Field Notes Shenandoah Review

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

Summer is nearly here, all the plants are turning green and blooming, and there's an abundance of troublesome pollen in the air and on our cars. Before we know it, it will be the middle of the summer and we'll be begging for cooler weather. Given that information, I'm a little perplexed as to why I chose to open up the Shenandoah Field Notes over something more bright and cheery. My only excuse is that these covers are gorgeous and I can't get enough of them.

The Field Notes Shenandoah edition was released last Fall, and it's quickly become one of my personal favorites. After I used up my first pack, I ordered some more to keep on hand. They're good notebooks, and I've really enjoyed using mine.

Specifics

Being a Colors edition, the specifics are a tad different than the standard offering.

The Shenandoah edition was printed in September 2015 in a run of 40,000 3-packs. The three books each feature a popular tree found in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia: the Red Maple, Sweet Birch, and Chestnut Oak. The back of each notebook features a drawing of the leaf and a short description of the tree. Each notebook has a unique color scheme, which features a different color for the outside and inside of the cover.

The paper inside the notebooks are all grid pattern, and the paper is Finch 60# instead of the standard 50# found in their standard notebooks. Of course, it's the standard 3.5" x 5.5" size with 48 pages per book for a price of $9.95. No surprises there.

Performance

One of the first things that caught my attention about this edition was the paper they used for the insides. 60# weight, to be exact. The normal Field Notes books use 50#, which doesn't do well with fountain pens or wet liquid rollerballs (like a Retro 51 Tornado or Pilot Precise). I was excited to give it a try since I haven't had any direct experience with this paper before.

Long story short? It performs better than the standard Field Notes paper. But, if you dislike show-through, it will really disappoint you. I happen to really hate show-through, so I've relegated these notebooks for gel pen use only. Still, I wasn't hoping for too much with these notebooks because they're so utilitarian and easy to use with anything that you have on hand. It's part of the appeal for me.

Fine-tipped fountain pens will work well enough on the paper, but wetter, larger pens will destroy the paper. That being said, it's a smooth paper that's a joy to use. I just prefer using non-fountain pens with it. I had a slight hope that this would be a great fountain pen paper, but those hopes were dashed after I turned over the page I was testing on. On the other hand, there isn't a lot of feathering with most nibs/inks I tried, so that's a positive.

Bottom line, this paper can handle fountain pens, but it's not optimal. There are much better options out there in the 3.5" x 5.5" category.

Conclusion

I'm fairly picky about which Field Notes editions I like, and the Shenandoah edition really hit the sweet spot for me. They're gorgeous notebooks, the paper inside is a step above the normal books, and they use a grid pattern paper. My favorite color of the three is Sweet Birch. Honestly, if I could buy 3-packs of Sweet Birch, I would jump all over it.

You can still pick up the Shenandoah edition at several retail locations and online stores. I purchased a pack from Field Notes first and JetPens later.

Baron Fig Squire Giveaway

When the Baron Fig Squire launched on Kickstarter I wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was no doubt I was backing it, but my expectations were metered until I had it in my hands. When that day arrived (on schedule even!) I was thrilled with the final result. The Squire is a wonderfully designed pen with a great feel and balance when writing.

They have been on pre-order up until this point, but as of this morning, they are in stock and available. To coincide with he launch, the Baron Fig team is giving away one Squire in the charcoal finish to a reader of The Pen Addict. Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Friday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is open to US and international residents.
2. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.
3. The contest winner will be posted on Saturday, May 21st. The winner will have one week to email me via the Contact link at the top of the page.

My thanks to the team at Baron Fig for offering up this great pen for giveaway. Good luck!

Bung Box Ink And Platinum Pens At Vanness Pens (Sponsor)

Hard to find fountain pen inks are easy to buy from Vanness Pens. From P.W. Akkerman , to Bung Box , to KWZ Standard and Iron Gall inks they have you covered. Not only do they carry full bottles of each of these brands and more, they offer large 4 ml ink samples so you can try several fills of an ink before committing to a full bottle. This is especially helpful with some of the high end inks like Bung Box.

What does Vanness Pens do with all of those empty ink bottles they have around the shop? They sell them with a wonderful added bonus: Free engraving. These make for a great desk display or refill bottle for other inks.

Vanness Pens isn't just an ink shop, they carry all the big pen brands, including a recently expanded Platinum fountain pen lineup. With nibs ranging from the narrow Ultra Extra Fine to the wide Music, Platinum nibs perform as well or better than any on the market. And at Vanness, all Platinum Pens are listed at 20% off suggested retail.

Whether it is pens, inks, or even custom engraving, Vanness Pens has you covered. My thanks to them for sponsoring The Pen Addict this week.