I’m a fan of Paperblanks notebooks. I own several of them but I had never actually used one until quite recently, when I decided to bite the bullet and try using a Paperblanks Flexis notebook as a daily journal.

I’ve been coveting these notebooks for a while– there are some very cool cover designs, and I liked the idea of the flexi binding, which is a nice compromise between the sturdiness of a hardcover and the flexibility and lightness of a softcover. The current line of Flexis notebooks was introduced within the last few years, but I realized my oldest Paperblanks notebook, from their Old Leather collection, has a similar cover. Its cover slightly thinner, and seems to be and underlying board wrapped with a smooth paper on which the design is printed, unlike the new Flexis, which have a single or double layer cover on which the design is directly printed/debossed, from what I can see.

The Old Leather notebook is referred to as a “Back Pocket Flexi,” as it has a Moleskine-style expanding back pocket. The current Flexis just have a little paper tuck pocket that won’t hold very much beyond a couple of business cards. Otherwise the Flexis are pretty similar to most of my other Paperblanks notebooks– I love the marbled page edges and tightly rounded corners. (My older ones have plain white edges, and while the Old Leather has widely rounded corners, the Via Romana has squared corners.)

I have to just stop here and say that it took me a while to figure out whether these notebooks are Paperblanks Flexis, as in plural of Flexi, and thereby pronounced Flex-ees, or whether Flexis itself was the name of the product line, pronounced Flex-iss. My Old Leather said “Flexi” but beyond that, it took me a while to dig into their website far enough to find a reference to Flexi in the singular, so I guess it is one Flexi, two Flex-ees.

I bought my two Flex-ees at an independent bookstore in Delaware that always has a lovely display of Paperblanks, and even better, usually has a good representation of unlined notebooks in addition to the more common lined format. I chose the Tesla and Mystique designs, in the Mini size. I was excited to start using one, so it was only a month or two after I bought it that the Mystique entered my daily arsenal. And less than 2 months later, it exited.

I wish I could say it was because I had an incredibly productive and interesting time of life which resulted in me filling more pages than usual with all my fascinating thoughts. But it was actually because I found myself not enjoying the notebook. Rather than just switch to another one, I scrawled my way through it in larger than usual handwriting, often writing on only one side of the page.

I can only point to one particular disappointment with the quality of the notebook itself. Paperblanks uses different paper weights, and when I bought these notebooks, which have different page counts, I assumed their paper weights were 80 GSM and 120 GSM, the papers found on the Paperblanks Nova Stella Solis I reviewed, and the Paperblanks Reporter notebooks I reviewed. But what I didn’t realize was that Paperblanks use not just 2 levels of paper, but at least 3! You can only find the paper weights in the descriptions on their website, not on the product itself.

My Tesla Flexis notebook has the 80 GSM paper, but my Mystique Flexis has in-between 100 GSM paper that is not as fountain pen friendly as my 120 GSM Stella Novis. The difference between the 80 GSM Tesla’s paper and the 100 GSM Mystique was pretty negligible– maybe slightly less bleed-through and show-through in the Mystique, but about the same amount of feathering. And I think the inks I tested might look a little less splotchy on the lighter paper.

Of my other Paperblanks, the Via Romana is pretty good with fountain pens, and the Old Leather is only so-so. I’ve bought these over a period of several years, so I the paper weight may not be the only difference– they seem to have slightly different textures and may be from totally different paper manufacturers. Who knows. The Nova Stella’s 120 GSM paper is really great, so I hope they still use that in some of their other notebooks!

But to be honest, I’m not sure I would have lasted longer with the Paperblanks Flexis notebook even if it had been 100% fountain pen friendly. My attitude towards notebooks is sometimes like my attitude towards clothing: I admire certain styles that look great on other people, but they just aren’t comfortable for me. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong with them, it’s just an idiosyncratic personal preference. I have always gravitated towards notebooks with plain covers, mostly black, so the Paperblanks just felt a little bling-y and ornate to me– a little fancy for everyday use. Also, I really like the 3.5 x5.5″ size proportions that have become standard for many other notebook brands, so this one being a hair shorter and slightly wider just felt a little off to me. The Paperblanks website says it is 3.75 x 5.5′, which is pretty accurate, but some of my older Moleskines are actually 3-1/2 x 5-9/16″.

I still think Paperblanks is a great brand. They are well-made notebooks and the heaviest paper should make fountain pen users very happy. But I think I’ll be able to restrain myself from buying more.