I thought Moleskine was good as well and I wanted them to work but I decided I was just as happy trying new papers and being surprised (happy/sad) with the results. Fountain pens give me a somewhat random experience as well even on good paper. I have just embraced the randomness. Regardless, I understand the emotion and a great post! BTW, I always have a Blackwing pencil to fall back to if the experience is really off the rails.
Costco used to sell a 6 pack of extra large softcover notebooks... It's the only notebook I go to. I'm guessing they stopped selling them as I haven't been in a Costco in at least a year and a half. They sold for $19.
That's the thing... It's the inconsistency that bugs me no matter what writing tool you use. And you don't know until you open it up and you've already spent the money.
Happily using a Moleskine for my 2025 work planner and I’m not fussed but it gets a lot of hate. I think Moleskine originally made its products for a ballpoint pen using market, and never felt interested in ‘upgrading’ it to be more fp friendly. That’s every person’s complaints with them, the fountain pen ‘unfriendliness’. I have a kinda hefty fountain pen collection and I don’t mind that I don’t use them much in there at all. I actually need the understated mess of a ballpoint pen at work, so it works for me and I actually sorta like the feel of the paper!
Well I always go back to Moleskine one way or another..! For me, I really like these things: the sizes (that are not true A5 but slim for example, it’s just cozier!!), the type of material used for the soft covers (also very cozy to me…), I used to like the fact that they offered limited editions with amazing graphic design on them (but now they have almost stopped that unfortunately…..) AND I do like that the paper is 70gsm instead of the 80gsm that Leuchtturm has for example. That specific 70gsm is the best weight for me 😅. ❤ I like all these factors so much that even if a pen bleeds through I don’t mind…. Or I will just use a ballpoint (it’s also among the most permanent inks you can use and glides great on this paper even on the bad batch! 😊❤)
I have many moleskines from over the years and I never bought them for fountain pen usage. But I have tested many after the fact, just out of curiosity from all this moleskine talk and it seems that the quality control sticker, the country it is made in, the fsc label - not of it is consistent to indicate the paper inside. But I have noticed that for the ones that are better quality paper and work with fountain pens - they have been blank paper... so not sure if that means anything in the end. I wonder if moleskine would repsond to inquiries? LOL!
This is the problem. Moleskine has no incentive to improve the paper quality, or their quality control issues, because people just keep buying them. Maybe out of loyalty or there's just that one style of notebook they do that they can't get over, whatever it is. But Moleskine clearly has a quality control problem. They force their mission statement onto blank pages in your notebook and the paper is so bad in most of them you can't even use a gel pen. And then they charge you the same amount or more as their competitors. It's a premium price, for a less than premium product. But because Moleskine has been around so long and is available in more brick and mortar retail stores, they have built up enough of a following so they can get away with it. I would hate it if I bought a big notebook like that only to realize I couldn't even use a gel pen without it bleeding. At some point you have to speak with your wallet, and stop ordering notebooks on the blind hope that it'll be a good one, and just start buying products we know will be usable 100 percent of the time. If their loyalists finally stopped putting up with it and started buying something else (there's plenty to choose from), maybe Moleskine would actually finally have to improve the consistency of their paper quality.
I've stopped usind Moleskine botebooks since I bought one and couldn't use a regular gel pen with it... Insane considering the price. So... Yes, I'm not ready to gamble and pay that amount of money only to be disappointed in the end. And sometimes you just can't return the notebok (or it's way too expensive to do that), and you're stuck with the paper you can't use.
I agree with your statement. It is a consistency issue. I like Moleskine and will continue to use them. I still love old school ballpoints and love gels too. I’ll use my fountain pens for my Midori, Stalogy, Tomoe River Paper and such. You are not stupid ☺️but I did hear Forrest Gump say, ‘stupid is as stupid does’!! Gave me a good laugh this morning. Please don’t take that wrong, it’s just how my mind works. 😂
![เปิดใจ “ต้นหอม ศกุนตลา” หลังโดนพาดพิงธุรกิจที่เคยทำ และผลกระทบทำถูกปลดฟ้าผ่า! | แฉ 24 ต.ค.67 [2/3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vCi5OIqlxaE/mqdefault.jpg)
I thought Moleskine was good as well and I wanted them to work but I decided I was just as happy trying new papers and being surprised (happy/sad) with the results. Fountain pens give me a somewhat random experience as well even on good paper. I have just embraced the randomness. Regardless, I understand the emotion and a great post! BTW, I always have a Blackwing pencil to fall back to if the experience is really off the rails.
I agree with your summary and would also appreciate a quality consistency.
Costco used to sell a 6 pack of extra large softcover notebooks... It's the only notebook I go to. I'm guessing they stopped selling them as I haven't been in a Costco in at least a year and a half. They sold for $19.
I still have a bunch of them sitting waiting to be used 😂
i’ve had a good experience with Noodler’s Black in a Molskine Cashier notebook as long as I use an extra fine nib.
That's the thing... It's the inconsistency that bugs me no matter what writing tool you use. And you don't know until you open it up and you've already spent the money.
Happily using a Moleskine for my 2025 work planner and I’m not fussed but it gets a lot of hate. I think Moleskine originally made its products for a ballpoint pen using market, and never felt interested in ‘upgrading’ it to be more fp friendly. That’s every person’s complaints with them, the fountain pen ‘unfriendliness’.
I have a kinda hefty fountain pen collection and I don’t mind that I don’t use them much in there at all. I actually need the understated mess of a ballpoint pen at work, so it works for me and I actually sorta like the feel of the paper!
Well I always go back to Moleskine one way or another..! For me, I really like these things: the sizes (that are not true A5 but slim for example, it’s just cozier!!), the type of material used for the soft covers (also very cozy to me…), I used to like the fact that they offered limited editions with amazing graphic design on them (but now they have almost stopped that unfortunately…..) AND I do like that the paper is 70gsm instead of the 80gsm that Leuchtturm has for example. That specific 70gsm is the best weight for me 😅. ❤ I like all these factors so much that even if a pen bleeds through I don’t mind…. Or I will just use a ballpoint (it’s also among the most permanent inks you can use and glides great on this paper even on the bad batch! 😊❤)
@@iliana.m I like your description of a5 slim being “cozier”. That’s exactly it! ☺️
I have many moleskines from over the years and I never bought them for fountain pen usage. But I have tested many after the fact, just out of curiosity from all this moleskine talk and it seems that the quality control sticker, the country it is made in, the fsc label - not of it is consistent to indicate the paper inside. But I have noticed that for the ones that are better quality paper and work with fountain pens - they have been blank paper... so not sure if that means anything in the end. I wonder if moleskine would repsond to inquiries? LOL!
This is the problem. Moleskine has no incentive to improve the paper quality, or their quality control issues, because people just keep buying them. Maybe out of loyalty or there's just that one style of notebook they do that they can't get over, whatever it is. But Moleskine clearly has a quality control problem. They force their mission statement onto blank pages in your notebook and the paper is so bad in most of them you can't even use a gel pen. And then they charge you the same amount or more as their competitors. It's a premium price, for a less than premium product. But because Moleskine has been around so long and is available in more brick and mortar retail stores, they have built up enough of a following so they can get away with it. I would hate it if I bought a big notebook like that only to realize I couldn't even use a gel pen without it bleeding. At some point you have to speak with your wallet, and stop ordering notebooks on the blind hope that it'll be a good one, and just start buying products we know will be usable 100 percent of the time. If their loyalists finally stopped putting up with it and started buying something else (there's plenty to choose from), maybe Moleskine would actually finally have to improve the consistency of their paper quality.
I've stopped usind Moleskine botebooks since I bought one and couldn't use a regular gel pen with it... Insane considering the price. So... Yes, I'm not ready to gamble and pay that amount of money only to be disappointed in the end. And sometimes you just can't return the notebok (or it's way too expensive to do that), and you're stuck with the paper you can't use.
is there any watermarks hidden in the paper?
I agree with your statement. It is a consistency issue. I like Moleskine and will continue to use them. I still love old school ballpoints and love gels too. I’ll use my fountain pens for my Midori, Stalogy, Tomoe River Paper and such. You are not stupid ☺️but I did hear Forrest Gump say, ‘stupid is as stupid does’!! Gave me a good laugh this morning. Please don’t take that wrong, it’s just how my mind works. 😂