Filler Papers (3-hole punched) Review - Letter sized (8" x 10.5") - US - July 2021 - ATTENTION LEFTIES!

[alexwi]

Papers in this review:

 

• Caliber Filler Paper Wide Ruled (CVS Pharmacy brand) - 15 Lbs / 56 gsm - $3.79/150 (cvs.com price) - $0.025/sheet.
• TRU RED™ Wide Ruled Filler Paper, 8" x 10.5" (Staples brand) - 15.4 Lbs / 58 gsm - $2.49/120 (Staples.com price) - $0.021/sheet.
• Mead Wide Ruled Filler Paper, 8" x 10.5" - 15.3 Lbs / 57 gsm - $4.79/200 (Staples.com price) - $0.024/sheet (highly recommended for lefties).

Trivia

It seems that the most important aspect of buying cheap paper in the US is to be sure that it's not made in the US.

 

Pens tested

I tested Aurora Black, Noodlers Turquoise, and an unknown Noodlers that looks like Turquoise with several pens:

- Inoxcrom Prime M (dryish).

- Rosetta Expedition M (very wet).

- Sheaffer Prelude M (wet).

- Sheaffer Javelin M (normal).

- Lamy Safari M (dry).

- Parker 45 M (normal).

- Pilot MR Cursive M (0.9mm) (normal).

 

Feel

 

 

All these papers feel nice using fountain pens. They're smoother than the much more expensive (although still cheaper than fru-fru papers) Southworth papers from my other review.

 

 

Ink

Of the three, the Mead paper was problematic in terms of feathering and bleed-through, but I must say that it's not at all unusable, as the feathering was limited to my very wet Rosetta Explorer. With my other pens it was OK. Bleed-through, however might be a problem with this paper, as it's rather pervasive when using anything that's not a ball-point.

 

The one aspect in which the Mead paper shines is ink dry times, which is probably related to its higher absorbency, as shown by the feathering and bleed-through. While ink takes some 38 seconds to fully dry on the Caliber, or the more acceptable 16 on the Tru Red, I was unable to smear anything on the Mead after ONE second, unless I used the Rosetta pen, in which case it took two seconds for ink to be completely dry. This makes this paper especially valuable for lefties. I'm no paper expert, but I don't recall ever coming across a paper on which ink dried so quickly.

 

Opacity

Even though none of these papers is immune from being able to see the writing on the front from the back side, the Caliber was the best, followed by the Tru Red, and finally the Mead, whose bleed-through possibly contributes to this.

 

Considering how thin these papers are, I'd vouch for all three.

 

Conclusion

Either of these papers should work for most fountain pen users.

 

Alex

 

 

Photos

I resized the photos so they're all as close as possible to 300dpi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opacity of filler papers:

 

 

 

[Aelfattrum]

What does one do to "assemble" paper? Do they mean that they put it into the plastic wrapping in the US?

[alexwi]

6 minutes ago, Aelfattrum said:

What does one do to "assemble" paper? Do they mean that they put it into the plastic wrapping in the US?

My only guess, like yours, is that they use "Assembled" to refer to "packaged."

 

I find it to be no more than a very underhanded way to lead people to believe that the paper's made in the US.

 

Before ordering it, I was sure that the Tru Red (staples' brand) was made by Mead, as that's the only name brand Staples carries for this kind of paper, but based on how differently these two papers are, the Mead paper's true source and, more importantly, origin, shall remain a mystery.

 

Alex

[Aelfattrum]

22 hours ago, alexwi said:

I find it to be no more than a very underhanded way to lead people to believe that the paper's made in the US.

 

I remember a few years back buying a shovel at Home Depot. They had two shovels, which looked identical. One was "made in China", the other was "made in China, assembled in the USA" and was $5 more. I assume they shipped some shovels assembled, and some as half and head, which someone in the US attached together.

 

I mean, for things like cars, where there's some non-trivial assembly required, it makes sense to make the "made in/assembled in" disclaimer. But for shovels it's pretty silly. And the paper one is somehow incomprehensible.

 

Added to which is the fact that almost anyone who cares about where a paper is made may in fact be looking for paper which *doesn't* originate in the USA, since the quality of much US-origin paper right now is pretty bad (of course, with exceptions).

 

Thanks for the reviews - I haven't used much lined paper recently, but it could be useful. Interesting to note that paper from Vietnam often seems to be FP-friendly.

[bobs51]

Haven't bought notebook paper in ages, and I'm surprised to see that 8 x 10.5" 15# has replaced the old standard of 8-1/2 x 11" 20#. 

 

As usual, the customer gets to pay more for less.

[Frank C]

Thanks for doing the work and posting the results. The copy paper they use at work is the Tru Red Brand. I'm not sure if it is the same paper as the ruled paper used in this test. I find that it works well with Pilot Blue Black ink and my Pilot Custom 823 pens. I will check to see where it's made. There is a pile of about 15 cases sitting on some shelves in the hallway. I am able to write on both sides with minimal show through, it dries fairly quickly, but I have made a few smudges. I don't see much feathering.