Journaling Notebook

[Blowboat]

I tried searching for past posts, but really didn't find what I was looking for.  If I missed them, please forgive me.

 

So, I have been journaling, off and on, for a few years.  Hoping to be more consistent this year...not a resolution, but a goal I've set.  Todate, most of my jouraling has been on regular loose leaf notebook paper...just whatever we had around.  (Read...read, basic and cheap!) 

 

So, if I want to move into a more "proper" journal what would you recommend?  What size...I'm thinking A4, but I'm open.  Are there specific notebooks you recommend?  Any help/thoughts is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

 

- PJ

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I personally like A5 size.  For a few years now I've been buying Miquelrius 600 page journals (soft cover) with lined pages, but they're getting increasingly harder and harder to find.

I liked them because they were relatively inexpensive for the capacity, and stack well.  

I still have a few left but when you do "morning pages" like I do, I go through a couple of them plus in a single year....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AmandaW]

I use an A4 Clairefontaine threadbound notebook with lined pages or plain (with a guide sheet underneath). Each entry is begun with a mini date stamp.

[Paul-in-SF]

I also use A4 size, which I thought was a little unusual, but maybe not as much as I thought. 

 

If you want a thick, well-made notebook with good paper, I can recommend a brand I found on Amazon, Hiukooka. They come with 320 pages of 7 mm lined 100 gsm paper, flexible covers (which they say are leather), two bookmark ribbons, an elastic band, some sticky notes, and are available in several colors. They are made in China, cost $17 each, and are sold from a warehouse in the US so you don't have to wait very long. They also come in B5 and A5 sizes. These are well-made, and the pages lay flat. 

 

Another brand I like is also found on Amazon, called Minimalism Art. They have a lot of different sizes and styles; the ones I got were 192 pages, lined, and hardbound but the pages also lay flat. I don't remember what I paid, but they are apparently down to 186 pages now, for $17. 

 

I've also used Clairefontaine and Leuchturm, both of those have quite good paper but a somewhat less formal presentation (at least the ones I've seen). I'm fairly agnostic when it comes to brand, but I tend to prefer notebooks that don't look disposable. 

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, AmandaW said:

I use an A4 Clairefontaine threadbound notebook with lined pages

 

Oh, I remember those! and still have almost forty of them. Feeling a little regretful I didn't snap up another eighty, way back, at the price we know they were being offered. Not that my wife and I will use up our stash in three lifetimes.

 

For myself…

 

With my failing memory, I think I'll try using up more of the dozens (or hundreds?) of A5-sized notebooks we have here, as “commonplace books”, in 2024. (Especially when I now have such a gorgeous fabric cover that stands above the other A5 notebook covers I have!) To me, A5 is the best-of-the-lot size for notebooks/journals to stick into a bag/knapsack and carry with me outside, or keep on bookcases inside the house, or write on when I'm just jotting down stuff while sitting on my recliner lazily watching TV (and being somewhat distracted from it). There are so many reputedly “fountain pen friendly” A5 notebooks here I've yet to test in earnest… and Amazon just advised me that it has now dispatched my outstanding order of Minimalism Art A5 notebooks, which promise (according to the product listing on Amazon) no feathering and bleeding.

[AmandaW]

I like the minimalist covers of the Clairefontaine because they take little  space on a shelf when finished.  I write the range of dates on the cloth spine with a fine white acrylic paint pen to make them easy to tell apart.

 

The volume in use is in a sturdy slip -on cover.

[Stompie]

17 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

a brand I found on Amazon, Hiukooka. 

 

 

Bugger!

 

So, I have another notebook on the way! £10.99 here in the UK.

 

Thanks Paul!!!😏

[Karmachanic]

I was tempted by the A5 Hiukooka, but decided to stay with Stalogy because of the paper, and 368 pages only 15mm thick.  Takes up less space on the shelf compared to the 320 page 27m thick Hiukooka.

[Blowboat]

Thanks, everyone!  I appreciate the input and the thoughts you shared.  I ended up ordering an A4 notebook...but honestly, I can't remember squat about it right now!  Thanks, again, for the help!

 

- PJ

[Paul-in-SF]

6 hours ago, Stompie said:

Bugger!

 

So, I have another notebook on the way! £10.99 here in the UK.

 

Thanks Paul!!!😏

 [nelson]Ha ha![\nelson]

 

No mercy, no sympathy. 

 

(I am familiar with the symptoms, however. I have at least 8 years' worth of A4 notebooks of various brands on my shelf, which I may never use.)

 

6 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

I was tempted by the A5 Hiukooka, but decided to stay with Stalogy because of the paper, and 368 pages only 15mm thick.  Takes up less space on the shelf compared to the 320 page 27m thick Hiukooka.

It's true, Hiukooka paper relies on its weight/thickness to prevent things like show-through, let alone bleed-through. It must have some sort of surface treatment to prevent feathering. I'm not familiar with Stalogy since they don't seem to have an A4 version. I do have an A5 journal from Galen Leather that I use as my inked pen log, that uses 52 gsm TR paper (I think it was the old paper, I've had it for going on 3 years), 400 pages of that paper measures about 11 mm, plus the cover of course. 

[TrueBlue719]

I've just started using a Traveller's notebook with Midori paper in it for keeping track of daily tasks as well as having a planner refill in it. I like the paper so far and it keeps me organized, plus I like the look of it and the customizability.  The original hit of $70 was a bit much for a notebook, but it will pay for itself after a while. 

[Blowboat]

@TrueBlue719, what size did you get? I've just started looking at those...not so much for my Journaling, but for organization, notes. Calendar, etc...

 

For past 10+ years I have used my phone. Wondering if a change would be good for me...

[A Smug Dill]

On 12/21/2023 at 3:19 PM, Paul-in-SF said:

Another brand I like is also found on Amazon, called Minimalism Art. They have a lot of different sizes and styles; the ones I got were 192 pages, lined, and hardbound but the pages also lay flat.

 

I saw a listing for “3-pack” of those 192-page books on Amazon.com.au, which promised, ”Excellent for fountains pens and ink. No feathering and bleeding.” some weeks ago, so I placed an order for one pack, in spite of its status being “temporarily unavailable” at the time. It was eventually shipped, and arrived this morning.

 

It was a single notebook, not three.

 

So, now I have a freebie, because I gave Amazon little choice but to fully refund my order while letting me keep the single notebook and dispose of it as I wish. I was intending on putting the paper through some hard testing, with the full expectation that there will be some fountain pen inks in my collection of >500 commercially available ones that the paper cannot prevent from bleeding through to the opposite side of the sheet, even if I limit myself to using no broader than “Western Fine” nibs.

 

But at least now I'm not in a hurry to get all that testing done within the return window for the item.

[jchch1950]

Many notebooks are advertised as fountain pen-friendly but most aren't. Lately, I have started using notebooks for artists with paper 180 g which is quite thick. There are no ink or shading problems but very few pages in each notebook (60); as I can use the pages on both sides they are like 120. Another limitation is that most of them are spiral-bound.

[Janeite]

Fountainpenlove's website has a number of posts, and comparisons, on paper, including a paper search tool.  That can be a good source to find FP-friendly journals: https://fountainpenlove.com/category/paper/.

 

Although I've read a number of posts about recycled paper not being good for fountain pens, I have been pleasantly surprised by a journal I recently purchased at T.J. Maxx.  It's from Clementine paper inc. and is made with paper containing 60% recycled fiber.  My particular one is style #729721 and was made in Taiwan. It has decorative hardcovers, bronzish 1ish-inch spiral binding, and though I don't know how many pages it has, I'd say it's about 3/4" thick.  I've only tried it with one ink so far, but I've tried it with three different FPs with most of the text written in a medium nib followed by a 1.1mm nib (and a wee bit with an extra fine).  With all three pens I was still able to write on both sides of the paper.  With the price coming in at $5.99, it was definitely a good value.  The pages are lined and I would say it looks to be about an A5, but there's no label (or I took if off and can't remember).  The stationery section of any TJ Maxx/Marshall's/Home Goods would likely have a similar model.

[Paul-in-SF]

2 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

Many notebooks are advertised as fountain pen-friendly but most aren't.

It depends, of course, on what your standards are. "Fountain pen friendly" is a pretty vague term that does not have a universal hard-and-fast definition. I don't mind a little ghosting, for example, and my current notebook with sugar cane paper will bleed through a few dots with very heavy ink flow (Diamine Royal Blue in a TWSBI Eco stub). It is just a journal, after all, not written to be preserved for the ages.

 

What I can't abide is paper that won't allow the ink to dry in a reasonable (i.e. short) time, or paper that allows feathering. The combination of those four factors (light ghosting okay, very occasional spotty bleed-through with heavy ink flow okay, short dry time and no feathering) is apparently my hitherto-unexpressed standard for "fountain-pen friendly" for myself. 

[A Smug Dill]

Whereas I personally would want “fountain pen friendly” — and especially if a paper product expressly promises “no bleeding” (e.g. the Minimalist Art notebook I just received),“bleed proof”, or “show-through resistant” — to mean resist those phenomena when used with fountain pens and inks by any user in a reasonable manner, I don't mind if it undermines a particular user's intent or “forces” the user into a compromise (e.g. by having too long a drying time). The paper does not have to be “friendly” to the user; the pen, and the user (even if that individual paid good money for and owns the pen), are logically separate, and the person with feelings and wants is the one “we” don't care about as much when claiming “fountain pen friendliness”.

[Paul-in-SF]

If all the seller says about a particular paper is that it is fountain pen friendly, without any specifics about bleeding or show-through, then the potential buyer is taking a chance on whether the paper meets their more specific requirements, based on a phrase that does not have a widely agreed-upon meaning, and should probably not buy it.

 

Of course, any potential buyer may do as they please. It is, I think, a widely accepted practice to express personal preferences, plainly so labeled, in a thread on a hobby message board that is asking for opinions and recommendations. 

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

It is, I think, a widely accepted practice to express personal preferences, plainly so labeled, in a thread on a hobby message board that is asking for opinions and recommendations. 

 

Of course. Which is why it pays to clarify what the individual tests (or tested) for, and would endorse should the test results warrant it, paper products that manufacturers label and/or market as “fountain pen friendly”. Like it or not (and I don't), many consumers look to others' published test results — or at least conclusions testers had drawn from their results and articulated — and use it as the yardstick. So I, for one, will not test for or be talking about drying times when I review or discuss paper products, and put the onus on those who want (what they may see as) better balance of the narrative to do those omitted tests. I've been active enough for the past five years on FPN, that it's no secret that I'm always pushing for those who have strong opinions to do work (in publishing reviews, etc.) in order to not be “talked over” by those who are more actively engaged in exploration and experimentation.

 

Having a metaphorically louder voice to be heard by the masses comes at the price of producing content (or a big marketing budget).

[Paul-in-SF]

You keep trying to protect the readers of this forum from the scourge of unsupported opinions. I don't think they need it, they can probably evaluate such opinions at least as well as you can. But please don't ever stop your efforts to control content, I'm sure I would miss them if they were gone.