(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
The Fabriano EcoQua Gluebound A5 notebook is one of those items that caught me by surprise this year. At first glance, it doesn't look like much, and I'll admit that I didn't even recognize the brand name until looking into it in more depth. Luckily, the EcoQua notebook is a fantastic little product that works best for me as a notepad since the pages are so easy to remove when you're done using them. And the paper quality is good enough to convince me to try this for a while instead of my trusty Rhodia DotPads that rely on perforated paper, which can be a little more finicky to tear cleanly.
Before getting into how versatile this notebook is, let's get the specifications out of the way. The EcoQua notebook is A5 sized (8.3 x 5.8 inches) with 90 sheets of 85 gsm white paper. The entire notebook is made in Italy from 100% natural materials, and features a sturdy but flexible card stock cover that protects the insides. The paper has a 4mm dot grid pattern, and the sheets are held in place with a flexible glue binding that makes the sheets easy to tear out. The Lemon colorway featured here is bright and happy, but there are plenty of other color options too.
I think the notebook is pretty interesting aesthetically, but most of what we care about is how the paper performs, right? Paper weight only tells part of the story in terms of how it feels to use. In the case of the EcoQua notebook, the paper is a little thicker than the Leuchtturm 1917 paper I'm so accustomed to now, but it still doesn't feel heavy or thick. There's a good amount of toothy feedback when writing, but it doesn't impact my writing style at all. It feels like there's a very thin coating on the paper to help with absorption, but it doesn't make the paper feel glassy smooth when writing, which I prefer. The light gray dot grid pattern is fantastic for providing structure when you want it, but disappearing when you don't need it. In my testing, I couldn't find any issues with the paper in terms of feathering or bleeding. Inks seem to dry at a normal pace, and the colors pop on the white paper.
The only downside I've noticed when using the paper is that there's a significant amount of show-through on the back side of the page. For me, this makes the back unusable, but others may not mind. Of course, this also depends on what you're writing with. Fountain pen ink definitely shows through, no matter the nib size. Other ink pens show through as well, but not as much. Even pencil marks show through, but not enough to make the back of the page unusable.
Ultimately, I'm not concerned about the show-through because this notebook feels more like a notepad to me. The cover opens up flat because it isn't attached to the glue binding at all. I've been very content to just tear out sheets when I'm done using them so I can move on to the next blank page. It makes an excellent notepad for me, but the added bonus here is that the notepad comes with a sturdy cover.
If you're interested in the Fabriano EcoQua Gluebound A5 notebook, check them out at JetPens. At $8.50, they're a fantastic value with decent paper. If the yellow is too loud, you can pick from seven other fun colors.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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