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Apica Notebooks review!


all my hues

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Excellent review and thoughtful comments by many.

 

Based on the review and comments, I've ordered both the 6A10 and a couple of CD15s - and I find, for my writing needs, inkwise, they are excellent. However... I am now in need of some sort of cover for them, not so much for protection, but to make them friendlier when I'm in the Duffer's Analytical/Cogitating position in my Morris chair. In short, they just don't lend themselves to being convenient when not at a table or desk - their floppyness, a bonus for their mobility, works against them when journaling/sketching on a park bench, easy chair, etc.

 

Has anybody developed/adapted/cobbled together a cover of sorts that doesn't add greatly to their bulk but makes them a stiffer writing/drawing surface? Are there other covers on the market that will fit these? I've seen some refillable covers during my search, but I'm not sure that they don't presuppose using their stiffer covered fillers. Has anybody had any luck - or need - in this regard?

 

Thanks for any insights and suggestions - FPN has been a godsend of information and things to ponder on/save up for. Have a great day.

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+1 The floppy covers are a hiindrence to me as well, and I'd like to see a cover for this, as well!

It is easier to stay out than get out. - Mark Twain

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+1 The floppy covers are a hiindrence to me as well, and I'd like to see a cover for this, as well!

You might want to try the Kokuyo Systemic Refillable Notebook Cover. It has a durable nylon cover, with a sheet of stiff plastic in the front and back covers. Whether that stiffness will be to your taste, I cannot say.

 

I didn't buy mine for the stiff covers, but because I was tempted by a leather bound journal. At the rate I go through journals, I couldn't see buying a leather bound journal unless I could refill it forever. I might buy a refillable leather cover some day, but this refillable nylon cover is working just fine.

 

I bought the semi B5, (a little over 7"x10"), at jetpens.com, (no affiliation). I originally used it with corresponding Kokuyo notebooks, (which are also nice). Then I found Apica notebooks locally: both the CD15 and the 6A10 fit, although I could easily fit two CD15 at the same time.

 

I see that both Apica and Kokuyo have other sizes, but I haven't tried any other combinations.

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  • 5 years later...

Well, I ordered one from them, very expensive: ~$28 for the hardcover, that is, that semi-hard cover thing.

Having filled one I can say the binding is mediocre and the paper is just cheap paper treated to death with chemicals. It does not feel alive. I've only experimented with one type of ink (I like using Pilot pens) but, unlike with good paper, you get water on it and everything youve written is pretty much erased.

 

This is not the case with real paper, I mean, regular good paper that's not too fancy. Ink does not just flow of the page at the first sign of water. I will never use a notebook by Apica again. In fact, all these psychotically overpriced notebooks they sell these days, better just skip them all and go to something simple and cheap that has GOOD SIMPLE paper.

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fpn_1512620704__apica-prem-cd.jpg




The B5 Apica Premium CD notebook is my favorite notebook, period. I'm not sure this specific product was on the market


in 2009 when the OP posted this thread. The Premium CD paper is of a higher quality than that in the Apica Basic


or Apica CD notebooks. True, the smooth-as-glass off-ivory paper can grate on the nerves eventually,


like someone who's always polite or always putting principle above profit or expediency,


the kind of person who reminds you through example that you've still got


far to go. Or maybe I just need an oil-change every ten thousand


miles, so to speak. I move away to something with a


little tooth. I don't like journaling on white


paper, but I usually switch to white-


paper journaling while I'm at it,


to maximize the angst.


The white paper


experiment


never


lasts


long.


I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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  • 8 months later...

Instead of Apica, what notebook paper would you recommend then?

 

 

I'll throw in my two-cents'-worth. If you're looking for loose-leaf paper, and you don't mind white, make your own "notebook paper" with 32 lb. HP Premium Choice. Various websites offer free templates for lines, grids, and dots. Print the lines/grids/dots on your paper and, Bob's your uncle, you're in business. If you're looking for a bound notebook, Life Noble Notebooks have paper and construction that's very close to Apica Premium CD. I go back and forth between Apica Premium CD and Life Noble. A third possibility is the Maruman Mnemosyne series of notebooks. The vinyl front cover is sturdier than the covers on the other two notebook lines; and the stiff cardboard back provides a solid writing surface. The paper is white, it's resistant to show-through and feathering, and it's super-smooth.

I love the smell of fountain pen ink in the morning.

 

 

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I love the Apica 6A10 notebooks combined with the Systemic B5 notebook covers. I've been using them for almost 3 years, with nibs ranging from XF to M and stubs, and have never had bleeding or feathering problems. They seem like no-frills lab books to me, workhorses suited to long projects, and I'm not afraid to get messy or make mistakes in them.

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