Review of the Scribe Journal by Best Self Co (Including Pen Test)
You might have heard of the Best Self Journal, but did you know the Best Self Company have a dot grid notebook for bullet journaling too?
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Quick facts
- Size: 5.5″ wide x 8″ high (14.3cm wide x 20.3cm high)
- Softcover
- Sewn binding
- Only 1 cover style – navy blue plain cover
- No page numbers
- 5mm dot grid
- Perforated page corners
- 100 GSM paper
- Pocket folder
- 1 Ribbon bookmark
- Ruler guide on the inside of the front cover
- 8 Perforated pages at the back of the notebook
Price: $17 USD on Amazon
Let’s take a closer look!
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The Cover
The cover looks like faux leather and is very bendy. Unfortunately, it only comes in one style – a plain navy cover.
Approx 1.5cm / 0.59″ thick
Ruler Guide
At the front of the notebook is a built in ruler / marker. I really like this but wish it had been a removable ruler guide (kind of like the Ink by Jeng row and column stencil). As the dot grid in this notebook is 5mm I’d be able to use the guide in other notebooks too.
Dot Grid Pages
There is no contents / index page or pre-printed pages – the entire notebook is 5mm dot grid.
None of the dots are printed close to the edges of the page or the margins making it easier to rule up spreads (ruler is less likely to slip).
There are 38 dots vertically and 25 dots horizontally.
This is the only dot grid notebook that I can think of, which has perforated corners. Apart from a custom Agendio notebook (which would be far more expensive).
Related post: Trying out my custom Agendio bullet journal (is a 0.25″ grid too big?)
Pages lay flat on their own
There is a pocket folder at the back.
Pen Testing
The paper is smooth and easy to write on, but it’s very thin. Surprisingly there was no indenting of pens on the back side of the pages. But, there was ghosting for all of the pens, highlighters and stamps that I tested. There was bleed through for the MAMBI stamps too.
The website says ‘premium, fountain pen friendly paper’…
… but the pen test shows otherwise.
Pros of the Notebook
- Portable size
- Lightweight
- Perforated pages
- Pocket folder
Cons of the Notebook
- No page numbers
- Thin paper with ghosting and bleed through
- Only 1 cover style available (plain and boring)
- No contents page / index
- Only 1 Ribbon bookmark
Would I use this notebook?
No. The paper is too thin. There are other dot grid notebooks in this price range that have better paper (less ghosting and bleed through), page numbers and multiple cover colors to choose from. I would only get this notebook if you want the perforated pages.
If you like this notebook, I purchased it on Amazon.
More bullet journal notebook reviews:
- Dingbats* Notebook for Bullet Journaling Review (super smooth paper!)
- Posy Paper personalised coil bound notebook
- Bullet Journal notebooks with the best paper (my top 7)
- 10 Cheap bullet journal notebooks (that cost less than $15 USD or less)
Bullet Journaling Tips:
- Lined, dot grid, graph or blank: what paper type is right for your bullet journal?
- How to use the Helix Circle maker
- 20 Bullet Journal Weekly Spread Ideas (One Page Layouts)
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