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Well, it's "Back-to-School" time at Wal-Mart, if not in the real world. And I've already been to my local store to check out the goodies. Why so early? I'm an English professor who keeps a stash of cheap little staplers to give to my students so they can staple their damn papers. And since I discovered that my Wal-Mart only gets a very limited number of the 97-cent staplers, I'm always there by mid-July. I also stock up on composition notebooks (both to give away and to use myself), especially since they remain a bargain at only 50 cents for a 100-sheet notebook. This year, I noticed that almost all of the Norcom composition books are prominently marked "Made in the USA." I saw a few from Vietnam and a few from Colombia, but none from Brazil, which is -- as many have noted -- the best for fountain pens. I don't know if this is a permanent or widespread change, but if you were planning to get some cheap notebooks during "back to school," you may want to check this out sooner rather than later. And while we're on the topic, has anyone seen the "Made in Brazil" Norcom notebooks lately? BTW: I just compared the paper in a Colombian notebook with that in a Brazilian, and while the Brazilian paper is a brighter white, the Colombian paper does not seem to feather or bleed-through.

Yoobi Composition notebooks have the kind of composition-notebook cover heft and feel I like: stiff, heavy-duty cardboard. They are sold at Target for $2.29. They might be available elsewhere, but I've only seen them at Target. They come in wide rule and college, and the different rules are distinguished at a glance by the covers: wide rule has a solid color as the background. The notebook also comes in pink. Clearly designed for children, I'm not a big fan of the cover design even though I do like toucans. I'm a big fan of Fruit Loops. I like Fruit Loops more than this cover design. I do, however, like the idea that some of my money will be diverted to supply schools with more materials. There are two qualities of paper to be found in these notebooks: excellent and composition-notebook-average. Average sucks. So run your hand or fingers over the paper. If it feels like typical cheap notebook paper, put the notebook back and grab another. The good stuff is super-smooth, as smooth an any composition-notebook paper I've found. And I've looked. Check the smoothness. It's worth the bother: all qualities of the Yoobi paper are as FP-friendly/unfriendly as its smoothness. The super-smooth paper provides a predictably smooth writing experience. You can see through the paper to the writing on the next leaf. Nevertheless, not one of the pen-ink combinations I tried feathered or bled through, not even partially. Here are the skinnier nibs. The fatter ones are farther down the page. Show-through is comparable to what we see in Norcom made-in-Brazil composition notebooks. If the photos seem to depict partial bleed-through, I can tell you I've double-checked the actual pages and any apparent bleed-through is an optical illusion. I repeat: not one pen-ink combination bled-through, not even partially. I wondered how my italic nibs would do on this paper. Each one is rather wet and puts down quite a bit of ink. But the paper stood up to all the ink: no feathering and no bleed-through.

I love Rhodia products, but I really wish they would make them in popular US sizes rather than just European (metric) sizes. Two examples are composition books and 3.5“ x 5.5” side-stitched notebooks (like the Moleskine Cahier and Field Notes Brand notebooks). Neither of these sizes is available from Rhodia (although its parent company, Clairefontaine, offers some 3.5“ x 5.5” notebooks that aren’t as easy to find). And Rhodia does have a smallish 7.5 x 12 cm 48 page notebook that would be just perfect if it was a bit larger. I have nice leather covers that fit these two sizes and I would love to fill them with Rhodia notebooks! Clairefontaine/Rhodia has hinted that they may be open to producing composition-sized notebooks if there is enough interest. How do you feel? Would you be interested in these size notebooks? Let Clairefontaine/Rhodia know via their U. S. distributor, Exaclair: http://www.exaclair.com/contact.php Take a quick survey on this subject: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TG6SM7C Article here: http://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2015/05/is-rhodia-missing-boat.html

Hi guys, I'm considering getting an Oberon notebook cover, either the Moleskine cover or composition cover. http://www.oberondesign.com/collections/composition-notebook-covers/products/composition-notebook-cover-van-goghs-sky However, while I like these notebooks, the paper quality isn't so good to do ink washes and calligraphy practice with 1.5 or 2.4 mm nibs. Because of that, I can't decide which size to choose! Both are portable, one fits better in my smaller purses...I'd really appreciate input regarding good sketchbooks or fp-friendly notebooks that would fit either of these notebook covers. If I can find fp-friendly choices that are also wallet-friendly, that would help me choose which size to get.

Just a heads up that Staples is currently clearancing out their Sustainable Earth composition notebooks with the poly covers, SKU 77537 >> here <<. They're $1.45 each with free site-to-store shipping. There are 4 colors (red, blue, black, green), but I think the color you get might be random? I didn't see the option to select your cover color. Cheers!

I need help on choosing the best notebook for my notes in class. I'm a high school student looking for the best notebook for everyday writing. I will be willing to spend the most $15-20 on a notebook that's fountain friendly, but here's the catch, I must use a composition notebook because the teacher refuses spiral books. I need a composition notebook that is regular size but is fountain pen friendly. Also I'm guessing my only places are staples or office max. I'm using Mont Blanc Irish green in (pretty wet) so I want something that won't bleed through easily. I would prefer wide ruled because I'm using a medium nib