Gold Fibre rulz. I've tried bunches of legal pads, and Gold Fibre comes out head and shoulders above the others. It's good stuff.

I prefer Black n' Red Legal pads.

I really enjoy the Levenger notepads, and they come in both white and yellow legal. Nicer than Black n' Red, imo. They're overpriced but I love them.

I have not tried the Gold Fibre but I will check them out next time I'm in Office Despot.

I've used both the Ampad Gold Fibre and Levenger pads extensively, and I definintely give the nod to the Gold Fibre pads. Nice, heavy paper that simply doesn't bleed through.

A bonus feature for lefties (like me) is that the SwishMix inks from Swisher Pens dry almost instantly on the Gold Fibre paper. I've been writing happily on these pads with Emerald and Dark Purple inks without the smudgies!

Don

I'll second the Ampad Gold Fibre! I get mine from Staples.

If you want a very high quality notepad, get some of the FPN notepads.

After FP's, 51's and inks, I am now suffering from papermania...

Do you guys buy these Ampad Gold Fibre thingies online? If so, could you post a link to the sites? Thanks!

Ampad Gold Fibre rocks. They make them in white, too, I think. Black 'n' Red makes great paper, although I've only seen them in notebook form, not notepads. I get my Ampads from the Big Closet o' Paper at work, but I've seen them at Staples, Office Depot, etc.

Oh, and they were featured on Notebookism last week:
http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/May-Jun...er_mayjun05.msp

*edited to add* the Clairefontaine Triomphe paper is beautiful also, but much pricier than Ampad!

Black n'Red does appear to make legal pads but I have not tried them:

http://tinyurl.com/pju49

Businesssupply.com discounts Black n' Red including their legal pads:
http://www.business-supply.com/dept3.jsp?s...&deptId=2513718

I have both Ampad Gold Fibre and Black N' Red pads right in front of me. I'm testing them side by side and Black N' Red seems a bit nicer for fountain pens and much better if you use dip pens. The Black N' Red paper looks whiter and is heavier paper (it's 24 lb). Is there 24 lb. Ampad paper? Perhaps I'm not comparing apples to apples.

my preference would be for the Black 'n Red. I use a lot of Diamine inks and they do very well on the notebooks and the legal pads. Levenger is great, but overpriced.

"Levenger is ... overpriced" is redundant.

So true. But I use their pads anyway because I do love them.

I recently purchased a number of white, ruled legal pads from Levenger and expected great things. This paper bleeds through as bad as the paper I use in my printer. I think that this is inexcusable for a legal pad this expensive. I have tried Black n' Red with no bleed through. I look forward to trying the Ampad Gold Fiber.

Mike

Ampad Gold Fibre 20# is the only legal pad I've used that stands up to fountain pens. It is best with my fine to fine/medium nibbed pens though. The wider ones tend to produce slightly less crisp edges. I write somewhat slowly so that may be the cause rather than the paper itself. No bleed through except where I've doodled heavily. Haven't tried the 16# pads so I can't recommend them. At $8 for a four-pack at Staples, how can you go wrong?

I've only tried the white paper. Does anyone have experience with the 20# canary? Is it as good with fountain pens?

I just did a side by side comparison of The Ampad Gold Fibre legal pad (16lb paper) with the Black n' Red legal pad( 24lb paper) and there is no comparison. The B n' R wins hands down. I used a DaniTrio Raw Ebonite with EF flexi nib and Legal Lapis ink. The ink clearly bleed through the Ampad paper, but did not penetrate the B n' R. Also, the B n' R is much smoother.

Mike

Rhodia makes a nice lined legal pad

Thanks to all who have replied.

I hadn't even paid any attention to the paper weight in the Gold Fibre, but went back and looked in my office, and I'd been buying 20lb anyway. I haven't had any of my FP's bleed through on it. I don't like yellow paper so I always buy white in the full-size and the 'junior' size.

I appreciate people's input about Black and Red, but their pads appear to cost significantly more than Ampad's, and I can't get them at my local Office Max.

The other thing I like about Gold Fibre pads as opposed to some of the cheapie pads is that my pages tear off cleanly. Don't you just hate having to pick those little shavings off the binder?

I've tried other colors, including a gray and a lavender before, but always come back to white--I think for the contrast.

Anyway, thanks again!

I just picked up a pack of canary letter sized Ampad Gold Fibre pads, based on what everyone here has been saying about them, and all I can say is WOW!!! Great stuff. No bleed, nice feel, and a good stiff board backing. Even my really wet Eversharp Skyline performed flawlessly on it. THANKS EVERYONE!!!

I just spent too much money at Staples thanks to this thread.

OfficeMax/OfficeDepot hadn't any Ampad GF in stock when I'd checked, but today I wandered into Staples and found the white, wide-ruled legal size pads on clearance for $2.50/pk (four pads, off from their usual price of $10/11 for four), and the thickish paper quality's pretty good with FPs--smooth surface, no catching, no feathering, no bleedthrough. The surface is a little -- stiff? --, but still smooth. Not as slick as Clairefontaine, but then, the Ampad is much easier to buy.

(Now, why can't Moleskine improve their paper to at least Ampad GF quality?!)

Slightly OT:
I also happened to find 12-packs of Ampad recycled steno notebooks at $2.50; are other Staples having clearance sales on their Ampads (GF or not)?