In the conversation surrounding Tomoe River paper replacements, one name has stood out among the contenders: Cosmo Air Light. And thankfully, one of the premier notebook makers in the world has added it as an option to their popular paper notebook lineup.
The Musubi Cosmo Air Light 83 Notebook features 208 pages of this highly fountain pen friendly paper. The A5 sized, semi-rigid cover gives the notebook great protection, and you can choose from three different paper styles - blank, 7 mm lined, or 5 mm cross grid. The lined and cross grid rulings each have subtle added markings on the page to help you setup your page for planning, bullet journaling, note taking, meetings, and more. To top it off, these notebooks will only cost you around $25, making them one of Musubi’s lowest-priced offerings.
With all that said, the real question is this: How does the paper perform? I’ll let Daryl from Musubi start this section off:
“Originally designed as a lightly-coated paper for book printing, Cosmo Air Light's most unique quality is its surface texture, which feels a little like a velvety dry-erase board, and spreads ink out slightly instead of pooling it in a single spot. As a result, inks sheen vividly and shade vibrantly, bringing out elements of colour and contrast in ways often unrivaled even by papers like Tomoe River.”
Cosmo Air Light is great for fountain pens. The ink colors are bright on the page, and the dry time is moderate - giving the ink a chance to shade and sheen well. There is a softness to the page as the nib glides across it, with little to no feedback. It’s almost glossy, but not slick. It’s hard to explain, but it feels great with fountain pens.
One thing I definitely noticed, and Daryl mentioned above, is that my lines seemed wider on this paper than with other papers. For example, my fine nibs left more of a medium-width line. The finer I went, the more I noticed it. My fine cursive italic Nakaya nib was not as fine I am used to, nor was my Platinum 3776 UEF.
For standard pens and pencils, I found the Cosmo Air Light paper too glossy for enjoyable regular use. If you grab a ballpoint pen and go write on a thick magazine page, that is the feel you get. Glassy smooth, with no feedback. Same with pencils, which needs a page with texture to be enjoyable in my book. Rollerball and gel pens were passable, leaving rich-colored lines which would look great as sketches, but I’m not sure I would want to write page after page with either of those inks.
Fountain pens are the way to go with Cosmo Air Light. And may be the only way. That kind of sounds like Tomoe River paper, doesn’t it? This is a fountain pen only paper for the most part, and fortunately it does that part well. If you like big colors, big nibs, big ink, and big lines, then you are going to love Cosmo Air Light.
You are also going to love the construction, quality, and story of Musubi notebooks. They are the best in my book, and at around $25 for the Cosmo Air Light version, it is a great value.
(Musubi provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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