The Filofax Impressions Pocket Notebook ($17.95) is a modular notebook system designed to allow users to customize it with their choice of paper, dividers and inserts. The cover is a textural PU material with vertical elastic closure strap.
Inside is five, double rings to hold the modular paper with the mushroom tabs, like discbound notebooks use. The notebook comes with four, plastic divider tabs and a removable plastic ruler/bookmark. The notebook ships with 56 lined sheets, four blank sheets and four sheets of graph paper.
Testing the paper with a variety of fountain pens came back with very good results. The stock Filofax writing paper withstood most fine and extra fine fountain pens with no problem. Since the line width on the paper is just 5mm, much wider nibs are not really practical anyway.
From the backside, there is no bleed and very little showthrough. It would be no problem to use both sides of the paper.
I continued to test a few other fountain pens as well as some rollerball, gel and felt tip pens. And some pencils too. I had no feathering or bleed issues.
From the reverse, not even the felt tip had much in the way of show through. This makes the paper excellent for a pocket notebook to toss in your bag or purse and use with whatever pen or pencil you have handy without worrying about bleed.
The discbound paper is easy to remove, reorder or add more sheets so the notebook is great for lists, to-do’s, projects, etc. The slim size and format also means it doesn’t take up much space.
The first plastic divider is a pocket. It’s large enough to hold tickets, receipts or business cards.
The blank and graph paper is the same weight and feel as the lined paper. The graph is 5mm as well.
I have the Filofax Notebook in A5 ($18.95) (review to come) but I like the Pocket size for its carryability (yes, I made that word up). The A5 is great for work for meetings and project planning, though.
I already have a hole punch from Levenger. It’s mushroom-shaped where the Filofax is tulip-shaped but any of the discbound hole punches (Staples ARC, Filofax, Levenger Circa, etc) should work with the Filofax Impressions Notebook, if you have invested in a discbound system in the past. A punch will allow you to add in pages (meeting notes, ephemera, etc) or punch paper of your own choosing (Tomoe River, maybe?). Of course, you can always buy refills of the Filofax paper too. It is really nice. And it’s available in colors!
DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
I have two solid color versions of this notebook that came in a gift set with a Lamy fountain pen. Good to know the Levenger Circa punch will work with Filofax since I own the one you showed in a photo.
They are great little portable notebooks. I should carry one more, but Field Notes seem to take that spot.
I like the color and pattern on the one you reviewed. Will you get to keep it?
What pen is that? It’s gorgeous!
It’s a vintage Lady Sheaffer Skripsert. They are gems!
You show a lovely pen in the first 7 photographs then it toddles off.
Since you never mention the pen in the article, so I am assuming the pen doesn’t come with the notebook.
What pen is that? Is it a fountain pen or a roller ball? Could you please give me a link to where I may purchase it?
I want to order one of the notebooks, but I cannot make up my mind as to which size.
Since I am a devotee of the color blue, I will be purchasing the Blue/White no matter what size I pick.
I would appreciate any help you can offer.
It’s one of my many Lady Sheaffer Skripserts. It’s vintage.
I have the A5 version & I thoroughly enjoyed it for about a month. (I often use medium nibs, but there was too much feathering. I can live with that.)
I was using each section for a different project & the ability to move pages around was vital. After about a month, pages started tearing at the binding holes. I repaired a few that I didn’t want to copy over, and did my best to accommodate the binding: restraining myself from moving pages as much as possible, writing on the paper before inserting it.
It wasn’t worth it. I needed a notebook that didn’t need to be coddled. I hope to find another use for it, but I haven’t yet.