Write Notepads & Co.
Large Notebook

-Handwritten Review-

Specs:

5.5″ x 8.5″
Lined Ruling
120 Pages
Rugged Board Covers with Letterpressed Logo
Available in Large, Small, and Left Handed versions
$16.00 from Write Notepads

Review Supplies:

Montblanc 149 – Medium Nib
Pilot Iroshizuku Kon Peki Ink
Various other ink / nib tests

Notes: Chris over at Write Notepads & Co. was kind enough to reach out and send me some product to check out. Write Notepads & Co. are a relatively new company with a family history of book binding. The company has a program in which they donate a notepad to a local school for every notepad that is purchased.

My initial concern is that $16 is a lot for a notebook, but you’re essentially buying two- one to keep, one to donate. It’s awesome of them to run this program, you can read more about it on their site and see exactly which school your book went to. Another cool thing about the pads is that they are made and sourced entirely in the USA.

Appearance and Construction:
120 pages of ruled paper, sandwiched between two heavy chipboard covers. The branding is letter-pressed on the front, inside cover, and back.

The pages are held together with brass spiral binding – which look great with the rustic motif of the notebook. To keep the pad closed, they’ve included a “durable closure band” which is essentially a huge rubber band.

It’s got their logo on it and looks pretty awesome. The construction is solid and the notebook looks great.

Performance and Feel:
Unfortunately this is where the Write pad falls short for me. Their product page on the site says that the paper is fountain pen friendly, but I do not fully agree. It’s smooth, and ink doesn’t feather, but there is some significant show through and bleeding.

Some inks work great (Noodler’s Black – even in a 1.1mm stub) and some go right through the page. Usually with paper that has bleed problems, there is a significant amount of feathering.

This is not the case with the Write pad. Ink dries on the page quickly and doesn’t feather, smoothness of the paper is on point, but I wish I could use both sides of the paper without worrying about bleed through and ghosting. The looks and quality of the notebook are top notch, and I will be using this pad with other pens that run on the drier side.

Color & Ruling:
The paper is bright white with a nice greyish ruling. Bright inks pop on the page really well. See my handwritten review pictures and put on some sunglasses.

The ruling on this particular notebook has some inconsistencies in the printing. My small notebook does not suffer from the same problem. There’s a few lines in the middle of the page that aren’t totally solid. There are a some breaks in the line that are a bit distracting. The line spacing is .25″, which compliments both my handwriting and the overall size of the notebook well.

Overall Thoughts and Recommendation:
The Write Notepads & Co. notebook looks great, came in an expertly packed box, and is solidly constructed. The fact that they donate a notebook to schools in need for every book purchased is awesome. The paper falls a bit short with inconsistencies in the print of the ruling and the bleed through, but it varies greatly with nib and ink choices. The notebook is a bit expensive at $16, but you’re supporting a fully US made product that gives back to their community.