Bullet Journal Review: Leuchttrum 1917 vs Peter Pauper Press

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There are a ton of different journals to consider when you’re starting a bullet journal. From paperweight to bookmarks let’s see how a fan favourite stacks up against a new guy in town. Today we’re looking at Leuchttrum vs Peter Pauper A5 dotted journals.

Both the journals in this review are A5 dot grid notebooks. The goal is to compare the most similar products offered by each company.

Please leave a comment about your experience with either of these journals as I would love to hear about what you liked, wish was different or to let me know which one will be your next bullet journal!

The Criteria

For this comparison we’re going to look at:

• Paper quality
• Features
• Bleed through and ghosting
• Flat lay
• Aesthetics
• Price

• Related: The Best Bullet Journal Supplies
• Related: How to pick a Journal

Paper Quality

The Leuchttrum 1917 journal has a paperweigh of 80gsm and feels light and thin when you flip through it. The paper is also a light cream colour, not a stark white.

It’s very easy to handle although I did find the paper to have a bit of a “bite” with certain felt tip pens. What I mean by that is that certain pens seemed to fray a bit on the tip after extended use. Whether that’s the journal or the pen quality is up for debate.

The Peter Pauper journal paper is 100gsm and immediately after opening it two things were abundantly clear, this journal’s paper is thicker and sturdier. It is also a heck of a lot brighter.

I remember thinking “woah this is white paper”. I don’t think I really realized how cream the Leuchttrum was until I opened my Peter Pauper journal.

These observations can be pros or cons depending on your preference and what you want to use your journal for.

Obviously, heavier paper will typically mean that it can handle more types of mediums like inks, paint, glue etc. The colour as well is preference depending on what you find easier to read.

Winner: Draw- depends on your preference

Features

The Leuchttrum 1917 journal has a lot of bells and whistles.

Let’s look:

• It has 249 pages
• A pocket on the back cover
• 2 bookmarks
• Sturdy “belongs to” page
• 3 pages of pre-made index
• Archival stickers
• Elastic closure
• Numbered Pages

This notebook is a favourite of many for a reason. It’s got lots of room, a ready made index to record your spreads, and having two bookmarks makes it easy to flip between my monthly and weekly spreads.

The Peter Pauper Journal:

• 192 pages
• back cover pocket
• Sturdy coloured pages in the front and back of your journal
• 1 bookmark
• Elastic closure

When I first got this journal I had 3 main concerns.

It had a full 50 less pages than the Leuchttrum, what if I can’t fit my whole year in there?!

The pages weren’t numbered. How will I find stuff?!

There is only one bookmark. Won’t flipping around be much more work?!

My thoughts

Although I liked the amenities of the Leuchttrum, I haven’t found myself missing them as much as I thought I would since starting my Peter Pauper journal.

I haven’t bothered to number the pages but really haven’t found this to be a problem.

I also haven’t found the lack of a second bookmark as big a hinderance as I thought it would be.

The only thing that I AM still concerned about is the amount of pages. I still have the compulsive little voice in my head saying “one journal for one year”. But I know that’s crap and I really just need to get over it.

Use the space you need to be productive and starting a journal any time of the year is just fine. Read this post for more thoughts about why you can start a bullet journal any time of year.

Winner: Leuchttrum – way more features

Bleed Through and Ghosting

Definitions first:

Bleed through is when the medium (pen or paint most likely) bleeds right through the page of the journal to show up on the other side.

Ghosting is when the ink hasn’t bled through but you can see it on the other side of the page, sort of like a shadow.

The paperweight definitely impacts this category.

I found my Leuchttrum wonderful with the majority of pens that I used in my bullet journal spreads. My Tombows and bic pens did not bleed through the page at all. Neither did my Crayola markers.

I did have some fineliners that DID bleed through and there was that huge case of bleed through in my December spreads.

Ghosting was very prevalent in my Leuchttrum journal. I could definitely see my spreads through the pages pretty consistently.

My Peter Pauer journal has had zero bleed through so far and I have used all the same tools in it that I had used in my Leuchttrum, including the fineliners I just mentioned.

This is probably a function of the paper being thicker.

While there is still some ghosting, it is incredibly faint and only comes through if the pen was pressed harder than necessary or the colour was applied in multiple layers.

Winner- Peter Pauper hands down

Lying Flat

I use my journal constantly.

It’s open beside me day in and day out. So having it lie open is a hard must for me.

Both journals do lie flat and I haven’t had a single incident of either flipping back pages after being pressed open.

Winner: Draw

• Related: How to Start a Bullet Journal for Beginners
• Related: 2019 Bullet Journal Set Up

Aesthetics and Durability

The Leuchttrum1917 journal comes in SO MANY colours.

The cover is supple and durable and solid. You can then decorate or personalize it any way you like.

I wrapped floral fabric washi tape around mine to give it a little ooomph.

The journal is compact, has a little bit of give and stands up to hard use. The only sure sign of use is from one of the bookmarks that is a bit frayed, but not even at the bottom of it.

I can’t speak for the durability of the Peter Pauper journal just yet since I’ve only been using it for 2 months but so far I have no concerns about the cover wrapping or satin bookmark.

These are the two things that I will be paying the closest attention to.

The Peter Pauper dotted journals seem to have about 6 different cover options and are very….. eye catching.

I would say that they air on the girly side and none of the ones I have seen are a solid colour. So if you like something a bit more modest, this probably isn’t for you.

Personally, I loved being able to personalize my Leuchttrum while keeping is pretty basic.

Although I do really love the cover art of my Peter Pauper journal too. The colours are great and I love the tiny bit of gold detail.

Winner: Draw- Preference again (sorry!)

Price

Finally, the price comparison.

The Leuchttrum journal is considered a high end journal and usually comes in at between $18-$30 depending on where you buy it and if it’s a special edition.

The Peter Pauper Journal retails for between $9-$15. About half the price.

The biggest thing to note here is what is your budget and what do you want to use your journal for?

If you want to forgo the extra features then obviously the Peter Pauper is the better choice.

But if there are features that you want or if you just want a journal with more pages the Leuchttrum is a solid choice.

Winner: Peter Pauper

Conclusions

The Peter Pauper journal has won more categories according to my analysis here so I pronounce it the winner of this duel!

With higher paper weight, less bleed through and ghosting and a lower price point to boot, the Peter Pauper Press Journal is a solid bujo choice.

Have you used either of these journals?

Which one is your favourite and why?

Leave me a comment below