Thanks, Quo Vadis...You Made a “Habaliever” Out of Me!

As nice as it was to learn that I’d won a Quo Vadis Habana notebook in a recent giveaway, it was even nicer to receive it in the mail!

Although the color wasn’t up to me, I love the “circus peanut” orange of the 4x6 hardcover notebook with the matching elastic closure. Its 80 sheets of 85 g/m² paper are a complementary ivory (I’d call it “vanilla”) with fairly-close-together gray lines for writing – more along the lines of college ruled than wide ruled (pun intended!). A black page marker, a back pocket, and a sewn binding, allowing the book to lay flat, round out the features of this little gem.

The paper – smooth but not slick – takes various inks well, which is exactly what I’ve come to expect from the Clairefontaine brand. Among others, I tested these fountain pens: Schneider, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Preppy, and Lamy Vista.

Although I’m partial to the flow of fountain pen ink on this paper, other pens – including a Liquid Flair, a Sharpie, a Le Pen, a regular Flair, a Paper-Mate Ink Joy, and a Uniball Vision Elite – performed well also, with virtually no show through on the opposite side.

I intentionally used the last few pages of the book for this testing so the balance will be available for notes, lists, observations, and the what-not of daily life that I intend to record in my new Habana. It’s the perfect size for a backpack, tote bag, or purse, and that’s exactly where I intend to carry mine.