ROARING SPRING Engineering Pad, 8.5" x 11", 100 Sheets 15# Buff Paper, 5x5 Printed Back Enclosed Grid, Top Glued, 3-Hole Punched, Proudly Made in USA, Heavy Backing Board

Summary: The Roaring Spring 100-sheet green engineering pads are every bit as good as the corresponding National pads I used 20 years ago. The paper is good quality, resilient, new fiber content made in the U.S.A. (see below for why that's an important distinction). This is now my engineering pad of choice.Details: I used National's green engineering paper pads for over 20 years, with great results. Then I took a long hiatus (almost 20 years) to do other work, for which I used much brighter, heavier (24 lb.) paper. About a year ago I returned to engineering work for which the same 3-hole-punched green engineering pads are suitable. I still had some of the old National paper left, but when I came to Amazon to order more of it, I found that it was far more expensive than other brands like Tops and Ampad. I ordered some of the el cheapo pads, and ordered some of the present-day National pads for comparison.The cheap brands were delivered quickly, so I started using them. It was immediately obvious that they're inferior in qualityAlas, after a couple of weeks of "Sorry, your order has been delayed" messages re. the National pads, I finally received a message from Amazon saying that the National pads were unavailable.So, I still don't know whether the National pads are as high-quality as they were 20 years ago, but I do know why the low-cost pads are so much less costly; they're inferior in quality. The paper in those pads is flimsy, crease/wrinkles/tears easily, and absorbs water like a sponge. I use non-permanent fountain pen ink (on purpose), and if any water gets on the cheap pads, the ink quickly runs into illegibility. The backing cardboard is too flimsy to allow the pad to be used on its own without a clipboard, especially when the pad is less than full.By comparison, the Roaring Spring pads are far superior. The paper is thicker, less flimsy, more water-resistant, less prone to creasing or tearing, and the backing cardboard is stiff enough for use without a clipboard if necessary.The "new fiber content made in the U.S.A." is an important factor. I work in environmental engineering, and I've had industrial clients who make recycled paper. The process of reclaiming the usable pulp does great violence to the fibers, with the result that they're shorter than new natural fiber content. The recycled end product is weaker, flimsier, tears more easily, and is generally of inferior quality. By making their paper in the U.S.A., Roaring Spring can more easily ensure the quality of the source material.There are other reasons why recycled paper is actually less "environmentally friendly" than paper made directly from new pulp. That's especially true with paper products made in countries that are notorious polluters, but you can research that for yourself. For the purposes of this review, it will suffice to say that if using quality paper and supporting best environmental practices are important considerations, Roaring Spring pads satisfy those criteria.Update: 2022-05-29 - I switched to the buff-colored paper pads (100 sheets) because I prefer the heavier/thicker 20 lb. buff paper over the lighter/thinner 15 lb. green paper. Still the same great Roaring Spring quality; there's just more of it.

Like everything else, paper is subject to corporations making everything with less material to save cost. Most engineering paper today is too thin making a pad spongy so that pencils rip right through. This paper is just like the stuff I had in college twenty years ago. It's so satisfying to feel the difference!

I compared the Roaring Spring to the "New" National 100 sheet pads. (See addendum below about the word "New")Both pads are the same thickness and thus the paper is exactly the same thickness on both pads.The "New" National paper was slightly greener and the Roaring Spring slightly paler.The grid is higher on the page on the Roaring Spring, meaning the margin at the top is smaller and the margin at the bottom is larger when compared to the "New" National. The grid is the same 5x5 on both pads and is the same size, just located on the page differently between the manufacturers.On the "New" National, the three boxes at the top are equal in size. The "New" National boxes are larger because the top margin is larger. Note that the bold horizontal line at the top of the page does NOT extend all the way to the edge of the page on the "new" National sheet. On the Roaring Spring; the box at the top right is larger than the middle and leftmost box and the bold top line does extend to the edges of the page.On the back: the grid on the "New" National has finer and sharper lines. The grid on the Roaring Springs shows through to the front of the page slightly better: this could be a positive or negative depending on your preference.The "New" National pad is made in Brazil, and the Roaring Spring pad is made in the USAI like "New" National pad, mostly because that is the brand that I used in school many moons ago. But if you prefer the lines to show through to the front slightly better, you may prefer the Roaring Spring pad.Addendum:So why do I call it the "New" National pad? Because I just found an "Made in the USA" National sheet in an old file! The old sheet was from about 1984. What is very interesting is that the layout of the Roaring Springs sheet is almost identical to the 1984 National sheet. The sizes of the boxes at the top are the same and the margins are very close to the same. The color is slightly different between all three sheets, but the 1984 one could be faded, obviously. The lines on the back of the 1984 National are the sharpest of the three papers. If you want an engineering pad with margins and edge lines like the old "Made in the USA" National pads, the best choice is the Roaring Springs pad.

This is overpriced, but it always is everywhere. I definitely prefer this to the green paper. This is exactly what it says it is.

Been using this exact style and brand for a decade. Love this pad

I previously bought the TOPS Engineering Computation Pad off of Amazon, and it seriously doesn't come close to how nice the Roaring Springs Pad is. The pad is nice and sturdy, the pages aren't flimsy whatsoever, and there is little to no indentation or bleeding through the pages, something I struggled with immensely with the TOPS version.The craziest part is that, while the Roaring Springs pad feels way nicer and better quality, it's just about the same price as I paid for my TOPS pad (We're talking a cent difference here).The only thing you have to worry about is Amazon shipping. They absolutely love putting delicate, paperback books or sheets of paper into the thinnest plastic bags possible. I would recommend buying the product with other things, so it hopefully gets put in an actual box with your other purchases.

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