Notebook Review: Ayush Paper Fountain Pen Books

Ayush Paper Fountain Pen Books

Do you know what makes me happy aside from fountain pens and ink? Paper. Fountain pen-friendly paper. I don't like seeing my pens and ink feather or bleed on the paper I am using so I make sure most of my pads and notebooks take on water-based fountain pen inks seriously. I prefer notebooks and pads with high-quality paper that will stand up to the wetness of my fountain pens' medium, broad, and stub nibs. I also like writing on either side of my notebooks' pages, so the paper must be really, really resistant to feathering and bleeding.

I came across a paper product on Instagram that claims to be fountain pen friendly and thought I'll give it a try. I learned that the makers of this paper product also sell their own sketchbooks and canvases. Ayush Surana of Ayush Paper from India sent me three of their notebooks produced for fountain pen use and I am impressed at the quality of their 100gsm paper. My fountain pens are happy, too!

I got three Ayush Paper Fountain Pen Books: A4 (blank), A5 (ruled), and pocket (dotted).

Ayush Paper offers the Fountain Pen Books in A4, A5, and pocket sizes. Each Fountain Pen Book size is available in blank, dotted, grid, and ruled pages. I like that Ayush color-coded their Fountain Pen Books according to their sizes. The back cover includes an image of the inside pages to indicate if the notebook is blank, dotted, grid, or ruled.

Each Fountain Pen Book contains 50 sheets of 100gsm natural shade paper that handles fountain pen use very well. 

The back covers of Fountain Pen Books offer a full description of the notebooks and indicate their inside pages.

Unlike some fountain pen-friendly paper brands, the paper used in Ayush Paper's Fountain Pen Books is not too smooth. It feels a little bit like sketch paper, and I like it that way. The paper takes ink well and shows shading, too. I also like that the natural shade paper complements the color of the inks I use in my fountain pens.

The natural shade paper in Fountain Pen Books is not too smooth, but my pens wrote a lot better in it.

I'm glad that Ayush sent me a blank A4 notebook. I am planning to turn these sheets into a couple of stapled pocket notebooks.

He also sent ruled and dotted notebooks. The spacing for the ruled pages is 9mm, and 5mm for dotted and grid pages.

All pages in the Fountain Pen Books are perforated so they can be torn off easily. 

To test the 100gsm paper in this Fountain Pen Books, I used a whole page for some of my inked pens. Ayush Paper is impressive! I used most of my medium to double broad nibs and they all wrote so well.  The paper showed the shading in some of my inks, and I did not see any feathering or bleeding even with my wettest broad and italic nibs.

My medium to double broad nibs wrote so well in Ayush paper and I didn't get any feathering or bleeding. The left photo has my pen and ink tests, and the right photo shows the underside of the test page.

I love writing in this Ayush Paper Fountain Pen Book. It's not too smooth, but my TWSBI fountain pen wrote smoothly in it.

I love Ayush Paper and the Fountain Pen Books! I love the excellent quality fountain pen-friendly paper used in these notebooks. I'm sure they will be perfect for some artwork and ink tests. Do you want to write on good-quality paper and never worry about bleeding and feathering? Get your own FOuntain Pen Books now!

Rants of The Archer thanks Ayush Paper for providing the Fountain Pen Books in this review. Visit their website to learn more about their products. For more updates, follow Ayush Paper on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ayushpapers/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ayushpaper24/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AyushPaper
• Pinterest: https://in.pinterest.com/asurana0304/_created/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrqUu6qj-J5uL1lwvIZyLqA

Notebook Review: LeStallion Ariegeois Ashgray Black A5 Notebook

Ariegeois Ashgray Black A5 Notebook from LeStallion's Equine Collection

"I was always fascinated by the fact that you could take paper and ink and create worlds, images, characters. It seemed like magic."  ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafon

One of my favorite authors said it best. Like him, I have always loved paper and paper products, notebooks, and stationery. I have always been fascinated by paper and how people use it in their daily lives. To me, paper and notebooks are the keepers of my ideas, plans, and activities. They are the guardians of my innermost, most intimate thoughts. 

Again, as a fountain pen user, it's always a happy surprise when I find notebooks with fountain pen-friendly paper. I prefer pads and notebooks with high-quality paper that will stand up to the wetness of my fountain pens' medium, broad, and stub nibs. I like to write on either side of the page, so the paper must be resistant to feathering and bleeding. Nowadays, searching for such products is not a tall order anymore. One of the new notebook brands that I met through Instagram is LeStallion from Sydney, Australia. LeStallion notebooks are equine-inspired, and their Equine Collection has four beautiful, study, well-made notebooks that can also be used for bullet journaling.

The notebooks in the Equine Collection have soft textured faux leather. They are velvety and smooth to touch. LeStallion's logo is imprinted on the lower right corner of the front cover.

LeStallion is imprinted on the notebbok's lower back cover.

LeStallion's Equine Collection has four premium A5 notebooks. They are Ariegeois (Ashgray Black), Galloway (Khaki White), Henson (Desert Brown), and Garrano (Cocoa Brown). These notebooks have 216 numbered pages of 120gsm wood-free ivory paper that handles the juiciest and wettest nibs that I have tested on it with minimal ghosting and bleed. 

The Ariegeois looks sharp with the stylish faux leather cover. It's well-made and sturdy with extra leather thickness, tight string binding, and improved gluing.

I love the color page edging that LeStallion uses in their premium notebooks. I don't see this technique often, and it adds beauty to this notebook's character.

The Ariegeois notebook and its equine paper siblings have all the features that make it the perfect notebook. It has an elegant inside front cover with space for the owner to write their contact details, a built-in Table of Contents to keep track of important contents, a metallic page marker, and a rear folder storage pocket. 

The inside cover page of LeStallion notebooks has space for the owner's personal details.

I like the built-in Table of Contents in this notebook. It's a useful feature for bullet journaling or to simply keep track of the notebook's contents.

The Ariegeois has a brown ribbon marker with a shiny metallic charm.

The rear folder storage pocket is useful in keeping bits and pieces of paper, cards, receipts, and other ephemera.

I tested LeStallion's 120gsm paper in this Ariegeois notebook using a whole page for most of my inked pens. The ivory paper showed the shading in some of my inked pens, and my pens wrote smoothly. There wasn't any feathering or bleeding in my medium and broad nibs except for the board nib in my BENU Europhoria fountain pen.

Pen and ink tests in LeStallion Ariegeois notebook. All pens—except for the bottom one—wrote smoothly and did not feather or bleed.

Here's the back page of the pen and ink test. Except for the bottom pen, all of the other pens did not feather or bleed.

I love this notebook! I love LeStallion's premium notebooks, their overall look, and the fountain pen-friendly paper. I will use it for some serious journaling and this notebook's pages will hold some precious contents. Do you want to write on smooth paper and never worry about bleeding and feathering? Get a LeStallion notebook now!

Rants of The Archer thanks LeStallion for providing the Ariegeois Ashgray Black A5 Notebook in this review. Visit their website and Amazon store to learn more about their products and new brand offerings. LeStallion offers worldwide shipping through Amazon where the Ariegeois sells for US$19.95. For more updates, follow LeStallion on social media:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeStallionNotebooks/
• Instagram: hhttps://www.instagram.com/lestallion.notebooks/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ph/LestallionNotebooks/_created/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQIrIflAQjk8JSw7aURE89A

Paper Review: Tomoe River Paper

After putting LIFE Notebooks in their store shelves last year, Scribe Writing Essentials has another Japanese paper product to offer: Tomoe River Paper. Tomoe River paper, or Tomoe River FP, is highly coveted and very popular among artists and fountain pen enthusiasts because of its high tolerance to inks. For a long time, I was a curious fan. My fellow fountain pen enthusiasts raved about it, pen sellers began stocking it, and more people were using notebooks filled with Tomoe River paper.

As a brief backgrounder, Tomoe River paper is manufactured by the Tomoegawa Co., Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan. On their website, Tomoegawa Co. lists their product range from electronic parts, to display components, to functional sheets and specialty papers. Tomoegawa Co. collaborated with Sakae Technical Paper Co., Ltd. to release a number of stationery products including paper pads and loose sheets using Tomoe River paper. According to Tomoegawa Co., products using the Tomoe River paper are specially trademarked with the logo on the cover page.

Scribe offers Tomoe River paper in blank A4 pads and loose leaf sheets, in both white and cream. Tomoe River paper is unlike any paper. It is thin, and nearly transparent at 52gsm, which is almost half the thickness of regular copy paper at 80-110gsm. According to the Nanami Paper Co., Tomoe River paper was developed to be thin to reduce the thickness of bulky notebooks that use a lot of pages, while remaining strong and resistant to ink bleed-through and feathering.

Tomoe River paper is sheer, almost like Bible paper, and will crease or crinkle if one is not careful, but it is very suitable for fountain pen ink. Ink surprisingly dries faster in it, making it highly suitable for fast writing, and also for left-handed writers. It is also smooth, but not glossy. Writing in it is a completely different experience.

 

Tomoe River paper is thin, but holds fountain pen ink very well.

The writing guard provided in the pad is a useful tool to avoid unnecessary writing impressions on the other pages when you write on a page. The writing guard also has grids, although I find it a little too wide.

Now for the writing samples. If I wrote in a regular 52gsm paper, ink would seep through to the next page, considering the nibs on my pens are on the wide side. I used my inked fountain pens to test Tomoe River paper. Writing on it, as I mentioned, is a different experience. Tomoe River paper is simply a joy to write on. The paper is very smooth, and there is no feedback at all. I did not feel any snags and those slick spots I sometimes encounter in notebooks and other paper pads.

Writing samples in Tomoe River paper. No feathering even if most of these lines were written with medium, broad, and stub nibs.

Of all the eight pens I used to test Tomoe River paper, only one has a fine nib, the Kaweco Classic Sport. The rest have medium, broad, and stub (1.1) nibs. Not one of these pens' inks bled or feathered in Tomoe River paper. There is show through, though, and this is the only downside to this paper: I cannot write on the back side because of the show through.

The back side of the paper is clean, as there is no bleed though. There is some ghosting, though.

I recommend Tomoe River paper to anyone who wants to experience writing on excellent quality paper. Tomoe River paper pads and loose sheets are also reasonably priced at P1,550/pad or pack of 100 sheets.

Tomoe River paper is available in the Philippines at Scribe Writing Essentials. To get your own pad, visit any of Scribe's stores in Eastwood Mall, Shangrila Plaza Mall, Glorietta 5, SM Aura, and SM Megamall. Their 6th store has just been opened in SM City Cebu in April. For their complete location/address, contact numbers, and store hours, click here.

Notebook Review: The Northerly by Field Notes

I have been reviewing pen and paper products for almost four years now. I've reviewed notebooks from Asia, Europe, and mostly from the United States, but I have not had a glimpse of a Field Notes pocket notebook yet. Back then, I didn't like small notebooks, and Field Notes was not available here in the Philippines. Last December though, a local online shop announced that they are selling the Field Notes Brand, beginning with the Winter 2011 Colors Release, The Northerly. I knew I had to get my own set the moment I saw the bright white notebooks. Never mind that I don't like small notebooks.

The Northerly by Field Notes. Winter 2011 release.

Thirteenth in the Field Notes Colors Series, The Northerlies, like other Field Notes notebooks, measure 3.5 inches x 5.5 inches. Small by my standards, but large enough for my notes. My notebooks (each order comes in a pack of three) came before the New Year and it was definitely drool at first sight. The bright show-white Kromekote cover printed with "Icy Silver" soy-based ink on the embossed Field Notes logo is sooooo beautiful. Even the silver-coated band holding the notebooks together is beautiful.

The back cover of The Northerly bears Field Notes' logo, including the proud declaration of where the notebooks were made.

The inside cover of the notebook is for its owner's personal details. I haven't filled out this page yet because I'm still searching for a pen that will write permanently on the shiny, coated Kromekote. Perhaps I'll use a Sharpie here.

The inside back cover, on the other hand provides extensive information on Field Notes' story, the notebook's specs, and some suggestions on how to use the notebook. I like that. My favorites are 'Things Done Right', 'Resolutions, As Yet Unbroken', and 'More Reasonable Resolutions'. The specifications part is a marvel to read. As a publications designer, I'm in the printing and publishing business and I understand all the printing lingo written here. As I read on, I can see tall stacks of Kromekote and Finch paper and hear the mechanical noise of the press, the Heidelberg stitchmaster, and the round corner machine. I can even smell the 'smell' I get when I'm inside a printing press.

Another beautiful thing about the Northerlies: round page corners! All Field Notes notebooks have round page corners, including The Steno. I've always preferred round page corners for my notebooks, especially those with thick cardstock for cover. Square, non-round page corners can sometimes cut into my fingers and palm while I'm writing, or get caught in the fabric inside my bag.

Unlike other pocket notebooks with the usual two staples for binding, Field Notes notebooks are saddle stitched in three staples to provide extra durability. 

The Northerlies have the usual Finch paper that Field Notes use in their notebooks, except for a nice 'twist': the inside pages have 4.5mm x 4.5mm white graph lines on a cool, blue-gray background. I like this graph lines, except that I wish they were a bit thicker. The thin lines can sometimes be hard to see, especially when lighting is not very good.

A new collection? This is all your fault, Field Notes. 

This is my 'test page' for my first Field Notes notebook. Notice anything new? The Pilot G2. But of course!  I've always tested notebook paper using my fountain pens, and I did that with my Northerlies too. Initially, I was disappointed when I saw the amount of feathering and  bleed on the Finch paper (see photo below). I put away my notebooks, not knowing what else to do with them. Then I realized that I could still make use of them — using other pens that will not bleed. That's why this notebook review has a Pilot G2 instead of a  colorful Lamy Safari.

The Northerlies are clearly not for fountain pen use. I don't care. It's still cool, hip, and fun!

So now I'm going to wait for the next limited edition Colors notebooks by Field Notes. I wonder what color they'll come in next. Purple? Black? Gold? I can't wait!

Now, who else can think of a really cool slogan like this one? Everybody, come on! Let's all write everything down to remember them now!

Notebook Review: Banditapple Carnet

I first read about Banditapple Carnet notebooks in June when my friend Julie wrote a review in her blog. Out of curiosity, I sent an email to Banditapple's creator and owner, Arnie Kim, to ask for sample products to review on the blog. Three months of waiting and chasing the guys at our Post Office, I received the lovely notebooks that Arnie sent to me. 

Banditapple Carnet notebooks are sold by its creator and owner, Arnie Kim from Seoul, South Korea, though they are all hand-made in Vietnam. Arnie said that his notebooks are now available in stationery stores not only in South Korea, but also in selected stores in Japan.

The notebooks come in three sizes (Peewee, Handy, and Tablet) and two cover colors (Hanoi Red and Saigon Black). All Banditapple Carnet notebook sizes are available in either blank or ruled paper with 64 pages of acid-free, 80gsm off-white paperstock. The cover used on the notebooks is plain cardstock which makes them look very simple, and almost anonymous and unbranded. But I like that. I'm also glad that Arnie sent me samples of all available notebook sizes and covers, and that he sent me notebooks with both blank and ruled pages.

Peewee in Saigon Black cover with my first generation pink Lamy Safari.

Peewee is the smallest among the three available notebook sizes of Banditapple Carnet. It measures 3.5 x 5.5 inches, sized like a pocket Clairefontaine notebook, Venzi, or Field Notes. The photo below shows the Peewee on top, and all the notebooks I mentioned underneath it. All notebooks have the same dimensions, they just differ in either their binding (stapled or stitched) or corner cuts. Since I received the Banditapple Carnet notebooks, I've made the Peewee my 'ink diary'. It's the perfect thin, small, black notebook I can carry with me anywhere because it fits in the plastic zipper pocket of my Midori TN. When I need to see how a certain ink behaves in a particular pen, I just pull out my Peewee.

Handy in Saigon Black cover with my yellow Lamy Safari.

Handy, the 'middle' size, measures 4.25 x 8.25 inches. This notebook made me very happy as soon as I saw it. Why? Because it's the same size as my Midori Traveler's Notebook's refills! And what's better, the Banditapple Handy have round page corners.

Banditapple Handy in Hanoi Red cover on top, Midori Traveler's Notebook refill below.

See? Banditapple's Handy fits my Midori TN perfectly!

Tablet in Hanoi Red cover, with my LE orange Lamy Safari.

Tablet, the biggest Banditapple notebook, measures 5.125 x 8.25 inches. It is sized like a large Moleskine or Rhodia Webbie, or as shown below, a soft cover large Venzi notebook. I got a blank Banditapple Tablet, and I may just turn it into a sketch/doodle/calligraphy notebook later.

Banditapple Tablet in Hanoi Red cover on top, soft cover Venzi below.

The other wonderful feature of Banditapple Carnet notebooks is their binding — the pages are stitched — not stapled, not glued, but stitched. A single signature is stitched to the cover, and the notebooks' stitching match the color of their covers.

Neat stitching on spine...

...and on the notebook's pages.

And now, the best part about these wonderful notebooks: the paper. Banditapple uses 80gsm off-white (read: not-so-white), acid-free paper. Dr. Matthias Meckel, blogger at Bleistift, wrote that Arnie spent more than two years to find the right paper for his notebooks. And his efforts paid off. Banditapple Carnet notebooks have one of the best papers I've ever tried with my fountain pens.

Banditapple uses a .25 inch page ruling; top margin of .75 inch, and bottom margin of .625 inch. Ruling has been printed using soy type ink.

The pages have no side margins, though. The ruling extends to the edges of the page spread.

And I saved the best for last: the pen and ink tests on Banditapple's Handy notebook. Because the Handy is a tall notebook, I was able to test a couple of pens on a page, including fountain pens, a rollerball, gelpens, and a permanent marker. I like using different pen types to test a notebook's paper because it shows me instantly how the pens and inks react to it.

Banditapple uses paper that is not smooth and shiny white. But it is very excellent for fountain pen use, especially to very broad and wet nibs such as those on my Esterbrook pens. The Esterbrook LJ and Trans J pens below both have 9968 (firm broad) nibs and I did not see any feathering or bleed at all. Even the badly notorious bleeder called Noodler's Midnight Blue behaved so well on this paper. I also noticed that some ink types even showed better color in Banditapple's paper, like Edelstein Jade and J. Herbin Bleu Myosotis. Drying takes a longer time compared to other paper types, but that is just fine.

All in a page: 21 fountain pens, 1 rollerball, 9 gelpens, 1 permanent marker.

Banditapple paper up close. Ink is  J. Herbin Café des îles. I love the pure, cottony goodness of paper on a close shot like this. And even at a very close view, I just don't see the ink feathering on paper.

This is how the back of the pen and ink test page looks like. Not one of the 21 fountain pens bled or feathered, but the Sharpie permanent marker just had to bleed very badly. But that's how Sharpie behaves on almost all of the paper types I have ever tested.

Lastly, here is the Peewee notebook that I have made into an 'ink diary'. Very cool. I like keeping an 'ink diary' because it's a way of keeping an informal inventory of my inks and pens. And I am very strict with myself that whenever I fill a pen, I have to write down the date, ink type, and pen used so I have an ink/pen reference.

If you need more information about these wonderful notebooks, Arnie Kim's contact details are on his site, http://www.banditapple.com/. Or you can email him using this email address: owner@banditapple.com if you want to discuss notebook orders. You can place orders for his notebooks in bulk and he will gladly give you a good price and a choice of whether to ship by air (faster), or water/surface (slower by 2 weeks, but then, the package gets to you). This is the best way of ordering from Arnie at the moment.

I am not affiliated with Banditapple Company, I am just a very satisfied owner of these wonderful and amazing notebooks.

The Banditapple Carnet notebooks used in this review are from the Banditapple Company through its creator and owner, Arnie Kim. The other notebooks, pens and inks used in this review all belong to my personal collection.