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alternative to Tomoe River Paper?
When you have read other blog posts from me, then you might have noticed that I just love grid notebooks, not the dot grid ones but the real grid ones, with lines and small boxes. In addition 5x5mm is my perfect grid size, this size fits my writing the best.
Therefore I`m always happy when I find notebooks with 5mm grid, and in addition when the paper of such a notebook is defined as "fountain pen friendly". This description is not always correct or has often some limitations, like "only fine nibs" or in the end it only takes light colors but not darker inks, or the ink is not bleeding but feathering. Not like Tomoe River Paper TRP (the old one, from a few years ago), where you just knew this paper IS fountain pen friendly, you can throw any ink on this paper, there is no bleeding or feathering, the lines stay crisp. Don`t ask me about the newer version of TRP, I have not used it but I have heard and read about that paper and some people where not happy about that paper. Especially the Hobonichi planners of 2026 were very inconsistent, but maybe the paper is now better for the 2027 Hobonichi planners.
The beauty of the old TRP was that, despite it`s thinness of 52gsm, it took fountain pen ink like a pro, no bleeding, no feathering, crisp lines, but yes, ghosting because of the thinness of the paper.
Over the years I have found out for myself that I prefer thicker paper to minimize the ghosting. It does not have to be 160gsm paper, but at least 80 or 90 would be nice. Often on 160gsm paper inks do not bleed but feather a lot, so that`s an absolute no-go for me. Leuchtturm notebooks with their 80gsm paper are right now my favorite, only a bit of ghosting but otherwise perfect for fountain pen inks.
And then I have found out about a certain Canadian company which sells 5mm grid notebooks with a 70gsm paper, which they call "Archivist Paper", which is supposed to be fountain pen friendly. I ordered a notebook and yes, this paper is really a perfect alternative for TRP: The Hemlock&Oak Archivist Paper.
Hemlock&Oak is a Canadian company, every planner and notebook is designed, printed and bound in Canada, and their packaging is completely plastic free! Everything is packaged in paper, even stickers are in a small paper bag, the books come in a paper bag, the stuffing is paper. Their hardcovers are made out of a textile material, no "vegan leather" which is just another word for plastic (but people think it sounds nicer…).
I was very happy reading about this plastic-free approach and just thought, it would be nice if more companies work like that!
Hemlock & Oak A5 grid notebook
Here is a short description of this hardcover notebook:
Roughly A5 size
Inner paper size 146mm x 213mm (A5 is 148mm x 210mm)
Outer cover size 154mm x 220mm
Spine thickness 17mm
70gsm Archivist paper
Off-white paper, just like the color of the paper of a Stalogy notebook
Made in partnership with an European FSC mill
5mm grid
Light grey dotted lines, not too light, very good visible
Box amount: 28 boxes across, 40 boxes down (in comparison: A5 Leuchtturm 27 across, 37 down)
288 pages with pagination
I have ordered the hardcover version in Moonflower color, other colors are available as well, but a lot are sold out. Some colors can be preordered right now
2 page finders in corresponding color
No pockets, no pen holder, very minimalistic
Opens up flat, as flat as a bound book can open up
And then the paper:
When I opened up the notebook my first thought was: oh, this is nice, offwhite, not glaring white, light grey grid, but not too light, thin paper, but not too thin, smooth to the touch.
And then the pen test: right after the first two or three entries, I thought this is working very well! No feathering, lines stay very crisp, a bit of a feedback, not too smooth, the pen is not sliding around. And then turning the page: no bleeding at all! A bit of ghosting, but I expected this because it is a 70gsm paper. But not too bad, the lines of the grid can still be seen on the back page, not like in a Stalogy notebook where the lines just disappear when you written with a dark ink and then turn over the page to write on the back side.
I have then set up my tracker pages for the remaining months of the year, starting with September 2026. In my sleep tracker I use a lot of color but even with these colored boxes, no bleeding at all. The paper gets a bit crinkly and warped, just like the old TRP, I like the noise that the paper makes when there is a lot of ink on the page.
So, yes, this paper is a perfect alternative for TRP lovers, and I really hope that Tia Masic, the founder of Hemlock&Oak, will keep producing notebooks with this paper!
But not finished yet with this blog post:
I went back to their website in October and saw that they are now offering their 2027 planners.
And that they have an A5+ sized daily planner with this wonderful 70gsm Archivist Paper. Ordering took not very long and within 10days that planner arrived here in Switzerland, well packaged again and no plastic at all.
A5+ size
Inner paper size 160mm x 216mm
Outer cover size 166mm x 224mm
Spine thickness 26mm
Same lovely 70gsm Archivist Paper as in the notebook
528 pages with pagination
Light grey grid lines
4.2mm grid
Very nice fonts, easy readable and in darker ink than the grid lines
Hard cover, I ordered the Empress blue
2 page finders in corresponding color
No pockets, no pen loop
Open up flat, as flat as a bound book can open up
Monday start
My first impression when I had this planner in my hands:
This is a hefty book, thick but nevertheless so luxurious and elegant! The gold printing on the front, the fonts used throughout the planner, the layouts, the cover, everything feels perfectly curated througout the whole planner.
All the planners of Hemlock & Oak are Monday start planners, in the small horizontal overviews the weekends are marked in grey.
The only thing which could lead to confusion: in the quarterly overviews the Mondays are marked in a different color, normally Sundays are marked (see small images).
The Signature Daily Planner has, just like the name says, daily pages but no weekly overviews. Other planners are offered with weekly pages in horizontal and vertical layout and planners with weeks + days combined.
The first 23 pages give you the option to self-reflect, to set up goals or to cultivate your habits. If you like these pages you can use them, otherwise you can ignore them.
Then there are three different yearly overviews: one page per year (2027 + 2028), monthly overviews with note space (two pages for 2027), and a quarterly overview (3 months per page).
The daily pages start with a 2 page monthly overview, one page specific topics like boundaries for yourself, or intentions or habits, the other page a blank page with grids.
After that a two page monthly box overview and right after that the daily pages.
At the end of the daily pages of each month, two pages (similar as at the start of the month) give you the option to reflect on the previous month or write anything you like on a blank grid note page.
The monthly overviews are spread throughout the book; the months end with the review pages, after that the overview of the next month, then the monthly box overview, after that the daily pages start.
The daily pages offer a daily time line from 5am to 11pm ("schedule") and a "today" section with tick boxes. But the time line numbers can be totally ignored as ther are no lines to divide the hours, and the tick boxes of the today section can be ignored as well, they are printed in a very light grey and if you write over them they disappear. You can therefore use the daily pages in a structured way or, like I intend to do, just for journaling. Just write whatever you like, enough space per day (36x41 boxes).
And, as a bonus in this planner: at the very end there are 44 pages of blank grid note pages (36x48 boxes)!
Perfect for these notes, or lists, or trackers which have nothing to do on a day-to-day basis but are used throughout the year.
The blank note pages at the beginning and end of each month already add 24 note pages, maybe more dedicated to each month, but these extra pages open up so much more space for "everything"!
You can see the complete layout in the description on the website.
And if you like to test out the daily or weekly pages to see if they fit your needs, Hemlock&Oak offers downloads of their current planners, you can print out some pages to see if you like the layout and especially, if 4.2mm grid size is ok for you. I find it amazing that a company makes such printouts available, thank you for this!
If you order other sizes, like A6 or B6, check the description carefully, the grid size is even smaller in these smaller planners.
If you are in Canada, especially in British Columbia, you can be very happy, you can check out these planners in person, in BC there are 4 shops which carry these planners. And if you are in the EU, you can be happy as well, an online shop in Germany, in Kassel, has some of these planners in stock and is shipping EU-wide. Sadly not to Switzerland, but shipping from Canada was very quick as well.
This planner gives me the option to combine my daily journaling and my trackers in one book. But I will still leave my appointments and small note pages in my EDC, either in my new A6 Mee+ or in my old William Hannah A6 (can`t decide right now). The Hemlock & Oak book is a stay-at-home book, it is quite heavy and large and I would not like to carry that around on a daily basis. But I think that the cover will handle any rough handling (in a backpack for example) very nicely, this textile cover feels very sturdy.
And: the paper!!!! Wonderful for fountain pen inks, in an offwhite-color and not too thick and not too thin!
Now I can start the new year with two options: either the Leuchtturm daily planner combined with a LT notebook for my trackers, or this Hemlock & Oak planner all-in-one 😊
I hope you enjoyed my discovery of a very good TRP alternative.
Thank you all, stay healthy and (planner) peace to everyone!
Andrea
P.S. I have bought all my planners and notebooks myself. I paid for them, I state my own personal opinions about them. When you click a link which I have added for you to see the original planners or notebooks I do not get paid for it.
I write my blog posts myself, no AI is used in creating these posts.
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