Ryder Carol, the founder of BulletJournal.com, is up to it again and has just released (and very quickly sold out of) the second edition of the Bullet Journal Notebook. He partnered with Leuchtturm again to build a high quality and much more user-friendly notebook. With the first notebook still for sale on Amazon, does it make sense to wait for the V2 to come back in stock, or buy the original? I think the answer is pretty clear below…
First Edition (left) vs Second Edition (right)
The first edition has been available for years, and as the method has been developed and adapted to each users needs, it is clear Ryder has been watching and listening to the community. The new updates listed below have been carefully adapted and integrated without getting in the way.
1. Better Quality Paper - 120 gsm (grams per square meter) vs the original 80 gsm. The paper is smooth without being glossy and holds ink very well without smudging. It is still the same shade of off-white as before, but the dot grid has been drastically lightened.
2. 206 Pages - With the increase in paper quality, the number of pages had to be reduced to keep the width a reasonable size of 13/16 inch. This is a slight increase of 1/8 in.
3. Dot Grid Smart Grid - The best update in my opinion is a new guide with markers on the page. When laying out the future log, monthly, or collections having easy reference points have been sorely needed. As I mentioned before, these updates have been subtly designed into the page layouts to maximize the users benefit.
4. Sticker Sheet - Setting up monthly pages has traditional taken a lot of time, but with the provided sheets, this is now a simple exercise. The previous version only included archive stickers for storage.
5. Larger Margin - To help organize data and help it look better, Ryder decided to reduce the number of dots per page to leave slightly more room on the edge. This hasn’t been a problem in using it and I agree it does look better with the new smart dot grid layout.
6. Price - Surprisingly, the price per book of $24.95 remains the same. Even with the increase in quality plus the two free chapters to Ryder’s book, The Bullet Journal Method I assumed this would have gone up slightly. I am listing this as a difference because the value increases in my opinion.
7. User Guide - The guide has been expanded but put into its own companion notebook. I assume this was due to the reduced number of pages available. The Key and new Grid layout guide are all that remain included in the actual book. The guide does fit nicely in the back of the book so not a loss, but just a difference.
8. Weight - With the increase in paper quality the book weight increased by two ounces to push it up to 1lb 1 oz. Not much but it is noticeable when comparing them.
With the increase in paper quality, it holds fountain pen ink, marker, and rollerball ink very well!
In Summary - If there is one missing element to the new version, it is a pen loop. Keeping a pen handy is the key to this notebook system, and I had to add a Leuchtturm pen loop that fits well in the back panel.
This notebook is well worth the wait for it to be restocked. We received word from Ryder this week that he is working on restocking the notebook and expects it to be in early next year.
Be sure to get on his mailing list to know when it is ready HERE.
If you haven’t read Ryder’s book, The Bullet Journal Method, I highly recommend it. I wrote up a review of this book last year.
Finally, Ryder and the Bullet Journal team has set up their own social network focused on the Bullet Journal system and the community around it. Find it HERE called BuJo U.
While the site is not free, it does not include any ads or unrelated junk to sift through. This speaks directly to me now that I am limiting my social media time. I don’t want to be “inventory” for another company any more and take better control over my life.
Cheers,
Mike
