I’m a fan of Black Notebook with Black pages. 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 Black Paper 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 Black Paper 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.
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 Black Paper notebooks– I love the marbled page edges and tightly rounded corners.
I have to just stop here and say that it took me a while to figure out whether these notebooks are Black Paper Flexis. As in plural of Flexi, and thereby pronounced Flex-eyes, or whether Flexis itself was the. Name of the product line, pronounced Flex-is. 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.
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.
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 Noves. 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.
But to be honest, I’m not sure I would have lasted longer with the Black Paper 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 Black Paper just felt a little bling-y and ornate to me– a little fancy for everyday use.
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