Paw Prints — Palomino

Here's the thing... I did a post on my favourite pocket notebook, partly because it was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. And then Stu suggested I did a 'competition' between 8 desk-sized books, with pairs of them going head-to-head and the winners going forward until an overall victor emerges. So, that's what I'm going to do over the next couple of months.

First up: Life Noble Note v Leuchtturm 1917

If for some reason Father Christmas didn't do the decent thing and leave a box of shiny Blackwings under your tree, you might just be interested in the nearest thing; Palomino's humble but clever Forest Choice. Like the Blackwing, it's made of Californian cedar from carefully-managed woodlands, with proper replanting processes and good recycling (the shavings from pencil manufacture are even pressed into Duraflame logs for the hearth, which probably smell terrific). Also like the Blackwing, it's enormously long, which suggests good value for impulsive scribblers too. Unlike the Blackwing, you can buy them in singles, at the moment for...