Review: Clairefontaine Twin Book

This great new Clairefontaine Twin Book notebook was provided to me for review by my good friends at Exaclair, Inc.  I was really happy to see it included in a recent package of goodies from them, and promptly set forth to put it to use.

I like to keep a journal, but it is notes and ideas based more than diary style, so the Twin Book setup is right up my alley.  The notebook is essentially divided into two sections by the first half of the book having notched out pages, making for 48 pages in each half.  This makes for a clean division between the two.  What I have already started using this notebook for is blogging notes for The Pen Addict, and my new fantasy baseball blog called NL Only.  I like to jot down ideas for future posts as I have them, or plan out and research articles that may get fully fleshed out down the line.  The way I used my journal, I went from page to page in order, and just tagged my entry as "blog" or "baseball" or some other tag.  I could have been proactive and hacked up my journal, or added tabs, but I'm lazy, so the Twin Book is coming in more than handy.

The dimensions of the Twin Book also suit my needs perfectly.  I have always been a fan of the traditional Mead Composition Book, and this notebook is approximately the same size.  It has a soft, staple-bound cover, and the cover is scored on the binding on both the front and back to allow for the cover to bend back and stay put easily.  Little features like that makes this a wonderful notebook to use.

What is a Clairefontaine review without talking about the paper?  If you are not familiar with their 90g paper that populates many of their products, then you should pick some up because you are in for a real treat.  It is silky smooth to the touch, and holds all types of inks very well.  I completely forgot to photograph the back of the ink sample page, but trust me when I say that the only ink I could even see through the paper was from the Sharpie Ultra Fine permanent marker, which is to be expected.  The other pens I couldn't see through the page in the slightest, and that included the Sailor Ink Bar and Platinum Preppy fountain pens.  You may have a little see through with a wide nib fountain pen or bold gel or liquid ink pen, but I think even that would be minimal.  The Clairefontaine paper is exceptional.

I plan on the Twin Book being one of my main companion books in my backpack.  The setup, size, and paper quality are exactly what I am looking for when it comes to a notebook, and I plan on using it heavily.  Big thanks to Karen and Stephanie for sending me these samples.  It is much appreciated, and there is more to come!

Ink Links

-- Review of the Pilot Color Eno Neox 0.7 mm Violet Lead  (Lung Sketching Scrolls)

-- Review of Nomadic PE-08 Easy Classification Pencil Case - Light Gray  (The Pen Archives)

-- Very Black Ink, Very Big Pen, Very Blunt Nib  (Palimpsest)

-- Uniball Gel RT Micro .38mm Pen Review  (Office Supply Geek)

-- The Perfect Pair - Rhodia and a 616  (Goodpens)

-- Rhodia Reverse Book  (Pocket Blonde)

-- A ballpoint versus fountain pen video.  (Leigh Reyes)

-- Pilot Dr. Grip Putimo pencil review  (Alyssa's Pencils)

-- Clairefontaine Graf it 90g sketch pad  (Force de Frappe)

-- Pens, ink and a pen case  (Darice de Cuba)

Review: Uni-Ball Jumpop Mini Ballpoint

About once or twice a year I get the urge to troll through eBay and see what new and interesting pens I can come up with.  It is usually more of a pain to go through all of the listings than it is worth, but I did stumble upon this neat mini pen called the Uni-Ball Jumpop.

The highlight of this pen is the small button near the middle of the barrel.  When pressed, it snaps the pen open and exposes the 0.7mm ballpoint ink cartridge.  This also puts the pen into a better and more comfortable writing length.  The button works so well in fact that I could hardly stop clicking it while doing the review!

From a writing perspective, I am more than happy with how it performs.  Sometimes with non-standard style pens, the ink is an afterthought compared to the barrel design, but the Jumpop leaves a sharp, clean black ballpoint ink line.  While the ink quality isn't the same as the Jetstream, this pen feels like I am writing with an 0.5mm Jetstream refill.  The compact and unique style and excellent ink performance make this a great mini pen option.

Click here for the XL review.