Inspired by the tracks that used to appear on the “B-Side” of vinyl singles, the “B-Sides & Rarities” collection from Traveler’s Company features refills made from unusual papers with unique properties that serve a specific purpose. There are six different refills, available in both Standard and Passport size, and today I plan to look at the first two: the “Washable Paper” refill and the “Super Lightweight Paper” refill. The first as you might guess, is waterproof (or water-resistant, choose your own terminology), and the second contains ultra-thin (yet strong) onionskin paper.
Washable Paper: A “Waterproof” Paper Option for Those Who Risk Getting Their Notebooks Wet
Water-resistant paper is always a mixed bag in terms of writing experience, tends to be expensive, and typically can’t be used with fountain pens or other water-based inks. Here, with their new “Washable Paper” refill, Traveler’s Company has foregone Yupo or Rite-in-the-Rain paper in favor of the same material used to make laundry tags, with interesting results! Most notably, instead of the ink sitting on top of the page, resulting in extremely slow dry times, the Washable Paper absorbs ink. Not only does this render dry time and smearing to essentially non-issues, but it maintains “water resistance” with even the most non-water-resistant fountain pen inks. For example, if you get caught in the rain, spill a glass of water, or, heaven forbid, send your notebook through the washing machine, your writing should remain legible. And because the paper was specifically intended to be washed, it will retain its original shape and not fall apart or stick together.
For this test I cut a sheet of Washable Paper from the refill, and wrote a few lines with various pens, including fountain pens loaded with some of the least water-resistant inks in my collection (various colors of Iroshizuku and a generic black cartridge). Note that extremely wet inks will feather a bit on this paper since it’s so absorbent. Like most waterproof papers, ballpoints and pencil work the best, but fountain pens are at least usable here, with much quicker dry times.
As you can see, while the fountain pen ink definitely washed out after a 30-minute soak, I can still read my writing to a degree which would allow me to salvage the information if the notebook ever got sent through the washing machine. I doubt there would be any effect at all on writing done exclusively in ballpoint. Just to reiterate - NONE of the fountain pen inks I used here had any water-resistance whatsoever, and would likely disappear entirely from standard paper.
Super Lightweight Paper: An Ultra-thin Option with Better Dry Times than Tomoe River
As I discussed in an earlier post, Tomoe River Paper faces an uncertain future. The company that manufactures the paper has announced its discontinuation at various points over the past couple of years, only to backtrack, most recently announcing that while they intend to shut down their own production by the end of the year, they are exploring ways to outsource the manufacturing. Honestly, it all sounds very contingent to me, and I can’t imagine what I’d be doing if I were running a business dependent on the continued availability of this paper.
Traveler’s Company, for its part, is clearly exploring alternatives. While it’s standard “Lightweight Paper Refill”, which contains 128 pages of Tomoe River paper, is a favorite among many, the new “Super Lightweight Paper” from the “B-Sides & Rarities” collection deserves consideration in its own right. Instead of Tomoe River, the Super Lightweight refill contains 128 pages of what appears to be onionskin, an even lighter and thinner translucent paper originally used for airmail correspondence (due to its light weight) and typewriters (due to the combination of light weight and strength). Traveler’s Company describes this paper as “oilproof”, which supposedly “does not allow for oil to penetrate easily so it is hard to smear when using a fountain pen.” I’m not sure of the science behind that, but I can attest to the fact that this paper has a much quicker dry time and much less smearing than Tomoe River paper. On the other hand, it has a slightly “draggier” feel when writing with a fountain pen, and you will have more show through due to the fact that the paper is thinner. (The exact amount of show-through will vary depending on your writing pressure and ink choice.)
You’ll notice that while there is no bleed-through on this paper, there is show-through, especially where I used heavy writing pressure. It could be difficult to use both sides of the page. With pencil or a ballpoint, you would probably be fine.
Takeaways and Where to Buy
While I probably wouldn’t use these two refills as my primary everyday writing paper, that’s not what Traveler’s Company intended with the B-Sides & Rarities collection. The Waterproof Paper would be a top choice for a camping or boat trip, or a travel situation with a high risk of spills (train trip, for example?). Some might opt for the Super-Lightweight Paper as a replacement for the Lightweight Paper Tomoe River Refill, which I presume may be in short supply as manufacturing issues with Tomoe River paper are sorted out, but be aware of the show-through that might prevent you from using both sides of the page for standard writing. Stay tuned as I work my way through the rest of the newly released refills!
You can purchase both of these refills, along with the rest of the Traveler’s Company “B-Sides & Rarities” Collection, in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of the full range of Traveler’s Company products, including the Traveler’s Notebook and TRC Brass accessories.