Doane Paper
Flap Jotter

-Handwritten Review-

Specs:

5.5″ x 8.5″ overall size
Grid + Lines ruling – .125″x.125″
80 Pages
Chipboard 20pt 100% Recycled Craft Covers
White 70lb 100% Recycled Content Pages
Printed using soy-based inks
Rugged Wire-O-Bound binding
Made in the U.S.A.
Info from Doane & Purchase Link

Review Scans:

Review Supplies:

Lamy Safari – Fine Nib
P.W. Akkerman Shocking Blue Ink

Notes:
After finally getting around to downloading and printing my own sheet of Grid + Lines paper from Doane’s site (I suggest you do so here), I knew I needed to have some. The Grid+Lines ruling is unlike anything I’ve used before (okay it’s kind of close to graph paper, but this is way better). It really works for my style of handwriting, and makes everything shockingly uniform.

Appearance and Construction:
Simple and Simple. It’s two chip board covers, 80 pages of white 70lb. recycled paper, and some minimal branding. The Flap Jotter is held together by “Wire-O-Bound” binding at the top. I really like how the pad looks, and I have no double that it will hold up in my bag for the life of the notebook.
My preferred binding is wire-bound, so extra points there. I hate having to tear out a page to get to the one under it almost as much as I hate folding many pages back behind the notebook. Wire binding is great. The Doane Paper Flap Jotter is well designed and well constructed. I now need one of these on-hand always.

Performance and Feel:
Sometimes recycled paper and fountain pens don’t get alone. I was worried about feathering and bleeding, but the paper works quite well with even wet nibs. The paper is smooth, but not slick and absorbs the ink rather quickly. Bonus points for both sides of the page being usable, and extra bonus points for both sides of the page having ruling.
The Doane Writing Pad is only ruled on the front and I find that the Flap Jotter’s paper is much more friendly to liquid inks. Worth noting, some inks have a hard time absorbing through the printed ruling, but nothing I’ve tried has been unusable. For a 100% recycled paper, it’s great.

Color and Ruling:
The paper in the Flap Jotter is billed as “white” but it’s definitely more of an off-white. This is by no means an issue, but do not expect a bright white if you decide to get one of these. The ruling is what makes this pad, and all Doane Paper, special. The .125″ x .125″ grid is the ideal size for my handwriting. There are three boxes per line.
Every third line going down the page is bold with finer graph lines across the entire page. The spacing really helps make everything look uniform and organized, while making sketches super easy. Grid + Lines is turning out to be one of my favorite types of ruling. It. Is. Awesome.

Conclusion:
Definitely check this stuff out. Doane offers a PDF (scroll to the bottom and click the orange banner) of one of their pages so you can try before you buy. This feature was helpful in my purchase decision. The ruling is great and the paper holds it’s own with fountain pen ink. The 70lb. paper handles ink much better than the 20lb. paper in their regular Writing Pad. Overall, I’m really happy with the Flap Jotter, they now have a permanent spot in my paper roster.