"Hitlist" Notebook Review

I feel terrible, because a very kind reader, my friend Paul, sent me one of these notebooks a few months back with a couple of ink samples and some pencils, and I'm only now getting a chance to review them.  The notebook immediately piqued my interest, because I've never seen one like it before. 

The Hitlist Notebook has a convenient white strip along the spine for labeling the notebook by subject and date.  That feature is a nice touch, and something I would use more on pocket notebooks.  

Hitlist Notebooks are made in Canada, and are marketed as a more fountain-pen friendly alternative to other pocket-sized notebooks such as Field Notes, Word, etc.  They are only 32 pages, as opposed to the standard pocket-notebook 48, but given that you can easily use both sides of the page while writing with a fountain pen this is not as much of an issue as I initially thought it might be. To put this notebook through its paces, I decided to use it for archiving ink and writing samples, and took it with me to the D.C. Pen Show to play around with.   

The first writing sample in the gallery above contains a few inks I had on hand:  Lamy Turquoise (also from Paul), Kaweco Paradise blue, and Iroshizuku Kon-Peki. The pens I used for the writing sample were fairly wet writers, but there was minimal to no bleed through.  In fact, what you can see on the back side of the page is what I would consider "show through."  For a pocket notebook, this is excellent performance with fountain pens, and both sides of the page are usable.  

The second writing sample was done at the Nibs.com table at the DC Pen Show.  I pretty much tried to abuse this notebook with a series of very broad, wet, even flexy Nakaya nibs customized by John Mottishaw, which was a lot of fun in and of itself.  Check out the flip side:  again, there is hardly any bleedthrough, even with double broad stubs.    

Hitlist Notebooks include a "Pen Dock" notched out of the cover. 

Hitlist notebooks also feature a notch cut out of the top of the cover, which makes a "dock" for clipping your pen to the front.  Since I regularly clip my pens to the front of whatever pocket notebook I am carrying, I consider this a neat feature that might make it more difficult for your pen to slide sideways off the cover.  I have not carried the Hitlist as a "daily carry" notebook yet, so I can't speak to how it might work in practice.  I should also note that the notebook is well constructed, and the cover feels durable enough to stand up to heavy use.  

Hitlist with my Delta Fusion 82 in Pompeii Celluloid.  

Hitlist notebooks are sold directly from their website (link here).  I have not seen them sold at any third-party retailers.  The pocket-sized notebooks will cost you $14.99 US for a pack of three, which is slightly more expensive than Field Notes ($9.95).  However, the paper is premium and those who want to be able to use a fountain pen under any circumstances likely would be willing to pay slightly more for the upgrade.  There is also a larger size, which costs $15.99 for two notebooks that look to be about the size of the Field Notes Arts and Sciences.  I have not had the opportunity to try those but I might once I work my way through my current (embarrassing) stash of pocket notebooks. 

This is my first experience with Hitlist books; the Hitlist website features some other reviews by PenPaperInkLetter, Notebook Stories, and Tyler Dahl. 

Doane Paper Utility Journals: Garage Edition

Over the past several months I've become a pocket notebook junkie.  I primarily use Field Notes--I don't care if the paper bleeds if I use a very wet fountain pen to jot quick notes (though I normally use a gel pen for this kind of writing), and I like the limited editions.  But I'm also a fan of Doane Paper's offerings, including these guys. 

Doane Paper Utility Journal Garage Edition:  Finished the three-pack!  They look good worn out. 

These are a more fountain pen friendly alternative to the standard Field Notes paper, although the paper is not quite as good as the paper found in the America the Beautiful and Shelterwood editions.  Here's a writing sample below.  I like the Grid+Lines paper that Doane uses.  It makes the notebook practical for both large and small writing.  The other Doane product I have tried is the large legal-size pad, which I use a lot at work.  I have one of each size of the idea journals (the spiral notebooks), as well as a pack of the larger utility journals, but have not had a chance to use them yet.  I anticipate they will be just as good as these.

Slight feathering with a VERY wet stub nib.

Some slight bleed-through with a very wet nib, but standard Field Notes paper would be much worse.

All Doane Products are available directly from Doane Paper, and also now from Jetpens. 

Shelterwood

Due to the large number of Field Notes Shelterwood reviews that have been out there recently, I was hesitant to add yet another, but I found myself using my first book for a project this weekend and was inspired.  I also realize that this is my first Field Notes post since my review of the original Kraft Paper version, which was not my intention.

Field Notes Shelterwood, the Spring 2014 Colors Edition. 

Most of the attention given to this edition has to do with the cover:  It's cherry wood veneer grafted onto Field Notes standard Kraft Paper stock and left unfinished.  What you have is a notebook cover that looks like it is solid wood.  When I received the single pack I ordered in the mail (I'm not a subscriber and probably won't be until I run through at least some of the huge backlog of pocket notebooks I have lying around here), all I could do was marvel at the feat of arts and sciences (!!!!!!) that it must have taken to put this thing together.  While the notebook looks like it's solid wood, I was struck by how supple the cover still feels.  Many people comment about how they feel they can't use this as a typical pocket notebook, reserved primarily for more formal, desktop writing,  but at first glance I'm not sure I agree.  I'm going to give it a try using it as I would typically use another Field Notes.  [Caveat:  my impressions may change as I use this notebook.  If the cover starts to splinter, fray or wear in a way that would prevent this notebook from living out its intended 3 week to one-month lifespan of daily pocket use, I could see myself shifting it to less "extreme" applications.  However, I'm not the typical back-pocket user--I have to wear a suit or jacket most days so I carry mine either in my jacket, shirt or side pocket, which limits the wear they suffer.] 

The wood grain on this particular notebook is gorgeous.  The printing on the cover (in "ghost white") ink, looks like whitewash you would see on a wooden fence. 

The paper in this notebook almost warrants its own review.  I'm typically not one to geek out on specs such as paper weight, etc. so I won't do that here.  My primary concern is whether or not I can use it for the vast majority of intended purposes.  Since this is a lined notebook, the question becomes, can i use it to write longhand with a fountain pen, as opposed to jotting quick notes with a gel pen or pencil?  The answer, here, is yes. 

The first page of a fresh Shelterwood (outlining Friday's blog post), written in Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo with a wet Waterman Perspective sporting a fine nib.

Take a look at the page on the left, which is the flip side of the notebook's first page.  No bleed-through at all.  There is some minimal show-through, but not near enough to bother me, and this pen is a fairly wet writer.  

As most fountain pen users have said, I'd love to see this paper used in more Field Notes editions.  I have a single pack of the America The Beautiful edition as well, and I'll be cracking those open soon.  The one critique I have of this notebook (and it's a small one) is the ruling.  As you can see, I write fairly small.  I do wish that the ruling on the lined paper was narrower so that I could take better advantage of this paper and not use it up as quickly. 

Announcement!  This blog is now taking up enough of my time that it warrants its own pocket notebook for projects/ideas, so the Shelterwood has been given the task.  I'll update this review or revisit the project as the notebook gets more use and some more wear.  I'm also on the cusp of finishing the third notebook of a Doane Paper Utility Journal 3-pack, and after that I've got the third book of a Field Notes Drink Local Ales 3-pack, so there should be some more pocket notebook reviews coming your way.  In short, I really like both the Doane and the Drink Locals, but I'm leaning towards sticking with Field Notes just because they have more character, IMHO.  I can get my Doane fix with the larger Idea Journals and the writing pads.