Left Hook Pens

This is part two of a series of scientific paper tests to determine the most lefty and fountain pen friendly paper. To read Part One, please click here. I tested each paper with 12 pens with inks of varying degrees of wetness. Dry-times were measured by dragging my finger across three lines after 5 seconds, and then repeating this process with new lines until the ink dried, increasing each time by 5 seconds.

Leuchtturm 1917:

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Leuchtturm 1917 had an average dry time of 16.25 seconds. The longest dry time was 30 seconds with Colorverse Extra Dimension. The only ink that feathered at all was Noodlers Golden Brown, and it was mild feathering. Bleed through is a 2. This paper shows off shading but not sheening. With minimal feathering and a surprisingly slow dry time, Leuchtturm 1917 is a 6 on the Scale of Absorption. I say surprisingly slow, as Leuchtturm is one of the papers often recommended for lefties on stationary websites because it’s so absorbent. I think that this paper is best used after finding the right pen and ink combination for you, and if you enjoy toothy paper.

Doane Paper:

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Doane Paper had an average dry time of 5.42 seconds. Colorverse Extra Dimension had the longest dry time within 10 seconds. Every other ink just seeped right in. Bleed-through is a 5, but there was no feathering. No inks bled through on to the next page, but quite a few bled to the back. This paper is great if you want to jot something down quickly and immediately put it away, it’s also pretty toothy. With light feathering, moderate bleed-through, and a little bit of shading, Doane Paper is a 2 on the Scale of Paper Absorption.

Nock Co:

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Nock Paper had an average dry time of 5.83 seconds. The longest dry time was Kyo-no-oto Kokeiro with 15 seconds. Every other ink tested dried within 5 seconds, even Extra Dimension. Most inks yielded crisp lines, but Golden Brown was a little bit feathery, as was Schrödinger. You can see a little bit of shading in certain inks like Fire & Ice and Kokeiro, and no sheen. This paper has a little bit of tooth, but not unpleasantly so. Bleed-through is a 2. This paper has a little bit of tooth, but much less than Leuchtturm. With a fast dry time, very light feathering and light bleed-through, Nock Paper is a 4 on the Scale of Absorption.

Blackwing:

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Blackwing Paper had an average dry-time of 9.16 seconds. The longest dry-times were Extra Dimension and Wild Strawberry with 20 seconds each. Bleed-through is a 1, but Golden Brown and Haha both feathered a little bit, as did Extra Dimension. Extra Dimension shades, as well as every other ink tested except for Golden Brown and Haha. With a median dry-time, light feathering and bleed-through, Blackwing Paper is a 5 on the Scale of Paper Absorption. Considering that this paper is designed to be used with pencils, Blackwing Paper does quite well with fountain pens, and it’s pretty smooth to write on.

Delfonics Rollbahn:

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Rollbahn Paper had an average dry-time of 17.5 seconds. The longest dry-time was Colorverse Schrödinger, which dried within 30 seconds. This paper shows off shading quite nicely, but no sheening, and is pleasantly smooth. Bleed-through is a 1. There was no feathering with crisp lines, and some tiny spots that bled to the back of the page. With a slow dry-time, nice shading, no feathering and minimal bleed-through, Rollbahn is an 8 on the Scale of Paper Absorption.

Midori MD:

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Midori paper had an average dry-time of 25 seconds. As you can see in the first photo above, Golden Brown never dried, even after 3 minutes, and is a smudgy mess. Because every other ink dried within 1 minute and 5 seconds, I didn’t factor Golden Brown into my average dry-time for this paper. Because Midori paper is water resistant, super wet inks tend to sit on top of the page. Another day I’ll do a set of tests with really wet inks like Golden Brown and calculate the average in minutes. Bleed-through is a 0, with no feathering and the ability to use both sides of the paper. Inks that previously showed no sheen, like Wild Strawberry, sheen and shade on Midori. With the longest dry-time thus far and wonderful ink performance, Midori MD is a 10 on the Scale of Paper Absorption.

Field Notes (Steno):

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Field Notes paper on their Steno Book had an average dry-time of 11.6 seconds. The longest dry-times were Extra Dimension and Kokeiro, each drying within 20 seconds. Bleed-through is a 4, but with no feathering and decent shading. Even Manyo Ha Ha showed its dual shading. Golden Brown seeped right in the page, but the lines are still pretty crisp. With a moderately low dry-time, moderately high bleed-through, and a respectable amount of shading, Field Notes is a 3 on the Scale of Paper Absorption.

After looking at how I graded these results, I’ve updated some of the scores for part one, and added some Amazon affiliate links in case you might want to purchase any of these notebooks. I plan on making one more part, and then turning these posts into one webpage, including an actual scale to see where each paper falls. The links on this post are Amazon affiliate links as well. If you click on them and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission.