The Outpost, in Pioneer Square, is a small store; if there are 10 people browsing the shelves of notebooks and pens, it feels crowded. But owner Santiago Uribe Montoya still decided to devote a chunk of floor space to a table where customers can test out an array of pens and paper. “We really want people to get a feel for the writing instruments,” says Montoya. You can buy products online from the Outpost, but how a particular pen feels when you hold it, the texture and weight of paper as you write on it — these are things you can’t understand unless you’re in the shop.
In that spirit, I’m here to see what kind of notebook is right for me. I juggle my schedule using a weekly planner, but I also sometimes carry around a reporter’s notebook to scrawl my terrible shorthand into. I’m a little bit particular about these. The typical “reporter’s notebooks” are too big to comfortably fit into a pocket, but the cheapo small notebooks that you can get at pharmacies aren’t durable enough for everyday use. So I asked Montoya for help.
When talking about notebooks with someone, Montoya’s first question is: “What are you going to use the notebook for?” Everything else is downstream of basic function. In my case, I want a small notebook that comfortably fits into my hand, opens vertically to enable quick page-flipping, and is compact enough to fit into a back pocket. Montoya takes me over to the “Shire Shelf,” where the Outpost keeps its smaller notebooks. The one that catches my eye immediately is the Rhodia Reporter’s Pad, which is big (but not too big), with a durable, colorful cover and firm paper — I don’t want flimsy paper that can tear if I’m handling it roughly. That paper, Montoya informs me, is 90 grams per square meter, GSM being the typical way a paper’s weight is measured. At 90 GSM, paper feels sturdy but lighter than most construction paper; Montoya gets out some 52 GSM paper as a comparison, and it feels flimsy, almost gossamer-like. I have an instinctive revulsion to it — but that’s why you want to come to a stationery store in person, to see how all these products feel in your hands.
Ultimately, I don’t get the Rhodia notebook, because I don’t have the kind of budget where I can spend $23 on a notebook. But there are lots of more affordable options, including some $5 small notebooks. (On the other end of the spectrum, the Outpost offers some notebooks like one from the Japanese company Hot Cool Tokyo that features a stylized tiger illustration on the front and costs $45.) And even in just a short trip to the Outpost, I feel like I’ve learned something about paper, and something about how to value everyday materials. I’m definitely going to be back to try out some pens.
