TRU RED Graphed Journal

The TRU RED Graphed Journal is a recent release from TRU RED. It’s designed as a business essential for everyday use. The notebook measures 5.5 by 8 inches. Thanks to TRU RED for providing these products for review! Last week I reviewed the TRU RED Starter Journal and Rollerball pens, congratulations to Batsheva who won the giveaway!

Front Cover:

The front cover is a flexible black cover with an elastic closure.

Inside Cover:

The front inside cover is a black and grey pattern with a small pocked that would easily fit business cards.

The Paper:

There are 256 ivory pages with a 5mm graph ruling.

The pages are not embellished in any way and are not paginated.

Writing Samples:

This paper did not handle fountain pens well-every nib feathered, bled or both. The paper is so absorbent that it made the nib and ink feel super dry and scratchy.

The paper handled some pens and pencils okay but the TRU RED rollerball pens bled through. Some ball-points and rollerball pens felt scratchy on this paper.

Rollerball Pens:

In the same collection with the Graphed Journal is this pack of Quick Dry Gel Pens in 0.7mm. The pens are green, teal, purple, red and orange.

These gel pens work okay but definitely aren’t the best gel pens I’ve ever used. They did okay in the graphed journal but skipped when used in my hobonichi.

Overall, I had hoped I would enjoy this notebook since I liked the TRU RED Starter Journal I reviewed last week but this paper is only good for ballpoints, gel pens and pencils. I didn’t enjoy the paper because it’s so absorbent and made all pens feel dry and scratchy.

Disclaimer: Both products were provided by TRU RED for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This post does not contain affiliate links and is not sponsored in any way.

TRU RED Starter Journal

The TRU RED Starter Journal is a recent release from TRU RED. It’s designed as a business essential for notetakers. The notebook measures 8x10 inches.

Front Cover:

The front cover is a textured grey that boasts a pen loop on the spine, a card pocket (perfect for holding business cards) and an elastic strap for keeping the notebook closed.

Back Cover:

On the back cover is an elastic strap, perfect for holding your phone.

Inside Cover:

The front inside cover has a lovely list of note-taking ideas.

Inside Cover:

The opposite inside cover has a spot for basic contract information.

The Paper:

There are 192 lined white pages. The standard pages are a basic narrow rule.

Every 5 pages alternates between a to-do list page with a perforated tear-off and a mostly blank page to sketch out ideas.

Each page has a discreet number in the bottom corner. Page numbers are my favorite detail!

Writing Samples:

This paper handled fountain pens quite well, there was a bit of feathering in the largest nib sizes but only the zoom nib bled through. It handled extra fine and fine nib extremely well, medium nibs well and broad nibs okay.

The paper handled all pens, pencils and highlighters well with no issues.

Rollerball Pens:

In the same collection with the Starter Journal is this pack of rollerball pens. They come in 0.5 tips in black, blue and red. I love the ink window so you easily know how much ink is left.

These rollerballs work well, and feel nice and smooth on the Starter Journal. They aren’t the best rollerballs I’ve ever used, but they aren’t the worst either. They are a comfortable middle-of-the-road at a nice price.

Overall, I enjoyed both the journal and the rollerball pens. I like how well the paper handles fountain pens and the details such as page numbers and to-do lists are lovely. I’m giving away one Starter Journal and Rollerball 3-pack below so be sure to enter! (The giveaway is limited to those in the Contiguous United States.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: Both products were provided by TRU RED for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. This post does not contain affiliate links and is not sponsored in any way.

Thinkers Notebook Version 2

I reviewed the first Thinkers Notebook back in August but they recently released a second version which we are gong to look at today. Thanks to Thinkers for sending a copy over for review!

Size:

6.5" by 8.67" with a recycled leather cover and ribbon bookmark.

The paper is 120 gsm premium Munken paper, with 256 numbered pages using a 5mm dot grid.

The edges of the notebook feature an orange to black color fade.

Format:

The pages have space for a title at the top and a 5mm dot grid.

The page numbers are probably my favorite feature.

Fountain Pens:

Every ink feathered and bled at least a little, which is so disappointing after the first version. It handled all of the standard pens and highlighters I tried below.

This notebook is designed to be used with the app, but there isn’t a way to name files or group them by subject. It also crashes often. The app just isn’t for me I think.

Overall, I’m sad they changed the paper from the first version, which I preferred. I love the color on the edge of the pages but don’t love how blatant the branding is on the cover. There just isn’t enough I love about it that makes me want to use it often.

Disclaimer: This notebook was provided by Thinkers Notebook for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Thinkers Notebook

A few months ago Thinkers Notebook sent me their new notebook to try out. The notebook measures 9” by 6”. The cover is 300 gsm and has a recycled chipboard backing.

The paper is white, 100gsm paper. Each page has one dot grid side and one college-ruled lined side. This notebook is designed to be used horizontally rather than vertically. The disc-bound binding utilizes 9, 3/4” silver discs.

One side is a light dot grid with spaces for the title, date and four icons you can check off. Each page also has its own code to be used with the app.

The other side of the page is lined college-ruled with space for the same information as the dot grid side. Refills and extra covers are available separately.

Fountain Pens:

All of the pen/ink combos I tried performed really well, no feathering or bleeding.

When uploading pages to the app I had some issues since I prefer vertical orientation and the app is designed to be used horizontally.

Overall, the paper in this notebook works really well for fountain pens, I didn’t have any problems there. I don’t love the horizontal orientation of the notebook though, I use notebooks vertically. The discs worked well for the most part, but I did have some problems with the pages tearing around the rings over time. I like the paper, but I don’t love some of the other aspects of the notebook design.

Disclaimer: This notebook was provided by Thinkers Notebook for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page and this post is not sponsored in any way.

SEQES Dotted Hardcover Notebook

I reviewed the Archer and Olive notebook earlier this year and was really disappointed in how it handled fountain pens, so I’ve been looking for a good alternative. I recently watched a YouTube comparison of a few different 160gsm notebooks, and the winner was this SEQES dotted hardcover notebook, aka the QiHeng notebook. After watching the comparison I decided to give the winner a try. I purchased my notebook from Amazon. It arrived quickly with a nice boxed packaging, some page flags and a ballpoint.

The details:

The notebook measures 5.7’’ x 8.2’’ x 0.9” and features a grey linen cover, elastic closure, pen loop and two bookmarks. The one thing that stuck out to me was that the pen loop is secured with a metal stud rather than just glued in. I thought it would interfere with how I use it, but it I didn’t even notice it while using the notebook.

The paper is white, 160gsm sturdy paper, similar to card-stock. It has a light 5mm dot grid and rounded corners.

The dot grid is nice and light-the dots don’t interfere with use.

Fountain Pens:

All of the pen/ink combos I tried had almost no show through and no bleeding. The juiciest broad nib was the one that had some show through, as well as the large swab. There was a little bit of feathering in the broadest nib, but other than that the paper handled everything well.

Pencils and Gel Pens:

The paper handled all of the gel pens, pencils and markers well except the sharpie which had some bleeding.

The Seqes notebook is on the left, and the Archer and Olive notebook I reviewed previously is on the right. They are very similar in almost every way except the paper and the price-the Seqes handles fountain pens so much better than the Archer and Olive, and does it at half the price too.

Overall, I enjoyed this notebook for both fountain pens and gel pens. I’ve been using this notebook for a while now, and find myself reaching for it often.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There is an affiliate link on this page but this post is not sponsored in any way.

Exceed Notebooks

Recently a friend recommended I try the Exceed notebooks from Walmart, so I went down to the closest one to see what I could find. On the left is the Exceed A5 Bullet Journal in black, and on the right is the Hard Cover Dotted Book in white.

Hard Cover Dotted Book:

The Hard Cover Dotted Book contains 78 gsm cream heavyweight paper, 2 page markers, 120 sheets, an inner pocket, and measures 5 by 8 1/4 inches. It retails for $6.64.

This paper handled all the fountain pens really well, even the flex nib. No bleeding or feathering, and the show through wasn’t bad either.

All gel pens and highlighters worked well on this paper, no issues there either.

A5 Bullet Journal:

The A5 Bullet Journal contains 100 gsm cream heavyweight paper, 2 page markers, 120 sheets, an inner pocket, and measures 5 3/4 by 8 1/4 inches. This notebook is 3/4 of an inch wider than the dotted journal and has heavier paper but my favorite difference is that the Bullet Journal has an index and page numbers! It retails for $8.64.

Just like the Dotted Notebook the paper handled all fountain pens really well, but because the Bullet Journal has a bit heavier paper, there’s even less show through.

For gel pens and highlighters there was virtually no show through, and zero bleeding and feathering.

I ended up taking the Bullet Journal to my local pen club last weekend, and tested a bunch of my friends’ pen and ink combinations on it. The paper handled everything perfectly until it came to the Noodler’s inks. Apache Sunset had dried completely but when I closed it it made an impression on the opposite page. X-Feather took a solid 5 minutes to dry and like Apache Sunset, bled a bit onto the opposite page. The Duke Fude nib full of Burma Road did feather and bleed just a little bit, but let’s face it that nib is like writing with a paint brush. I was impressed with how well it handled everything else.

Overall, I prefer the Bullet Journal over the Dotted Hardcover just because the pages are a bit wider, has less show through, and page numbers (which I’m obsessed with). It seems very similar to a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook, but is at a much cheaper price point. The only think I don’t like is the cream paper-I wish it was a bit less yellow. If you are in the market for affordable, fountain-pen friendly notebooks this ones are definitely worth a try!

Disclaimer: I purchased these products myself, and all photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page, and this post is not sponsored in any way.

Endless Recorder Notebook

I go through a lot of notebooks each year, a rather ridiculous amount, so I get excited to try out new notebooks. Today’s daily carry notebook is the Endless Recorder Notebook. I have the A5 with the Endless Space black cover. I brought this notebook with me to the San Francisco Pen show, and the leatherette cover (8.3 x 5.5 inches) has held up beautifully. In the US, this notebook is available for sale at Endless Works, Pen Chalet, Goulet Pens and more. Thanks to Endless Works for sending the notebook over for review.

Paper

This notebook contains 192 pages of 68gsm dot grid Tomoe River paper. This paper does a great job with fountain pens, no feathering or bleeding. It’s my favorite paper.

This paper handles most mediums well, but it does struggle a bit with pencils. I love it for fountain pens.

I love that this notebook contains a table of contents and can lay flat. This notebook also has a ribbon bookmark, a back cover pocket, and an elastic closure. Included with the notebook was a cloth drawstring protective bag, a silver bookmark engraved with my name and a packet of guide sheets.

I like that the pages are numbered, but if you look at the numbers you can see one of my concerns with this notebook. The cut on the pages are not even. There is less space on the bottom margin on page 9 than on page 13. This inconsistent cutting means that you can sometimes see the next page’s dot grid occasionally ghosting through on the current page.

The last 30 pages of the notebook are perforated. At the bottom of the photo you can see the inconsistent cutting again-you shouldn’t be able to see the guide lines.

Binding

The binding is stitch and glue bound. There are a few spots in the notebook where the glue has seeped into the binding and partially sealed a few pages together. I had to separate a few pages near the binding which lead to some tearing.

Overall, I like the cover and love the paper. I do have some concerns about the inconsistent cutting and the glue in the binding, which I hope they can work out over time since they are a relatively young company. This notebook has held up to daily use for a few weeks and the cover still looks brand new.

Disclaimer: All photos and opinions are my own. This product was provided by Endless Works for the purpose of this review. This post does not contain affiliate links and is not sponsored in any way.