Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Kyokuto F.O.B. COOP To Do List Sticky Notes Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

If there's one thing I always wish there were more of, it's high-quality sticky notes. The brand that made sticky notes famous doesn't use the highest quality paper, which is a bummer. There are a few other companies that strive to make sticky notes that work with more than just standard ballpoints and gel pens, but they are few and far between.

I recently discovered the Kyokuto F.O.B. COOP To Do List Sticky Notes (what a name, right? I'll refer to them as Kyokuto sticky notes from now on.), which has renewed my interest in this category. The Kyokuto sticky notes come in three variations: To Do List, Daily, and Weekly. Each sticky pad has 30 one-sided sheets and measures in at 2 x 5.5 inches. This is a perfect size for attaching these small notes to the margin of another notebook, planner, or calendar.

The to do list variant has 15 lines with check boxes included. The Daily version has hourly markers starting at 9 and ending at 22. Finally, the weekly version includes all seven days of the week along with three small check boxes for each day next to the date section.

Each sticky note pad has a translucent protective cover that looks really cool. Yeah, it has some branding and example scribbles on the cover, but I like the frosty translucent look.

In use, I've found it easier to remove a sticky note and apply it to another surface before I start jotting down notes, but it works fine while still in the pad. Your mileage may vary.

On the surface, these sticky pads seem to do a great job of filling their utilitarian purpose. In practice, I think it will come down to personal preference and how small you can write. In every variation, I don't have a comfortable amount of room to write out my tasks, agenda, or events. I don't enjoy writing small, but I also don't think I write that large in the first place. 2x5.5" is a convenient size, but I'd love to see a 2.5x7" or something similar so I have a little extra room to breathe.

The quality of these little pads is top notch. The printing is sharp, the shading on different rows in the daily planner is great, and the idea is fantastic. The paper quality is great, but not resilient against certain fountain pen/ink combinations. In my practice, fine nibs with inks that have anti-bleed tendencies are best with these sticky pads. That said, these pads are only meant to be written on the top side, which makes bleed-through irrelevant as long as the bleed doesn't soak into the next page. I haven't had that happen, but I'm sure some inks are up to the challenge.

Gel pens, rollerballs, and ballpoints work great with this paper. It's a smooth, glossy texture that's pleasant to use. The top inch of the paper has an adhesive backing, so sticking these notes onto other surfaces is easy and secure. I haven't had any issues with corners pulling up or notes falling out of notebooks, so that's a good sign that Kyokuto have used a good adhesive in these pads. That said, the notes are still easy to remove or move around without any degraded adhesive performance.

I think my favorite of the three is the generic to do list variant. It's the most versatile of the bunch, but I like all three. They're a perfect companion to your favorite notebook, planner, or paper calendar.

The Kyokuto F.O.B COOP to do list sticky notes are $5.50 a piece, which means you'll spent over $15 for all three. At 30 sheets, this seems like a premium price, but they are well made. If these were closer to the three-dollar mark, it would be an easier sell, but the price still feels fair if you plan on using these every now and then instead of one or two per day.

You'll probably know from looking at the pictures here or on JetPens whether or not these will be something that you splurge on. If you pick some up, you certainly won't be disappointed by the quality! These cute planner assistants are a lot of fun and do the job well.

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Posted on August 8, 2018 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Kyokuto, Sticky Notes, Notebook Reviews.

The Rhodia Goalbook: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

The Rhodia Goalbook is a soft, leatherette-covered notebook designed primarily for bullet journaling. The book has two ribbon bookmarks and a built in envelope pocket on the back cover.

It has six table of contents pages, which is quite ample. I really love this feature whether you use the book for goal planning, journaling, or general writing.

A vertical calendar (perpetual) follows the table of contents pages with six months on two facing pages and the other six months on the next two facing pages.

Next are monthly pages divided horizontally into three months per page.

The remainder of the notebook is comprised of 224 dot-grid pages with page numbers printed in the bottom corner.

Since I don’t use the bullet journal method, I decided to use my Rhodia Goalbook as a Commonplace Book. A Commonplace Book is simply a notebook used to compile notes, quotations, and other information you want to keep. I’m primarily using mine to keep track of what I’m reading along with quotations and other snippets of information I find relevant or interesting.

I’m using the vertical calendar to keep track of when I start and finish reading a book.

In the monthly section, I list all the books (or short stories) I’ve read that month along with my rating for most of them.

I set aside the first few pages of the notebook to test different inks and nib sizes to see how well the paper holds up. There’s a bit of show through, but no bleed through.

In the remainder of the book, I’ve been writing out selections from the books I’ve been reading along with some quotations and other material, such as the theme song to one of my favorite television series, The Expanse. Cool fact: did you know that the title song is in Norwegian (apparently not grammatically correct Norwegian, but still)?

You can see that next to the book quotations I’ve identified major themes. I plan to index these at the end of my notebook.

I also wrote a summary paragraph describing what I thought of the book.

I think the Rhodia Goalbook works well as a Commonplace Book since it already has a table of contents and enumerated pages. Obviously, it would also be perfect for bullet journaling.

Rhodia’s cream-colored Premium "R" 90 g paper paper is smooth and very fountain pen friendly. The dot-grid pattern makes it easy to write either vertically or horizontally, and of course you can use the dots to make check boxes if you’re bullet journaling. The two ribbons are handy so that you can bookmark two sections of the journal for easy reference.

You can purchase the Rhodia Goalbook from JetPens for $24.95. The Goalbooks come in a wide array of colors: sapphire, iris, purple, black, chocolate, turquoise, yellow, anise, silver, tangerine, orange, taupe, beige, lilac, poppy, and raspberry. I think it’s another terrific offering from Rhodia.

(Exaclair provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on August 3, 2018 by Susan Pigott and filed under Rhodia, Notebook Reviews.

Field Notes Pitch Black Note Books Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

The Field Notes Pitch Black Note Books are so simple and so plain. There is absolutely no logical reason for why these delight me as much as they do, but I love these notebooks. They are one of my staples--I used one for my first ever writer's conference notes, and now they're a conference tradition. I have to have one with me for my notes and diary for such events. I associate them with adventure, enrichment, and bonding with distant friends. And now--I can have them in the larger 7.5" x 4.75" size, which I adore and my life feels so complete now.

The notebooks sport a soft cover of duplexed black and kraft cardstock, so they're flexible but sturdy. They have the dusty charcoal outer cover with the Field Notes logo in matte silver, and the inside covers have all the delightful cheekiness that Field Notes specializes in. Reading through them is one of the highlights of cracking a new notebook. I mean, there are gender neutral labels and Ray Bradbury references. There are tips for getting better sleep...or staying up all night. I open this book and know that the people who made it are my people, and I feel their influence on the work--they're bridging a connection between the designer and the user that feels like friendship.

I think that's one of the things that sets Field Notes apart--I don't feel like I've received a product, I feel like I've been passed a lovely note.

But I digress, because notebooks have to be useful, too. And huzzah, it is.

Between those fabulous covers are 32 sheets of 60 lb acid-free paper. They're printed with unobtrusive 6.5 mm lines in light grey. It is all held together with staple binding--the staples are a lovely shiny black.

As with many Field Notes, the paper isn't the best for fountain pens, but it really didn't do too badly. Broader pens and darker inks showed through, and one particularly wet ink bled a slight bit. There is some faint feathering. But overall, it performed well enough that I'll have no qualms using fountain pens in it. I don't mind show-through, or even slight bleeding, so long as I can still read the text. And of course it works wonderfully for pencils, ballpoints, rollerballs, fineliners, and gel pens.

So, while it isn't flawless, it's still perfect. And I'm so glad this is a part of the signature line--that way I can stock up over time instead of ordering an unseemly amount immediately. Which I am tempted to do anyway, frankly.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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