Bound Custom Journals Review

Bound Custom Journals first came on my radar when they launched their business on Kickstarter in summer of 2011. For reasons that escape me now, I didn't back the project. This was around the time of the Pen Type-A boom, so I'm guessing my Kickstarter budget was fully accounted for at that time? Yeah, lets go with that.

Despite my lack of backing, the guys behind Bound ran with their Kickstarter success and launched a full-fledged business behind their custom journals and memo books. I have been anxious to build my own for a while, and thanks to the kindness of the Bound team I was able to customize a couple of my own journals at no charge. Bound makes it extraordinarily easy to customize your own journal. To start with, you choose from three base models: the Original Bound Journal, the Bound Memo, or the Vegan Leather Bound Journal. From that point, as Bound so eloquently puts it, "There are more unique ways to customize a Bound Journal than atoms in the universe, SQUARED."

I created one each of the Original Bound Journal and the Bound Memo. Customizing each of these was a blast, as I went with a mix of inserts and paper styles, including a regional map of the US, square grid, dot grid, and blank pages. There are opportunities to branch out even more with pages for wireframes, Cornell Notes, calendars, games, micro-journaling, and more. The number of each type of page is fully at your control as well. Production of my two journals was fast too, comprising just four business days from the day I placed the order to receiving the shipping notification. Once my package arrived, I opened it to find it neatly organized, including the signature of the employee who put my journals together. I love small touches like that.

I chose the Original Bound Journal to run my ink tests on and the paper performed decently, with a couple of small issues. Gel ink pens were the best performers, handling a wide range tip sizes with ease. Even my 0.3 mm Pilot Hi-Tec-C was silky smooth. What didn't work so well were fountain pen inks. This is the norm with most standard journal papers, but at $35 the Bound Journal falls into the premium category to me. It would be nice to see a more fountain pen friendly paper used. The ink did not feather much but there was a good bit of show through. Writing on the back of the page is not an option if fountain pens are your primary writing utensil.

If you look closely at the back of my ink test page you will notice a lot of line pressure marks coming through the back of the page and transferring to the next page as well. I don't have that heavy of a hand so this could even be more of an issue to some. Stick with smooth gel ink pens are drawing pens and you will be in good shape. In the grand scheme of things I am very happy with my Bound Custom Journal but I do see it as more of a gift/special occasion product. For $35 I would be hard pressed to make this my every day notebook when I can get larger and higher quality notebooks for half the price. But if you are looking for a unique, highly customizable, 100% Made in the USA product that YOU create how YOU want then you should give Bound Custom Journals a try.

For another recent look at this product check out the review at Notebook Stories.

Maruman Loose Leaf Mini Paper Review

JetPens describes the Maruman Loose Leaf Mini Paper as “index cards for your binder” and that is completely accurate. Don’t go into your purchase thinking they are the thickness of an index card though - they are essentially a standard sheet of paper.

What sets the Mini Paper apart thought is the quality. Maruman is one of my favorite papers to write on due to the ultra smooth feel. This makes it great for the fine tipped gel ink pens that I love so much, and perfect as a quick note taking option in your binder.

While the Maruman Mnemosyne Inspiration fits my workflow better, the Mini Paper should come in handy for anyone who takes large amounts of notes, especially in a binder format. Has anyone put these to good use yet?

Guest Review: Oxford Stone Paper Note Book

(This is a guest post by Eli Rogers. You can find more from Eli on his blog DadToLibbs.com)

Out of the pen/paper reviews I’ve written so far, this is my favorite. Sometime in early June I was in Walgreens to pick up a prescription. Like in most stores, I decided to peruse the office supply aisle. Most of the time when I do this, no matter the store, I find nothing. It gets frustrating. Well, Walgreens surprised me.

I happened to see a small notebook with one of those little flaps on the front that describes what the notebook has inside. This one? It said the paper was made of stone. STONE!!!! “Really? How does one make paper (that’s made from pulp) from stone?” I asked myself. I was skeptical. I just thought it was a ploy to get me to buy the Oxford Stone Paper Note Book, since the pitch for this was that it saved trees, energy, etc, which would be better for the environment. Feeling the paper, it DID feel different, but that could just mean they processed it differently. Oh, and it smells…different. I like it, because it adds to the different-ness of the notebook.

All my various pens got to touch this glorious paper.

Of course, though, I had to get it. How could I pass up the opportunity to own something different from anything I’ve ever owned? It was hard not to pick up all they had, but I wanted to try it out before I splurged.

It takes to most pens very well. The only one I tried that wasn’t great to write with, was my Zebra Sarasa. All other pens pretty much just glide across the page. One thing you have to be careful with though, is it usually takes most inks a while to dry. So don’t go rubbing the paper (why would you anyway?) after you write. Even a couple minutes later, some inks STILL aren’t dry. And that may be a dealbreaker for many. Not me.

That’s right, I tried to burn it…

…and succeeded. It still burns, but you wouldn’t want to build a fire with it. The highlight of the paper (well, one of the highlights) for me?

The paper is tear-resistant. You try hard enough, you’ll tear it, but it’s hard to start it. It tears more like a thin sheet of plastic than a piece of regular paper. Then, once you get past the initial struggle to tear it, it tears smoothly, again, feeling like a piece of plastic.

Lastly, take a look at this:

Yes, I put the paper under a water faucet, then just simply under water. (I love taking pictures of moving water.) What’s amazing is, if water is run on one side of the paper, the other side barely gets damp. AND, if you only get one side wet, you can STILL WRITE ON THE OTHER SIDE!!!!

Under the faucet, a few inks ran off the page, but after the initial washout, there was practically no fading, just less ink, making most inks a little less vibrant. The Pilot Hi-Tec-C, Precise, and AcroBall, as well as the pencil and Sharpie writing, all held up almost perfectly. Like I said, others ran, but they just look a little duller. The one that didn’t hold up well at all: the Zebra Regal NR5. But I doubt that many people have this pen, so it’s all good.

Oh, and after it dries from you clumsily dropping it in the river while writing down how awesome you are at fishing, it takes ink like it did before it got wet. Fanfreakintastic.

I promise, the other side is wet. And the two pens still wrote beautifully.

Clearly it’s made for the outdoors-y type, since it takes a lot to destroy this paper. You could drop it in the river, and as long as you can find it, you’ll be fine after it dries. That’s the only type of person (besides people who love notebooks) I think would like this. And even if you’re not one of those two types, I suggest getting one. Walgreens is the only place I’ve seen that has them. They also have actual notebook sized paper in the same type of notebook.