Sometime last year, I started seeing a lot of mentions of Walmart’s Pen + Gear notebooks on Instagram. It seemed a little odd to me that people would be getting all excited about a very basic spiral notebook, but supposedly they were fountain pen friendly! So the next time I was at a Walmart, of course I had to buy one. At 97 cents, this 4×6″ spiral memo book was not a big investment!

I haven’t bought a 4×6″ spiral notebook in years. Even when I used lots of spiral notebooks, I preferred 3×5″ ones. (You can see more about my childhood spiral notebook collection here and here.) The Pen + Gear memo book is no different from any other spiral memo book in terms of its appearance: smooth cardboard front cover, brown cardboard back cover, lined paper… it is what it is.

But as for the paper inside being fountain pen friendly… yes, it is! It doesn’t feel thick or heavy, but it somehow manages to withstand bleed-through almost completely, and has better than average show-through. I’m impressed!

I do find it a bit funny to use a notebook like this with fancy fountain pens and inks that cost many multiples of the notebook’s price. Most people who care enough about writing to use a fountain pen probably also care enough about paper products to want something more aesthetically pleasing than a basic spiral notebook. But for those who like to use fountain pens or markers for everyday jottings, the Pen + Gear memo book will be perfect!

If you do want something that feels a little more upscale or sturdy, Pen + Gear also offers bound journals like this one:

It’s a typical pocket size Moleskine clone with a ribbon marker, back pocket and elastic closure. The exterior is a smooth paper wrapped over the hard cover, and the design is quite pretty, with color-coordinated endpapers and elastic. The branding info is on a sticker on the back, which peels off easily with no residue.

The pages are lined, with lines that don’t go to the page edges. Every page is perforated, which is unusual in these kinds of notebooks. The paper seems pretty similar to the spiral memo book, maybe a wee bit thicker. It is pretty fountain pen friendly, but not quite as bleed-proof as the memo book when I pressed down hard with a flexible nib.

The difference in the paper may be due to the journal being made in Vietnam, while the memo book is made in India. But at $2.68, the journal is still a great value! It’s nice to know there are some solid options out there for notebooking on a tight budget.