Best A5-Sized Notebook?

[MHBru]

 

It looks pretty good Probably a little too thick for my taste, though. How would you rate the paper?

Sorry for the delay... just saw this question..... I very much like the paper... I have used several inks from M800 fine points with zero issues from any. It is a white paper which i happen to like with grey lines. There isnt a margin (which I also like) but there is a brief 2mm gap in the line that is just over 1cm from the left edge.... for bullet journaling I assume. I am only a recto writer and rarely use the reverse side except for a stray calculation here and there. also in my queue waiting their turn... a Goulet because I wanted to try the TR paper... A Clairfontaine 1951 which looks lovely and I am waiting to see how the spine holds up..a set of Muji notebooks because they seem to get decent reviews and they were stupid cheap (like $3.50 for a set of 5 at the Muji store in Manhattan) and finally at Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid. It'll take me months to work my way through them all because I keep them chronological vs having several open and in use at the same time.

[inkypete]

I love my Clairefontaine. A5 stapled in a gfeller leather cover as my everyday user. I have another leather cover (Rugged Luxury) that holds an A5 spiral and a few other covers (is there a pattern emerging here) with a mix of A5 Clairefontaine.

Edited May 26, 2017 by inkypete

[ParramattaPaul]

I use a Leuchtturm 1917 A5 notebook. Leuchtturm paper takes up ink (Diamione) equally as well as Clairefontaine paper does.

[alaskazimm]

Also take a look at the Apica CD11 and CD11 Premium notebooks. They are my second favorite paper after TR; I find them to be just a hair under Tomoe River paper with the Premium being just slightly better than the regular CD11. Also the Premium opens flatter then the regular.

[Fit_to_Print]

I second the Apica CD-11. The CD-15 is my favorite Apica, based on page features and 7"×10" size. The CD-11 is great though, and I keep one with books I'm reading, for notes and such.

[sodiumnitrate]

My favorite remains the Nanami Paper Seven Seas range by a long shot and I use this generally. However the Zequenz Classic 360° Roll Up Journals are pretty good as a day to day volume workhorse as well. The Life A5 range is very good as well and have different styles and page counts. All are pretty good.

 

But I always come back to the Seven Seas products !!

 

 

Yeah they look very good. I wish I had ordered that one instead of the paper for fountain pens one, because it's not stitch-bound and thus doesn't lay flat.

[sodiumnitrate]

Sorry for the delay... just saw this question..... I very much like the paper... I have used several inks from M800 fine points with zero issues from any. It is a white paper which i happen to like with grey lines. There isnt a margin (which I also like) but there is a brief 2mm gap in the line that is just over 1cm from the left edge.... for bullet journaling I assume. I am only a recto writer and rarely use the reverse side except for a stray calculation here and there. also in my queue waiting their turn... a Goulet because I wanted to try the TR paper... A Clairfontaine 1951 which looks lovely and I am waiting to see how the spine holds up..a set of Muji notebooks because they seem to get decent reviews and they were stupid cheap (like $3.50 for a set of 5 at the Muji store in Manhattan) and finally at Leuchtturm 1917 dot grid. It'll take me months to work my way through them all because I keep them chronological vs having several open and in use at the same time.

 

 

No problem! The Goulet ones are fine, except they only come in white paper, not cream. I really like Clairfontaine paper, but their binding is just horrible. Anyways, I started to learn book binding, so I'll eventually move on to making my own TR notebooks Thanks for the info!

[sakamichi]

No affiliation, and I haven't pulled the trigger and bought any myself yet (still working through a Leuchtturm), but Taroko does a bunch of TR notebooks and have 2-pack A5s (96 pages each) for about USD $17.99 on Amazon. They just came out with a 183-page book which claims to be lay-flat as well, though they're on a brief break at the moment so I'm not sure about the pricing of that one. It's here on Etsy if you're interested.

 

Your bookbinding progress is very inspiring, by the way!

Edited May 28, 2017 by sakamichi

[sodiumnitrate]

No affiliation, and I haven't pulled the trigger and bought any myself yet (still working through a Leuchtturm), but Taroko does a bunch of TR notebooks and have 2-pack A5s (96 pages each) for about USD $17.99 on Amazon. They just came out with a 183-page book which claims to be lay-flat as well, though they're on a brief break at the moment so I'm not sure about the pricing of that one. It's here on Etsy if you're interested.

 

Your bookbinding progress is very inspiring, by the way!

 

 

Whoa they look pretty good. Thanks!

[drmom777]

I have tried everything, and the paper that takes ink the best of all, with no bleed or feather no matter what, is Tsubame Note. Their notebooks also have excellent binding. I wish the paper were a little brighter white, but no other complaints. They have all different sizes and numbers of pages, but as far as I know lined paper only,no grid or dot.

 

Currently can get a 100 sheet tsubame A5 note book with 7mm lines for $7.85 and free shipping on Amazon.

Edited October 2, 2017 by drmom777

[sodiumnitrate]

I have tried everything, and the paper that takes ink the best of all, with no bleed or feather no matter what, is Tsubame Note. Their notebooks also have excellent binding. I wish the paper were a little brighter white, but no other complaints. They have all different sizes and numbers of pages, but as far as I know lined paper only,no grid or dot.

 

Currently can get a 100 sheet tsubame A5 note book with 7mm lines for $7.85 and free shipping on Amazon.

 

 

I ended up buying a 500-sheet ream of Tomoe River paper from nanamipaper.com, and learn bookbinding. Each notebook with 200 pages costs like $15 this way. And I have full control over what kind of notebook I want. A word of advice, though: practice with cheap paper first (learned it the hard way).

[mikepinkerton]

Another vote for the Midori MD (i have both lined and grid). I (currently) use a Leuchtturm1917 for work because of the harder cover. Also the TR paper in my Hobonichi planner, which lays ruler flat. I just that as a stay-at-home journal though. Can't go wrong with any of those, IMHO.

 

-m