The Rhodia Bloc Top Staple Graph Paper Notebook

The Rhodia top staple graph paper notebook is another sample item that was given to me by Karen over at The Quo Vadis Blog to review.

The Rhodia bloc notebook measures 3.3 inches by 4.7 inches and is stuffed full of 80 sheets of 21.3 lb graph ruled paper.  The paper is super smooth and bright white, with a nice shade of light violet lines that make up the graph markings.

The Rhodia notebook with front cover folded back and some pens ready to write.

As you probably noticed in the first photo, the top section of the notebook cover has some horizontal scored lines, which is a really nice added touch. These lines make it so you can fold the cover over the top of the notebook with a very neat and clean cut crease. The second picture shows the notebook with the cover folded back, and you can see how nice, even, and flat it is.  Another nice feature of this notebook is that inside the back cover it has a nice think slice of cardboard that makes for a solid backing when you are holding the pad and writing.  The cardboard backing and nice nice clean way the cover flips over makes this an ideal notebook for someone who needs to take notes on the go…oh, that and the fact that it slips right into a regular shirt pocket on a mens shirt, the back pocket of your jeans, or the inside pocket of your jacket.  It just seems perfectly compact and designed for on the go note taking.

Close up of the Rhodia notebook graph paper.

The close up photo of the Rhodia notebook graph paper shows the bright white paper and crisp graph lines.  I am not sure if the quality of the paper shows up well in the scan, but this paper is very bright white and has an incredibly smooth feel to it.

Rhodia notebook graph paper writing sample, page removed.

Once you start writing on this paper you will understand why it is such a popular notebook for those who truly value a nice writing experience.  Each of the pens I tried on this paper wrote very smoothly on here, even the super fine point of the Uniball Signo .28 in red.  By taking a look at the high quality photo above you can see that none of the pens used in this sample show any feathering at all.  The pens used (in addition to the Signo .28) were the Lamy Safari with an EF nib and Noodler’s Borealis Black ink, a green Uniball Signo, and a Uniball Jetstream ballpoint.  You can also see that I removed this page from the notebook using the micro perforated holes at the top to rip it out.  Nothing bugs me more than perforated paper that leaves a jagged edge when you pull it out.  The Rhodia bloc notebook is awesome in that respect.  The page tears out with ease, and you never have that feeling of “oh no, Im going to leave a big sloppy chunk behind” when you are ripping the sheet out.

Using a medium size cushion grip binder clip as a stand for the Rhodia notebook.

Probably not an original idea, but I usually tend to use a binder clip on notebooks to create an easy way to open to the last used, or unused page.  In this instance I started playing with the Rhodia bloc notebook and binder clip for photographic reason and found that using the binder clip as a mini easel for the notebook works pretty well.  I think the rubber cushioned grips are a big help as compared to a regular binder clip because the rubber gives it a little extra grip so it doesn’t slide.  I’m sure this set up would be helpful if you want to type some stuff from your notebook to a Word document or something like that.

Keeping the Rhodia closed with a binder clip.

The only thing I wasnt 100% thrilled with about the Rhodia bloc notebook was that once you fold the top cover back, it wont really lay flat when you close it again.  Not surprisingly, the binder clip saved the day and I found that simply latching it on as pictured above solves the problem, and now you have a pretty easy way to carry around a binder clip with you because you know that in an emergency, they can fix just about anything MacGyver-style.

Overall feelings on the Rhodia Bloc Notebook.

The Rhodia bloc is a great little notebook, and it comes in a ton of other sizes and styles too, so check out your favorite stationery retailer and try one of these out if you have not already.  I can’t lie, when I was doing the writing sample I wanted to just keep writing just because it felt so smooth and nice to write on, especially with the fountain pen.  Thanks  again to Karen at The Quo Vadis Blog for this sample!

©2017, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.