Life Noble, Davinci (Tomoe River), Or Other Planner Refills?

[truthpil]

Hello again to all my FPN friends,

 

I just purchased a leather A6 6-ring planner (same size as Filofax Personal or Daytimer #3) that I'm going to use for a project that needs to have somewhat archival paper (basically, the pages and what's on them need to do their job for at least the next 50 years amidst daily use). The paper that the planner came with feels like writing on sandpaper, so I desperately need something else. So far the best paper I've come across seems to be Life Noble and DaVinci (which uses 52gms Tomoe River paper).

 

 

For my project, the planner refill paper needs these three qualities, in order of importance:

 

1. Fountain pen friendly - Minimal-to-no bleed through or feathering with a fine or medium nib and waterproof inks like Sailor Sei-boku, Platinum Carbon Black, and De Atramentis Document inks.

 

2. Durability - Pages need to be able to withstand regular thumbing through over decades without curling up (discoloration is to be expected)

 

3. Opacity - As much as is possible, I would like to be able to read both sides of the paper in various lighting without the text on the other side of the page getting in the way.

 

Given those considerations, can anyone who has used the aforementioned filler papers let me know how they fare?

Here are the two options I'm looking at:

 

 

Additionally, I'm totally open to any other suggestions for fountain pen friendly planner refills.

I'd rather not make my own.

 

Many thanks for any assistance!

[FountainPenBibliophile]

I use the DaVinci and I love them! I am a huge Tomoe River fan. It is my favorite paper of all times because it just performs regardless of my nib or ink.

 

I did not know that Life made planner inserts! Thank you for this post..

[gmax]

Filofax Personal size is not the same as A6, though I note that the Life details you quote show the correct paper size of 170x95mm.

 

I have used the Life and Davinci papers. The Davinci refill offers all the benefits of TR paper, but is relatively flimsy for longer term use and regular reference. In a ring binder, the TR pages seems more prone to shifting out of alignment, leading to wear on the edges and corners. The thinner paper can also catch on the metal rings where the "jaws" meet.

 

Smythson paper is great, but wickedly expensive, and the silvered edges don’t match any other paper.

 

Louis Vuitton paper is also very good, though it does have LOUIS VUITTON written prominently on every page.

 

For the type of use you mention, the Life paper refill would provide much better durability and opacity, along with excellent FP performance.

[truthpil]

Filofax Personal size is not the same as A6, though I note that the Life details you quote show the correct paper size of 170x95mm.

 

I have used the Life and Davinci papers. The Davinci refill offers all the benefits of TR paper, but is relatively flimsy for longer term use and regular reference. In a ring binder, the TR pages seems more prone to shifting out of alignment, leading to wear on the edges and corners. The thinner paper can also catch on the metal rings where the "jaws" meet.

 

Smythson paper is great, but wickedly expensive, and the silvered edges don’t match any other paper.

 

Louis Vuitton paper is also very good, though it does have LOUIS VUITTON written prominently on every page.

 

For the type of use you mention, the Life paper refill would provide much better durability and opacity, along with excellent FP performance.

 

Thanks, gmax for the very thorough explanation!

 

Regarding the A6 vs. personal size difference, I don't know about in other countries but in China an "A6 planner" is a planner that has a body (cover) that measures about the same as an A6 size of paper. The filler paper on such planners isn't A6 size but the Personal size used by Filofax and others.

 

What you mentioned about the DaVinci TR being prone to wear is really helpful, so now it seems like I have to decide between ultra-smooth paper and more durable paper.

 

Last question, which will be the deciding factor: Does Platinum Carbon Black feather at all on Life paper??

The reason I was leaning toward the TR fillers is that I know for certain Platinum Carbon Black performs perfectly on it. No feathering at all and 100% waterproof and smudge-proof once dry. These are non-negotiables. I'll be using a Western Fine or Japanese Medium nib if that helps.

Edited September 15, 2018 by TruthPil

[gmax]

I've noticed that the A paper sizes seem less popular in Asia, and therefore their sizing is less familiar there.

 

In Japan the Personal size paper is commonly referred to as "Bible" size. The Davinci ring binders are beautiful, but difficult to source from Europe.

 

The Life paper is very smooth, and arguably even less toothy than TR. The cream tint is a little more pronounced that TR, and so can influence the colour of ink on the page. For a long term project, I'm guessing that you'll use low-key blue-black or similar colours, so this is probably not a critical consideration.

 

In terms of line width, Life paper generates a tight line, similar to Maruman, and any given nib width will write slightly narrower than on TR paper. This is a benefit when working with such a narrow/small page size.

 

Hope this helps

[truthpil]

Thanks again, gmax! Very helpful indeed.

 

Yes, I'll be using Platinum Carbon Black for the primary ink on this project and then some underlining of annotations with De Atramentis Document Red (great stuff!) and perhaps Sailor Sei-Boku.

 

I actually have two similar projects I plan to work on, but one of them will be in a planner kept on my desk most of the time, so maybe that might be the one to try out the DaVinci TR refills while I use the Life refills for the planner that will be traveling around in my bag a couple times a week.

[Karmachanic]

A Life paper review you may find helpful: https://fromthepencup.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/a-tomoe-river-rival-life-writing-paper/

[truthpil]

A Life paper review you may find helpful: https://fromthepencup.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/a-tomoe-river-rival-life-writing-paper/

Thanks! The paper in that review is Life's "Bank" paper which is supposed to have a smoother texture than the Noble paper used for the notebook refills. However, they're both 84.9gsm, which is much thicker than TR's 52gsm.

[truthpil]

Thanks to everyone for their input!

 

I've got 300 sheets of Life Noble planner refill paper on the way.

Will post a thorough report on how they behave once they arrive.