Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Milan P1 Touch Ballpoint and Guerrero Notebook Review

Guerrero Notebook & Milan Ballpoints


I am very lucky to have made some great friends over the years here at The Pen Addict. This review includes products from two of my favorite world-travelers: Carmen sent me the blue Milan P1 Touch she picked up while in Spain last year, and Hen from Rad and Hungry sent me the black Milan P1 plus a Guerrero Notebook from the STMT X Spain Kit, the final kit from last year’s world tour. Hooray for Spain!


The Milan ballpoints are very nice to write with. The barrel is coated in a very thin rubber which provides a good gripping surface and the entire pen feels solidly constructed. I thought I was going to prefer writing with the blue ink more than the black, but the opposite was actually the case.


Both inks are smooth, but when compared to each other the blue comes out looking very streaky. The black is one of the darker ballpoint inks I have used, almost making me think it is a hybrid ink like the Pentel Vicuna. It is that dark.


Guerrero Notebook & Milan Ballpoints Review


The Guerrero Notebook is a nice paperback that looks ideal for schoolwork. Do any of you remember the blue books from school that you had to take your essay exams in? They are a lot like that. The paper is nice and smooth and is set up well for note taking or writing practice.


I don’t travel to Spain very often (ok, never) but these pens and notebooks would be worth picking up if I did. You should give them a try if you ever have the opportunity. Milan does have a small presence in the US so some of you might be able to find their products locally.

Posted on February 29, 2012 and filed under Ballpoint, Notebook Reviews, Pen Reviews.

Kikkerland WritersBlok Notebook Review

Kikkerland WritersBlok Notebook Review


Pocket sized notebooks are a great utility item. I keep one on my person when I leave the house (even though I also carry an iPhone), one in my car center console, and one in my backpack when I take it to work out of the house. I have tried many - Doane Paper, Field Notes, Moleskine, Behance, Ecosystem - and across the board they are all good quality notebooks. The Kikkerland WritersBlok Notebook, on the other hand, is not so good.


I added these to a recent Amazon order, and I could tell before I even took off the shrink wrap there was going to be a problem. The cover of the notebook has a raised rectangle area for you to apply a label. It was out of alignment by several degrees on the top notebook, and progressively worse through the next two in the pack. I could let that slide if it were just the cover, but unfortunately, it transferred to the paper too.


You can see clearly in the photos what I am referring to. If I used blank pages it wouldn’t be an issue, but trying to use grid paper cut like this is not going to work. I’m not sure how a product like this leaves the factory to be quite honest. It’s too bad because this could be a decent option for a pocket notebook.


Kikkerland WritersBlok Notebook Writing Sample

Posted on November 16, 2011 and filed under Kikkerland, Notebook Reviews.

Kokuyo Campus Todai Series Pre-Dotted Twin Ring Notebook Review

Kokuyo Campus Todai Series Pre-Dotted Twin Ring Notebook Writing Sample


I mentioned a few weeks back that I am way behind in paper/notebook/journal reviews, so I am glad to finally start to get caught up on some of these. The Kokuyo Campus Todai Pre-Dotted notebook is a unique notebook in the fact that it combines both lines and dots for a really unique writing background. I think I have had this one laying around for 6 months or so - it's about time I tested it out!


This notebook was created as the result of a joint research project on students in Japan, and that is definitely who this notebook is targeted to. At just 40 sheets, it is not going to take the full brunt of daily note taking, but it is the perfect compliment to math and science classes with any type of lab work. The lines allow for clean written notes, and the dots are perfect for diagrams and sketches.


Kokuyo Campus Todai Series Pre-Dotted Twin Ring Notebook Inside Cover


Since I am not a student, and didn't really excel at math or science, I bought it for another reason - the cool cover! While I am not a full fledged map nerd, I have always enjoyed the technical aspects of maps, especially subway/train type maps. Something about how chaotic they can be, but still remain very clean and focused fascinates me (if you browse through my Tumblr you will see many examples). The map on the cover of this Kokuyo Campus is of the Tokyo Subway system, and is the same on the yellow version of the notebook.


Kokuyo Campus Todai Series Pre-Dotted Twin Ring Notebook Cover


All of the inks I threw at this paper did exceptionally well, including the liquid ink pens. There was no bleed, feathering, or show through of any type. You can check it out on the back page for yourself. A pretty impressive performance if you ask me.


Kokuyo Campus Todai Series Pre-Dotted Twin Ring Notebook Writing Sample Back


You can find the the full range of Kokuyo Campus Todai Series Pre-Dotted Notebooks at JetPens.com.

Posted on June 20, 2011 and filed under Campus, Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.