I recently visited my local CVS to pick up a greeting card, and when I walked past the school/office supply aisle, I found this wire bound notebook. I looked to see where it was made because in many of the fountain pen forums, people comment that notebooks made in Vietnam are pretty decent for fountain pen users. Normally, I use a mix of Rhodia or Maruman notebooks and notepads in my work. I decided to pick this notebook up and give it a try. It was $10.49 for 100 sheets.

Overall, I’m impressed with this notebook. I do prefer perforated sheets on wire bound notebooks, but that’s not always a deal breaker for me. This paper performed well with a variety of inks. There wasn’t much bleed through, except for the Sharpie. When I was making my swatch scribbles, I did get a little overzealous with the pen that was inked with Iroshizuku Tsutsuji. Most folks in the USA have a CVS near them, so assuming your CVS stocks this notebook, it shouldn’t be hard to find.

If you are traveling for work and needed a larger or new notebook, you can probably find a CVS near your hotel and pick up a Caliber Executive Notebook. Or perhaps you don’t live near stationery or office supply stores that stock fountain pen friendly notebooks, a quick trip to CVS can probably hold you over. The paper inside this Caliber notebook is not as smooth as Maruman or Rhodia in my view, but it’s most likely better than notebook filler paper from the drug store or a random notepad from a hotel. And this Caliber Executive Notebook will probably be able to handle most of your fountain pens and ink combos just fine.