The Endless Observer Notebook: My Review

Endless Stationery was kind enough to send me with notebook to review a few weeks ago, but with the holidays, I'm just getting to it now. The Endless Observer is a hard-cover notebook with an exposed, soft spine so that it lays flat. The notebook has 187 numbered pages, plus tables of contents and a couple of blank leaves.
Regalia paper is a fountain pen friendly paper that is made in India, and this notebook is made of Regalia. During my testing of this notebook, I discovered that I was getting more feathering and bleed-through than I had experienced in the past, so I'm in the process of re-evaluating it.
= Music =
Most of the music in this video is from the KZbin library, but some of it is from Hooksounds.com , and some is from Monstercat.

[@thewetpen]

Just a quick note: while making this video, I encountered a couple of anomalies with this paper. One of them can be seen in the Abalone swatch... there's a spotty effect. I've seen that a couple of times, and now I'm not sure whether that's because of the paper or the ink. I also had more feathering than expected this time, so I'm re-evaluating my position on this paper, and will have to make a follow up video.

[@inkcrediblefountainpens]

I've heard good things about this paper. I might have to give it a try. Great review!

[@thewetpen]

Thanks. I'm not quite as sold on it as I was a month ago, but it's still right up there towards the top for me.

[@drnimish333]

Good video. This notebook really seems interesting. I would definitely check this out.

[@Volkmannx]

Interesting, thanks! Excited for the follow up.

[@technoraptor7778]

I'm glad the quality of these videos are so good ..to observe along with you the properties of the paper and inks. I'm really curious about those other notebooks on the beginning..they look beautiful. Maybe a notebook paper showdown coming up?

[@mrmugen53]

I honestly don't understand how you get such good performance out of this paper. I bought the recorder and observer notebooks based on your previous video about the regalia paper and my experience is completely different. Everything feathers on this paper, even normally well behaved inks like Sailor and Pilot, and the showthrough is really high. It honestly looks like it's right on the verge of bleeding onto the next page and I'm always surprised when it doesnt, and this is just with a medium nib.

[@thewetpen]

I actually was finishing up shooting for this video today and I had a couple of weird experiences with this paper. I'm going to have to do a follow up video. I can't really understand what I'm seeing at the moment... but one of the things that I saw with a couple of inks today (but only today!) was the weird spotty effect that you might have noticed in the Troublemaker Abalone swatch. I got the same thing with another swatch that didn't make it into the video. So, I'm currently re-evaluating my position on this paper. I need to re-test all three of my notebooks.

[@jamesaritchie1]

It's odd. I have no trouble at all with Regalia paper, and I know, jeeze, a couple of dozen people who also use it and love it. I have well over three hundred bottles of ink, and while I certainly haven't use all of them on Regalia, the ones I have used all behave very, very well on this paper. I use medium nibs almost exclusively, and just have no trouble, even with the many pens I rotate. The Observer notebooks are something else. I do get feathering, and even bleeding with that paper, but never, ever with the Recorder notebooks.

[@thewetpen]

@@jamesaritchie1 Yes, I'm in the same position... I tested the Recorder and Creative Block thoroughly with dozens of inks and had no problem with them. I'm getting feathering and bleed-through with the observer with inks that shouldn't be a problem. Further investigation required 🙂

[@notvoidz]

i love your videos!!! thanks for making them

[@CrocHudson]

I make notebooks and sketch books as a hobby and, without seeing under the black spine fabric, I would imagine this is bound in a similar way. Can you see if it's sewn? For lay-flat it likely is. It is honestly the best way to have a bound hardcover that truly lays flat and isn't spiral bound

[@thewetpen]

Each of the individual signatures (4 folded sheets each) is sewn together, but I can't tell how all of them are bound together... I assume that they're just glued, but they might be sewn and glued.

[@jamesaritchie1]

It's a horrible way to do a notebook and will cause all sorts of trouble down the line. It is not a good way to make a notebook lie flat, it's just a cheap way when you don't want to do it right. Bank paper notebooks have been made this way for a hundred years, and it doesn't take long for them to start falling apart. They also seem to suck dirt and grime right out of the air. It isn't difficult to make hardcover notebooks that have covered spines but that still lay perfectly flat. Other companies do so all the time. You just have to use a better binding, and it costs just a little more. Sewn bindings are good, but some are a heck of a lot better than others. Like everything, sewn bindings can be done well, or they can be done cheaply and poorly. Too many do a sewn binding cheaply and poorly but use it as a selling point because few buyers can tell the difference between good and bad. An uncovered spine almost always means it's done cheaply and poorly. At the very least, a quality strip of high strength, high adhesive tape should have been used to cover the spine. This works well, but this, too, costs a little bit more. Many companies that used books bound this way would cover the spine with tape and write the date, type of record keeping inside, or whatever was appropriate on the tape. Seriously, this is NOT the best way to make a bound hardcover that lies perfectly flat. Far from it. It's simply the cheapest way, and will cause problems down the line. No problem if you use such notebooks for things not intended to last a very long time, but it's best to think of them as just what they are, which is NOTEbooks. . .a place to keep notes and other unimportant things.

[@jamesaritchie1]

Honestly, there's nothing new about uncovered spines. They're junk. It's a very, very cheap. in the worst sense of the word, way of making a notebook lay flat, and of cutting corners on something that isn't intended to last. Bank paper used to come like this, and often still does. These notebooks shouldn't be five dollars cheaper, they should sell for five dollars, max. I'm one of those who hates Tomoe River paper. I think it's pure junk. It make ink look great, but it does so by making the ink dry on the surface, which means a LOT of dye is left on the surface, and can be reactivated by moisture even years later. This also means that bulletproof and waterproof and archival inks don't work well because they have to sink inside the paper to work. More, Tomoe River "paper", and there isn't much paper to it, is extremely fragile. It's one of the worst coated paper made, if you're looking for longevity. So even if you use a pigment ink, it won't help in the long run because the paper itself has poor longevity. So looking for an alternative paper that's identical to TR makes no sense to me. There are too many very high quality fountain pen friendly papers out there to use TR, or Regalia, or Cosmo Air. But we all want different things. Some care about nothing except how good ink looks on paper. Longevity or cost doesn't matter. Others, however, want their writing to last, which means using a paper with a high longevity factor. For these people, TR, and the new alternatives, are simply very poor choices.

[@thewetpen]

Personally, I like softbound notebooks (like Midori) to use inside of a leather cover. I also have concerns about the Observer's spine holding up, but I'll have to actually use it for a while to know. I agree that they should be less expensive... but bottles of ink should be a dollar, and most fountain pens should cost $5, so it's hard for me to complain about the market price of something like this.