Inky Fingers Currently Inked - Review

This is a notebook I should have bought years ago! I got it from Pocket Notebooks and this is how it's described in the listing:

Keep track of what pens you have inked, when you inked them, and with what you inked them. The Inky Fingers Currently Inked Log will allow you stay on top of your pen rotate and maintenance by providing a simple, unified place to keep track of how you use your collection.

Inky Fingers notebooks feature 44 sheets of environmentally-friendly and sustainable wheat straw paper, which is made from the agricultural byproducts of wheat farming. Our 80gsm paper has a bit more texture than other fountain pen friendly papers, for those who enjoy feeling the pen on the paper. It is also more absorbent, resulting in shorter dry times without feathering or bleeding through.

• Pocket Notebook Size
• 3.5″ wide by 5.5″ high. (89x140mm)
• 44 Pages
• Slots for keeping track of up to 132 inkings
• Fountain pen friendly and environmentally sustainable 80 gsm wheat straw paper
• Rounded corners
• Glossy cardstock cover

As you'll have seen from my notebook reviews, half the time when I do a pen test, I can't remember exactly what is inked in a pen and also, when I'm refilling pens, I can't quite remember what an ink looks like in writing (rather than in the bottle). Many inks dry to a very different colour than their wet colour!

Hence, I bought myself this logbook.

The cover is a glossy cardstock. Inside, there is space for details of three pens, to record which pen it is, the nib, the ink, the date inked, the date cleaned and space to scribble a swatch of the ink.

Inside, not used yet

Amazingly, I only have a few pens inked at the moment and one of those needs cleaning (as became apparent as I was filling in the book). I started to fill the book in.

The paper is lovely to write on. It says that there is decreased drying time, but I didn't find that! As you will see in the next picture, where I closed it and got éclat de saphir ink all over the cover...

Blobs of blue on the cover...

Initially, I was really worried. The paper felt thin. I thought, "Oh god, is this going to be an epic fail? Is this going to be a book for recording which fountain pens you have inked, and the paper won't be fountain pen friendly??????"

pen tests... no feathering!

I needn't have worried. Although the paper does feel thin (it's 80 gsm so not hugely thin - not Tomoe River thin, but not thick either), it is most certainly fountain pen friendly.

Here's the back of the page...

and here's a close-up...

There is the merest hint of ghosting but seriously, nothing at all to worry about.

It's a fantastic little book and will be so useful for keeping track of which pen is inked with which ink, and also record which inks I've used a lot as well as how they look 'in the writing'.

If you're a fountain pen user who has several pens inked at the same time, with different ink, I think this is a must-have book!