Notebook Review: Maruman Spiral Note Basic Notebook

Lower-cost paper for higher-cost times? You can’t dispute that recent events have been frustrating and confusing for U.S.-based stationery enthusiasts (and lovers of analog products in general) as a significant portion of them are made outside of the country and now subject to higher tariffs. With the cost of most products sourced outside the U.S. already having increased 10% or more, many of us find ourselves searching for lower-cost options. Fortunately there are many options out there that can probably absorb future price increases without destroying value.

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The main review ink I used for this review is Taccia Aomurasaki, in a medium JoWo Nib (Hinze Taschenstift). We reviewed this pen and ink combination earlier this week!

The notebook I’m reviewing today, the Maruman “Spiral Note” Basic Notebook, is one such product. Considered a more economical counterpart to their flagship “Mnemosyne” notebooks, the Spiral Note features 70gsm paper (as opposed to 80gsm Mnemosyne), a simple kraft cover, and a single-wire spiral binding (compared to the Mnemosyne’s double). Maruman offers a multitude of different rulings, including .5mm grid or dot, 6.5mm lined, 8.0mm lined, and blank. There are 80 sheet and 40 sheet options, and pages are perforated, allowing you to easily tear out/archive individual pages. Perforations are a huge plus for me, as a perforated page allows me to take meeting notes in an A5 spiral notebook and then hole-punch any sheet I might want to move to one of my notebook systems.

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While this isn’t what I’d consider a heavy-sheening paper, you can see a hit of sheen on the blue ink here.

Despite the slight decrease in paper weight, performance remains impressive. To me, the paper feels slightly slicker than Mnemosyne, and somewhat similar to Tomoe River 68gsm, though maybe not quite as tactile? I’ve had no issues with feathering or bleedthrough, except for some pinpointing where I really bore down hard with the writing pressure, or did an especially wet swatch. Because the paper is relatively lightweight, darker inks may have some slight show-through on the other side, but you can easily use both sides of a page. I would say that the paper shows off sheen and shading moderately well.

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An especially wet writing sample, using a Schon DSGN Monoc Nib that I recently had Matthew Chen grind to a Kodachi. You can read more about it here.

So Who Is the Maruman Spiral Note Basic Notebook For?

While I think this is a great everyday notebook for anyone, I’d consider it perfect for a few different categories of users:

• People who use a LOT of notebooks, especially writers who draft longhand, or those in other note-intensive jobs. These are also perfect for those who want a more visually low-key option, since the simple kraft cover is unobtrusive and blends in alongside all of the generic office-supply-closet notebooks.

• Those who need to be able to scan or file individual pages and need a “looseleaf” option. Perforations are a too-often overlooked feature, in my opinion, especially for professionals who want or need to take notes on paper but have confidentiality obligations that require them to periodically shred paper. It’s nice to be able to do that without having to destroy the entire notebook.

• Students. If I had known about these notebooks in college they would have been the only thing I’d have used. I’d have used different rulings for different purposes, and then have the notebooks match.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

If you’re looking for a low-cost, functional spiral notebook that features perforated pages and works well with most inks, I consider the Maruman Spiral Note Basic Notebook to be an excellent option, especially given that it currently costs $5.50 to $8, depending on size and page count. If I had to draw an immediate comparison, it would be to the now-discontinued Write Notepads spiral notebook. While the Write Notepads notebook definitely felt like a higher-end product, with a thicker cover and a more substantial spiral, it also cost $20. You simply couldn’t churn through these notebooks at the pace that I did, and I ended up having to find lower-cost everyday options, especially when I started doing different kinds of work that required me to regularly shred notebooks.

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Come check out our full range of Maruman in person!

These notebooks fit a market niche that I felt was lacking in our shop, so as of now we carry them in the B5 and A5 sizes, in both 80 and 40 sheet options. I believe some A4 formats are also available, which we may consider adding in the future. As I mentioned above, prices start at $5.50 and run up to $8, depending on format and page count. For those looking for something more upscale (with a sturdier plastic cover), we also stock many other Maruman products, including the excellent Maruman Mnemosyne notebooks and the Maruman x Kleid collaboration with the 2mm grid ruling.

Everything shown here is also available in our brick and mortar shop, which will be open regular hours this week (Thursday-Friday 1-6pm, and Saturday 10am-6pm). Come take a tour of our new look shop, which we’ve recently been updating. You can also read more about different fountain pen friendly papers in this archived post, and don’t miss the comments section!

Notebook Review: ProFolio Oasis Notebook

ProFolio Oasis notebooks landed on my radar at the first San Francisco Pen Show that I attended, where I had a chance to browse the Sailor/Itoya table. As a huge fan of multi-lined rulings such as Clairefontaine French/Seyes ruling and the Nakabayashi “Logical” lined rulings, I immediately jumped at the ProFolio layout, which distributor/manufacturer Itoya describes as a combination of “dots, graph, and lines.”

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The ProFolio Oasis multi-lined layout.

Itoya highlights versatility as the main selling point of this notebook:

“The Profolio Oasis Notebook was designed to make the hard choice of “which journal” much easier. While many people have a hard time choosing between dot grid, graph, or lined, the Oasis Journal combines the best of all three with its new proprietary paper pattern. The combination of dots, grids, and lines as well as their light application makes this notebook ideal for handwriting, bullet journaling, and even drawing straight lines without the necessity of a ruler.”

— Itoya Marketing Copy

I promise current and former co-workers who may be reading this that the meeting reflected in these notes is entirely fictional.

Personally, I use rulings such as this one to alternate the size of my script, which allows me to take different types of notes and make annotations all over the page. If I need to emphasize a certain note, I’ll use larger letters, and if I want to add annotations I’ll not only write smaller but will use the interior dotted lines instead of the wider, bold ruling. Each page of the notebook features a header section, so that you can date and label as necessary. Some of you may find the header section useful for summarizing meetings or key takeaways from a page of notes.

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The paper is excellent. The current version of the ProFolio notebook features lightweight 75gsm Japanese paper that handles fountain pen ink quite well. If you enjoy the look of Clairefontaine French-ruled paper, yet find Clairefontaine too slick, the ProFolio paper has a softer texture more akin to Nakabayashi. (It might even be the same paper used in the Logical line, though that is pure speculation and there are slight differences in layout, particularly the header.) I picked an A5 version in “Brick Red” to test, and so far this paper has performed quite well with every fountain pen ink I’ve tried. Other available sizes include A6 and B5.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Itoya ProFolio Oasis series gets the T.G.S. stamp of approval. In addition to featuring quality paper with a versatile ruling/layout, ProFolio earns bonus points for multiple convenient sizes and a lie-flat binding. These Oasis notebooks are now available in our own shop and priced from $9.99 to $15.99, depending on size. As noted above, these come in A6, A5, and the coveted B5, which sits between A5 and A4. There are also five different colors. I didn’t realize the extent to which people appreciated this B5 size until I started carrying Nakabayashi and ProFolio, and I’ll try to find more in the future.

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In recent years there has been a proliferation of notebooks marketed as “fountain pen friendly”, and not all of them live up to their billing. Given the current demand for good paper, I make it a point to test as many notebooks as I can because I know that eventually I’ll get questions on brands that are receiving a lot of attention on social media. If you’d like to read more on what I consider to be fountain pen friendly paper and specific brands you might want to try, I recently updated the “Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper” site resource.

This post does not contain third-party advertising or affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Back to Hobonichi: My Daily Journaling Setup for 2024

I spent a lot of time over the past four months thinking about how I wanted to approach journaling in 2024. Over the past year, I definitely became more consistent in terms of how often I sit down to write (always by hand, never on the computer), but until my work sabbatical in October didn’t spend much time thinking through a coherent journaling strategy and how I wanted to use journaling to support my personal and professional goals. After some experimentation, I decided to divide my journaling between three different books: (1) a professional “journal” that I use to track how I spent my time each day, mainly on work and more structured personal projects; (2) a “observations” journal that’s in a smaller format I can carry with me; and (3) a more traditional “reflections” journal that I write in each morning.

*Note: I don’t use a traditional paper “planner” (i.e., a calendar to track dates and appointments) for professional reasons. My schedule is too complex and deadline-dependent to rely on manual updates and edits, especially since due dates and meetings constantly change (often without my knowledge). I mention this up front because I know that I’m going to get the question: why does someone need three planners? The answer is that even though the Hobonichi Techo - and other similar “planners” such as those from Stalogy and the Midori Codex - are marketed as traditional calendar/diaries, the layouts are extremely flexible and can easily be used as journals or dated notebooks, which is how I’ve always viewed them.

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Journal No. 1: Hobonichi Cousin A5

My primary everyday professional notebook/journal is going to be the Hobonichi Cousin A5. For the last quarter of 2023, I experimented with “time blocking” as part of an effort to improve my concentration and focus, which is a time-management technique that can be helpful for those of us who work more than one job and/or whose profession involves managing multiple complex projects. A full discussion of this technique (and how I’ve adapted it to my needs) is beyond the scope of this simple blog post, but the general idea is that you sit down each morning for 15-20 minutes and plan out your day in blocks of time dedicated to a specific task or project, to the exclusion of anything else that may distract you. You intersperse your day with “admin” blocks to keep up with more routine things such as e-mail, phone calls, paying bills, etc. It might seem rigid at first, but two things happen: (1) the “a time and place for everything” philosophy underlying the structure creates space for better concentration, and eventually you’re more easily able to resist things such as checking e-mail that pull you out of the work your doing because you know you’ve set aside time for them later; and (2) you’re able to finish tasks quicker because you’re giving yourself the space to concentrate on a single thing rather than multi-tasking.

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Yes, the Cousin fits in the Roterfaden, but you will need to embrace the “one notebook” Roterfaden strategy (unless you go with the Cousin Avec).

For those interested in learning more, I’d recommend picking up a copy of the “Time Block Planner” (the most recent version of which contains decent paper). I found that the layout didn’t work perfectly for me - I think it’s actually intended more as a “workbook” to help you learn the technique for the first time - but the experience of working through the planner for eight weeks or so was invaluable.

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A sample time block plan. Obviously I had to redact details.

I draw my time blocks on the left-hand side of the Hobonichi Techo, and use the remainder of the daily page for my “catch-all” notes and administrative task lists. If you’re in the middle of a time block and an unrelated thought/task/observation pops into your head, you jot it down in the free space on your planner or notebook. In addition to being useful for organizing my work and thoughts, I enjoy having a fairly detailed record of exactly how I spend my time. The page layout of the Hobonichi Cousin A5 is well-suited to how I time-block.

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I use the monthly calendar as a way to experiment with content plans. (Most of this is a draft which then gets imported into my computer as I decide what I’m going to publish/write about.)

I currently have the Hobonichi Cousin in my A5 Roterfaden binder. Because the Cousin is a thick notebook, I attached it to the Roterfaden using the center clip, use the front clip as a bookmark for the “weekly” view, and plan to use the third clip to hold loose papers, etc. (For those who are interested, we currently have A6 Roterfadens in stock with another shipment of A4 and A5 binders on the way from Germany as we speak.)

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On Sunday afternoon I try to sketch out a “weekly time block plan” which is intended to be rough. I then flesh it out either in the morning before the workday starts or the night before.

Journal No. 2: Hobonichi Weeks Mega

Less a journal and more of an “observations” notebook without any strict format requirements. This year I’m making a conscious effort to be more present, to read more, and generally to engage in activities that necessarily require a longer attention span, such as tackling more difficult books and watching longer films. I constantly collect book and movie recommendations, and always maintain a running annual list of books read/movies watched for the year, which is probably how I will use the blank pages at the back of the Weeks. I also enjoy having a “week on a page” layout, which I’ve used so far to jot down just one or two memorable things I did/observed on each day. My Hobonichi Weeks had a start date of November 27, 2023, so I already have about six weeks under my belt.

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Journal No. 3: Hobonichi A6

Finally, my third journal is my reflections journal. I’ve managed to keep up my morning journaling routine to the point where I reliably write most mornings, reflecting on the prior day. For this journal I chose the standard Hobonichi A6, which contains just enough space to allow me to write a meaningful entry in 30 minutes or less.

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I don’t have a cover for this third journal yet. As discussed below, I’m waiting for a new shipment of Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter covers, so I may choose an A6 size for this one, but since this journal typically stays on my desk at home the best choice might be a slimmer Gfeller undyed leather cover or one of the Galen Leather “Crazy Horse” varieties.

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Stay tuned, because throughout the year, I plan to share more about both journaling strategies and my likes/dislikes of the various Hobonichi editions. Currently, they’re all pretty much exactly what I was suspecting, with no surprises other than how effortless it’s been to enjoy them. Happy New Year, everyone!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can read more about T.G.S. Patreon in yesterday’s post.

Adventures in Pen Travel and Pens for Vacation, 2023 Edition

Now that I’ve had a few days to decompress, It seems like a good opportunity to talk a bit more about my travels over the past two months, the ongoing “hard reset” of my work and personal life, and, of course, my marathon pen cleaning session last week.

I recently announced that I’m changing day jobs, which is a big move for me. I held my old position for nearly 10 years, and while I won’t be changing employers, I’m stepping into a role that (1) involves less of an overall time commitment; and (2) has fewer administrative responsibilities. One reason for the shift is the rapid growth of T.G.S. - while it’s not yet a full-time project, it requires more attention each month, and I’m of course more than happy to rearrange my working life to accommodate the expansion. That said, it’s likely going to require a complete reorganization of my workflows and how I go about my daily working life if I want to keep things manageable.

These two pens - shown here with a new ink I tested at the Dallas Pen Show - stayed in rotation!

The biggest change is the lack of formal structure. My new duties are primarily project-based, allowing me to work mostly remotely, on my own schedule. Outside of the posting routine that I’ve fallen into over the years, T.G.S. also doesn’t have a “schedule”, so my greatest concern about the new arrangement involves my ability to structure my time in a way that ensures that (A) I get everything done, and (B) I keep work confined to “regular” hours as much as I can, allowing me to have a greater semblance of a personal life that includes picking back up other hobbies and interests that I’ve necessarily had to let slide. Case-in-point: I’ve not done nearly as much personal writing and journaling as I would have liked over the past year, despite having a half-dozen notebooks “in rotation” and 30+ fountain pens inked up.

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The 10 pens I took with me on vacation, identified and discussed below from left.

Current Setup: Fountain Pens

While of course there’s a lot that I’m thinking through and working on that I can’t publicly discuss here, I CAN tell you what I’m doing about my pen problem. The first order of business was to flush 20 or so pens, most of which had been inked for the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Dallas Pen Shows. The cleaning process was aided considerably by the Schon DSGN Luer Syringe Cleaning System, which Ian kindly gifted me in San Francisco to test out. The system consists of a series of fittings designed to attach to the section and/or nib unit of your pen, with different attachments made to fit JoWo, Bock, Pilot, and Sailor (with more to come). You can then thread a 1cc syringe into the fitting and easily flush out a pen in much less time than it would take you to clean using a converter, and with less mess than a bulb syringe. I left nine pens inked up, which I’ll identify from the photo above, listed from left:

• Santini Libra in Blue Swirled Ebonite: This pen is on loan from a friend, and I left it inked because I need to write with it and get it reviewed so I can return it to her! Santini pens have long interested me because they are made entirely in-house, nibs included! Though Santini visited this year’s D.C. Pen Show, I was disappointed that I didn’t have the chance to visit their table.

• Leonardo Momento Zero in Bohemian Twilight Resin. Jonathan Brooks’ Bohemian Twilight material is one of my favorites, and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pick one of these up since I didn’t yet have a pen in this material in my personal collection. The ink I chose to pair with this pen? Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing Butterfly Green, from the recently released Anderillium Lepidopteran Series. It’s a slightly brighter dark green than the swirls in the pen, which complements it perfectly.

• Conid Bulkfiller Kingsize. I’m torn on Conid, and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about the brand, especially compared with the Kyuseido Kakari (discussed more below). While extremely well-constructed, I’m not loving the Bock Titanium nib, and I hope to soon procure a gold nib option because I need more consistent inkflow and less of a “squeaky” writing experience. This pen is currently inked with Nahvalur “Dark Forest,” an excellent ink that I plan to review in more detail as soon as I’ve had the opportunity to try more from the series.

• Sailor Pro Gear “Moonlight over the Ocean”. I’ve long loved the form factor of the Sailor Pro Gear, and odd name aside, this edition spoke to me so I picked one up for my personal collection. It’s inked with Anderillium Atlas Moth Brown, also from the Lepidopteran Series. For some reason I thought this pen needed a good brown-black ink?

• TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR “Sunset Yellow”. I always have a TWSBI inked and in rotation, and the one I haven’t been able to put down is the recently released “Sunset Yellow,” - really more of an orange gold. The matching ink is Monarch Butterfly Orange, from yet again, the Anderillium Lepidopteran Series.

• Montblanc 149 in Rose Gold with Bokumondoh Urushi Work. This pen will stay inked for the foreseeable future because it’s beautiful, and the result of a year spent on the Studio Bokumondoh wait list. Fittingly, when I reviewed this pen nearly three years ago I was on vacation in the same spot I’m sitting in now typing this list.

• Kyuseido Kakari Fountain Pen. The Kakari is the first pen release from Kyuseido, the new company recently started with C.Y. of Tokyo Station Pens and the Tokyo Inklings podcast. I chose the black PVD titanium version, with a Sankakusen nib grind. It’s worth reading Kyuseido’s description of the “Pump-Piston” filling mechanism - you’ll see why this pen is of interest to so many people. The pen is currently inked with unobtanium: Diamine “Suman” created especially for this past year’s Manila Pen Show that a friend was kind enough to gift to me.

• Nagasawa Kobe Affection Kyomachi Legend Blue Sailor 1911L. My friends at Vanness Pens are now the exclusive U.S. retail partner for Kobe Japan-based Nagasawa Stationery, and I couldn’t resist taking home two of their current Sailor collaborations from the Dallas Pen Show. The first is the 1911L version of the “Kyomachi Legend” pen, which features a metal section similar to that on my 1911 Black Luster. Currently I have this pen inked with Sailor Souboku in cartridge form. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this pen is the broad nib I chose. I’ve never used a Sailor Broad (which frankly writes very much like a JoWo medium), and I’m enjoying it.

• Nagasawa Kobe Pro Gear Mini “Mouette”. The two-toned grey on this one got me, along with the fact that this edition of the Pro Gear Mini doesn’t have threads on the end of the barrel, allowing for quicker deployment. I inked this one up with Taccia Hiroshige-Ainezu, a beautiful grey that I’m enjoying.

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Current Setup: Notebooks

I took four notebooks with me: My Roterfaden A5 kitted out with my Laconic Monthly Calendar and two Plotter pads; my older (and now-discontinued) Traveler’s-sized Roterfaden with a few blank Traveler’s Midori MD refills; my Midori 5-Year Diary, and a Bank Paper journal from Atelier Musubi. As I mentioned above, I haven’t done much personal journaling and want to experiment with different formats. So far I’ve managed to write each day for at least an hour! What didn’t I bring? My Plotter notebooks. I use them more as binders to organize papers by topic, and since I’m not actively working on any projects this week I decided to leave them at home as I can incorporate pages from the Plotter notepads as necessary upon my return.

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One goal of mine is to streamline my everyday carry. As I journal more, I want to finish up several notebooks “in progress” and limit what’s active going forward.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of my current stationery life! As you might imagine, things are a bit chaotic right now, but in a good way, as I’m excited about what’s to come. Stay tuned as I have much more to announce over the coming month!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain paid advertising or third-party affiliate links.

My Personal Notebooks and Planners to Enter 2023

I use the week between Christmas and New Year’s as a “catch up and close out” week, where in addition to cleaning out my office and starting to take down all the holiday decorations, I also revisit my notebooks and planners. During this process, I look at what worked for me, what didn’t, and adjust accordingly based on how things worked out for me during the prior year. Without further ado, here’s The Gentleman Stationer’s 2023 notebook and planner lineup!

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Plotter A5 and Plotter Mini-5. (You can probably figure out which is which.)

“Everyday” Notebooks

By “Everyday Notebooks,” I mean notebooks that stay with me at all times, either at my desk or in my bag. In terms of what I physically carry around with me, the first four on this list pretty much go everywhere, with the Midori 5-year journal living full-time on my desk at home but seeing daily use.

• William Hannah UK A5 Ring-bound Notebook. I’ve teased this one but haven’t reviewed it yet, since I only started using it around November. To start, I plan to use the William Hannah as my “work planner” and general-purpose notebook for my day job, since I like their undated calendar refills that come in both weekly and monthly formats. Since the paper is excellent and comes in a versatile array of layouts (including a theme-style journal format), this notebook’s role may expand once I buy some dividers and other accessories.

• Plotter A5. My Plotter A5 contains most of my T.G.S.-related notes and drafts that I’m working on at the moment. In terms of paper and accessories, in this notebook I use the Plotter refills (which contain excellent paper), as well as Midori MD Cotton A5 paper from the standard writing pad that I’ve hole-punched. I archive notes that I’m not currently using in an older Filofax A5 binder, since Plotter refills are not proprietary and fit most standard 6-ring binder layouts.

• Plotter Mini-5. What can I say, I operate in extremes. My largest and smallest Plotters are the two that I use the most. My Mini-5 contains a wallet/card insert, so the Plotter pulls double duty as my wallet and pocket notebook. The Plotter Mini-5 has been surprisingly polarizing, with people labeling it “overpriced” and “too small to use.” Honestly, I mostly write this up to clickbait/social media trolling and people missing the point of the product. Yes, the Plotter Mini-5 is an upscale leather pocket notebook, but it still starts at less than $100 for the cover - last I checked, comparable to many Field Notes custom leather covers - and while it’s small, it’s a pocket notebook. You’re not supposed to be writing a novel in it. The fact that it doubles as a wallet and allows me to consolidate my daily carry is a huge plus. I guess I just don’t see how spending $100-150 on something that pulls double/triple duty as a wallet, pen holder, and leather notebook is overly expensive….

• Traveler’s Notebook Standard Size. My standard-size Traveler’s Notebook will likely become my long-form journal and repository for morning pages and random scribblings. I also use the PVC pouch, sticky-note holder, and kraft folder accessories to hold things such as clips, stickies, Book Darts, receipts, and washi tape.

• Midori 5-Year Journal. The layout on the Midori multi-year journals features 365 pages, one for every day of the year, divided into five boxes, allowing you to write just a few lines on each day and reflect back on the prior years. (Three and ten-year versions are also available.) While the idea of keeping a journal for five years might seem intimidating, when you only have a few lines to write the momentum takes over.

Note: You’re going to see the Plotter system featured heavily in this post. To read more about Plotter and how it works, check out this prior article.

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From left, Plotter Narrow, Plotter Bible (5th Anniversary Cover), and Nanami Paper Cafe Note (B6 Slim)

Notebooks Used Less Frequently, But still regularly

Most of these notebooks don’t travel with me unless I’m working on the specific project to which they’re dedicated. They have a narrower focus, or are used more as archives/binders to hold notes for future reference. However, they still get used on a weekly basis.

• Plotter Bible-Size. I’ve been using my Plotter 5th Anniversary Bible-size notebook as my commonplace book, and I love having the ability to organize and reorganize by topic and move pages around - my main complaint about my prior commonplace book setup. (I need to revisit my commonplace book articles soon.)

• Plotter Narrow. I love making lists. Practically speaking, I should probably do it electronically, particularly for lists I want to keep long-term like books to read, products to review, etc., but I’ve always done it by hand and there’s something incredibly soothing about it. When I’m recapping my monthly finances I also like to do the math manually, as again, there’s a methodical aspect to it that I find relaxing. All of these lists live in the Plotter Narrow, whose paper format perfectly fits these projects.

• Levenger Circa Notebooks and Filofax Spiral Notebooks. If I take notes on A4 or letter-size writing pads, I typically either shred them, scan them to my computer at work for secure archiving, or file them away in project-specific notebooks or binders. The Levenger Circa and Filofax notebooks have long been my binders/notebooks of choice for this type of storage. I have 4-5 of them in use at any given time. I highly recommend investing in a hole punch (which will also work well enough with the William Hannah notebooks). The Circa is a classic disc-bound system, while the Filofax uses a spiral binding that works the same way by allowing you to move pages around.

• Lochby Field Journal. My Field Journal holds a Nanami Paper Seven Seas Writer that contains drafts of longer-term writing projects I’ve been working on. I don’t use the notebook every day, but the sturdy Field Journal works very well for when I want to dedicate a day to working on one of my creative or “fun” projects and I can just take it with me and go.

• Nanami Paper Cafe Note. My traditional pen show/pen club meetup notebook that I use to test pens and play with inks. I also use it as a scratch pad and for writing samples in connection with T.G.S. reviews. The B6 Slim size is excellent for travel.

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Disc-bound notebook systems like the Levenger Circa are great ways to store large volumes of paper notes.

I use a lot of different notebooks - more than most people, even in this community - but they all have a specific purpose and they all get used. I’ve found that I focus much better when I compartmentalize different projects, whether that be my day job, the blog, personal writing done for fun, etc. The physical shift from one notebook to another helps me concentrate on the specific task at hand. For years I’ve been meaning to write more about my workflow and notetaking strategies, and I only now feel comfortable starting that process, maybe as a continuation of the “Notebook Systems” series. Stay tuned!

This post does not contain affiliate links or paid advertising. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely via purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Don’t miss our annual year-end inventory reduction and clearance - take 10% off shop orders through 11:59pm on January 1, 2023 using the code “LOYAL10” at checkout!