First impressions from a new user - the Quo Vadis Habana

[Faustine]

I'm always on the hunt for fountain pen friendly notebooks and have this sickness: even though I don't really USE them regularly, I can't resist buying them. I've tried Moleskines, Leucchturm, Rhodia WebNotebooks, and Clairefontane - and recently succumbed to temptation and had to try the Quo Vadis Habana. As a new user of the Habana line, I thought I'd share my impressions of this turquoise beauty.

First of all, how great is this color?? Of course I couldn't resist it.


I chose the blank journal because I like having the flexibility in case I wanted to use it for journaling, but also can't write in a straight line to save my life. So I created some ruled/grid guides to place behind the paper. It works AWESOMELY. The red stapler is to weight the page down enough to see the lines in the pic.


I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the cream color, but I actually really like it. Also, I need to comment on how soft this paper is. Cause it's like SILK. I literally want to just sit and stroke it. Mmmm, soft. AND it lays flat. Like, easily and without any resistance. It's like a miracle notebook.


And of course, it's amazing with fountain pens!!


This is the back side of the full page of writing -as you can see, there's very little showthrough. It's wonderful.


All in all, I am really impressed with this notebook so far. Once I actually find a regular use for it, I'm sure I might have more. But for now, I really am glad I bought it.

[Faustine]

Just a quick update. I did some coloring on one side with my Stabilo 88 fineliner pens, and while there was a little more showthrough on the other side, due to the large colored in areas, it still wasn't significant or a dealbreaker to me. I'll try and post more pics later.

[Jeph]

Excellent pictures. How would you rate this paper against the others you mentioned?

[HeresyHammer]

This was the first fountain pen friendly notebook I bought. Mainly because its name is in Latin which comes from an apocryphal story related to Saint Peter. I was highly impressed with the quality and I thank you for your review. Perhaps more people will take the plunge and try out this great notebook. I use mine to test pens, inks, and for general calligraphy. My notebook works well with a flex nib and doesn't have bleed through even with buckets of ink on the page.

[HeresyHammer]

This was the first fountain pen friendly notebook I bought. Mainly because its name is in Latin which comes from an apocryphal story related to Saint Peter. I was highly impressed with the quality and I thank you for your review. Perhaps more people will take the plunge and try out this great notebook. I use mine to test pens, inks, and for general calligraphy. My notebook works well with a flex nib and doesn't have bleed through even with buckets of ink on the page.

[VertOlive]

This was the first fountain pen friendly notebook I bought. Mainly because its name is in Latin which comes from an apocryphal story related to Saint Peter...

Pretty good movie too(!)

[Faustine]

Excellent pictures. How would you rate this paper against the others you mentioned?

Sorry, just saw your question! I'd say the paper is definitely comparable to Rhodia and Clairefontane in terms of feel and fountain-pen friendliness. It for sure feels the silkiest!

[Faustine]

Just another "action pic" of the Habana - really loving it so far! I've decided to use it as my quotes/book notes notebook.

[mhguda]

Nice quotes, and nice handwriting, too!

[Faustine]

I also love how the Habana color is the exact same as my Nook Simple Touch ereader case! Unintentional matchy-matchy makes me happy, haha.



Also, I really think that the sadly discontinued Caran d'Ache Caribbean Sea ink is a perfect match to the turquoise cover:

[Faustine]

Nice quotes, and nice handwriting, too!

Thanks!! I have to make sure to write what ink I'm using for each color switch, cause I've rifled through old notebooks and wondered, what the heck ink is that??

[Lady Onogaro]

I started doing that, too. I'm like "Wow, that's really nice. Now what was it?"

[Cake]

Love these notebooks and the quality of the paper. Wish there was more paper in the notebooks, though.

[jacksterp]

Very nice review. Seems this notebook is one I could really sink my nib into...

Always on the lookout for FP friendly notebooks.

Thanks again

[Faustine]

Well, after using and LOVING the larger notebook, I decided it was kind of a beast to carry around everyday, which for some reason I feel compelled to do. So, I had to get the 4x6 smaller sized version. In the same glorious turquoise, of course. And THEN, I needed a backup. So, raspberry is now waiting for me to figure out a use for it too. Sigh. I SO have a notebook problem!

[Faustine]

I've posted pics of my Rhodiarama notebook in this thread, and think if I had to choose, while I love the crazy bright colors and zebra rainbow goodness of the Rhodia, I like the size and paper of the Habana and its insane ability to lay flat just a bit more.

[Special K]

I'm always on the hunt for fountain pen friendly notebooks and have this sickness: even though I don't really USE them regularly, I can't resist buying them. I've tried Moleskines, Leucchturm, Rhodia WebNotebooks, and Clairefontane - and recently succumbed to temptation and had to try the Quo Vadis Habana. As a new user of the Habana line, I thought I'd share my impressions of this turquoise beauty.

First of all, how great is this color?? Of course I couldn't resist it.


I chose the blank journal because I like having the flexibility in case I wanted to use it for journalinYou g, but also can't write in a straight line to save my life. So I created some ruled/grid guides to place behind the paper. It works AWESOMELY. The red stapler is to weight the page down enough to see the lines in the pic.


I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the cream color, but I actually really like it. Also, I need to comment on how soft this paper is. Cause it's like SILK. I literally want to just sit and stroke it. Mmmm, soft. AND it lays flat. Like, easily and without any resistance. It's like a miracle notebook.


And of course, it's amazing with fountain pens!!


This is the back side of the full page of writing -as you can see, there's very little showthrough. It's wonderful.


All in all, I am really impressed with this notebook so far. Once I actually find a regular use for it, I'm sure I might have more. But for now, I really am glad I bought it.

Chefs, don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I do the same thing. I like to have more pens that I'm going to use. I also like having way more paper than I'm going to use

[Sailor Kenshin]

I feel the same way, especially after reading a nightmarish post by someone who was stuck in the house with NO PAPER.

[naimitsu]

Nice review and follow-ups!
I've been looking for a replacement for my Moleskine, because the more I use it, the more I hate it! I recently received a Clairfontaine and a couple types of Apica notebooks, but their lack of page numbers has me relegating them as testers rather than users.

I hadn't seen any reviews of the Quo Vadis, so I was reluctant to try one out (thanks for being the guinea pig!)
Now based on your review, I think I will have to try one out for myself!

And for the record, I started collecting notebooks and stationary long before I started using FPs.
Now I have a stack of crappy paper and a pile of really fun pens.

[Faustine]

Here's an interesting update about Quo Vadis Habana customer service. So that raspberry 4x6 notebook I posted about? I finally decided to use it, so opened it up. Only to discover the paper in this supposedly identical notebook was NOTHING like the turquoise I already enjoyed.

In the turquoise notebook, which I bought from Goulet Pens, the pages are silky smooth, and it handles all ink beautifully. No bleedthrough and minimal showthrough. I bought the identical notebook in raspberry from Ebay a year ago, and the paper quality is AWFUL. It doesn't feel the same, less soft and smooth. MEGA bleedthrough, even from a fine nib. I seriously don't even want to use it. Just so disappointed that the same notebook with (supposedly) the same 85 gsm paper would be so bad. Seriously, it was like using Field Notes paper.

So after tweeting my comparison and some pics like this one:


.... and describing my problem, I was contacted by a VP Marketing at Exaclair, Inc. She very generously offered to send me a replacement raspberry notebook! She also asked for info on where I purchased the Habana, and some sample pages so she could see the quality differences I was experiencing, which she said she would "forward to the plant manager for research". So I sent the sample sheets in, and mentioned I was concerned because both notebooks supposedly have the exact same 85 gsm paper quality, and should be performing identically. I asked if maybe the paper weight changed at one point, or perhaps I got an older version in my ebay purchase, looking for some kind of explanation for the difference.

In our subsequent email conversation, we determined the Ebay seller was a reputable Exaclair customer. And once she received the sample sheets, she was stumped because the quality difference was clear, yet she was able to confirm that the paper in both books was 85g Clairefontaine paper from France. The Exaclair VP said that "the only possible explanation is one stock of paper was calibrated for printing, which may account for the additional bleed-thru. Personally, I don’t think this is the answer, but I don’t have an alternative explanation." So I agreed to let her know if I came across the issue again.

In the meantime, I am very impressed with the level of effort and follow-through that Exaclair went through to try and explain the difference in paper quality. And that they were so willing to send out a replacement, no matter that I got it from Ebay a year ago. It's a level of customer service I really appreciate and has just solidified Exaclair's standing in my opinion even further.

Now, when I get the replacement raspberry Quo Vadis, will the paper be good or bad? That is the burning question! I'll be back with an update when I find out.