The front cover of the Stifflexible Notebook
Today's office supply review brings us to yet another notebook, the Stifflexible pocket size notebook. I picked this notebook up during my trip to Boston at the Bromfield Pen Shop, where they have an excellent selection of not only pens, but also inks and stationery. This was one of those last minute impulse purchases because they had a small display sitting on the counter, and since I never tried one of these before, I figured Id grab one to try out.
The first thing I noticed about the Stifflexible notebook was that the name was printed on the back cover, kind of towards the center as you can see in the photo. This is a little different, but when you are used to very standard designs for notebooks (which definitely are appreciated) its nice to see a notebook that mixes it up a little in a subtle way like this. The nice thing about the Stifflexible notebooks is that they are completely made in Italy, which is known for quality hand crafted items. If you check out the Mazzuoli website, you can see the variety of solid color and designs that these notebooks are available in. This version is the green version from the colours line, and it measures 3 1/2″ x 5 1/2″.
Inside cover of the Stifflexible notebook.
Im not sure if the inside cover of the Stifflexible notebook is a good idea or not, its nice to have the option for all of this info, however be aware that if you were to fill out every line there and you lost this notebook, your chances of having your identity stolen might be pretty good.
Back cover of the Stifflexible notebook with pocket.
Like many notebooks in this class, the back cover of the Stifflexible notebook has a pocket inside the back cover. The thing that I like about the pocket in the Stifflexible notebook is that the opening on it is on the outside edge of the notebook rather than facing the binding which makes it much easier to slip things in and out of it. No need to worry about stuff sliding out of the pocket though because it has a nice sturdy flap that will hold things in.
The Stifflexible Notebook...is it stiff or is it flexible? Oh, wait...I get it, its BOTH.
So at this point you might be wondering why is this notebook called the Stifflexible? Well hopefully the picture above gives you an idea. Basically, the covers of the notebook have two thinner areas that allow the stiff cover to flex a bit so that if you put it in your back pocket or give it a slight bend any other way, it does so with ease. No need to worry about cracking a solid cardboard cover. Pretty cool!
Writing samples in the Stifflexible notebook.
The most important part of any notebook review has to be the actual writing sample, because what good are a bunch of cool features in a notebook if you dont like writing in it? The combination of fountain pens and inks that I used in this notebook included Pelikan and Lamy pens, and J. Herbin, Noodler’s, and Private Reserve inks. All of these pen and ink combinations did pretty well, with very minor amounts of feathering, and they laid down a nice smooth solid line with bright vivid coloring against the white background of the paper. You can also see that all of the inks dried on this paper pretty quickly, which is nice for you lefties out there.
The back side of the Stifflexible writing sample to show the bleed through.
The last photo shows the bleed through from the writing sample in the Stifflexible notebook. For the most part, the inks bleed through a little too much for my taste, but I dont think its terrible, especially on lighter color inks. This is one of those areas that are really about personal preference, so Id hesitate to give a thumbs up or down to a notebook based on my personal preference, unless the result was drastic.
Overall this is a nice little notebook that I personally think is a notch above some other similar notebooks in this class because of the unique cover, back pocket design, and fountain pen friendly qualities.
