BookFactory Scientific and Engineering Notebook Review

Thanks to the team at BookFactory.com for sending me this sample of one of the many lab notebooks they carry. I was really impressed with the quality and the layout of the notebook, but being a lab book, I wanted to make sure it got a good once over in its intended environment. Enter my good pen friend - and favorite lab rat - Bryan, now formerly from Okinawa. Take it away Bryan...

I received this Bookfactory lab notebook sample from Brad "The Pen Addict" Dowdy and I have to say that I am quite impressed with what this little puppy can do!  Let's break it down from front to back!

At first glance, this lab notebook looks like just another Moleskine clone, replete with Smyth sewn binding (for durability) and what feels like vinyl over heavy paper backing.  However, the differences become obvious when you open up the cover and see the first page.  It contains a really interesting lesson on what a lab notebook is, how to keep one and how to properly document ideas and findings.   Then, you'll see a table of contents with plenty of space for writing in whatever you like, followed by the taped binding.  This part impressed me the most is the heavy stock paper and the thoroughness of the design.  You can really see that they crafted this notebook to allow a scientist or engineer or any other professional to get notes and data on the page and do so in a manner that protects the idea or data.

Next up, I tried many different kinds of inks in various fountain pens.  I assumed that most writing will be done with a gel or ballpoint pen (and the paper would be chosen specifically for gel or grease ink), so I wanted to check fountain pen ink in case any readers out there like to keep notes with their Lamys (^_^)  As you can see on the reverse scan, some inks fare better than others (Noodler's Black being the only Noodler's that didn't showthrough), but the winner seems to be Diamine's Registrar's Ink, which is a permanent iron gall ink that didn't bleed through even with a wet M nibbed fountain pen.  Rollerball ink could be expected to perform similarly to most fountain inks, with some performing better than others.

Next, I tried to envision the uses for this kind of notebook.  Note that each page is numbered AND there is a space to note the book number, as well.  The signature blocks at the bottom are tailor made for patent documentation or scientific data entry verification, so I thought I'd pretend I was a designer and working on a new idea.  The grid system isn't so small to be useless, but isn't too large, either.  It's like Goldilocks and it's JUST RIGHT!  I then picked up a Zebra Surari 4C (available from Jetpens.com!) and went to town on some hypothetical data to show how the grid can be useful in many ways.  I can see this notebook being used in various ways.  Here are some suggestions:  dungeon maps for pencil and paper roleplayers, pixel art mapping, flowcharts, clothing design, language/vocabulary flowcharts, and indexing a collection.

Overall, this book is excellent and I'd definitely recommend this line of notebooks as an alternative to Moleskine notebooks, with a few caveats:

1.  The paper is designed for gel or ballpoint, it seems.  Your favorite fountain ink might not work well with this and you'll get show or bleedthrough.

2.  The black cover, while attractive, isn't good for writing on.  You might need labels to catalog books with.

3. A science bench notebook would have to be larger (A4 or 8.5"x11"), but this little A5 size is PERFECT for everyday carry.

When inspiration hits, you don't want to be caught without a notebook.  Make sure you're ready for creativity with this notebook.

The Field Journal Notebook from Tom Bihn

I was contacted by the fine folks at Tom Bihn a few weeks back wanting to know if I would like to give one of their new Field Journal Notebooks a test run.  Having been familiar with their product line but never having tried one of their products, the answer was of course a resounding yes!  Just from browsing the Tom Bihn website and looking at all of their Made in the U.S.A. goods I was expecting the highest quality product, and I was not disappointed.

After a quick exchange of emails, I had a Cocoa Field Journal on the way, along with samples of the three paper styles that are offered with the Field Journal: Crane's Crest 24# 100% Cotton Paper and Harbor 100 60# from Gray's Harbor Paper in Grid or College Ruled.  Just from feel alone, you can tell this is a well made and well thought out product.  The heavy duty nylon material, zipper, straps, and seams are all nice and tight and scream quality.

From a feature standpoint, the Field Journal is the Swiss Army knife of notebooks.  The list is endless, but here are some of the high points:

-- Front zipper pocket plus rear flat pocket

-- Accepts 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" paper

-- Ring Mechanism can be rotated 180 degrees to accommodate left-handed users

-- Weight: Exactly 1lb

-- Shoulder Strap, Key Strap, Leaf, and TOM BIHN Logo Plastic Ruler Included

(The full specs can be found on the product page)

As you can see in the photos, I could fit four pens (including a fountain pen and stainless steel Sharpie), a thumb drive, my iPod Touch, and the provided Tom Bihn plastic ruler easily within the pockets on the inside front cover.  The zippers are designed to zip far enough back so the journal can lay flat on any surface.  The handle options are nice as well, with a removable shoulder strap or attached briefcase handles depending on your carrying needs.

From a paper perspective, the writing experience was nice, but not exceptional.  Like I mentioned earlier, there are three stock paper choices - Crane's Crest 24# 100% Cotton Paper, and Harbor 100 60# from Gray's Harbor Paper in Grid or College Ruled - all of which I sampled.  The grid and lined paper are your basic choices.  They both handled my Lamy Nexx fountain pen without issue, and I saw no trouble with bleed or feathering with any other ink types either.  The only real pause is the page isn't as smooth compared to Rhodia or Clairefontaine, but that is also a tradeoff with the environmentally friendly Gray's Harbor (Watch the Gray's Harbor Paper story here).  I also found on the graph paper that the lines faded out from left to right across the page, which you can see slightly in the picture below.

Highlighter test performed by sneaky 4 year-old

The Crane's Crest is a beuatiful paper, with an ivory color, perforated page, and a little more tooth.  For me personally, it is not my style, but I can see why it would be a popular choice and it was the best of the three samples.  If none of those are your style, feel free to add any standard three-punch 5-1/2 x 8-1/2" paper to your Field Journal, which is a major plus.

I honestly could go on and on and on about all of the things the Field Journal Notebook has too offer, but the product page on the Tom Bihn website does a great job laying everything out, showing all of the colors, features, accessories, photos, and even a video of this cool product.

Photo of sneaky 4 year-old

The Field Journal Notebook retails for $75.00 at TomBihn.com.

Many many thanks to Tom Bihn for providing this review sample at no charge.

Review: Action Cahier by Behance

The Action Cahier by Behance in its packaging glory.

I recently went to Montreal, Canada, which has a very strong French influence, which means CLAIREFONTAINE. Anyways, besides loading up on Clairefontaine notebooks, I also visited a particular stationery store called Papeterie Nota Bene. Located near McGill University, this stationery store is perhaps the best stationery store that I have visited in that it has a large variety of... well... stationery. (Not so much in the pens department, but they do carry the full line of Diamine and J. Herbin inks.) I had a wonderful experience and highly recommend anyone who is visiting Montreal or from the area to go acquaint themselves with the store. Regardless, among the many things that I purchased there, I also got these Action Cahier notebooks by Behance. I saw these online and was particularly interested in them because the idea behind them reminded me of the Rhodia Meeting Books. They also look pretty nice from a design stand point, as their slogan seems to be "Designed by and for creative professionals." While I don't fit really into  this category, it was quite appealing.

Unwrapped and back of packaging with logo sticker.

The Action Cahier is part of the line of Action Notebooks by Behance, which follows their Action Method that aims to increase the productivity and efficency of indivuduals (particularly "creative or non-creative" individuals).  It's kind of a nice idea and such, but it really just seems like you're paying for a product to help you organize yourself that looks pretty when really you can use anything (and I got sucked into it). While they have the Action Cahier, they also have an Action Pad (think desk pad version) and Action Notebook (their fulfledged version with an extended layout). Anyways, back to the Action Cahier.

The spread. Looks nice, right? It doesn't lay flat, though, which is somewhat expected.

The Action Cahier is a collaboration between Behance and the green oriented NewLeaf (100% ecofriendly and recycleable!). It comes in two color schemes, blue or orange; I got the orange because that's all that what they had at the store at the time. As I said previously, the design is pretty nice. On a spread, you see that one side has their designed boxes and checkboxes and such for you to put your "actions" (aka to do list) and on the other side you have basically a dotpad for you to "put info on how you implement your ideas." There is also a nice, usable back pocket. While the boxes are nice, I feel as if I am always in a situation of find it really hard to fill them all up or have enough boxes for my actions. However, I love that the back is a dotpad because you can have structure but freedom when drawing diagrams and such. Each page is also perforated so you can just tear out the sheet and stick it somewhere else, which is convenient and thoughtful. However, I somehow wish that you wouldn't have to turn the page to elaborate on your ideas and could just use the left side. Of course then this is a problem with perforation, but yeah, just wishful thinking. This is not the largest problem of the notebook.

Writing sample on one sheet of paper (back on left, front on right).  The quality of the paper is pretty good, except for the waxy layer on the front side of the sheet making it unfriendly for fountain pens.

I tried a variety of instruments to test the paper of the notebook, and it's great on all writing instruments I tested, except fountain pens (well, the ink of the fountain pen that I used). It seems as if the paper has some kind of waxy layer on the top or something as to make it really not want to absorb the ink from the pen (at all; although it appears fine, this dried for like.. 8 days). There is also some "bubbly" effect for fountain pen ink in that the ink did not want to interact and spread on the paper so much it'd rather interact with itself and form mini droplets on the paper. Additionally, there was very mild bleed through on the back side with the fountain pen. So, fountain pen users should beware! However, the waxy layer does not seem to be present on the back so if you want to be stubborn and buy this and you are a fountain pen user, you can go crazy on the dotpad (although most fountain pen users would go for Rhodia I'd imagine). Besides this, the paper has a nice feel to it and is substantial (aka not like the Moleskine Cahiers). The waxy-ish layer seems to add to the design in that perhaps the papers are meant to be ripped out, and the waxy layer can thus protect whatever you are writing or the integrity of the sheet itself.

The back of the notebook has "New Leaf" and "Behance"(not in focus) embossed.

While the Action Cahier looks aesthetically appealing (and can therefore make you look really cool by using it - I can imagine an artsy hipster using this if they decide that moleskine is not unique enough, haha), it is not worth its value in my opinion because of its inability to take fountain pen ink on the front and confinement due to the  premade boxes (it's actually a bigger problem for me than it seems). While I've never used a Rhodia Meeting Book before, it seems a lot more useful and practical in that there is more space to write and you don't have to confine your ideas to 7 boxes and the like (the Rhodia Meeting Book seems to overlap in function with the Action Cahier). I'd expect that the quality of the Rhodia Meeting Book is different in that it can take common fountain pen ink, as well. The Rhodia Meeting Book seems to accept more flexibility for people with tons on their to-do list. However, what I do like about the Action Cahier is, if the purpose of the cahier includes ripping out each sheet, the design is very thoughtful. The size is small and convenient, the perforation allows for the easy of tearing, and the quality of the paper gives increased durability. 

I got this for 9$ at Papeterie Nota Bene, but apparently they sell it for 7$ at the Behance website. Not cheap for the student budget. Other products of their Action Method line can be found on Amazon.