Leuchtturm1917 B5 Notebook vs. the Medium A5 Hardcover: A Buyer's Checklist

If you've ever approved a purchase order and then realized the size was wrong, you know the feeling. I've been handling office supply orders for six years, and I've personally made (and documented) 14 significant mistakes totaling roughly $11,000 in wasted budget. Most weren't about choosing a bad product. They were about the stuff between the quote and the delivery. Now I maintain our team's checklist, and it has caught 47 potential errors in the last 18 months. This one is for anyone ordering Leuchtturm1917 notebooks for a team, client gift, or resale. Six steps. The ones you're tempted to skip are the ones that matter most.

Step 1: Choose Between the Leuchtturm1917 B5 Notebook and the Leuchtturm1917 Medium A5 Hardcover Notebook

The Leuchtturm1917 medium A5 hardcover notebook is the safe default. It's small enough to carry around, big enough for meeting notes, and it fits on a crowded desk. The Leuchtturm1917 B5 notebook is the bigger option, and it earns its space when people need to draw diagrams, build project plans, or write large.

Don't choose a size the way you'd try a body shape calculator. A body shape calculator gives you a generic answer based on generic inputs. Your team isn't generic. I went back and forth between A5 and B5 for about a week. A5 offered easier storage; B5 offered more room for actual work. Ultimately I chose B5 for our planning team because they paste printouts into their notebooks. The A5 stayed with the meeting crew.

Checkpoint: ask two or three team leads to show you what their people actually capture. Size decisions are workflow decisions, not preference decisions.

Step 2: Check the Specs, Not the Picture

Most Leuchtturm1917 notebooks come with numbered pages and a table of contents. That's a big reason companies standardize on them. But you still need to pick the right internal layout—dot grid, ruled, squared, or blank—and the SKU tells you that. A photo on a reseller site can use the wrong image. I've ordered ruled notebooks that were actually dot grid because the product code was wrong. (Not that the supplier warned me.)

Before you approve the PO, list the exact SKU for each size and layout. If you're ordering both the Leuchtturm1917 B5 notebook and the Leuchtturm1917 medium A5 hardcover notebook, treat them as separate line items. Don't assume the same interior rule is available in both sizes either—check it.

Step 3: Calculate the Total Cost, Including the Dimensional Weight

Here's the part I wish someone had forced me to learn earlier: the unit price is not the price. I've learned to ask what's NOT included? before what's the price? The vendor who lists all fees upfront—even if the total looks higher—usually costs less in the end.

The vendor who lists all fees upfront—even if the total looks higher—usually costs less in the end.

For bulk orders, use a cubic feet calculator to estimate dimensional weight. A box of 50 B5 notebooks is not heavy, but it is bulky, and shipping carriers charge by dimensional weight. If you skip the cubic feet calculator, your shipping quote is a guess. I once approved a quote that looked fine until the freight bill arrived: $890 in unexpected shipping on a $3,200 order. That mistake still annoys me.

Also, be realistic about small shipments. According to USPS pricing effective January 2025, a First-Class Mail large envelope (1 oz) is $1.50. But a hardcover notebook will go past that weight and thickness instantly, so don't plan a customer mailing around letter rates. Check current rates at usps.com before you promise anything. This was accurate as of February 2025; shipping rates change fast.

Step 4: Order a Physical Sample Before You Order the Pallet

Most buyers skip this because it feels slow. I did. Then I ordered 300 notebooks in a color that looked professional on my screen and slightly louder in person. The surprise wasn't the product specs. It was how the cover color and paper feel changed my team's perception. A single sample costs a few dollars. A wrong pallet costs credibility.

The sample also lets you test the real writing experience. If your people use fountain pens, this is the time to check how the paper handles them. Leuchtturm1917 uses 80gsm paper, which is a solid everyday weight. It's not a watercolor block, so a very wet fountain pen may show some shadow. That's normal, and it's not a defect in the notebook.

Step 5: Put Every Vendor Quote Through a Transparency Check

After I got burned by a fee that appeared after the invoice, I built a simple checklist. Now I ask every supplier:

• What is the exact per-unit price for the Leuchtturm1917 medium A5 hardcover notebook and the Leuchtturm1917 B5 notebook, without volume assumptions?
• What is the freight cost by dimensional weight?
• What are the handling, packing, and maybe customs fees?
• What is the return policy if the SKU is wrong?
• What is the actual lead time, not the optimistic lead time?

If a vendor says no hidden fees, ask them to write it on the quote. If they make an environmental claim, ask for evidence. Per FTC guidelines (ftc.gov), marketing claims have to be truthful and substantiated. A vague eco-friendly label isn't enough. This is not us being annoying—it's protecting your budget and your reputation.

Step 6: How to Fix a Scratchy Fountain Pen Nib (Before You Blame the Notebook)

One of the most common complaints I see in office teams isn't actually about the notebook. It's about a scratchy fountain pen nib. The paper gets blamed because that's the visible surface. But most scratchiness comes from the nib, not the paper.

Here is the quick version of how to fix a scratchy fountain pen nib:

1. Flush the nib. Run clean water through the feed until it runs clear. Let it dry completely. Dried ink causes a lot of scratchy pens.
2. Check the tines. Under a loupe or strong phone camera, the slit between the tines should be even. If one tine is higher than the other, the nib will scratch. Gentle alignment helps, but if you have never done it, watch a nib tuning video before you try.
3. Use micromesh if needed. If the tines are aligned and the nib still scratches, a few light strokes on 12000-grit micromesh can smooth the tip. Go slow. You can't add material back.
4. Know when to stop. If you're nervous, take it to a pen repairer. A $40 tuning beats a $200 pen in the trash.

Once the nib is smooth, a Leuchtturm1917 notebook will feel much nicer to write in. But don't expect any notebook to turn an untreated scratchy nib into a glassy writer. Fix the tool, then judge the paper.

Final Warnings From Someone Who Paid For These Lessons

Let me leave you with the mistakes I keep seeing, even on my own team:

• Don't assume medium in the product name means a middle size. In Leuchtturm1917's lineup, medium is A5, and A5 is smaller than B5. If you order the medium A5 hardcover notebook thinking it's the bigger one, you'll be surprised.
• Don't use a body shape calculator approach to picking a notebook. No generic tool knows whether your team needs portability or workspace.
• Don't skip the cubic feet calculator unless you enjoy freight invoices.
• Don't trust a quote that lists a per-unit price but no fee itemization.
• Don't wait until Q4 to order if you need a specific color. Popular sizes and colors go into backorder fast.

This checklist isn't perfect. It's just the set of checks I've developed after making the expensive mistakes. Use it, change it, and if it catches one error, it has paid for its cost. I know because I've caught 47 of them with it.