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I found Hyacinth notebooks and notepads at my local art store in southern California. I had never seen nor heard of Hyacinth, so I was intrigued when the store had several large endcap displays of nothing but this brand. I was surprised by their fountain pen-friendliness and even more surprised by their price. The specs of the 3 Hyacinth products: B6 (176 x 125 mm) notebook, 112 sheets of 80gsm, blank, thread-bound, ivory-colored paperA6 (148 x 105 mm) notebook, 112 sheets of 80gsm, blank, thread-bound, ivory-colored paperB7 (125 x 88 mm) notepad, 60 sheets of 80gsm, blank, glued, ivory-colored paperThe notebooks come with a bookmark that is glued into the spine. They can be made to lay flat, thanks to the way the sheets are arranged. The last 16 sheets of the notebooks are perforated and they tear out cleanly. The notepad can also be made to lay flat, with the cover capable of being folded back under the rest of the pad. It has a glued spine that allows you to tear off one sheet at a time. I tested all 3 of the products listed above and found the paper in each to be identical in performance. The outcome: The paper performs very well!It handled ink swabs without bleeding.The broad nibbed fountain pens I used did not cause feathering or bleeding.There was minimal (very minimal!) bleed from Noodler's La Reine Mauve, but I forgive these notebooks because Noodler's LRM seems to bleed through most of the fountain pen-friendly paper I use.This paper allowed shading and sheening, though it didn't accentuate either of these ink characteristics.The paper is similar in smoothness to the paper in my Midori passport-sized lined notebook. That is to say it is smooth but not as smooth as regular Rhodia paper.One drawback: serious show through. The backs of pages are not unusable, but if you won't tolerate show through then this is not the paper for you.Overall, I would say this is great paper for use as everyday notebooks, journals, scratch paper, pocket/purse notebooks, regular notepad duties, etc. I wouldn't use these notebooks for archival writing or for anything I want to cherish - I'd save that for more expensive, higher quality journals. The final thing to mention: I bought these 3 products for a total of $6.50 plus tax! The B6 was $3, the A6 was $2.50, and the notepad was $1. For the number of sheets, the quality of paper, and the added touches (i.e. bookmarks, perforated pages, ability to lay flat) I think this is an absolute steal. This concludes my review. Thanks for reading. I have added images below for those who are interested. Hyacinth paper sleeve, front of notebook. Sleeve says 112 pages but in fact there are 112 sheets (224 pages): Hyacinth paper sleeve, back of notebook: Left to right = B6 notebook, A6 notebook, B7 notepad, Lamy Safari for size reference: Notepad on top of notebook, demonstrating the ability to lay flat and showing sheet arrangement in notebook spine: Thread-bound, ivory-colored notebook paper: Ink swabs, top to bottom = Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-Peki, Monteverde Califonia Teal, Diamine Oxblood: Back of ink swab page. No bleed! Definite show through: Pen tests: Back of pen test page. Definite show through. No bleed for broad nibs, minimal bleed for Noodler's La Reine Mauve:

O frabjous day! Just received my gorgeous bound, lined, Tomoe River notebook from Nanami Paper and Supply. Think Goulet Pens for comparison: customer service, speed of delivery (24 hours in my case) and flawless packaging. Wish I could figure out how to attach photos I took with my iPhone 5. As previous reviewers have noted, the leather cover is purchased separately. The notebook itself is about the size of a medium Moleskine journal, has 480 pages and will last the average writer quite awhile. The lines are perfectly spaced for me, seem to be a TINY bit closer than college-ruled. I plan to use fine to extra fine nibs on various pens with various inks to write in this beautiful journal. I highly recommend communicating with Dave if you have any questions...you will get an email back very quickly. I look forward to buying from this company in the future. No affiliation, blah blah blah

hey there! Here is a link to my Youtube video about the Nuuna notebook Superstar design. I still have to find a way to post pics here but I will, promise. I really think it is quite FP friendly and though heavy and fairly expensive (around 27 euros here in France) it definitely is a nice support for a bullet journal type of thing! https://youtu.be/ZENgYFsr7gw Have yourself a very nice weekend! john

Just put this review up on my blog this afternoon, and figured I would post it here as well. :-) Even if you are not a pocket notebook user, I bet that pretty much everyone has heard of Field Notes and especially the Spring 2014 special edition, Shelterwood. Since I can’t really describe it better than they can, here’s the description from the website: The “Shelterwood” edition features covers made from actual American Cherry wood, sliced ever-so-thin and bonded to a substrate of kraft paper for durability. I really like that each cover is totally unique. The picture above is a scan of one of mine, and the grain pattern on the three I purchased are all different. The cover also seems very robust and I’m sure will take a thorough beating before looking too worn. The gold staples are also a nice touch. :-) Inside the cover is cream colored paper with green ruling. The ruling is a bit narrow, but it’s a pocket notebook, so it seems to be reasonable for what it is. Field Notes don’t have a great reputation for being fountain pen friendly, and this is true as well for the Shelterwood. The paper is decently thick and seems to resist feathering in most EDC type nibs (M and narrower). Sadly, bleed through is a thing that occurs. On the picture above, the right side is the back of the variety ink test page and the left side is the back of PIP #14. Obviously this is not the kind of notebook you would want to be using a wet noodle in, but I think that it’s not so bad as to be unusable. Overall, I really like this notebook. At first I couldn’t get past the bleeding issue, but I think the important thing was shifting my expectations. This is an EDC pocket notebook, and as such it’s not exactly like I’ll be writing my memoirs in it. I use it mostly to take quick notes in meetings, write out to do lists, and doodle. If something bleeds through too bad, I just don’t use the back of a page. If you really want super FP-friendly paper in a pocket notebook, I would suggest buying one of the Clairefontaine pocket notebooks. If the price turns you off ($10/3 notebooks), then there is nothing I will be able to say that will change your mind. In that case, make your own pocket notebooks or pick up something cheaper at the drug store. I don’t know that I would pay $10 for a pack of the basic Field Notes, but for the limited editions I feel like I get my money’s worth because of the fun covers and variety of papers available. So, those are my feelings about the Shelterwood Field Notes. I recommend them if you have the funds to spend on fun pocket notebooks and can look past a little bit of bleed through with broad nibs. :-) I purchased this notebook with my own money and I am in no way being compensated for this review. All opinions expressed above are my own and you can feel free to disagree with them if you like.