Short answer, yes, they really are waterproof!
Like most things these days, I found these Hydronote notebooks from a Facebook ad with a bold statement. “Waterproof Notebooks” I have become very skeptical of these claims especially when it comes to paper. They end up being water-resistant in my previous experiences.
First test, ‘dry’ water. No problem-o
I started testing them lightly. After checking how they felt with different types of pens, I went outside and started abusing them. First throwing it in the snow to see if it made a difference. Nothing worth noting and the ink and pencil didn’t smear when I brushed the snow off.
The paper is thick for a spiral notebook which has to do with the waterproof core material that is embedded in each page. This limits the number of pages to 70, but it makes for a good quality paper that doesn’t bleed or show through to the other side, including the Sharpie pen.
The paper is also rip-resistant and I tested this on one edge. I couldn’t rip it at all and it just goes to show how tough this little book can be. I even hit it with the back of an axe (see below) maybe I should have tried the sharp side…
The mechanical pencil took the best to the page and with the slightly toothy feel to the paper, was my favorite writing tool.
The notebooks come in two paper layouts of blank, or what they call ‘universal‘ which is a 1/4inch blue-lined page with very slight dashed vertical lines to form a square grid-pattern. I really like this layout to keep my lists and ideas organized.
These spiral notebooks are 8in by 11in and are currently on sale for $17.95 HERE. They also have printer paper but I didn’t see a need for that…yet.
I was expecting the pencil to just wash away for some reason. This didn’t do anything, and I could write on the paper while it was wet!
So…I stepped it up a notch and froze the thing in a block of ice :)
This finally got some of the rollerball ink to bleed. The creators caution that using water-based ink will wash away as well as some gel-ink pens so I wasn’t surprised when the rollerball ink and I also noticed the fountain pen ink would have been affected if the water was able to get into the book on that page.
The aftermath…Not too shabby after being frozen for two days!
To get the notebook back out…I went a little overboard…
I highly recommend these notebooks and they have hinted at smaller sizes in the future.
As with all my reviews, I did not receive anything for free and my opinions are my own.
More notebook reviews to come, just not as abusive.
Mike
PS. If you liked this, please consider following me on Instagram. I am about to launch a behind the scenes look into my latest product design, called the Topo Folio. You will get to see all that goes into this new style of folio/tablet case.
