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Baron Fig Paper Upgrade


markh

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When Baron Fig came out with there first product - the Confidant - I bought one. I liked the design and the way it was put together. But the paper was terrible (unusable, IMO) for fountain pen. Feathered like cheap newsprint.

 

I kept getting emails for new products which I ignored, since I couldn't use them. But a few weeks ago I replied to one of them. I must have had too much spare time at the moment, because I assumed that replies to advertising emails would be ignored.

 

My reply went something like this - " I might buy one of your products if they were fountain pen friendly"

 

To my surprise I received a response - from a human :)

 

The person (Andi Talarico) told me paper had changed recently. Shortening the story, I said send me a few sheets of the new paper and I would try it out.

 

To my surprise (again) a few days later a complete BaronFig Confidant arrived. Which of course I put to the test.

 

I tried several inks, along with two high flow vintage flex nibs (filled with Quink Black) that lay down a lot of ink on the page. NO feathering visible, even under and 8x loupe. Paper was always on the thick side (compared with other notebooks) so there is no bleed, which I think was always true. Smooth, nice to write on. Reasonably fast drying. I would describe the paper as "neutral" in terms of line width - neither thins or thickens the line.

 

So overall I would give this product an A. Book is hardbound. Cover is fabric, corners rounded. Size is their own - I measure 5 1/2 x 7 5/8 for the book, paper slightly smaller.

 

If this design meets your needs, I can recommend it. Make sure you get recent production, since apparently the paper change hasn't completely rolled through their offering. I was told that almost all of their current stock has been upgraded.

 

no financial connection, of course....

 

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"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

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pics of the writing on the pages (and backside)?

 

 

 

I have not bought another since my first for the same reason....

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pics of the writing on the pages (and backside)?

 

 

 

I have not bought another since my first for the same reason....

 

 

As far as the notebook, the pictures on their web site <https://www.baronfig.com/products/shopconfidant> would be better than anything I can take.

 

As far as the pages with writing on them (I guess that's what you're asking) I don't have the facility to take images. The back side would be boring - no ink soaked through, at all. If you hold the page up to the light you can see ink on the other side.

 

I guess for the front you will need to take my word on it - no feathering. Since the range of inks I tried was limited to about 6, someone else could conceivably do more thorough testing. Not really sure it would show anything more.

 

I think the main issue is getting the same paper I tested. Not sure how to assure this.

 

.

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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My first Confidant also had bleedthrough from my more saturated inks, and the color of the inks was changed a good bit because of the absorption of ink into the paper...

 

This is why I am asking about writing samples. I'll need to see it to believe it.

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Interesting timing... i started my first Baron Fig Vanguard notebook just today after buying several and having them finally come up in rotation. Pretty pleased with the paper and it performs quite well. My personal preference is for white ultra smooth paper but that's my only contrary observation so far. I did notice that they seem to have created their own size too and I even went online to see if the dimensions fit any criteria I wasn't aware of... it doesn't. However.... I really like this size.. compact enough to toss into a backpack easily and big enough that I feel like I have a full page to use. Pretty pleased with it. There is a little ghosting but zero bleed through (LAMY Aion medium nib with Monteverde Purple Reign). I'm a recto only writer tho.

Edited by MHBru
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  • 1 year later...

I just bought a pack of three large Vanguard softcover notebooks because I had a pack of three of the pocket size ones, and the paper in those is gorgeous. That's why I ordered the large ones.

 

But there's a different paper in the large ones, and I'm rather underwhelmed. The paper is prone to bleedthrough, even though there's actual bleedthrough only with some inks, not with all. It's not smooth, but somewhat porose, so no sheen whatsoever. It's useable, but without pleasure.

 

I guess the large ones don't sell and what I got is still from the first production run. Quite a disappointment.

Iris

My avatar is a painting by Ilya Mashkov (1881-1944): Self-Portrait; 1911, which I photographed in the New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

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When will someone finally make a proper sized notebook for humans? A5 is just not good enough for school notes. I need B4 or A4.

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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When will someone finally make a proper sized notebook for humans? A5 is just not good enough for school notes. I need B4 or A4.

 

I suggest this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QTA6N8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?

 

Gridded, fp friendly, Small enough to stuff in a bag, but bigger than A5.

 

 

.

...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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I suggest this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QTA6N8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?

 

Gridded, fp friendly, Small enough to stuff in a bag, but bigger than A5.

 

 

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I've had nothing but horrid luck from mnemosyne paper (which maruman makes) with regards to awful and inconsistent coating on the paper causing about 1/3 of the paper to feather nightmarishly. It's also $25 for 80 sheets, which is a sad ripoff. for $25 I'd rather get two apica premium CD's with 96 sheets.

 

Clairefontaine makes a better wirebound white grid paper (not perforated but I don't need perforated paper, and prefer non perforated since I use most of my notebooks in a permanent sense, if I need removable pages I'll use the kokuyo open-able binders because that paper is nice and cheap) that cost only $10 each for proper A4 size.

 

What I forgot to mention is that I like ivory paper as opposed to pure white. That's where I have the hardest time finding notebooks, otherwise I'd just stick with rhodia and clairefontaine.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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I've had nothing but horrid luck from mnemosyne paper (which maruman makes) with regards to awful and inconsistent coating on the paper causing about 1/3 of the paper to feather nightmarishly. It's also $25 for 80 sheets, which is a sad ripoff. for $25 I'd rather get two apica premium CD's with 96 sheets.

 

....

 

Well everyone likes different things. I haven't had problems with the paper in these books using a FP.

 

As to the price - the $25 is for 5 books, so the price seems reasonable to me.

 

 

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...

"Bad spelling, like bad grammar, is an offense against society."

- - Good Form Letter Writing, by Arthur Wentworth Eaton, B.A. (Harvard);  © 1890

.

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When will someone finally make a proper sized notebook for humans? A5 is just not good enough for school notes. I need B4 or A4.

 

Same here. My favourite jotters are made by Fabriano. The collection is called EcoQua, the paper in them is called Bioprima, and it's jsut great. Not ivory, though, but not horribly white either.

 

Here is the link to Fabriano's website: https://www.fabrianoboutique.eu/collections/ecoqua/ecoqua-a4-punto-metallico-3799.html

 

You should find them in the US, too; I've bought EcoQua notebooks in an art supply store in NYC once.

Edited by Strombomboli

Iris

My avatar is a painting by Ilya Mashkov (1881-1944): Self-Portrait; 1911, which I photographed in the New Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

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Well everyone likes different things. I haven't had problems with the paper in these books using a FP.

 

As to the price - the $25 is for 5 books, so the price seems reasonable to me.

 

 

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I missed that fact! at $5 each... I might have to try them!

 

My gripes would be much less loud at that price.

Edited by Honeybadgers

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

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Yeesh. The books I use were bought originally at Borders and B&N, on sale. Lined have yellowed atrociously over 20 years, the blank books are still bright white. My current stash are dollar store books, and they work very well with the pens I use, with minimal to no feathering. I just can't see dropping $20+ on a book I use for notes - I'm not writing a diary :)

 

I just got tired of my notepads bending up constantly, and went the blank book route.

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