Writing with Fountain Pens on Notebook Paper

I picked up a few notebooks from the back-to-school clearance at Walmart, to test out my fountain pens and ink on the less "fancy" paper. I tried using these papers years ago and they feathered and bled terribly. I'm excited to give it another go!
Supplies Used:
Pen+Gear Composition Wide Ruled
Five Star (Heavyweight Paper) Spiralbound Notebook
Pen+Gear (Heavyweight Paper) Spiralbound Notebook
Exceed (Heavyweight Paper) Spiralbound Notebook
Kilk Camera Laterna Fountain Pen (Medium Nib)
Relic Pens Monticello Fountain Pen (Medium Nib)
Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pen (Medium Nib)
Noodler's Inks
Raven Black (Canadian Exclusive)
Rome Burning (aka "Rome")
Dark Matter

[@iansmith3877]

Exceed journals from Walmart are some of my favorites. I’ve also had luck with random notebooks so long as they say made in Vietnam or Brazil.

[@azzgunther]

It's a good sign when you can move from higher-price to lower-price without being disappointed. I've become easy to disappoint in the realms of cheese, prosciutto, headphones, computer keyboards, acoustic guitars (this probably most of all), saw blades, and other things after buying the good stuff. With paper, I've been hesitant to even get started on the $0.10/sheet+ brands, lest I learn enough to be disappointed by the regular paper that currently seems fine. After this video, I'll try a Midori A5 book.

[@curatedavalon]

There are so many things to disappoint these days!

[@azzgunther]

My aim is to control the intake of disappointment. We have a small tank to contain it before it overflows, and too many overflows begin to stain us. We turn into a twitter doomscroller, vowing never to work or to travel, never to have children, or to do any pleasant thing. Disappointment seems available proportionally to the size of a society (and the internet society is billions of people large): more sources of disappointment available. Especially in this postmodern era we find ourselves in, where storytelling and art have been subverted and are made intentionally poorly. I wonder how our ~40 person tribe ancestors experienced life in this regard. It seems that fewer inputs would lead to general contentedness, though they surely had more events of actual hardship to contend with. Maybe the best quality of life available is to live more their way, unsubscribed from the streaming services and minimizing time on social media, instead watering plants and building things. Anyway...fountain pen paper! Sorry, the family are on a vacation and I'm brimming with ideas, haha.

[@curatedavalon]

@@azzgunther It astounds me just how much we overtax ourselves. Even by having such am availability to news from everywhere can emotionally drain and disorient us! Astounding the effects too much has on us! People are reaching more and more for the past analog world. Shoot, we've only been without it for a few years now!

[@azzgunther]

The return to analog is so encouraging. Many of us were doing that independently and looked around and realized that the fountain pen shows have increased attendance, largely comprised of young people. Woodworking and crafting shops are filling up while people are shutting down their social media accounts. US sales of printed books have been going up every year since 2012, up 71% since then! My hope is that things just went too far one way due to enthusiasm for novelty, and that we're on a swing back toward an equilibrium that balances human/worldly behavior with digital realities. For a while it seemed (still kinda seems) that the trajectory was toward a sort of Brave New World + cyberpunk dystopia. Do not want. Do you have a video about how you started with fountain pens?

[@curatedavalon]

@@azzgunther I don't have a video on how I started with fountain pens! A very neat idea!

[@mattlivingston2192]

Aargh! That Mead five star is like fingernails on a chalkboard! Especially with the Pilot VP.

[@piperspurpose3005]

Thank you for this video. And perfect timing! I just sat down at my desk to have a play with my fountain pens and my Five Star notebook paper and I turned on YT to find your video doing exactly the same thing! What a funny coincidence ;-)

[@curatedavalon]

You just never know! 😆

[@williamcatalano1762]

I got the Pen+Gear from Wal-Mart with a spiral in dot grid and am perfectly happy with how it performs for it only being a dollar a notebook for 80 sheets. Normal writing has very little ghosting and no bleed through generally. Only ghosting and bleed through is usually if I am coloring something in or having an ink swab. Noodler's 54th is very hard on paper and it doesn't do too bad. That paper though will be my go to cheap paper of choice for my fountain pens. It's also not really rough either, I was very surprised in that.

[@MummyBrown]

Ooo, I need to look out for this!

[@williamcatalano1762]

@@MummyBrown I think they actually raised it to like 2.50 or 2.95 a notebook. Which is still on the cheaper side, but it's still good for the money.

[@davecharvella4854]

Good to know! I personally haven't tried it yet, but I'm hearing and seeing that CVS "Caliber" paper/notebooks do extremely well, too!

[@curatedavalon]

I'll have to see if our CVS has those!

[@MamaTomasu]

I concur, I was very surprised how well this paper did with fountain pen inks, too

[@peterhess2610]

I use composition books, staples wire bound books and a Yuree book I get from Amazon. Each one is different. I like how my pens write so differently on each one of these. I find those expensive papers like Clairefontaine and Rhodia like writing on plastic and I don’t like them.

[@mellow-jello]

I use marbled composition notebooks for personal, daily journaling, and do not mind too much the light ghosting, and bleed through. It is mainly with full saturated inks with medium, and broader nibs, hence I stick with fine & extra fine Western nibs. In doing so, no issues here.

[@bentheben1145]

Personally I love the Pen and Gear notebooks especially the graph ones :)

[@curatedavalon]

I am using them a lot more! The paper is very nice.

[@VADAD-tt9hh]

I make my own using HP 32lb white printer paper and one of those sixteen hole punch ring notebook builders. But it definitely won't save money over a clearance notebook.

[@curatedavalon]

What a great way to get exactly what you want!👏

[@ghostyplans]

I have a pen + gear pocket spiral notebook and it’s great for Pilot Namiki Black!

[@curatedavalon]

Good to know! 👏

[@cheesim]

I recently used a Muji Spiral Notebook, and it handled the inks quite well. Thanks for showing us, this is really helpful!

[@nope8535]

Pen gear composite notebooks are what I use for my writing rough drafts. With Baystate Blue and a wet medium the ghosting can be an issue but going to a fine or extra fine and it isnt a problem.

[@curatedavalon]

Good to know!

[@mrdcoolblue]

Omg, I've never seen a half composition notebook before

[@curatedavalon]

Isn't it cool?! I really want to find college ruled!

[@gristlevonraben]

Thank you for sharing this. 🙂

[@gristlevonraben]

I used to get great $5 notebooks made in Vietnam at the 5 below store. They switched to India paper and it soaks through badly. I get black and red optik paper from office max, but I'm not liking how it makes all my ink colors look faded. Still looking for acid free fp friendly paper! 🤔

[@curatedavalon]

You are most welcome!

[@erikw3105]

I'm currently using a mead 5 star and a tru red notebook for two classes rn. In my opinion, mead works alright but will feather more. More ink is prone to bleed through, but a fine usually works well. Shading is more difficult. The tru red is a lot better on all of those fronts and it's cheaper than the mead. Would recommend

[@curatedavalon]

I've had a similar experience with mead notebooks. I used to use them all of the time. I still do from time to time.

[@tealorturquoise]

I use an Office Depot Graph Ruled composition book as my bujo because it works with most of my fountain pens and a variety of ink with no problem. Probably the most noticeable difference for is that it flattens some colors but my bujo is basic and for productivity and not artsy so that doesn't matter much for me.

[@Wolverine3660]

I am kinda cheap, so, I write a lot of 8.5"x11" copy paper, and I use my Rhodia pads for only special occasions. I have found to have the best results with no feathering or bleed through with Hammermill 20lb Copy paper, with 92 whiteness and a SKU# 105007. Get the ones which say Made in the USA, and they work real well as good as the fancier paper that we in the FP hobby tend to use. Staples has it on sale at $8.49 per ream of 500 sheets, and it is even cheaper if you buy, say, about 10 reams at a time, which is what I did on Saturday. Got the reams at $5.49 a ream.

[@Wolverine3660]

BTW, the prices I quoted and the SKU# for the paper I quoted were for the US market. I didnot consider the possibility that you might be based in Canada. Sorry for the oversight.

[@curatedavalon]

Good to know! Thanks so much!!!

[@markcollins2876]

I almost always use the composition notebooks and they very in quality. I write so much I can’t spend $25 for a book. Or I guess I should say I don’t want to.

[@MummyBrown]

This is why I mostly use EF- Medium nibs. I like to cut down composition books and use them as my journals in different sizes. Ink still plays a part but I find that with a little water dilution the feathering lessens greatly. I have a couple of ink swatch notebooks and one is a mini composition notebook so I know how it might work out in that kind of paper before I bother inking a pen with it.

[@curatedavalon]

What a neat idea! I love hearing people's processes.

[@shazlyvan]

I think these papers are ok to write on as long as what you write on it is to be kept, because they will turn yellow within a year or two under the best circumstances.

[@MarcellHobbs]

Speaking as an experienced (twenty-six years) teacher, we need the 1/2 composition notebooks in wide ruled. We created this style out of necessity by having husbands saw in half the full notebooks as we were purchasing out of our own pockets. I’m sad to see the half notebooks for sale at a full price. 😢

[@curatedavalon]

I remember cutting them smaller when I was a kid. It is cool they have them. These were a few dollars for I think 10 so it wasn't too bad.

[@MarcellHobbs]

@@curatedavalon Not bad for a student to purchase, but teachers buy for two classes of 22+ for two subjects (math/science or Sci/SS). It quickly adds up.

[@dashsunil]

I use extra fine on cheaper papers, no bleed through. Feels toothy tough. 😁

[@viratsingh-oz8gr]

Extra fine konsa pen hai

[@kimberleyobier6756]

Surprised to see the Penn gear paper is the thickest! I always avoid that brand because I assume it is of lower quality. Will have to give it a try!

[@curatedavalon]

Crazy right?! I almost didn't bother to grab that notebook!

[@InkDiaries]

I just bought my first gold nib pen (vanishing point black matte). Is it okay to use a gold nib fountain pen on regular paper? Or should I just stick with fountain pen friendly? I want this pen to be my daily writer but I also don’t want to mess it up either? I figured I’d ask you since you have some experience with gold nibs. I appreciate the help!😊

[@curatedavalon]

I would think it possible for regular paper to put more wear on a pen than fountain pen friendly paper. My daily writers (including my vanishing point) are fair game to any wear as they are my tools. So I don't worry about it too much! I figure it likely they will last my lifetime. 😄

[@InkDiaries]

@@curatedavalon haha thanks!😊

[@littleoldemeartistry-marieehi]

Do any of those have perforated pages for ease of tearing out?

[@curatedavalon]

Each of the three spiralbound notebooks have the perforated edge. They tear quite easily too!

[@jamesaritchie1]

Well, yes and no. You can write on anything with fountain pens, and much of it won't bleed. This does not mean using such paper is a good idea. It's often a terrible idea. Bleeding is one very, very small factor in whether paper is or isn't fountain pen friend. There's also ghosting, feathering, roughness, longevity, and the potentially dangerous :fiber factor". You can use cheap paper for a month, for a year, for ten years without a problem. Or you can damage the nib while writing the first word. Personally, juu8st the ghosting and feel of the paper is enough to make me steep clear of most cheap paper, but if that didn't the fiber factor would. Cheap paper simply has a high surface fiber count. This can get between the tines, which can be annoying, but sometimes the fiber are embedded and pretty strong. Catch one just right on a soft nib and you can pull the time right out of line. It doesn't happen often at all, but it onlt takes once. I would never, ever, ever risk a good nib on cheap paper. On top of this, the tipping on a nib is very hard, but rough paper can wear it down faster than you would think. All cheap paper is rough. Even "fancy, expensive" paper is rough, even if it feels smooth as butter on glass. But cheap paper is much, much, much rougher, even if it doesn't feel like it to the writer. It takes very little wear on the tipping to make a pen start misbehaving. I've worn flat spots on low end steel nib tipping in six months, and I've worn flat spots on high end gold nibs in four years USING FOUNTAIN PEN FRIENDLY paper. "Fancy, expensive" paper is a really bad choice of words. Good paper is neither fancy nor expensive. It's simply well-made, and usually very cheap for what you're getting. The correct term for such paper is "fountain pen friendly", or just "made for fountain pens". The correct term for cheap paer is "not fountain pen friendly" or just "not made for fountain pens". Sure you can write on it. But you need to remember that a paper that doesn't bleed can still be really lousy and very bad for fountain pens. Wider, wetter nidbs are best, and steel nibs are a must. No gold nibs. Really, those "fancy, expensive" papers are neither fancy nor expensive. They're simply paper made for use with fountain pens, and paper made to last. Cheap paper is not made to last, even if it says "acid free". Nibs made in China, and sometimes in India, say they're iridium nibs, too, but none of them have been within a thousand miles of iridium. I'm not really against using cheap paper, but it should be used with cheap pens. I do a lot of note keeping this way, but that paper won't last, and it is hard on nibs.

[@curatedavalon]

It is a pity that the tools we use are subject to wear!

[@stevekail4543]

When I use inexpensive paper I get the best results using a fine or extra fine nib but that could be due to my style of cursive writing. The brand of ink doesn't seem to have a large effect. When I use a nib that's medium or above, that's when I reach for a higher quality paper. Did you say you had been quilting? How about showing us a sample sometime? 🪡

[@curatedavalon]

I'll have to show what I'm currently quilting! I do have a quick shot of a past quilt in the Galen Leather Brass Ruler video. It was a black and white star quilt I based off of Ptolemy's original constellations.

[@Artfullyjenn]

I’ve heard composition notebooks have surprisingly good paper- but it’s dependent on where they’re produced. This was really enjoyable- much like the copy paper review you did previously!

[@curatedavalon]

@@Artfullyjenn Thank you!