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Comparing Maruman Mnemosyne and Spiral Note

Posted on by Derek

As I continue to go down the path of trying and comparing various papers, it is always interesting to compare like to like within the same brand. This is one of those examples when taking a look at the Maruman Mnemosyne vs the Spiral Note. I have been using the Mnemosyne for the last 6 months between the regular black cover and then Kleid ruled horizontal version, and this has become my standard notebook for work notes that I keep at my desk.

The Gentleman Stationer recently got in the more budget minded Maruman Spiral Note, I picked one up to give it a try. Finding a reliable less expensive option for a quality paper. The Spiral Note is a great contender to fit that bill. The paper is a 70gsm paper vs the 80gsm that comes in the Mnemosyne, and there seems to be a lack of coating on the paper as well. The cover is a basic Kraft cover, and the rings are a single uncoated ring vs the double coated rings found on the Mnemosyne.

Both of these papers have perforated pages which is great for being able to take notes, and then remove old pages to be discarded when no longer needed, or to file them away for historical needs. This also makes both of these a perfect fit for a desk notebook that could be put to use across meetings or projects without having to keep a stack of notebooks handy. The Spiral Note comes in a variety of ruling options such as grid, dot grid, blank, and 2 different sizes of lined pages. While I tested the A5 version, there is also a B5 version with the same 80 page offering as the Mnemosyne, as well as a 40 page option in the B5 size.

In the video, I do a comparison of a variety of pens, inks, nib sizes, and pencils, and I also do an ink swatch to see how well the paper can handle it. Overall, both papers performed wonderfully for everything except for a Sharpie marker, but to be honest, that is to be expected. The ink swatch didn’t bleed through, but for me, this is not the type of paper that I would consider using for a general swatching book, but the paper can handle an occasional swatch or a spill well enough.

So overall, the Spiral Note is a great budget minded option when it comes to paper, but for me, I plan to stick with the Mnemosyne for now. It takes me a while to finish up a notebook, so the small little fit and finish details are worth the small amount of extra cost for me. If my situation changes where I need to go through notebooks at a quicker rate, I would have no hesitation to switch over to the Sprial Note as my primary use notebook.

I purchased these both of these notebooks from The Gentleman Stationer. If you are looking to pick up these notebooks, you can use the code DWRDNET at checkout when shopping at The Gentleman Stationer to save 10% on your purchase, so be sure to take advantage of the this generous offer that has been offered to those following along with the website and YouTube videos.

A First Look at The Gentleman Stationer First Ever Patron Blind Box

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As soon as I saw that Joe from The Gentleman Stationer was going to be releasing a mystery stationery box to Patron members, I immediately ordered one. There were only 10 made for this first release, and I was able to be one of the lucky people to order in time. This is the first time that I have done any sort of blind unboxing in years, and definitely the first one that I did while recording a video.

I did not anticipate the extra challenges added in when doing one of these type of openings on video, as Murphy introduced extra hurdles. I had to re shoot parts of the contents a few times, as I had audio that was not syncing to video, but I was able to get everything edited to cover the topic at hand well enough.

As for the box and its contents, this was a more pencil centric box, and I actually love that fact. Joe has always been a proponent of using a variety of writing tools, and while my main focus has been fountain pens, it was nice to have a change of pace by adding in some pencils, especially some wooden pencils. I said it in the video, and I still think this to be accurate, that I probably hadn’t used a manual pencil sharpener in 15 years. I can now reset that clock, and I look forward to putting those pencils into my writing rotation.

When I first filmed the video, I was looking at the TGS website for what some of these items were, and I couldn’t find the Midori A7 notebook. It turns out that was such a new item at TGS, that it went into the Patron boxes before it was even added to the website, so to me, that reenforces that the box is curated of new items and not things that have been sitting around on the shelves.

Along with the pencils, I also got my first bottle of TWSBI ink, so that is another brand to add to the ever growing ink collection. While I have not put this into a pen yet, the swatch that I did on the video looks to be a very nice green. I am not sure if all 10 boxes had the same color, so I look forward to seeing what others ended up with when talking to some of the other Patrons on the Patron discord that Gentleman Stationer recently launched.

Another item that I am really excited for is the Pentel Kerry mechanical pencil and the Uni smudge resistant lead. Having recently started to do watercolor, I currently had one of my multi pens in with my painting supplies, but I think this is going to be a better fit for that use case. I like that the pencil has a different look, and that it has a pull cap that protects the end of the pencil, which is great to keep it from pushing through the Lochby Tool Roll that carries my watercolor supplies.

To round out the box, aside from some TGS swag of a sticker and some coasters, Joe included one of the low viscosity Anterique Ballpoint pens, and to add to the great pen, he did some mix and match to have it be in the Gentleman Stationer colors of black and red. I already own a couple of these pens that are in places like my Jeep or gym bag, so now I have another one to keep around on my desk.

Overall, this was a fun unboxing experience, and I will definitely do my best to try to get any more of these that are released in the future. It was nice to be truly surprised by what was in the box, and now have some new items to add into my normal stationery use. Be sure to check out Gentleman Stationer on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/gentlemanstationer

Another thing that happened to line up with this video release, is that I am able to announce that the DWRDNET YouTube channel now has a discount code that can be used when shopping at The Gentleman Stationer. Use code DWRDNET at checkout to save 10% on your purchase. Some exclusions apply. I really do appreciate Joe offering this to YouTube viewers. Any chance to save, much less on items that might be more hobby related these days, is a very pleasant surprise.

Be sure to Subscribe to the Youtube channel, as there should be an episode of the DWRDNET Stationery Feed in the near future.

This Australian Burl Just Had to Follow Me Home

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So lately I have run into a trend of if I haven’t purchased an item from someone that I have interviewed, I end up with something shortly thereafter. That is exactly what happened with my first pen that I picked up from Tristar Studio.

Butler Stationery has started a Friday morning pen meetup of sorts, so for the last few weeks, I have been going out there and have been able to meet up with some of the pen people who are local to Columbia, TN. One of these people is Scott Lewis from Tristar, and the day after his interview released on Youtube, he had just done one of his first matte finish pens, and the very first pen that he had burned his logo in on the barrel of the pen with his laser. I don’t think he planned on selling that pen that morning, but when I saw it, I knew that was the pen that needed to come home with me.

Don’t get me wrong, polished pens look great, but there is something about matte finishes that I seem to prefer in many cases. This Australian burl wood is just gorgeous, and the Turnt Pen Company Carson IV section material was a perfect combination with the wood. Scott uses Bock #6 nibs, and thanks to some of his other pens being on sale at Butler Stationery, we were able to do musical nibs to get an EF nib put into this pen. Since then, Scott did give me an EF nib with the Tristar Studio logo engraved on it, which is now what is in this pen.

He brought the pen that morning in a great sleeve made by Rachel of Third Bungalow Crafts, and just adds to the look of this pen. The topographic pattern just has a cool look, and seeing as I have a topographic sticker on my laptop, it was a natural fit.

Be sure to go and take a look at Scott’s website, as he has been posting new pens every few days that are all stunning, and I know that some of them only lasted on the website for a few days, as I had a friend pick one of them up recently as well.