LIFE Ramune Notebook Review

Everything old is new again, I guess? New to me anyway.

The LIFE Ramune Notebook is relatively new, launching in the past year or two. But the old part is what’s on the inside, which is LIFE L Writing Paper, which we first reviewed back in 2018.

I didn’t think much more about it then because this paper was packaged as a letter writing pad. Wide lines, fancy borders on some models, traditional lattice pattern paper, etc. Great performance for fountain pens, to be sure, but not my idea of an every day notebook.

Fast forward to my discovery of the Ramune Notebook on JetPens, which not only caught my eye aesthetically, but was made with LIFE L Writing Paper. What is this magic of which I’ve never heard? Yeah, I’m slow sometimes. Eight years in this case.

With that bit of background out of the way, I am impressed with everything about this notebook. I ordered the A6 Graph (there are both A6 and B6 sizes, each in Graph or Lined,) which features wire binding that includes a wrist gap in the middle, making them slightly more left-handed friendly, I guess? Regardless, I like what it adds to the classic design aesthetic.

The Extra Fine Steel nib of the Keyno Fountain Pen.

What does “Ramune” mean in relation to this notebook? Well, I don’t see any liquid, so it’s not the Japanese soft drink, but it could be the bottle color? Another Wikipedia entry mentions Japanese tablet candy, which might explain the lighter shade of Blue. Honestly, I’m not 100% sure, but I’ll take either of those answers for full credit. At least the interior grid matches the light Blue of the cover. It’s a classic color for a grid, but a shade or two lighter than expected.

The super wide and wet Sailor KOP Broad nib.

Back of the above page.

Excellent aesthetics aside, the paper in the inside is the real star. Yes, I incorrectly assumed for a minute this is new LIFE paper. It’s obviously not, but it has been reimagined into more traditional formats, which is also seen in the Cinnamon variant of this model.

I had no issue with any fountain pen, nib, or ink I threw at it, from Extra Fine all the way up to the Broad (and wet,) Sailor King of Pen nib. The page is smooth (the lattice cannot be felt when writing,) and shows off ink color well. The only pen type even close to coming through the back of the page was the Schmidt P8127 Rollerball, and none of the inks feathered. Sharpies are excluded in all of this, but are always fun to throw down for reference.

What are the downsides of the LIFE Ramune Notebook? Two I can think of. One, the aforementioned spiral binding is not good in every situation. I personally wouldn’t want to be pulling it in and out of a bag all of the time, so it will either stay on my desk, or slide into a slim case, alongside some pens.

Secondly, they are slightly pricey. At $9.25 for A6 and $10.50 for B6, with 60 sheets in either size, they are nice as a one-off but could get costly as a go-to notebook that you might burn through. The B6 is a better value per square inch, all things considered.

The LIFE Ramune Notebook is a fantastic overall performer, and I’m glad I finally discovered LIFE L Writing Paper after all of these years. Recommended!

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

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Life Stationery Noble A5 and B6 Notebook Review

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

The Noble Note line of notebooks from Life Stationery has long been on my radar of notebooks to try out since they get so much attention and are easily recommended. It's taken me a while to try these out because I have a first-world problem of having too many great notebooks to choose from in my stationery stash. But finally, I have a couple of these popular Japanese notebooks on my desk, and I've spent some time with them to see what the hype is all about.

I have the Life Noble A5 notebook in grid format and the Life Noble B6 notebook in lined format. Both of these are available in either grid, lined, or plain paper, and you can also get them in other sizes, like A4, B5, and more. The cover colors are locked to the paper format, though! I wouldn't normally pick lined over grid, but I just had to have the lovely blue cover in hand.

One of the first things that struck me about these notebooks is how well-made they feel. The binding is tight and clean, the edges are straight, and the cover design is crisp. Quality control on these notebooks is obviously very stringent.

Both notebooks have 100 sheets (200 pages) of ivory 84.9 gsm acid-free paper. The binding uses the perfect-bound technique, which involves several sections that are bound with thread and then connected to each other with an adhesive spine. It makes for a clean look where you can see the four sections from the side, and then the characteristic black spine tape. This also makes it easier for the notebook to lay open on its own.

The 84.9 gsm paper is a joy to use. I'm not a huge fan of ivory paper — I prefer white paper — but it's easy to look past that preference in this case. The paper doesn't feel thick, but it performs like thicker paper. I haven't noticed any adverse behaviors like feathering, bleeding, or skipping when writing in these notebooks. There's a bit of ghosting or show-through on the back of the page, but not enough to prevent you from writing on both sides of the sheet. When writing, the feel of the paper through the pen tip is smooth with subtle feedback that lets you easily control the pen. A little bit of texture in paper goes a long way, and these notebooks nailed the balance of smoothness and texture for great writing feel.

If I were to point out a couple of flaws that I've found with these books, it would be these two things: I wish the corners were rounded a bit to prevent them getting bent, and I wish the pages were numbered. Outside of that, it's tough to find anything wrong with these. The paper is excellent, the outside is aesthetically pleasing and functional, and the price is in line with the level of quality you're getting from the product.

These notebooks are slightly more luxurious than other notebooks I commonly use, but they're still well within reach for anyone that has chosen to pursue this hobby and appreciates good paper.

The Life Noble A5 is $23, while the Life Noble B6 is $17. They have plenty of great paper and will last a while with regular use. For the amount of paper you get with these notebooks, they're a great deal and the paper quality is really tough to beat. At this level of performance, it really just comes down to personal preference. If you've already found the perfect notebook and paper for you, then I'm really happy for you and I hope we all find that perfect match! But, if you're always looking for the next possible perfect match, then put the Life Noble notebooks at the top of your list.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Review

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

The stenographers' pad or steno book has long been a favorite of mine. It's a ubiquitous format that you can find in almost any store in the US that sells any sort of stationery or office supplies. Quality varies greatly, and most of these notebooks use cheap, thin paper that is unpleasant to use. But there a few brands that provide an excellent steno book, and I love them for it. A new option that quickly skyrocketed to the top of my "great steno books" list is the Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook.

The Life Stationery take on the steno book is similar to all the other variants, but it excels in the area of paper quality. Most steno books are sized roughly in the realm of 8x6 inches, and the Life version sticks to the tried-and-true A5 spec at 8.2" x 5.8". According to Wikipedia, Gregg ruling is normally found in North America, and it is described as such: "Paper should be smooth and lined, dull in finish, with three lines to the inch and a line down the center." Life's version of the steno book stays true to this definition, with wide line ruling and a line down the middle of the page. The ruling and center line are repeated on both sides of the page.

Steno books normally aren't very thick, and this variant is no different. With just 50 pages, it won't last long unless you're using both sides of the pages. With cheap steno books, I've only used the front side of the page for convenience (going to the next page is a simple page turn away, as opposed to turning the page and flipping the notebook around), but I'll be using both sides of the pages in this steno book for two reasons: it isn't exactly cheap, and the paper can actually handle writing on both sides.

It feels a little odd to use a steno book that has such nice paper since these types of books usually resort to pretty cheap paper that you use and throw away. With Life's notebook, the paper is really good. It's thick, smooth, and you can hardly see any show-through on the back side of the page. It's so good — just like the paper in their other notebooks. Using the back side of the page is easy in this case. It feels smooth when writing, but isn't slippery. All the inks and pen combos I've tried have done remarkably well. I can't see any feathering or bleeding anywhere. The only ink that I've found to somewhat show through to the back side of the page is the Schmidt P812x rollerball ink, and even then it's minimal. In short, the paper is phenomenal.

When it comes to ruling, I'm a fan of dot grid, then grid, then either lined (narrow or college rule) or blank depending on my mood or what I'm using the paper for. Wide rule is one of my least favorite rulings, but I don't mind it in this case because it's part of the specification for a stenographer notebook. Something about the line going down the middle of the page makes a little easier for me to use. I don't feel bad splitting my notes or scribbles into two sections across the page. It doesn't really make sense, but it's how my brain works in this case.

I didn't realize this at the time, but Life also offers a grid ruling version of their Stenographers' Notebook. Where the Gregg Ruled version has a green cover, the grid version has a beige cover and also costs $2 more.

The green cover on the notebook I have is a very close shade to light brown in the right light, but does a great job of looking retro and clean. It's thick enough to provide plenty of protection for the paper inside, and is thicker than most steno books. The back cover is completely blank, a lighter color, and equal in thickness and rigidity. The top-bound spiral ring is robust and just the right size for easy page turning. The wire is coated in a nice off-white finish that goes well with the cream paper and green/brown covers. Aside from the front, there is zero markings on the inside front and back covers. The corners are square, and I've noticed that the beginning and ending pages have already started curling a little bit from use. Not a big deal, but something that could easily be avoided by rounding off the corners.

For me, the steno book is equal parts utilitarian and nostalgic. It's fun to see a product from Life that nails both of these traits while also delivering a vastly superior product. Sure, you pay for that quality, but it's amazing. The Gregg ruled version of this notebook is $13, while the grid ruled version is $15. Not the cheapest options, but I'd argue it's correct pricing due to the quality of the materials used. If you just want a cheap steno book that you can use as a scratchpad, this isn't the product for you. But, if you like the aesthetic and form factor of a top-bound A5 notebook with creamy, excellent paper, and retro-branded covers, then this is a great notebook for the money.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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