Mini Review: Rhodia 5×5 Grid Pad No. 10

2" x 3" ... 80 sheets of 80g acid-free pH neutral paper...microperforated pages...staple-bound...scored cover for easy fold-back...stiff cardboard under the back cover

I’ve been more or less sitting on this review for almost two months now. I’d like to pretend like there were good reasons involved, but not really!

This is the smallest Rhodia notebook currently offered. It’s got Clairefontaine paper, also known as the only paper that can legitimately claim to be the world’s best paper.

Everything is beautiful on Clairefontaine paper. Everything, always. Write me the worst news on Clairefontaine paper, and it will still be beautiful.

Drying time on such nice paper does take a little longer, but it’s worth it. Crisp lines from even the thickest of fountain pen nibs!

And no bleedthrough!

If this notebook had babies with Post-it notes, the game of notebook making would pretty much be over. This is my pocket notebook of choice. I have these things everywhere; in the car, on my desk, my coats, all my pockets; I probably hemorrhage these notebooks everywhere I go. If I need to write something down for someone, I want to use a good pen, and I want it to be on good paper. It’s easy to keep these handy.

See the little cardboard backing between the pages and the back cover?

I prefer the grid pad to the lined; the lined lines are too wide apart for such a small notebook. The grid? PERFECT. The only bad thing about this notebook is that not everyone owns one. I can’t think of a single thing I’d improve.

Where can you find these? Well, there was a brief period when Target carried Rhodia products, before they decided that carrying good products was absolutely foolish and they would stock their shelves with overpriced garbage instead.

The Rhodia website has a list of online retailers, and here‘s Exaclair’s page where you can find local retailers by product brand (choose Rhodia, obviously, if you want to find this notebook). What could be better for giving notes to people? If you need it to be sticky, use a glue stick. Hm, I wonder if JetPens sells any fashionable glue sticks….

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