Profolio Oasis Summit Notebook Review

Profolio has been releasing some great notebooks in the past few years. There was the Oasis, then the Oasis Light, both of which are very nice. The Profolio Oasis Summit is the newest notebook in the Oasis lineup. While it has some features that may easily make it a favorite for people who bullet journal, it might just turn out to be a favorite notebook for any fountain pen user.

First Impressions

I’m not used to B6-sized notebooks, so the first thing I noticed was how compact this one felt. Surprisingly, B6 is not much smaller than A5 (maybe an inch smaller in each dimension) and I can see how this size would be very appealing to some people. Despite being smaller than I’m used to, it still has just as many pages (or more) than most popular fountain-pen-friendly notebooks, so it feels very dense. The overall design is attractive yet simple, with a metallic mountain design debossed onto the cover. The paper feels very nice, so if it is like most Profolio paper it should be a pleasure to write on.

The Details

Let’s take a closer look at this notebook

• Pages: 252 (126 sheets)
• Paper Weight: 84.3gsm
• Binding: Stitch
• Page Style: Profolio Custom Pattern (7mm)
• Size: B6

Ink-handling characteristics (A table with the following properties can be found at the bottom of this post)

• Sheen: Average
• Shading: Average
• Bleeding: Very Low
• Ghosting: Low
• Feathering: Very Low
• Dry Time: Fast

Other features

• 3-page Index
• 2 Page Ribbons
• Profolio Line-Dot Page Layout

Actual Use

The first thing that will probably catch your eye with this notebook is the cover. I purchased the Metallic Blue option, which has little metallic flecks in it, but there are many other colors available. On the front is a foil mountain design (either gold or silver, depending on your cover color) and on the back is a small Profolio logo (in the same metallic foil). While not flimsy, the cover material is fairly flexible, making this notebook less rigid than some. I’d say it’s slightly less flexible than a Midori MD cover and slightly more flexible than the Oasis Light cover. Still, with the smaller B6 notebook size, it has a solid feel to it.

Moving inside the notebook, you’ll find some textured end papers. Mine are a light tan, but I’m not sure that’s the color in all the different cover options. I feel like the color, while not typical for most notebooks, goes well with the mountain theme. The first page of the notebook has a few blank lines, I’d assume for contact information. Past that, you’ll find 3 index pages, each with 21 lines for entries.

The pages are numbered and Page 1 starts immediately after the Index. The page layout of each page is unique to Profolio. It is a line/grid mix that should work for most people, but may be a turnoff to others. This is the only page layout available with this notebook, so fans of blank or dot grid are out of luck. The paper color is what I’d consider to be a cream color. If you’ve used the regular Oasis, it’s the exact same color. The lines are also the same color and darkness. Still, there are some differences. The regular Oasis has space for the date in the top header, while the Summit does not. As I mentioned, the Summit has page numbers while the Oasis does not. The Summit has a slightly larger margin around the edges, giving your writing a bit more room to breathe.

The notebook claims to have a lay-flat binding. While this may be true, the notebook doesn’t automatically lay flat, which is surprising since it has so many small signatures. It takes a bit of encouragement to stay open. Even then, it will stay open but at the outer edges doesn’t completely lay flat. I’m sure the spine will break in a bit with use, but initially it’s not as good as a Midori MD notebook.

Now we come to my favorite part of any review… the paper. Both the Oasis and Oasis light have great paper, so I had high hopes for the Summit. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t let down! In fact, it’s the same type of paper used in the Oasis notebook, just a higher-gsm version. It does a great job handling fountain pen ink, from wet nibs with saturated inks to shading inks, it handled them all like a champ. It does show sheen and shading, but not as much as many notebooks. The upside to that is it has great dry times. All other ink-handling capabilities like the amount of feather, ghost and bleed are great.

Conclusion

After releasing the Oasis and Oasis Light, I figured Profolio would have another winner on their hands with the Oasis Summit, which is definitely the case. With its index and page numbers, this notebook is geared more towards people who keep a journal. Still, I don’t see why any fountain pen user who needs a solid notebook should overlook it. It certainly performs well and it’s size and page count give it a fantastic feel in your hand. While I’d prefer a less-stiff spine, it’s not a deal breaker. I would definitely consider using one of these for my next bullet journal. The price may be a little high for some, but considering it’s only slightly more expensive than a Leuchtturm (and has much better paper), I think it’s still within reach for most.

If you’d like a bit more information about how I test papers and notebooks, I wrote an article about my paper rating system.