Review: Back Pocket Notebooks

Back Pocket Notebooks

Back Pocket Notebooks Back

Back Pocket Notebooks Spine

Back Pocket Notebook Inside

Back Pocket Notebook Felt Tip

Back Pocket Notebook Gouache

Over the past couple of weeks I've been testing out the Back Pocket Notebook. Although it's not specifically a sketchbook, I've been using it for some lettering and drawings to see how it compares to sketch specific books.To summarise, if you're looking for a good quality, robust little notebook to carry around, I would definitely recommend the Back Pocket Notebooks.I have a set of 3 Kraft Plain Notebooks, each of which contain 18 sheets or 36 pages of 120gsm paper and a stapled spine.At first glance they reminded me of the A6 Eco Starter Sketchbooks from Seawhite of Brighton. The Back Pocket Notebooks are slightly smaller, measuring 9 x 14 cm. The paper isn't quite as thick as the Seawhite cartridge paper but there are more pages than the Eco Starter and the paper has a nice smooth surface, which I really appreciated when using fine liners and markers.Although it's described as a 'plain' notebook, I think that refers to the cover because it's pointed out on the band holding the 3 notebooks together that the paper inside is actually cross grid. It's similar to dotted paper but each 'dot' is a tiny cross. I'd never used that kind of paper before but it was kind of handy for keeping my hand lettering straight!The paper in the Back Pocket Notebook is perfect for either pen or pencil. I used a few different fine liners and felt tip pens, and the only pen that bled through to the other side of the page was the Copic marker. But Copic markers seem to bleed through almost all paper in my experience so this wasn't a surprise or a big deal. I covered some large areas with Koi brush pens and even with the darker colours the dots on the paper do show but that may or may not be a problem for you. It didn't bother me because I wasn't trying to create a finished piece of artwork.I was able to apply a light wash of watercolour in the Back Pocket Notebook without any problems and the paper took gouache quite well too. The paper does buckle with both watercolour and gouache but even some dedicated watercolour paper does that so, again, this wasn't a surprise or a problem for me.I've carried the Back Pocket Notebook around in my bag and it's stood up well to that without getting damaged so far. I wonder if rounded corners might make it a bit more robust in that respect if you were carrying it around in your bag or pocket every day.The Back Pocket Notebooks are excellent quality, and the size means that they're really easy to carry around without adding lots of extra weight or bulk. I wouldn't use them to replace a dedicated sketchbook but as somewhere to keep notes and ideas, make simple line drawings and practise hand lettering, the Back Pocket Notebook is an excellent option and, as the name implies, highly portable too!Thank you to Justin at Back Pocket Notebooks who gave me this set of Kraft Notebooks to test in exchange for an honest review.