(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
If there's a notebook size that's even close to perfect for me, it's the A5 size. It offers plenty of space, but is still easily portable and can make do in a lap or spread out on a table. It's the ubiquitous size that works best for me — it's the ideal compromise of convenience and utility. Problem seems to be that every stationery company has at least one A5 notebook in their lineup, and it can be daunting trying to pick one that works well with a variety of writing instruments.
The A5 notebook that I've been trying out most recently is from Blackwing, and it's a limited edition of their Slate notebook line. The Blackwing Slate Vol. 710 features a colorful cover that uses Jerry Garcia's artwork — a blend of colors that remind me of a tie-dye shirt. The other accents of the notebook, like the spine and the elastic bands for both the notebook and the pen loop are a complimentary brown. The pop of color definitely catches your eye.
The covers don't have any branding, but there are a couple of debossed shapes that are honestly difficult to see. In the center of the front cover, there's an outline of a hand that is symbolic for Jerry Garcia's missing middle finger. In the bottom right of the front cover is another debossed shape of the Blackwing logo.
The covers are soft to the touch on the outside, but hard on the inside, making them feel nice while also staying rigid. The soft covers are sewn onto the hard covers with visible stitching along the spine edge. To match with the elastic bands and spine, the stitching is also a complementary brown thread.
Inside the front cover, there's some space for writing down pertinent information about the owner, as well as a single page for listing out the contents of the notebook. Since the pages aren't numbered, this is probably meant to be more of a guideline about what's included as opposed to a table of contents. Either way, it's nice to have the organization if needed, but it doesn't detract from the page count if you don't want to use it.
The inside back cover holds a slim paper pocket or sleeve that can hold some paper. Again, the paper is a nice brown that goes well with the colorful cover. The pocket feels flimsy and like it might tear easily, so I'd be really careful with it to avoid accidentally ripping it apart.
Getting to the main feature of the notebook: it has 160 pages of blank 100gsm paper that feels fibrous and a little rough like sketchbook paper while still feeling smooth enough for general writing use. The paper is a nice ivory color that helps to showcase your ink colors.
Since the paper weight is on the denser side, I was expecting zero problems when trying different types of inks with it. Unfortunately, this paper is not coated with anything and tends to cause inks to feather and bleed a bit. It's not terrible — I've certainly seen worse — but it's worth mentioning.
The part that really disappointed me was how much the writing shows through to the back of the page. Even with pencil and super fine gel pens, the back of the page is unusable for me. Some people may not mind the amount of marks that clearly show through, but I can't handle it. For me, this is a front of the page notebook only.
Writing on the paper felt somewhat scratchy with any fountain pen nib that was larger than a European fine tip. Writing with ultra-fine gel pens (like 0.38mm) was also a bit scratchy, as well as hybrid ballpoints (0.7mm and smaller) like the Jetstream and Acroball. Rollerball inks tended to create wider lines than normal, though they didn't seem to have issues with feathering.
While the ink tests weren't stellar, I was rather surprised with how good this paper feels when using pencils. Being that Blackwing is a pencil brand, this makes sense. Writing with the different Blackwing pencils felt smooth and responsive due to the fibrous paper, and other pencils felt just as good. This is a paper that excels when it comes to graphite-based writing instruments and tools. If only the pencil marks didn't show through to the back of the page so prominently!
Everything about the design and form of this notebook shows that Blackwing knows how to make a good notebook. Other notebooks that I've tried from Blackwing that use a different type of paper have been really impressive. It's a shame this one doesn't perform as well. The fit and finish of the notebook is fantastic. It's a joy to handle with your hands due to the soft but rigid cover, the fabric-covered spine and the snappy elastic. And including an elastic loop on the spine to hold a pencil is a nice touch. It's sized just right to hold a wood-case pencil perfectly. In fact, the notebook also comes with a limited edition volume 710 pencil that uses Blackwing's soft core (same as the standard matte black pencil). This is a product I want to love, but the paper performance has me holding back when I'm picking a notebook to use.
In a world where we are spoiled for choice, paper quality is a huge factor in choosing a notebook. For me, the Slate isn't one that I'll be choosing again, but I'm glad that Blackwing has other great notebook choices that use more accessible and fountain pen friendly paper. At $30, this limited edition notebook is something I'd only recommend to Grateful Dead or Jimmy Garcia fans as a collectible item. The standard Slate notebooks are $25 and also include a standard Blackwing pencil. If you're only planning to use pencils, then the Slate is a great option. Otherwise, I'd go with something else.
(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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