Nicely wrapped in this little reminder, numbered sleeve, you can see I didn't pay for this but was given it as a sample to review. The numbering is a nice touch. The first number indicates the volume number, and the second the production number - cool. It also came with a little (about 9.5cm long) "Eighty Pages" pencil with eraser attached - see bottom picture - nice.
I really don't do a lot of notebook reviews (in fact I've only done one other). Nevertheless, I like notebooks, they're handy; and often a little fun; so while this review will be a little less professional than some you'll see out there, you should still get the drift.
If you want all the general information, I covered that a couple of blogs ago - you can find that here .This review is just a quick "touch and feel" review; so you get the idea of what is really on offer here.
PRICE
I can't do a price comparison on this one (I didn't pay); and they have just been successful on Kickstarter so I'm not sure what their price will be. Check out their web site in future if you need more on that front.
SIZE & APPEARANCE
It is what it purports to be: 3.5" x 5.5" (roughly 8.7cm by 14cm). So delivering on the promise there. That is the same size as a Field Notes notebook (even though my comparison makes it look bigger).
"Eighty Pages" doesn't have the rounded corners of the Field Notes - they're cut of instead. I'm fairly neutral about that; although I have a slight leaning to the rounder corners. (My apology too to for the look of the Field Notes book in this picture - this is a rather well used one).
The binding is waxed linen thread (as opposed to the staples of the Field Notes). Here I think I favour "Eighty Pages" which is also the same binding as my favourite notebook, Curnow's Backpocket journal (Tomoe River edition).
The cover is sturdy, simple, slightly patterned and the colour bold. All good there.
Like Field Notes, the brand name is mildly indented; although not on the front, but modestly at the bottom of the back cover where it also proudly proclaims itself a product of New York City. In this way, the Eighty pages Notebook is similar to the Just Write Notebook I reviewed here. but not quite as sophisticated an offering.
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| the heart sticker for the paper loop was a nice touch. |
Good stuff! Just look see:
No feathering, no bleed through. The paper seems to handle fountain pens very well. My only criticism would be that the paper has a little "roughness" to it - especially with the finer nibs. Nothing to be worried about, just a little feedback; so not the smoothest of surfaces at all times. This compares well still to Fieldnotes; that are good with finer nibs, but definetly feather and bleed through with thicker pens.
Eighty Pages currently only offer plain paper but promise to offer grid and other varieties as they evolve; which I would be happy about too.
Finally...
PAGES
Yes, there are 80 pages here. That compares to the 48 pages of Field Notes and many others. Is that good? Well, yes and no. It certainly means more time with one notebook. If you like changing covers to suit moods, maybe that's a disadvantage - but not a big one I would have thought. The cover is sturdy (it feels a little thicker than a Field Notes cover) so it should cover (pardon the pun!) the journey - I haven't done the LTIBP test ( 'long-time-in-the-back-pocket') so I'm only guessing here.
With all those lovely pages however, the 'Eighty Pages' has some problem staying flat; and that does tend to detract a little. Even when I placed my Eighty Pages in a Onestar leather Notebook cover I found the cover popping open (whereas there was no issue with Field Notes or Curnow Backpocket journal). This would suggest that Eighty Pages would benefit from a little elastic closure (a la Moleskine).
CONCLUSION
Finding a notebook that you can write in with your fountain pen on both sides of the paper is always a challenge - and you can do that with Eighty Pages: no problem. It's a rough paper though, and the writing is loud! The number of pages gives the notebook it's brand name; but that also seems to mean that you will need to be happy with a pop-open notebook (adding elastic may add to cost; but might be a good inclusion).
I have a few more editions of the Eighty Pages ordered via Kickstarter; and I look forward to seeing how they all look and perform. This is a great start!
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