Getting close to the end of 2020, many of us are probably looking into a new planner to start off 2021 organized (or at least try to be organized, in my case!). While there are certainly high-quality planner options available, many mainstream brands leave a lot to be desired from the paper quality for fountain pen use. That's why Pebble Stationery, an Australian brand I encountered last year with their fantastic Pocket Tomoe River notebooks (reviewed HERE), created this: the Pebble Stationery Traveler's undated planner - of course filled with Tomoe River paper... but do you need that in a planner?
At least for now, Pebble launched their undated planners in a single size, made to fit Traveler's notebook covers. Therefore, it follows the sort of narrow-and-tall form factor that's unique to the regular Traveler's company leather notebook cover. It's exactly as tall as a standard A5 notebook, but about 4 cm narrower (11 cm by 21 cm / 4.33" by 8.26"). Because of the 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, the 140-page (70 sheets) planner remains extremely thin.
I'm not necessarily a fan of the brand-specific form-factor, but at least the Traveler's products are so popular that they have become a more-or-less standardized form factor these days. You can find quite a few other brands adopting it and creating products to use within or alongside the Traveler's Company ecosystem. That being said, I don't have a Traveler's notebook cover, so I can't speak for the practicality in combination with the Traveler's system, but luckily Pebble's planner can also perfectly be used as a stand-alone product.
The leatherette cover is thin and flexible (you can easily fold the cover backward without issue), yet more durable than typical paper stock covers which can crease or tear after longer use. My particular review sample came in a dark navy blue colorway, which is subtle and business-appropriate for sure, there's also a red version available. The cover has a pleasant leather-like texture and doesn't show much wear at all, even after almost two months of daily use.
The undated planner has two narrow ribbon page markers, and the first page has a dedicated space for your name and contact information - in case your planner gets lost. But in terms of physical features, that's about it. There's no back pocket, but more importantly, there's no elastic or other way to keep the planner closed. The leatherette cover is elastic and flexible, so after a few times of opening it, you'll find that the cover doesn't want to stay closed at all. That's a bit annoying, but it wouldn't be an issue when using the planner inside a Traveler's cover, of course.
Now, for the inside of the Pebble undated planner: Across the 140 pages, there are three main sections that make up the general structure of the planner, as well as 6 empty dot grid pages for extra notes. But as the name suggests, nothing is actually dated: days, months, or years aren't set in stone, so you can use the planner how - and when - you like.
The planner starts with a four-page overview of the year. Granted, there's very little space to write things in the individual boxes, but it could work well as sort of a 'table of contents', to keep track of birthdays, holidays or special events.
Then the major bulk of the planner is 52 weekly spreads. On the left side of the two-page spread, you get seven boxes (with dot grid) for each day of the week. Again, you have to fill in the dates yourself, which is useful if you sometimes skip weeks/months (during holidays, for example). The right side is just an empty page of dot grid paper, for notes. The daily structure doesn't have a bullet-point system or anything like that, so you can choose whichever structuring method works best for you.
 |
| These small ink smears are scattered all throughout the planner at this point |
The main selling point of the Pebble planner is the Tomoe River paper, but it's also my biggest gripe about it. Don't get me wrong, I love TR paper, but there's a time and place for it. And maybe a planner is not that time and place?
I use a planner for work, and at work, I'd say efficiency and functionality beats neat writing and ink shading. For practicality considerations, I don't tend to use fountain pens at work very often. In fact, I write mostly with a gel pen (most often the fantastic Tactile Turn Bolt Action pen!), so the benefit of having fountain-pen friendly TR is already non-existent. But the real issue is the long drying times of TR paper: At the end of the meeting when you quickly add in a new meeting date before leaving the office, and you close the planner a bit too fast... that's an ink smear right there. You have to use it consciously.
Inherently, due to the extremely thin TR paper, you'll also get quite a bit of ghosting. I typically only use Tomoe River notebooks on a single side of the page (yes I know, wasteful), but the Pebble undated planner utilizes both sides of the page, so you can't really avoid show-through. That being said, the show-through is noticeable, but not to the extent that it makes writing illegible.
The Pebble Stationery Traveler's undated planner is a well-crafted, durable and functionally laid-out planner that I actually enjoy using (that in itself is already quite the compliment!). Being made specifically for the Traveler's notebook ecosystem didn't hold me back from using it as a stand-alone planner, although obviously it'll integrate more seamlessly if you already own and use a Traveler's notebook.
The Tomoe River paper is both a blessing and a curse. If you use your planner in a more aesthetically pleasing and creative way than I do, TR will certainly add character. But from a purely functional, work-related point of view, Pebble's planner doesn't necessarily benefit from the paper choice, maybe it's even a bit unpractical at times - except for the fact that it keeps the planner thin and lightweight.
At 17.99$ (17.95€ at our sponsor La Couronne Du Comte), Pebble's planner comes in reasonably priced compared to traditional offerings from Moleskine, Leuchtturm or Filofax.
NOTE: This product was provided by Pebble Stationery Co., so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affiliate links.
No comments:
Post a Comment