Uniball Signo RT 0.38

This is my #1 pen for daily use, and you’ll usually see it as the first thing I try in a notebook I’m reviewing. I love the fine, smooth, opaque line and I have found these pens extremely reliable– they don’t get blobby or scratchy, they don’t skip, and though the bodies and mechanism are lightweight plastic, I’ve never had one break. The body color matches the ink, and it has a rubbery part toward the tip so it’s comfortable to hold. You can even buy refills in a few colors in order not to have to throw out the bodies when the ink is gone. They come in a great range of colors– my favorites are black, blue-black, and lavender-black. (The black and blue-black are available in refills, but for lavender-black, you have to buy a whole pen.) The refills are $1.35 and whole pens are $1.65. There’s also an 8-color set available for $13.00. There’s nothing fancy or flashy about these pens– they just do their job quietly, simply and beautifully.

Uniball Signo MF3 Multi-pen

I definitely have a soft spot for multi-pens. I love the idea of being able to keep multiple ink colors and a pencil with me at all times without having lots of extra pens floating around in my bag. This is probably the best all-around multi-pen I’ve used. This pen includes black and red ink in a 0.5 width, plus a pencil. The thing that really distinguishes it from other multi-pens is the mechanism– you twist the barrel to rotate between the inks. When the pencil is selected, you push down on the cap to advance the lead. There’s an eraser under the cap. I like the twist mechanism because you never have to worry about accidentally retracting the ink you’re writing with if you bump the button that selects another color– some multi-pens can have a hair trigger in this regard. The body is comfortable to write with, with a non-slip rubbery surface at the tip. Though I often prefer the 0.38 width to 0.5, the line this pen gives is also a nice weight, and I always find it writes very smoothly and evenly, with a clean, dark line. The body comes in various colors. The pens are $6.75, and refills are $1.00.

Uniball Style-Fit Multi-pen

Yes, I like the minimalism of carrying one pen, but I also like to maximize my color and line weight choices, which is why I love this pen. This is the Build-a-Bear of multi-pens: you pick the empty pen body , which comes in a variety of colors, and then pick 5 refills to insert, including various ink colors and widths, and a mechanical pencil option. (A slimmer 3-color version is also available.) The first one I bought was a silver body and when I opened the package, I couldn’t help saying “OOOH!” because it looked like a sleek little rocket! About 2/3 of the body length is silver, and then the tip is a clear plastic so you can see the ink colors. (This makes it a wee bit less comfortable to use than the MF3, as you don’t have the softer rubbery surface.) The pen inserts give the same smooth, fine writing experience as the other Uni-ball pens mentioned above, with .28, .38, .5, and .7 weights available. The mechanism for this pen is 5 separate buttons to select the different inks, the clip being one of the 5. If you use the pencil insert, it has to be inserted corresponding to the clip, as an extra push a bit further is what advances the lead. The buttons are sensitive– if you hit one without pushing it down all the way, you’ll retract the ink you’re using. The body is light-weight, and the only concern I’ve had about durability is that with one of these pens, I must have tightened it a bit too much after replacing an ink, and a crack developed. (I have two– the other pen has been opened and screwed closed quite a few times with no cracks.) The empty body is $4.25, ink refills are $1.35-$1.65, the pencil component is $3.00. (There’s also a “Mystar” body for $8.25 which looks a little different, but I haven’t tried one of those… yet!)

Zebra Sarasa 3+S Multi-pen

Most of my pen faves have been Uni-ball, but I also like the Zebra Sarasa pens I’ve tried. This is another multi-pen, this time with black, blue and red inks in a .5 weight, plus a mechanical pencil. It’s very sturdy, and the inks are nice and smooth. One distinguishing feature is that the clip opens wider than most other pens. Again, the buttons are a bit sensitive, perhaps a little more so than on the Style-Fit. But it’s nice that the buttons are the color of the ink within, so it’s easier to see what you’re selecting, and the body has the comfortable soft rubber coating around the tip. The filled body is $10.00 and refills are $1.10. Various body colors are available.

I bought all of these at JetPens, where they have lots of other delectable goodies for pen and notebook lovers. For full disclosure, I have to say JetPens have given me some free pen and notebook samples to review, but I am also a frequent paying customer. Their $25 minimum for free shipping makes it pretty hard to stay away!

How about you? What are your favorite pens?

Read more at Pour Your Heart Out In These Battlestar Galactica Notebooks » Geeky Gadgets.

 I just got home from a recent trip to Canada. I am not sure if you know this but there’s a store there called Dollarama and they sell moleskine-like notebooks for $2. They are a good alternative to the real thing and a LOT cheaper!

She also sent these photos of what she bought, and the rest of her notebook (and pen) collection:

Thanks Gracie! I may have to go up to Canada and do some shopping soon!

I guess you could argue that the quiz might not be that informative and doesn’t show a ton of diversity– the “what would you wear” choices in particular looked to me like “Do you shop at Banana Republic, Banana Republic, Banana Republic or Banana Republic?” But other questions might show more insight into your design preferences, and the Lost Crates folks use that information to select your stationery items.

Lost Crates invited me to review their service for free, so I signed up and answered the quiz as truthfully as I could. Here’s the result:

Your “crate” is a nice sturdy box. When you open it, there’s a greeting on the inside of the lid, and your products are nicely wrapped and cushioned in shredded paper. (Not styrofoam peanuts, thank goodness!) They tuck in a card that tells you what’s included.

I was very pleased with my selection. I prefer blank and squared notebooks to lined ones, and that’s what I got. I’m not a huge fan of Field Notes, but only because I find their branding a bit much. And I would not buy the pens or the Leisure Log for myself, but I did like them. (The flowered pen is a rollerball that writes quite nicely, the cardboard ones are regular ballpoints, which I don’t love, but the highlighter end is great.) There really wasn’t anything in the crate that made me say “ugh, that’s not me at all!”

Of course, given that I write this blog where I very publicly describe all my quirky notebook preferences, it’s not exactly a fair test of their ability to match products to people. I was tempted to sign up again under a friend’s name and answer all the questions differently to see what I’d get, but I didn’t feel like spending $38! That is the monthly cost, which seemed a bit steep to me– you have to be a pretty committed stationery freak to want to spend that much every single month on products you may or may not like. There is no “satisfaction guaranteed” promise– if you don’t like your stuff, you are asked to send them feedback and consider retaking the quiz. They don’t accept returns, but you can cancel any time (it has to be by the first of the month to avoid being billed for that month’s crate).
But on the flip side, $38 probably was a good price for what I received. The Moleskine lists for $17.95, the Leisure Notebook has a list price of $12.24 according to Amazon, who sell it marked down to $9.04. A Field Notes 3-pack is $9.95. So right there you have about $40 worth of stuff without counting the pens and pencil box. And the shipping is included, within the US.

I might not be the best target customer for this service– though I am definitely a stationery addict, I have pretty particular tastes. I also live in New York City, where I have access to stores with a huge selection of stationery that I can look at and touch before buying it. (And I’m also a reviewer who needs to keep some space free for samples that arrive frequently!) But if you are a stationery addict who likes surprises, and if your local shopping options don’t offer a lot of excitement, it’s certainly worth a try. I’d love to hear from others who have received a crate or two– did the quiz accurately reflect your tastes? (And what kind of stationery do you get if you say you watch Jersey Shore?!)

I’m going to give away some of these goodies to a randomly selected reader. You can enter in any or all of these ways:

On Twitter, tweet something containing  “@lostcrates” and “@NotebookStories.”

On Facebook, “like” the  Notebook Stories page and post something containing the words “Lost Crates” on my wall.

On your blog, post something containing the words “Lost Crates” and “NotebookStories” and link back to this post.

The deadline for entry is Friday August 26 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!

I like the design– the cover is solid black except for the tasteful Hitlist logo, and a white strip at the edge with spaces for a subject and date. This is a great idea– since the notebook is staple-bound and doesn’t have a spine, this edge makes it easy to scan through a pile of them to find the notebook you’re looking for.

The other unique feature of this notebook is the little notch at the top of the front cover, which is meant to hold the clip of a pen in place so it won’t slide off.
Another claim of this notebook is that the cover stock is tear-resistant. I can’t say I’ve ever before tested a notebook by trying to tear the cover in half, but I did try pretty hard to rip this one, and produced nothing more than a little rough spot in the edge. This baby is tough.

On the inside front cover, you get a space to write your contact info, and a little blurb on the notebook’s back story.

I also noticed that the staples on the spine are perfectly aligned to the printing of the cover. Nice attention to detail. The edges are very cleanly cut, so it feels like a high-quality product.
The bright white, unlined paper inside also lives up to its promise of being extremely resistant to ink bleeding or showing through. It has a nice smooth, “hard” feel to it and all my pens worked beautifully. Even the dreaded Super Sharpie showed through very little. The paper is quite thick at 148g, so even at only 32 pages, the notebook bulks up in line with other cahier-type books that have higher page counts.

My only beef with this notebook is the taller page size– call me crazy, but I really prefer 3.5 x 5.5, rather than the slightly elongated 5.75 height of the Hitlist. But that’s just me.

Here’s the specs from the Hitlist website, which is currently the only place to buy these:

• Size: 3.5 x 5.75
• 32 blank pages of fountain pen friendly patented 148g archival quality acid free paper.
• Super tough tear resistant cover.
• Easy access subject and date area along spine.
• “CTF Dock” to show off your pen!
• Hitlist pocket notebooks come in packs of 5 held together by a long lasting silicone band.

They are made in Canada, so pricing is in Canadian dollars. At CAN$24.95 (plus shipping) for a 5-pack (with lower prices available for buying multiple packs), these are a bit more expensive than most– the closest comparison in terms of quality might be the Doane Paper utility notebooks, which are US$9.50-10.50 for a 3-pack. But the Hitlist notebook does turn things up a notch in terms of the paper. I think this is a great product, and I hope he is able to expand his distribution and product line– perhaps a hardcover version? Lined, gridded and dot grid versions? Other sizes and colors? Bring it on!

The most bruited feature of the Leuchtturm, meanwhile, one to which a circular sticker on the cellophane packaging is devoted, is that the paper is “ink proof”. They are not claiming that the mere addition of ink to the pages causes all other notebooks spontaneously to self-destruct; but that you can use a fountain pen and the ink won’t “bleed through” to the next page. In the spirit of scientific notebook-reviewing duty, I conducted a robust experiment. With a Rotring ArtPen Sketch EF (a bit like a fountain pen), loaded with sepia ink, I drew a grumpy man in both the Leuchtturm and the Moleskine. No bleed-through in either. Then, with a Rotring Tikky Graphic 0.3 (black ink), I drew a surprised sheep in each notebook. FAIL! The sheep’s solid-black face and legs were too much: a couple of spots of black ink bled through onto the next page of both notebooks. So I am, sadly, unable to report that the Leuchtturm is clearly superior in this regard.

Read more at Notes on notebooks | Books | guardian.co.uk.

That turquoise pen is a nice bonus too!

See original image at Journals, Moleskines, Notebooks on Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

What I’m advocating is having a small notebook (and a mini-pen — those things don’t break when you sit on them, and can fit in a front jeans pocket) ready with you so you can be ready to write rather than NOT write, which is infinitely easier. Whipping out your pen and notebook is much faster than rifling through your laptop or mini-laptop case and waiting for the computer to cycle on. In many of the instances I described above, firing up a computer would be impractical enough that you’d probably leave the writing for later.

I rediscovered notebooks while my family and I were wandering around the art museum bookstore in Cincinnati and I saw a display selling 3.75 by 5.5 notebooks. They were lined, the pages were sewn into place so they’d be less likely to fall out, and the covers were slim but durable. They were small enough to slide into my back pocket, where us American men-folk often keep our wallet. It was a spur-of-the-moment purchase of something I didn’t think I needed, and I actually felt a little guilty spending the money. I haven’t felt guilty about the purchase since. I swiftly learned that I had found an ideal writing tool.

It’s obviously working for him: Howard Andrew Jones is the managing editor of Black Gate, a blog and print magazine about fantasy literature, and he’s published a lot of books!

Read more at Black Gate » Blog Archive » Writing Tools: Notebooks, the Kind with Paper.

Don’t you love the cover of this book? How could that not make a notebook fan want to read it! It certainly sucked me in, and the publisher was kind enough to send me a review copy. (Which actually has a slightly different cover, with a much cooler old-school fountain pen instead of the purple one shown here!)

For Writers and Their Notebooks, Diana M. Raab asked a wide variety of writers to talk about how they use their notebooks and journals, whether it be to record things seen and overheard, or as a journal of daily life, or for drafts of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. As Philip Lopate says in the foreword to the book, “Freedom is a frequent theme in these pages. The freedom to try out things, to write clumsy sentences when no one is looking, to be unfair, immature, even to be stupid. No one can expect to write well who would not first take the risk of writing badly. The writer’s notebook is a safe place for such experiments to be undertaken.”

The book perhaps could have been titled “Writers and Their Journals,” as the contents are divided into the sections “The Journal as Tool,” “The Journal for Survival,” “The Journal for Travel,” “The Journal as Muse,” and “The Journal for Life.” Yet not all these writers keep journals in the usual sense of the word. Mark Pawlak talks about keeping a “poetic journal,” containing observations, place names, and words and phrases founds on signs and regional newspapers, among other things. He sees the poetic journal as analogous to an artist’s sketchbook, but rather than being merely a piece of preparation for a finished work, he sees the journal as “a literary genre, distinct from the journal as workbook.”

Interestingly, many of the female writers in this book mention that their journaling habit started when they were kids, with the typical lock-and-key pink diary given to little girls or other types of notebooks where they wrote all their secret thoughts. This is always dismissed as not being “serious” and the writers move on to other sorts of writing that seems more “real.” Why do male writers never seem to recount these sorts of early experiences? Written introspection just isn’t as encouraged for boys, for some reason, but what happens in the meantime to turn so many young men into writers?

Aside from recollections and advice about the habits of writers using notebooks, many of the contributors describe their favorite tools. Not surprisingly, many have strong preferences for certain types of notebooks and pens, and rituals for storing them:

Ilan Stevens: “They are usually Mead Composition books, 100 sheets or 200 pages, 9 3/4-by-7 1/2 inch / 24.7-by-9.0 cm, wide ruled…. Whenever a Mead Composition book is complete, I store it away in a special place…. I make sure to date the first page….”

Katherine Towler: “My journal notebooks are lined up on a shelf in a corner of my office, under the edge of my desk. There are more than fifty notebooks of all shapes and sizes collected over the years.”

Kathryn Wilkens: “…I bought another hardbound journal, which measures 12 1/4 by 7 1/4 inches and has the word Record written on the cover. Many journalers prefer to write in spiral notebooks, but I like the permanence of a bound book. A notebook would make it too tempting to rip out a page after making an error.”

Lori Van Pelt: “I use a simple spiral-bound, college-lined notebook, writing whatever comes to mind…. My pens vary, although my hand feels most comfortable with a felt-tip or gel-ink pen. Sometimes I sharpen a pencil or two and scribble away.”

Kyoko Mori: “An ideal notebook for a journal is a “blank book” with a pretty cover: marbled paper, art-deco designs, stenciled stars or flowers. A blank book is smaller than the speckled composition book and easier to carry around.”

However, the writing tools considered as “journals” in the book aren’t solely paper-based. Tony Trigilio talks about using a blog as a form of journaling and experimentation and rehearsal. Sue Grafton’s “journal” that she keeps for each of her novels is a “a document on my word processor that I call “Notes” or “Notes-1.” And Michael Steinberg says “As a rule, I’m not the kind of writer who records his thoughts or expresses his feelings in a journal. Only infrequently do I use a notebook to explore ideas for future writings. Usually, when a thought comes to me, I scribble notes on random scraps of paper or Post-its.” (But he has kept journals while traveling.)

There are so many different perspectives in this book, I think there is something for any writer or notebook-keeper to enjoy and be inspired by. There is also an appendix with some exercises designed to help spark creativity in your journaling, and a list of suggested further reading. My only regret is that there are no photographs of all these writers’ notebooks!