Guide to choosing the best Bullet Journal notebooks

Table of Contents
1. THE BEST NOTEBOOKS
2. What is a Bullet Journal notebook?
3. What type of notebook is best for BuJo?
3.1 Paper weight
3.2 Number of pages
3.3 Price
3.4 Binding Type
3.5 Other considerations to take into account
4. Notebook sizes (A4, A5, B5, A6...)
5. Notebook Brands
6. How to make a DIY handmade notebook?
7. How to make a DIY notebook cover?

What is the best notebook?

If you're wondering which notebook to use for your Bullet Journal, we're going to make it easy for you. The best notebook on the market , made after trying practically all the ones available on the market , is the Sweet Book designed by Marion from @sweet.sweet.journal. We present them to you in three paper weights, 100, 120 and 160 grams.

- Notebooks or notebooks with a weight of 100 GSM

- Notebooks or notebooks of medium weight of 120 GSM

- High-weight notebooks or notebooks of 160 GSM

Do you want to know why it is the best Bullet Journal notebook on the market? In the following video Marion shows you the new collections of fabric notebooks for the 2022-2023 season. All the details you are looking for:

If you're not familiar with the basics yet, let's start at the beginning.

What is a Bullet Journal notebook?

Let's start with the basics. A Bullet Journal notebook is a blank notebook to organize ourselves using the Bullet Journal method . In this notebook, we will organize our life from scratch, starting with a pen to the level of decoration that we feel most comfortable with. It can be used as a personal planner or diary.

bujo

Be careful! Bullet Journal should not be confused with a notebook! What is known as Bullet Journal is the method of organization and this method is done in a blank notebook. Sometimes the notebook for Bullet Journal is called Bullet Journal directly .

I recommend you visit our blog articles where we explainwhat a Bullet Journal is .

What type of notebook is best for a Bullet Journal?

Depending on what you are looking for, you can find different notebooks that fit your needs. What we look at most when choosing which notebook to use or that we will use to make our Bullet Journal is:

  1. Paper Weight
  2. Number of pages
  3. Price
  4. Binding Type
  5. Other concepts

Paper weight

There are many types of weights in today's notebooks: 50, 70, 80, 90, 100, 120, 140, 150, 160... Although the most common are 80, 120 and 160 grams. Now,

The weight we choose will depend on the amount of ink we want to include in our bullet journal.

  • If we intend to draw little, use only highlighters to highlight certain phrases and make 4 boxes, a 100 gram notebook or less is enough.
  • If, on the other hand, you intend to make a lot of drawings, use a variety of brush tip markers or even use watercolors to decorate your bullet journal, I definitely recommend a 160 gram notebook .

What is the best weight for a Bullet Journal?

You've probably wondered many times what the ideal weight is for your bullet journal. There are many types of weights for notebooks on the market: from 50 g/m2 to 200 g/m2. So, what weight should I choose for my bullet journal?

The weight of your bullet journal notebook will depend on what you want to use your bujo for.

If you want your Bullet Journal to be more functional, better known as a minimalist Bullet Journal, that is, without drawings or decoration, you are not going to use brush lettering or brush tip markers and it is only going to be based on writing and the occasional drawing, then a weight of 80g/m2 is enough for you. You have to keep in mind that a weight of 80g/m2 will trace the ink from the pen when you turn the page, that is, the shadow of what you have written will be seen, but if this is not important to you, 80g/m2 is your weight.

If you want your Bullet journal to be functional but still want to add a drawing from time to time, use brush tip markers to make titles or highlighters to highlight some phrases or notes, I recommend a weight of 100g/m2. This weight is enough to withstand the little ink loading you're going to give it and it offers you more pages in the notebook, meaning the notebook will last longer.

If, on the other hand, you want to add a lot of drawings, you want to write with lettering and also with different brands of markers, you even want to make drawings with watercolors, that is, you want a very decorated bullet journal, I recommend that you look for notebooks with a weight of 160 g/m2. This type of weight will allow you to do what you have in mind without the marker bleeding through.

To take into account…

It is important to keep in mind that when choosing a notebook, not only the weight but also the porosity are important. The more porous the paper is, the more ink will pass through. So we can find papers with a high weight but that bleed through to the back page, and we can find papers with a relatively low weight but that hold up perfectly.

How can we know the porosity of a notebook's paper without testing it?

One trick to know if the paper has high porosity or not is to touch it. If when you touch a paper you notice it is very smooth, that your hand slides very easily, it is probably more sanitized and therefore less ink can pass through. If when you touch a paper you notice it is a little rougher, more scratchy, it probably has a higher porosity and therefore the ink will pass through more easily.

The best of the tricks…

If you are really bothered by pens bleeding through a notebook but you have already decided and bought a notebook, then the best thing you can do is a pen test on the last page. This way, you will know which pens you can use and which ones bleed through.

      Number of pages

      The number of pages is very important in the notebook we are going to choose because it will limit the time we can use the notebook. So the eternal question is:

      How many pages should a Bullet Journal have?

      Typically, notebooks with a weight of 100 or less have a similar page count of around 180-190 pages. In my experience, this is insufficient for a full year of bullet journaling.

      If the notebook has a higher weight, 160 g/m2, the number of pages is usually around 160. In my experience, this usually lasts for 6 months in the bullet journal. As a tip, for a notebook to last at least a year, it has to have at least 220 pages.

      Price

      Obviously, this is a variable to take into account. However, my recommendation is that it be something secondary (always within a reasonable price). Keep in mind that it is a notebook that has to have a certain quality so that it can at least withstand the wear and tear of a year. I can tell you that it is very annoying when your bullet journal notebook breaks after a few months and you have to start over, not carrying the information from the first few months with you and all the frustration that this entails.

      Binding type

      Here we can find different ways to bind/make the bullet journal:
      • The most common and my first recommendation is to use a notebook with a sewn binding . This is because in the bullet journal you make a lot of boxes that need a lot of space. With a sewn-bound notebook, since there is nothing in the middle that bothers you when writing, you have the equivalent of a DIN A4, so you can make landscape boxes that take up two pages and have more information at a glance.
      • Another type of binding that is widely used is the spiral or Wire-O binding . The advantage of this type of binding is that you can fold the notebook in half and it only takes up the equivalent of an A5 sheet of paper on your desk. The disadvantage for me is that the spiral in the middle really bothers me when writing because I get closer and it hits my hand.
      • Another type of binding is with staples . It looks very similar to the sewn binding, but instead of using thread, it uses staples. The disadvantage of this type of binding is that in order to be able to staple, the notebook has to have very few pages, usually 60 pages (30 sheets).
      • Glued binding : This is the type of binding that is achieved by gluing the side of the notebook. These are usually very rigid bindings that do not give the notebook flexibility.

      Other issues to consider when choosing a notebook

      • It should be hard-covered : for the same reason I mentioned before, it has to last a long time. Also, in hard-covered notebooks, the covers usually stick out from the pages, which gives the notebook more protection.
      • Let it remain completely open on the table . This is achieved by sewn and spiral bindings. Totally reject glued bindings.
      • Whether the notebook is numbered or not . Personally, I don't like numbered notebooks because I don't use numbers, but this is a very subjective issue.
      • It has a pocket on the back : very useful for storing loose papers, tickets, post-its or other types of material.
      • Closing the notebook: usually with elastic bands .
      • Design: It has to be a nice notebook , one that we like and that attracts us. This way we will get it to motivate us, to make us want to open it and work on our organization with it. But don't just get carried away by the beauty! A beautiful notebook but if the markers go through or make the pages bleed will drive you crazy!

        Taking into account all these factors above, I decided to design my own Bullet Journal notebook. I was tired of searching and searching , spending a lot of money on notebooks that always had some problem. It bleeds, the strips break, the cover comes off, it doesn't stay open... So I got to work and finally here you have without a doubt the best Bullet notebooks.

        What sizes of Bullet Journal notebooks are there?

        There are notebooks of various sizes and dimensions that are used for Bullet Journal.

        • DIN A5 (147 x 210 mm) : This is the most common, most sought after and the one most notebook brands make. Its size is 14.7 cm wide and 21 cm high. It is the ideal size that offers the largest number of pages and a large enough space to be able to write well. It maintains a very good balance between size, weight of the notebook and space to write.
        • B5 (190 x 250 mm) : This is slightly larger than DIN A5. Its size is 19 cm wide by 25 cm high. This notebook is recommended for when you don't have to take it with you to many places, but you need more space to write. Bear in mind that, being larger, it will take up more space and weigh more.
        • DIN A6 (105 x 148 mm) : it is half the size of a DIN A5. It takes up much less space and weighs much less, but its space is also reduced. I only recommend it when we have very few things to write, but we need to always carry our bullet journal with us in a small bag. Its size is 10.5 cm wide by 14.8 cm long.
        • Midori size (110 x 210 mm) : This is the size of the Traveler's Notebook. It is 11 cm wide and 21 cm high. (Note! There are many refills for this type of notebook that are 10 x 19 cm. These are slightly smaller and you will find that they do not fit well with your Traveler's Notebook.) They are designed, as their name suggests, for travelers who want to always carry their notebook with them. They take up very little space and usually have a sewn or stapled binding, so the number of pages is usually 30. The advantage of this system is that you can add and remove notebook inserts as you use them up or need them.
        • B6 (125 x 175 mm) : This is slightly smaller than DIN A5, measuring 12.5 cm wide and 17.5 cm high. Personally, between this size and DIN A5, I would choose DIN A5. This size offers me less space to write and the difference in weight and space it takes up that it offers me as an advantage is minimal.
        • DIN A4 (210 x 297 mm) : These are probably the largest notebooks, you will have plenty of space to write but they are really uncomfortable to handle, carry or hold. They are 21 cm wide by 29.7 cm long. I do not recommend them at all.

        What is the interior of the Bullet Journal notebook?

        The interior of the notebook we use for the Bullet Journal can have different patterns. It is true that the most common pattern for notebooks is the square grid, but there is another type of pattern that offers certain advantages.

        • Lined interior : this interior is one of the most common, they are notebooks with the drawing of some guides in the form of horizontal lines that help us write straight. I do not recommend it for making Bullet Journal because yes, we have the horizontal lines, but we lack the vertical lines to be able to make charts.
        • Grid interior : This is one of the most common interiors in notebooks. You can make a Bullet Journal in one of these notebooks perfectly, although it usually looks messier and more filled due to the number of lines there are.
        • Dotted interior : This is the most commonly used for Bullet Journals. It allows you to have both vertical and horizontal guides so you can write straight and make charts, but at the same time it is discreet and clean.
        • Blank interior, completely blank page : I absolutely do not recommend a notebook without any kind of pattern inside. Although it is possible to use a completely blank notebook for the Bullet Journal, it is better to use one that has some kind of grid to use as a guide when making charts.

        Can you make a Bullet Journal in a lined notebook?

        Of course, it is possible to make a Bullet Journal in any type of notebook, although it is better if the notebook has another type of grid with vertical guides (such as the square grid or the dot grid). In the Bullet Journal, many boxes and many separations are made and both vertical and horizontal guides are very useful.

        Notebook Brands

        Below is a list/comparison of the most relevant brands of notebooks for bujo. Fortunately, I have had the pleasure of being able to try all of them and get the best out of each one to design the definitive notebook .

        The brands we reviewed in the video and their features. I have added some additional models that might be useful.

        • Leuchtturm1917s : size is DIN A5, it is hardcover and has 244 dotted and numbered pages of 80 g/m2, elastic closure, two dividers and an inside pocket.
        • Rhodia : DIN A5 size, soft cover with 224 dotted and numbered 90 g/m2 pages, elastic closure, two dividers and an interior pocket.
        • Clairefontaine : DIN A5 size, flexible cover with 184 dotted and numbered 90 g/m2 pages, elastic closure, a separator and two interior pockets.
        • Lemome : DIN A5 size, hard cover with 188 dotted and numbered 100 g/m2 pages, elastic closure, two dividers, an interior pocket, rubber for the pen and comes as a gift with a black pen, various stickers and a plastic ruler.
        • Tiger : It is DIN A5 (6x9) in size, has a hard cover and 120 unnumbered, dotted 90 g/m2 pages, elastic closure, two dividers and an inside pocket. On the back there are some drawings and diagrams to help you with your bullet journal.
        • Paperblanks : size 22.5x17.5 cm, flexible cover and has 236 pages of 120 g/m2 dotted and numbered, without elastic closure, with an interior pocket, three dividers and comes as a gift with a sticker of basic drawings for bullet journal.
        • Scribbles That Matter : DIN A5 size, hardcover, 200 dotted and numbered 100 g/m2 pages, elastic closure, two dividers, an interior pocket and an elastic band for the pen.
        • Dingbats : DIN A5 size, hardcover, 192 dotted and numbered 100 g/m2 pages, elastic closure, two dividers and an inside pocket.
        • Amazon Basics : This 240-page notebook from Amazon Basics is the cheapest notebook on the market, although if you're going to use any marker on it, you'll be in for a treat. I don't recommend it at all unless you're short on money.

        Where can I find the notebooks?

        How to make a DIY handmade notebook?

        In recent years, DIY has become very fashionable, an abbreviation for "Do it yourself" or also known in Spanish as "Hazlo tu mismo". This trend is very interesting from a creative point of view and means doing crafts yourself and at home. Well, this concept can also be applied to your Bujo notebook. If you really like crafts and have plenty of material at home to reuse, do not hesitate to make your own notebook and then apply the BJ method.

        How to make an easy Bullet Journal notebook?

        Here you have the following tutorial on how to create your own ring-bound notebook.

        On the other hand, if you want to make replacement notebooks for the Midori system (traveler's notebook) in DIN A5 size, I leave you the tutorial below. The travelers' notebook requires a smaller size to make it easier to handle.

        How to make a DIY notebook cover?

        Just as we can make a notebook by hand, we can also design a protective cover for your bujo. It can be covered with fabric or leatherette. Leatherette stands up very well to the wear and tear of a whole year and, above all, it does not fray. You can see how to make a cover, also called a diary holder, yourself in the following tutorial: