7 Best Journals for Fountain Pens [Reviews and Buyer’s Guide for 2021]

Imagine yourself having the best fountain pen in the market but, you don’t have the expected papers you would like to write on with the pen. The best thing deserves to be used on the best material. Hence, journals are considered the best ones to use while writing with a fountain pen. Therefore, today we take the lead to write on the best journals for fountain pens!

Fountain pens and journals are the best combinations ever. Having a pen without the journal has no use and vice versa. Unfortunately, not all the journals we find in the market are worth buying. But our selected best journals can help you out.

7 Best Journals for Fountain Pens Reviews 2021

Only the best journals will help you to bring out the best use of your precious fountain pen. Hence, you shouldn’t be depriving yourself of having the best journal if you own a fountain pen. So, keep a close eye on our 7 picks and acknowledge yourself more.

1. Dingbats D5008GY Wildlife Medium A5+ Hardcover Notebook

Dingbats D5008GY notebook is our topmost pick as one of the best journals. This notebook gives you a truly good experience if you ever own it. The whole product is made of high-quality materials possible. The product is considered excellent for multipurpose journaling.

Each hardcover comes with an animal figure that is excellently stamped on the cover. The Lebanon company is making the journals for over 218 years, making sure of producing the best pages for them. The 100 GSM cream writing pages are highly coated, thick, smooth, and fountain-friendly.

The Notebook is handmade and a hundred percent vegan. Offering 192 pages, it feels too good while writing on. Also, the notebook is fully bio-safe as it is manufactured with recyclable and biodegradable materials.

Being a part of nature, Dingbats produces their journals. Overall, this is one of the best journals or notebooks for fountain pens.

Top Features:

• The notebook weighs only 15.8 ounces and the size is medium A5+.
• Comes with grey color and elephant debossed on the hardcover.
• The hardcover is made of PU faux leather and has radius corners.
• The pages are micro-perforated and acid-free.
• Arrives with inner pocket, bookmark, and elastic closure.
• The pages lay flat and absolutely FSC certified.

2. Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook – Lined Eco-Friendly Notebook

After the Dingbats Notebook, our second most favorite pick is the Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook as the best journal. To have a classic paper and pen experience, this notebook has a lot to offer. Its properties are way ahead even from this digital era.

The notebook is endlessly reusable connecting all the cloud services like iCloud, Google Drive, Evernote, Dropbox, and so many. It looks absolutely like the traditional notebooks but, it is equipped with some of the sophisticated AI technologies.

It allows you to enjoy its smart search, smart titles, email transcriptions, and so on. The pages feel smooth and likely to erase with the only drop of water when written on any pen from the Pilot Frixion series. Overall, this eco-friendly notebook is life-changing.

Top Features:

• The notebook comes with an executive size of 6×8.8 inch.
• Comes with a cover of terrestrial green color.
•  The papers are made of synthetic material and specially coated.
• Offers 36 pages that are lined and reusable.
• It includes a Rocketbook core, one Pilot Frixion pen, and one micro-fiber cloth.
• It is featured with AI technology.

3.  A5 Dotted Journal by Scribbles That Matter – Bullet Dot Grid Notebook

With the high-quality thick paper, the A5 Dotted Journal by Scribbles That Matter is also one of the best journals for fountain pens. It is capable of holding up to most ink pens with zero ghosting and bleeding through.

With the ultimate organizational system, using this notebook is fun and productive. It is extremely portable with more than 150 pages. With the customizable page layouts, you can get real structure and freedom while writing.

For the archive facilities of your entries, the notebook has a special color-coded page and 3 index pages. In the back-pocket of it, you can keep important slips, tickets, or receipts. This one also has an eco-friendly stylish hardcover.

Top Features:

• Comes with a faux leather cover and navy blue color.
• Featured with dotted style 160 GSM white pages.
• Includes 150+ acid-free pages, a pen test page, and 3 index pages.
• Featured with an expandable back pocket for carrying important slips.
• Featured with an elastic closure and a pen loop.
• Portable and includes two bookmarks.

4. Dusky Meadow Journal (Diary, Notebook) (Journals) Hardcover

If you are looking for a beautiful piece of journal, then you might look for the Dusky Meadow Journal without any second thought. The hardcover is featured with a gorgeous floral pattern. To add dimension and texture, it is raised embossing.

The notebook has pages that are smooth and thick and lined pretty lightly. It offers plenty of space to the pages ensuring your exact reflection, sketching, and creative writing on the pages. There is an in-built pocket inside the back cover.

The Dusky Meadow Journal is also portable and compact. It fits into any backpacks, bags, and purses. It has a sturdy binding and quality finish. It is built for long durability. You can literally judge the book by its excellent cover.

Top Features:

• Hardcover has given floral pattern with silver foil tracery.
• It has 160 pages that are lightly lined, archival, and acid-free.
• Arrives with a compact 5X7 inches size.
• Featured with a pocket in the back cover that has a soft slate-gray color.
• Designed with an elastic band for secured closure.

5. Phoenix Writing Journal by SohoSpark

If you are searching for the best refillable journal, then you should go for this one by SohoSpark we are reviewing. You would love to use this most stylish journal for a lifetime once you have it. The hardcover of the notebook is lit and the padded leather feels lustrous in hands.

The debossed artwork on the cover is a classic piece of art. It comes with premium numbered pages that do not bleed or wick through. The notebook has an average size and it is easy to carry. It has a lay-flat binding feature for convenient writing.

Moreover, the journal is one hundred percent cruelty-free and considered a great gift for a vegetarian. In total, this Phoenix Writing Journal by SohoSpark is one of the best refillable journals for fountain pens.

Top Features:

• The hardcover is made from animal-free faux leather.
• The cover is embossed with delightful classic art.
• It has a sewn lay-flat binding feature.
• It includes 240 acid-free papers and dot grid and lined style refills.
• Comes with a refill size of 143X210mm and manufactured fully vegan.

6. Rhodia Rhodiarama SoftCover Notebook

To find a simple yet elegant journal, you should look for this one from Rhodia. With a very stylish Rhodiarama soft cover, this notebook looks great. With a dimension of 8.27X6.1X0.47 inches, it is compact and colorful and can be taken anywhere inside any bags or purses.

This notebook is expertly constructed and its cover has round corners. It is also highly functional with its inner pocket that is expandable enough and any receipts and slips can be kept. The dot sheets of the notebook are acid-free and smooth.

The notebook comes in three sizes and all of them are easy to carry. Overall, a Rhodia Rhodiarama SoftCovernotebook is always a great choice.

Top Features:

• Comes with a soft faux leather bright orange cover.
• Featured with an inner pocket and includes a ribbon page marker.
• It has an elastic closing design.
• Includes ivory vellum papers of 90g and has a wove finish.
•  It has a glued spine design and dotted journal.

7. The HUSTLE Co. Thick Ruled Journal Notebook

Searching for a professional journal that will suit your office, business, and any meetings? Luck goes on you because the Thick Ruled Journal Notebook by HUSTLE Co. serves the exact purpose. The thick leather cover with thick pages brings out the classic professional look.

The notebook includes 120gsm pages that are fountain pen friendly. Without any bleeding and ghosting the papers perform great. This notebook helps you to stay organized with its numerous features. For longer durability, it is section-stitched carefully.

Its lay-flat feature is a great help to left-handed people. The journal also comes with a satisfaction guarantee of 12 months. Thus, this deluxe notebook is a great choice for any journal lover out there.

Top Features:

• Hardcover is built with black faux leather.
• Comes with 160 pages of 120 GSM and papers are ruled or lined.
• It includes a ribbon bookmark, pen holder, and inside pocket.
• Featured with lay-flat and elastic strap design.
• Has section-stitching feature and smooth paper finish.

Understanding Weight of the Paper for Fountain Pens

Well, to use a fountain pen on paper you have to choose the right one according to its weight. In all the journals, a weight rating called GSM is used to measure the weight of the papers inside them. The GSM indicates grams per square meter.

Basically, with the rating, the thickness and weight of the paper are measured. The larger GSM number indicates the paper is also thicker. Your experiment will begin the moment you use your fountain pen in the journal.

It will automatically come to your notice about the thickness and weight of the paper you might need while writing on it. You will begin to have your own preference in the case of using the journals. This somewhat differs from people to people and pen to pen.

You will certainly understand that different journals give a different feeling of writing when you pay closer attention to the pages. This is absolute because of GSM. Hence, GSM should not be ignored.

Buying Guide: Things to Consider when Buying a Journal for Fountain Pen

Size: This is the first thing to consider while buying the best journals. You need to know the size. There are many mini and slim best journals for your easy carrying in the pocket. But for writing long passages, you should go for the medium or large or grand size notebook journals.

Cover material and design: The cover is the most important part. Some of the best journals come with 100% vegan leather hardcover with some eye-catchy color and classic design. Some of the best ones also come with a simple and elegant cover. So, if you always go for minimal then the simply designed covers would be great for you.

Quality of papers: The best journals always consist of the best quality papers with higher GSM. Papers with higher GSM are smoother, weighty, and thicker. Also, the high-quality papers don’t bleed or ghost and there is no feathering. They have higher opacity.

Binding quality: The best journals are built with the best quality design possible. Hence, the binding quality is also a thing to consider. So that the pages don’t fall out, the binding should be neat. Firm binding protects the pages from the weather. Again, the binding should be lay-flat so that it becomes convenient for the left-handed ones.

Paper layout and ruling: Variety of journal comes with variety of ruling styles like lines, grids, dots, and more. So, according to the need and writing style, you can choose one.

Closure style: There are several closure styles found in the best journals like the magnetic clasp, metal clasp, and elastic band. All these types are considered good designs. Yet, with the magnetic clasp, you can save your loose papers from falling.

Final Verdict

If you are very fond of writing down memories with your fountain pens or very organized who keeps records of his daily work, then having the best journals for fountain pens is essential for you.

But you have to select one by judging many factors which is a crucial task. You should not end up buying a journal that doesn’t go with your pen or writing style.

Hence, according to the size, quality, and everything else, we highly recommend the Dingbats D5008GY notebook. With a great hardcover and smooth pages, the journal notebook is everyone’s dream to have.

Finally, we would suggest you know your need and then select which one would go well for the fountain pen you have. Only then the best journal will satisfy you.