Australian paper alert!

[effrafax]

Hello good people, in particular, Australian people.  Whilst looking in Officeworks for potential refills for my soon-to-arrive Endless Explorer, I discovered the following.  They are A5 refills, with the in-house Otto branding, for their own refillable folders (not leather, sadly).  I bought one as a sampler, and found it to be very fountain pen friendly.  It is smooth, similar to Clairefontaine in feel, and takes inks very well, with little to no feathering or spreading, very slight ghosting and zero bleed-through with the inks that I tried.  The photos tell the story quite well:

 

 

There's a reasonable range of inks shown in the photos, and some that will bleed on more expensive papers (looking at you, Regalia).  Note that these notebooks are not in the usual paper aisle, but in my local store they are up the back with the non-stationery office supplies (packaging, coffee etc.).  This is the presentation rack in the Townsville store:

 

 

The cardboard covers are quite sturdy and textured like they are cloth-covered, and the refills are centre stitched, not stapled.  64 pages (32 sheets) for AUD6.84, but sadly only available in A5.  As you can see from the presentation rack, there is a wide range of options: the usual plain, dotted, ruled and several varieties of pre-printed calendar layouts, plus stickers and folders.

 

I would heartily suggest trying a sample of these before committing in large, as it is not uncommon for in-house brands to change quality quickly.  I bought another five of the blank refills just in case ...

 

And it turns out they don't fit the Endless Explorer, which is as wide as A5, but an inch or so shorter.  Should have read the fine print when I ordered it.  Now I have to put up with Regalia paper, which limits my ink options.  C'est la vie.

 

[A Smug Dill]

5 hours ago, effrafax said:

And it turns out they don't fit the Endless Explorer, which is as wide as A5, but an inch or so shorter.  Should have read the fine print when I ordered it.  Now I have to put up with Regalia paper, which limits my ink options.  C'est la vie.

 

Do you mean this (series of) product? Thin-enough B6 notebooks (as in 40 sheets or fewer, as opposed to a 176-page tome) work fine in them; and there are some relatively cheap B6 notebooks sold in Daiso that will do the job well enough in the face of fountain pen inks. If you can find those in a Daiso store locally where you are in Australia, they should be $3.30 per 40-sheet (or 80-page) refill.

[effrafax]

On 9/6/2024 at 10:23 PM, A Smug Dill said:

 

Do you mean this (series of) product? Thin-enough B6 notebooks (as in 40 sheets or fewer, as opposed to a 176-page tome) work fine in them; and there are some relatively cheap B6 notebooks sold in Daiso that will do the job well enough in the face of fountain pen inks. If you can find those in a Daiso store locally where you are in Australia, they should be $3.30 per 40-sheet (or 80-page) refill.

 

Yup, that's the one.   The Storyboard notebooks are a fair bit bigger than B6 though (130 x 190 mm vs. 125 × 176 mm for B6), although they would still fit, of course.  Sadly, the Daiso branches in both Townsville and Cairns have closed down under rather dubious circumstances, so I don't have a local source anyway.

 

[A Smug Dill]

9 hours ago, effrafax said:

The Storyboard notebooks are a fair bit bigger than B6 though (130 x 190 mm vs. 125 × 176 mm for B6), although they would still fit, of course.

 

I actually find the B6 size is very good for the Endless Explorer cover, especially since both my wife and I like to fit two or three separate notebooks/refills concurrently in the cover for different subjects, themes, or purposes.

 

[effrafax]

Thanks for that, I'll have to check what's available in B6 these days.

 

[inkypete]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:33 PM, effrafax said:

Hello good people, in particular, Australian people.  Whilst looking in Officeworks for potential refills for my soon-to-arrive Endless Explorer, I discovered the following.  They are A5 refills, with the in-house Otto branding, for their own refillable folders (not leather, sadly).  I bought one as a sampler, and found it to be very fountain pen friendly.  It is smooth, similar to Clairefontaine in feel, and takes inks very well, with little to no feathering or spreading, very slight ghosting and zero bleed-through with the inks that I tried.  The photos tell the story quite well:

 

 

There's a reasonable range of inks shown in the photos, and some that will bleed on more expensive papers (looking at you, Regalia).  Note that these notebooks are not in the usual paper aisle, but in my local store they are up the back with the non-stationery office supplies (packaging, coffee etc.).  This is the presentation rack in the Townsville store:

 

 

The cardboard covers are quite sturdy and textured like they are cloth-covered, and the refills are centre stitched, not stapled.  64 pages (32 sheets) for AUD6.84, but sadly only available in A5.  As you can see from the presentation rack, there is a wide range of options: the usual plain, dotted, ruled and several varieties of pre-printed calendar layouts, plus stickers and folders.

 

I would heartily suggest trying a sample of these before committing in large, as it is not uncommon for in-house brands to change quality quickly.  I bought another five of the blank refills just in case ...

 

And it turns out they don't fit the Endless Explorer, which is as wide as A5, but an inch or so shorter.  Should have read the fine print when I ordered it.  Now I have to put up with Regalia paper, which limits my ink options.  C'est la vie.

 

Thanks for the heads up - will check them out.

[effrafax]

3 hours ago, inkypete said:

Thanks for the heads up - will check them out.

 

No worries, enjoy!