Paper Notebook Recommendations?

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Opening this up yet again. It’s been 2 years and Iv’e done a lot of trials and now I have the holy grail of what I am searching for in a perfect notebook.

I was satisfied with my smaller size and the Leuchtturm notebooks for quite a while. But then I found a stash of various notebooks that my mother had saved and not wanting to throw them away I decided to use them. They included several larger roughly 5 x 7.25 inch or A-5 size notebooks. Coincidentally I got a larger purse to hold my new iPad and so a larger notebook is just fine. I found I liked the larger size and wrote more in it. So I then embarked on trying a lot of other larger size and format ones. I had typically gotten lined notebooks but I decided to try dot grid and plain ones as well as the white line and white dot grid versions for scnning easily. Plain do not work for me at all. Dot grid would be great if the dots were further apart but all that I find have the dots 5mm apart. Most of the lined notebooks are also a bit too narrow. College ruled or 8mm between lines is perfect. I also found that I really needed/wanted numbered pages and at least 2 ribbon markers. Laying flat is also important. I’d prefer a variety of colors but that is secondary to the other items. I occasionally use a fountain pen but most of the writing is using a gel pen. I do like relatively thick paper. I also found that a hard cover works best when I take it with me which I do now that it fits in my larger purse

The Holy Grail Notebook

  • A5 size
  • hardcover, prefer a choice of colors
  • dot grid with the dots at least 8mm apart
  • numbered pages
  • 2 ribbon markers
  • decent paper
  • not too expensive as I go through a notebook a month or so. Prefer $10 or less for about 150 pages or so.

The closest I can come are several options that are ruled but none with a dot grid that is larger.

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I’m really liking the Cortex Subtle Notebook as a general purpose notebook. It’s the same as their Theme System Journal, but just a full-page dot grid all the way through. That said, it doesn’t meet all of your requirements: softcover (blue only), 5mm dot grid, perforated corners instead of ribbons, and $20.

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LEUCHTTURM 1917

It’s $20 for 250 pages. Pretty close to your price requirement. And I think it checks all your other boxes. My wife and I use them all the time.

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I have been using them but they are not working out very well. The dot grid is way too close to use and even the lined version isn’t very wide. My handwriting is terrible, I need the space. :grin:

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Potentially a stupid question, but have you tried using two dot lengths worth of height per line? When I was a (not that wee) lad constantly (and unsuccessfully) pushed to improve my handwriting, I used lined paper and used two lines worth of space for my handwriting exercises (so that lowercase letters came up to the middle line while uppercase filled two full lines).

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67

A finer pen will let you write smaller.

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I decided my favorite size is B5, but I really need hardback due to writing on my lap rather than desk.

I found these: https://odysseynotebooks.com - dot grid, page numbered, sizes up to B5, hard cover. Interesting.

They may seem pricy but Tomoe River paper is thin, and therefore there’s a lot more paper in the notebook. It’s also magical and despite its thinness, ink typically does not bleed through. You can get small Tomoe River notebooks at Goulet Pens if you want to test before committing.

Black n Red is still underrated and flawless.

I just finished a Rhodia notebook that had white paper (unlike their webbies). Unfortunately this may have been new old stock as I can’t find it again.

I finished a Lamy notebook with an unusual dual grid pattern - good but only A5: Notebooks

The new hotness is Cosmo Air Light, I have not tried it yet but here’s a review: Musubi Cosmo Air Light 83 Notebook Review — The Pen Addict.

Stalogy notebooks are great, - Tomoe River, blank, dot grid or graph, various sizes including B5 available, and they also have an unobtrusive date and time marking system. Downsides: no hardback, no elastic band, ribbon or page numbers. Stalogy 365Days Notebooks | JetPens

Leuchtturm makes a dot grid soft cover B5 with elastic closure and a ribbon, I’m using one of these for a project.

Endless recorder is also Tomoe River hardback, available dotted, no B5. https://www.madebyendless.com. My pandemic dinner journal.

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I had several Moleskine’s break as they got older. For the price they cost and given how thin the paper had gotten I stopped using them. I had one with me at all times for years pre iPhone days. I thought they were skimping on quality and trading on reputation frankly in recent years.
I had very poor customer service with them too when I eventually complained. Inflexible and robotic responses. I had enough of the notebooks and was prepared to accept another product in exchange, I told them this was after years. Just blanked me and kept saying ‘we will replace the exact item’. Even then they demanded photos and so on, which I supplied, still heard nothing for a time, then back to the robot…
At the point I moved to Field Notes and Leuchturm, which my wife had started using.

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Yes, then it’s too big and seems to take/waste too much paper. The closest comes if I write one line using the dots on the bottom and the next so that the midpoint of the letters, where the lower case ends is on the bottom of the next line of dots and the third is again on the top. That mostly works but it is a bit fiddly to make it look consistent. I know, waaay too picky! I want the Goldilocks notebook. she says, whining.

Any chance you can send a picture of a tiny piece that shows what you mean and measure the height between the line/grids? That’s one I’ve never heard of before and the info seems to say it’s a 4mm grid so might be usuable as an 8mm if it’s klike I’m imagining from the description.

I’ve tried the Leuchtturm A-5, problem is the grid dots are too close together. When I cramp my writing it’s even harder to read.

For lined notebooks what is labeled as college ruled or wide ruled is usually about right. What I’d like is a dot grid at that spacing.

A size larger than my original posting 2 years ago . Then I wanted something I could fit in the purse I had then, now I carry a bigger bag so a larger notebook is ok. 5.25 x 8 or A-5 both work.

A lot of the places don’t tell you how far apart the dots really are or the lines. That’s what’s missing form most of the descriptions I see.

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Perhaps the following from Lemome. It looks like the line spacing is 7mm but that is based off the page details. No ribbons though.

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I’m afraid this is almost impossible to find.

The closest solution I can think of is printing your own custom dot grid pattern and use it underneath a blank page (if you write at a desk, on the go might be a little too complicated).

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I asked and the lined one is 7mm but the dotted one is the “standard” 5mm

I’m beginning to agree with you on the impossible to find. Seems someone somewhere defined 5mm as the standard for a bullet journal and everyone follows suit. The idea of my own dot grid is interesting, I may try some testing of that. Most of the time I’m at my desk but not always.

The other solution is to go back to a lined journal. I don’t do as many drawings in mine as I thought I would and maybe it doesn’t matter if I draw them over lines.

So far in my research I’ve discovered that there are several standards

College ruled is 7.1mm between lines
Wide ruled is 8.7mm between lines

As far as I can tell ALL bullet and dotted journals are 5mm between dots

Moleskine & Leughtturm lined are 6.1mm between lines
Tekukor hits all the boxes except the spacing on the dots.

Of the lined options I’ve tried most of them. Daolin and Red Co are coming to me now for testing as they both have ones that purport to be wider ruled. Walmart Exceed medium journal lined might work lined but I can’t find out how far apart the lines are.

I’ve spent way too much time on this. Made a dataview note in Obsidian with notes for all the various options. Playing when I should have been working…

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Edit: Lamy A5 hardback notebook

Nibs:
Red - 1.1mm stub
Purple - Pilot Hi-Tec C Coleto, 0.38mm, 5 colors
Blue - Franklin Christophe fine cursive italic
Green - Bock EF
Grid - time tracker, colors from Coleto indicate tasks
Ruler - old rulers never die, they just end up in the keyboard drawer.

Hope this is helpful.

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75

A source for guide sheets in various formats is The Well-Appointed Desk but they also are not perfect since the larger graph spacing is 10mm and the largest dot spacing is only 6mm but am posting it in case others find it useful. At least there is an 8mm line spacing option in A5.

Download the NEW All-in-one PDF document for all styles including dot grid

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76

This is MORE then Helpful. It’s absolutely wonderful!

Thank you!

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