(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
Notepads are a stationery category that I don't think has enough representation. They're a great format compared to a spiral or side-bound notebook. The binding at the top combined with removable pages and a sturdy back cover are what make notepads so great. There are several different options, and it's pretty easy to find a good product that fits your needs and budget. But what about notepad holders or cases? There are even fewer options in this category.
The best example of a notepad holder that I can think of are the folio style contraption that you can find at any big-box office supply store. These fake leather folios usually have a zipper or snap closure, a few pockets on the left side, and a large slit to hold a legal pad or something of a similar size. I never liked them because they felt clumsy and cheap. Sure, you can absolutely find some high-quality options, but that might not make sense for a utilitarian notebook carry option.
Maruman has several notepads in their product lineup, and they all perform like you'd expect from any of their products. On top of that, they have a sleek and affordable notepad holder and organizer that can store, protect, and organize your notepads, a pen, and other loose sheets of paper or other similarly sized items.
This Mnemosyne is an A5 notepad holder that has an additional 5 pockets for storing paper, envelopes, and other flat objects. Along with the holder, there's also an A5 Mnemosyne notepad with a 5mm grid pattern. The combination is really useful and sleek.
The product uses a rigid plastic in order to keep costs down while providing plenty of structure and protection. The 99% black color scheme matches perfectly with their notebook line, with only a small Mnemosyne logo on the front cover to let you know where it came from.
The back cover also has a couple of rivets that anchor an elastic strap that does a great job of keeping the notebook closed when not in use.
The inside of the notebook is simple even though there are 5 different pockets along the inside front cover. There a pocket on the inside front cover, and then there are two more thick plastic sheets that each have another pocket on the front and back. These pockets are great for categorizing the sheets that you tear out of the notebook, or for any other A5 or smaller paper bits you want to keep.
There's also enough room in the spine of the notepad cover to store a single pen. There's even a small notch cut out at the top of the spine for most pen clips to slip into snugly. The average pen clip will have no problem holding tight to this material, and the rigid spine is thick enough to offer a little extra protection for your pen, though I wouldn't say this is crush proof.
The notepad has 70 sheets of 80gsm paper with a light gray 5mm grid pattern on the front of the pages. The back side of the sheet is blank. There's also a small section at the top of each sheet where you can enter information about the date, title, or other relevant organizational information. The pages aren't numbered.
Writing on this paper is fantastic. It's the same experience with any other Mnemosyne notebook, and similar to many of the other Maruman notebook options. It works well with a variety of writing instruments and ink chemistry. I haven't noticed any feathering or bleeding, and I can hardly see anything through the back side of the page, which is great and honestly a little surprising given the 80gsm rating. In other notebooks with this paperweight, I'm used to more show-through.
The pages tear out of the notepad easily and cleanly thanks to the micro-perforation along the top edge. The notepad has a front cover, but I immediately flipped it over and tucked it into the notepad pocket along with the back cover to keep the setup neat. The front cover has pre-folded lines where the cover needs to folder over the top spine, so folding it back is effortless and clean.
The notepad is top notch and exactly what I'd expect from Mnemosyne when it comes to the writing experience, and the cover is surprisingly robust given the plastic materials. I'm fully confident that it will protect the notepad, pen, and anything else I store in it, and the elastic closure ensures nothing falls out in normal usage.
This Mnemosyne notepad and cover are great for anyone that wants a sleek notepad organization system with space for a pen and some pockets for categorizing notes.
(Maruman USA provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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