I keep coming back to Moleskine. It's heartening to know the quality is returning! I was fortunate to visit Italy last summer and shop in a Moleskine store in Florence.
In 2018 i bought the pocket sized notebook for basic training. I carried it in my cargo pocket for 6 months. What impressed me the most was it survived low crawling through puddles of mud. The mud soaked through my pants, but the elastic strap kept the pages tight and dry. The only damage is the corners of the leather are ripped, some discoloration on the edge of the pages, and a frayed bookmark. It was obviously abuse but it handled it really well.
I personally love Moleskine, but recently I started using fountain pens and the bleed through really does annoy me. I hope they make fountain pen friendly notebooks soon because many journalers seem to love writing with fountain pens :)
I love the moleskine expanded notebook! 400 pages! Have to use only certain pens but that’s okay;) love 400 pages and I can use certain fountain pens in it;)
I just bought my first Moleskine, a 3-pack of the large cahier, and I am so pleasantly surprised that the paper is great with my Lamy 2000 and Platinum Carbon Black ink. I have tried a few other inks and so far so good, but I think I will stay with the pigment-based inks instead of the dye-based because I have a feeling I will get much better results. I am used to using Tomoe River paper, but the longer drying times for my inks bothers me and they are usually staple bound for the tn inserts. The size of the large cahier is perfect for me and I much prefer the stitched binding that they have. I am also drawing and watercoloring in the Moleskine notebook and no problems at all. Fingers crossed but I think I may have just found my new favorite notebooks.
I think «the ugly» notebook looks just beautiful - and exactly how a well used notebook should look like when finnished with it. I have several Moleskine notebooks, I really don’t care fore bleedthroughs and shadowing. I use fountain pens mostly and I don’t get the complaints about the Moleskine not beeing fountain pen friendly. But I don’t journal, I use them for taking every day notes. The only annoyance is that the elastic strap sometimes don’t hold up. But otherwise it’s a great product in my opinion. Keep up with the great videos! 😊👍🏻
I avoided Moleskine for years because of the reports of declining quality over the years. However I passed by their store last year in London and couldn’t resist their new -at the time- medium (B6) size. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Glad you think they are coming back.
journaljoy it’s a good size for me (a B6 variation; not a true 5x7). The paper is still not fountain pen friendly but with gel pens and pigma microns it’s great.
I’m currently dealing with a florid overgrowth of Moleskine notebooks, which I began using in 2014. I use about 3-4 per year so have a substantially huge stack now and am re-evaluating my future writing practice as a result. The thing about them is, as you say, the paper. Very nice to write on. But they are also very easy to hold and carry around. I’m currently using a pocket weekly in an effort to constrain my habit. Really, I’m not OK leaving the house without one and a pen bag.
honestly i'm shocked by the amount of bleed through, the paper quality has shockingly declined. Rewind to a few years ago, they were ok for fountain pens. Now?? disappointed in how the paper quality has just dropped.
I always enjoy your videos. Your story about why Moleskine has a special place for you is similar to mine, though I tend to go through notebooks much more slowly than you do, I'm speaking in terms of the subjective values like the paper feel and the emotional/nostalgic aspect. I still use a couple of older Moleskine books and some time ago I did some testing of their paper when I got on a kick of trying lots of different fountain pen inks with various paper brands. While I agree that Moleskine paper isn't "fountain pen friendly" in that it can bleed and ghost with some inks and pens, my testing discovered some ink and pen combos that work very well. I can always rely on my Kaweco Sport fine nib and Kaweco blue ink with Moleskine, but there are others that work well also, you just have to pick and choose carefully. As a side note, I also did water damage testing on inks and papers to see if those Rite in the Rain and other waterproof notepads and inks really work and how well compared to normal inks and papers. The older Moleskine paper I tested was incredibly waterproof, almost as good as the Rite in the Rain product (Rite in the Rain will not hold any fountain pen ink other than archival/permanent, by the way, under any circumstances, and has trouble with many ball point inks) and extremely sturdy even after soaking through overnight. Anyway, like you I got discouraged when Moleskine quality went down, so this video is such good news for me, thank you!
Hi Mark! Thank you for sharing! I'm glad you could relate to my story. Haha! That's great you found some fountain pen/ink combos that work with Moleskine! :)
My 1st Moleskine notebook was a large black hardcover that performed wonderfully with an 05 Pilot G2, but an 07 G2 and my fountain pens bled through the pages. About 5 years ago I got a package of Moleskine Cahier notebooks to use with a Pilot G2, and was shocked to find that none of my fountain pen and ink combinations bled through the paper. I bought a package of pocket cahiers and my fountain pens performed wonderfully in them as well. I'm tempted to try another hardcover Moleskine because I love the dimensions - slightly smaller than A5 - and I like the feel of the cover.
Hi there! Interesting that the Cahiers are more fountain pen friendly. I don't use those. Well as I showed in my writing sample the Pilot Metropolitan still did bleed through.
I am pretty sure that the ink you use with your fountain pens are a priority before the pen itself. More watery inks will bleed more than "dry" inks and if you use a fine or an extra fine nib the bleed is less likely. Also Japanese fountain pens tends to be thinner than others (Fine vs Fine is not the same).
Anybody owns a newer made Moleskine sketchbook Artbook 165gr? Do they still worth getting? or go for a Canson 180, Sakura maybe? Which is the best please? ( I use 95% of the time Pencils and in rare occasions Fountain pens)
I think you are right. I had the same experience and recently found that the quality is better again, no pocket notebook has fallen apart yet in the last few months :)
The pro diary I use yearly has nice, smooth paper and not too bad to write on if you exclude the signature Moleskine ghosting. But I also got an expanded plain notebook this year and it is hideous! While the paper is still relatively smooth, I find it somewhat difficult to turn the pages as they have some tooth to them and don't easily slide apart when I swipe my thumb across the corner (as I tend to do with the pro). This really gets on my nerves, probably more than it should. The ghosting is also ridiculously bad (worse than the pro). I am however using it as I like the exterior soft feel and bulkiness of it, but the inside is a challenge. I wish they did something about it as you pay a lot of money for these. I really enjoy your videos, keep them up :)
In 2019 I purchased the Moleskine Pro , vertical layout, after watching a review of yours on it. I absolutely loved that version (and the paper quality) and shall be purchasing it again for 2021.
I definitely have a soft spot for Moleskine and keep coming back. The worst I had used was a 2018 Daily. It bled through like crazy and the spine got torn. I used Daily again in 2014, 2017, and 2019. The quality has improved significantly and I can even use a fountain pen with it! Some argued that I was just lucky and got a good batch. Well, who knows?
Haha! I did purchase these Moleskines but for a lot of my other videos notebook companies send me samples for a review. It's like getting gifts in the mail all year 'round. I'm very lucky that way :)
Glad to see you posted!! ☺️💙 I always thought moleskin was a bad brand since it has pretty thin paper but I didn’t realize the good quality was coming back. I may check them out! I currently use Archer & Olive due to the paper thickness but I’m thinking of buying a journal you reviewed for my next one! I love your advice and reviews. Also....... so sorry!! But I gotta ask... do you think a notebook showcase can come to the channel anytime soon? If not, I completely understand! Hope you’re well and healthy during these times 🥰💙
Hi Iris! Thank you! Hope all is well with you too! :) I have yet to try Archer & Olive. Yes the Moleskine paper is definitely thin and you have to be ok with ghosting. I just love the soft feel of it. I guess I could pull out all my notebooks and journals from various storage places and show them all off. It would be a longer video I guess.... :)
journaljoy believe me, I’d LOVE an hour long, he’ll maybe even a 3 hour long video of you showing us your journals. Your voice is so amazing and it helps me sleep on sleepless nights like this one. I’d really look forward to that video 🥺🥺 also, on a completely different topic, do you have any good quality B5 notebooks you’d recommend? Preferably thick paper and dot grid. Thank you so much
I just bought Moleskine Volant notebooks, because I wanted something thin and light and I liked the colours and the slimmed out A5 format. Then I made a pen test and it was super disappointing. I read a lot about Moleskine paper quality going downhill but I didn't expect this: Every fountain pen and every ink from nib size M down to EF were all unusable. OK, I thought, Moleskine was always bad with fountain pens so lets try something else. But the only thing that worked out OK was my Lamy Ballpoint pen. Even the Pilot G2 and Stabilo Fineliner not just ghosted, they bled straight through the page with normal handwriting. That's simply unacceptable, even the cheapo ring bound college notepads perform better in every way.
Yeah, I know it's just a small notebook and it's slim and portable and it's not meant to write your next novel in it. But when the paper can't handle fineliner or gel pen without severe bleed through it's a major flaw. And they are super expensive at almost 13 € for a 2-pack, I'm glad I got a major discount because I don't know how I am going to use them other than to look cool and bring some colour into my bookshelf.
I think that after seeing your video's I never really pay attention to the now obvious styles I currently have with my Moleskine notebooks. But Moleskine in 2020, has had some great breakthroughs and I think they are starting to again match quality with their never-changing price point. I have 4 different styles from Moleskine. The styles are structural not by the size, paper, or cover. All of my notebooks are hardcover, A5, lined notebooks. And all of them had been purchased at different times. So... yeah! haha
How are you feeling about Leuchtturms1917 quality as of late? I've never used one, but ordered my first pocket softcover Leuchtturm the other day, and I'm hoping for the best. I've always used Moleskine, but figured I'd branch out a little to see what's out there, and what I prefer. I've read mixed reviews on them recently. Some still say they are great, others say not so much, anymore. Hoping I don't receive a lemon. Thoughts?
Hi there! Actually their paper quality isn't consistent any more either. I recently bought a B6 soft cover notebook and the paper was great, but in the past I've gotten soft cover notebooks with not so great paper. I noticed the shift when all their Hardcover notebooks still said "Made in Taiwan" yet all the the Soft cover one's say "Made in China". Not sure if by now they've shifted all their production to China. I really hope they don't make the same mistake as Moleskine and cheapen out because their brand got bigger. There's too much competition in the Journal market these days.
@@journaljoy Agreed. Well, I received my Leuchtturm softcover A6 the other day and it does say that it's made in Tiawan. I'm really not impressed with it at all, though. Nothing to write home about, like people say about them. It just feels cheaply made. And with shipping it cost me $20 which is ridiculous. When I fill it up, I'm buying a few more "Rite In The Rain" sidebound notebooks, since they are about half the price and twice the quality. Also, the binding durability compared to Leuchtturm and Moleskine is night and day. And for the price, it's insane. Sadly, I won't be going back to Moleskine or Leauchtturm. I think Rite In the Rain is the go-to for quality, now a days. And for soo much cheaper. It's a no- brainer for me. I'd highly recommend them.
I am a great fan of Moleskine notebooks. However, of the hundreds of Moleskine books that I own, I have had only suffered one softcover deterioration because it got wet.
i have a handful of the old moleskines with the all orange labels that i found on ebay, the newer ones sometimes have cover issues where they will warp, thats already happened 3 times for me😟, i still use the sketchbooks
Have you got any newer made Mioleskine sketchbooks (165gr) Artbook please? Do they worth the price as they did in the past? I found a small one. but it's super expensive. Also, is the color of the paper, that nice cream color the old ones had? Thanks in advance
I keep coming back to Moleskine. It's heartening to know the quality is returning! I was fortunate to visit Italy last summer and shop in a Moleskine store in Florence.
In 2018 i bought the pocket sized notebook for basic training. I carried it in my cargo pocket for 6 months. What impressed me the most was it survived low crawling through puddles of mud. The mud soaked through my pants, but the elastic strap kept the pages tight and dry. The only damage is the corners of the leather are ripped, some discoloration on the edge of the pages, and a frayed bookmark. It was obviously abuse but it handled it really well.
Nice story, guys with little notebooks like you impressed me as a kid. Still. Puddle of mud. Who are you Indiana Jones? Crocodile Dundee? Love it 👍
I personally love Moleskine, but recently I started using fountain pens and the bleed through really does annoy me. I hope they make fountain pen friendly notebooks soon because many journalers seem to love writing with fountain pens :)
I love the moleskine expanded notebook! 400 pages! Have to use only certain pens but that’s okay;) love 400 pages and I can use certain fountain pens in it;)
I just bought my first Moleskine, a 3-pack of the large cahier, and I am so pleasantly surprised that the paper is great with my Lamy 2000 and Platinum Carbon Black ink. I have tried a few other inks and so far so good, but I think I will stay with the pigment-based inks instead of the dye-based because I have a feeling I will get much better results. I am used to using Tomoe River paper, but the longer drying times for my inks bothers me and they are usually staple bound for the tn inserts. The size of the large cahier is perfect for me and I much prefer the stitched binding that they have. I am also drawing and watercoloring in the Moleskine notebook and no problems at all. Fingers crossed but I think I may have just found my new favorite notebooks.
yay!! :)
Agree I have 6 packs of the cashiers I draw in love them!
I think «the ugly» notebook looks just beautiful - and exactly how a well used notebook should look like when finnished with it. I have several Moleskine notebooks, I really don’t care fore bleedthroughs and shadowing. I use fountain pens mostly and I don’t get the complaints about the Moleskine not beeing fountain pen friendly. But I don’t journal, I use them for taking every day notes. The only annoyance is that the elastic strap sometimes don’t hold up. But otherwise it’s a great product in my opinion. Keep up with the great videos! 😊👍🏻
I avoided Moleskine for years because of the reports of declining quality over the years. However I passed by their store last year in London and couldn’t resist their new -at the time- medium (B6) size. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Glad you think they are coming back.
Hi there! Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear your B6 was good quality as well! I have yet to try that size Moleskine! :)
journaljoy it’s a good size for me (a B6 variation; not a true 5x7). The paper is still not fountain pen friendly but with gel pens and pigma microns it’s great.
I’m currently dealing with a florid overgrowth of Moleskine notebooks, which I began using in 2014. I use about 3-4 per year so have a substantially huge stack now and am re-evaluating my future writing practice as a result. The thing about them is, as you say, the paper. Very nice to write on. But they are also very easy to hold and carry around. I’m currently using a pocket weekly in an effort to constrain my habit. Really, I’m not OK leaving the house without one and a pen bag.
Haha, awesome! :)
honestly i'm shocked by the amount of bleed through, the paper quality has shockingly declined. Rewind to a few years ago, they were ok for fountain pens. Now?? disappointed in how the paper quality has just dropped.
I always enjoy your videos. Your story about why Moleskine has a special place for you is similar to mine, though I tend to go through notebooks much more slowly than you do, I'm speaking in terms of the subjective values like the paper feel and the emotional/nostalgic aspect. I still use a couple of older Moleskine books and some time ago I did some testing of their paper when I got on a kick of trying lots of different fountain pen inks with various paper brands. While I agree that Moleskine paper isn't "fountain pen friendly" in that it can bleed and ghost with some inks and pens, my testing discovered some ink and pen combos that work very well. I can always rely on my Kaweco Sport fine nib and Kaweco blue ink with Moleskine, but there are others that work well also, you just have to pick and choose carefully. As a side note, I also did water damage testing on inks and papers to see if those Rite in the Rain and other waterproof notepads and inks really work and how well compared to normal inks and papers. The older Moleskine paper I tested was incredibly waterproof, almost as good as the Rite in the Rain product (Rite in the Rain will not hold any fountain pen ink other than archival/permanent, by the way, under any circumstances, and has trouble with many ball point inks) and extremely sturdy even after soaking through overnight. Anyway, like you I got discouraged when Moleskine quality went down, so this video is such good news for me, thank you!
Hi Mark! Thank you for sharing! I'm glad you could relate to my story. Haha! That's great you found some fountain pen/ink combos that work with Moleskine! :)
My 1st Moleskine notebook was a large black hardcover that performed wonderfully with an 05 Pilot G2, but an 07 G2 and my fountain pens bled through the pages. About 5 years ago I got a package of Moleskine Cahier notebooks to use with a Pilot G2, and was shocked to find that none of my fountain pen and ink combinations bled through the paper. I bought a package of pocket cahiers and my fountain pens performed wonderfully in them as well. I'm tempted to try another hardcover Moleskine because I love the dimensions - slightly smaller than A5 - and I like the feel of the cover.
Hi there! Interesting that the Cahiers are more fountain pen friendly. I don't use those. Well as I showed in my writing sample the Pilot Metropolitan still did bleed through.
I am pretty sure that the ink you use with your fountain pens are a priority before the pen itself. More watery inks will bleed more than "dry" inks and if you use a fine or an extra fine nib the bleed is less likely. Also Japanese fountain pens tends to be thinner than others (Fine vs Fine is not the same).
Anybody owns a newer made Moleskine sketchbook Artbook 165gr? Do they still worth getting? or go for a Canson 180, Sakura maybe? Which is the best please? ( I use 95% of the time Pencils and in rare occasions Fountain pens)
I think you are right. I had the same experience and recently found that the quality is better again, no pocket notebook has fallen apart yet in the last few months :)
The pro diary I use yearly has nice, smooth paper and not too bad to write on if you exclude the signature Moleskine ghosting. But I also got an expanded plain notebook this year and it is hideous! While the paper is still relatively smooth, I find it somewhat difficult to turn the pages as they have some tooth to them and don't easily slide apart when I swipe my thumb across the corner (as I tend to do with the pro). This really gets on my nerves, probably more than it should. The ghosting is also ridiculously bad (worse than the pro). I am however using it as I like the exterior soft feel and bulkiness of it, but the inside is a challenge. I wish they did something about it as you pay a lot of money for these. I really enjoy your videos, keep them up :)
Hi Angie! Thanks for sharing!! I guess their paper quality is still a bit inconsistent....
In 2019 I purchased the Moleskine Pro , vertical layout, after watching a review of yours on it. I absolutely loved that version (and the paper quality) and shall be purchasing it again for 2021.
I definitely have a soft spot for Moleskine and keep coming back. The worst I had used was a 2018 Daily. It bled through like crazy and the spine got torn. I used Daily again in 2014, 2017, and 2019. The quality has improved significantly and I can even use a fountain pen with it! Some argued that I was just lucky and got a good batch. Well, who knows?
Haha yes who knows? :)
How (and I say this as melodramatic and funny as possible) are you able to afford all of these notebooks?! :)
Haha! I did purchase these Moleskines but for a lot of my other videos notebook companies send me samples for a review. It's like getting gifts in the mail all year 'round. I'm very lucky that way :)
Glad to see you posted!! ☺️💙 I always thought moleskin was a bad brand since it has pretty thin paper but I didn’t realize the good quality was coming back. I may check them out! I currently use Archer & Olive due to the paper thickness but I’m thinking of buying a journal you reviewed for my next one! I love your advice and reviews. Also....... so sorry!! But I gotta ask... do you think a notebook showcase can come to the channel anytime soon? If not, I completely understand! Hope you’re well and healthy during these times 🥰💙
Hi Iris! Thank you! Hope all is well with you too! :) I have yet to try Archer & Olive. Yes the Moleskine paper is definitely thin and you have to be ok with ghosting. I just love the soft feel of it. I guess I could pull out all my notebooks and journals from various storage places and show them all off. It would be a longer video I guess.... :)
journaljoy believe me, I’d LOVE an hour long, he’ll maybe even a 3 hour long video of you showing us your journals. Your voice is so amazing and it helps me sleep on sleepless nights like this one. I’d really look forward to that video 🥺🥺 also, on a completely different topic, do you have any good quality B5 notebooks you’d recommend? Preferably thick paper and dot grid. Thank you so much
I just bought Moleskine Volant notebooks, because I wanted something thin and light and I liked the colours and the slimmed out A5 format. Then I made a pen test and it was super disappointing. I read a lot about Moleskine paper quality going downhill but I didn't expect this: Every fountain pen and every ink from nib size M down to EF were all unusable. OK, I thought, Moleskine was always bad with fountain pens so lets try something else. But the only thing that worked out OK was my Lamy Ballpoint pen. Even the Pilot G2 and Stabilo Fineliner not just ghosted, they bled straight through the page with normal handwriting. That's simply unacceptable, even the cheapo ring bound college notepads perform better in every way.
Yeah, I know it's just a small notebook and it's slim and portable and it's not meant to write your next novel in it. But when the paper can't handle fineliner or gel pen without severe bleed through it's a major flaw. And they are super expensive at almost 13 € for a 2-pack, I'm glad I got a major discount because I don't know how I am going to use them other than to look cool and bring some colour into my bookshelf.
Yeah Moleskine is not the best with fountain pens or anything other than a ballpoint pen....
I think that after seeing your video's I never really pay attention to the now obvious styles I currently have with my Moleskine notebooks. But Moleskine in 2020, has had some great breakthroughs and I think they are starting to again match quality with their never-changing price point. I have 4 different styles from Moleskine. The styles are structural not by the size, paper, or cover. All of my notebooks are hardcover, A5, lined notebooks. And all of them had been purchased at different times. So... yeah! haha
Hi Rene! Thanks for sharing! Yes the quality is up probably cuz the competition is getting stiff out there.
How are you feeling about Leuchtturms1917 quality as of late? I've never used one, but ordered my first pocket softcover Leuchtturm the other day, and I'm hoping for the best. I've always used Moleskine, but figured I'd branch out a little to see what's out there, and what I prefer. I've read mixed reviews on them recently. Some still say they are great, others say not so much, anymore. Hoping I don't receive a lemon. Thoughts?
Hi there! Actually their paper quality isn't consistent any more either. I recently bought a B6 soft cover notebook and the paper was great, but in the past I've gotten soft cover notebooks with not so great paper. I noticed the shift when all their Hardcover notebooks still said "Made in Taiwan" yet all the the Soft cover one's say "Made in China". Not sure if by now they've shifted all their production to China. I really hope they don't make the same mistake as Moleskine and cheapen out because their brand got bigger. There's too much competition in the Journal market these days.
@@journaljoy Agreed. Well, I received my Leuchtturm softcover A6 the other day and it does say that it's made in Tiawan. I'm really not impressed with it at all, though. Nothing to write home about, like people say about them. It just feels cheaply made. And with shipping it cost me $20 which is ridiculous. When I fill it up, I'm buying a few more "Rite In The Rain" sidebound notebooks, since they are about half the price and twice the quality. Also, the binding durability compared to Leuchtturm and Moleskine is night and day. And for the price, it's insane. Sadly, I won't be going back to Moleskine or Leauchtturm. I think Rite In the Rain is the go-to for quality, now a days. And for soo much cheaper. It's a no- brainer for me. I'd highly recommend them.
I noticed it also seems to be getting better again
I am a great fan of Moleskine notebooks. However, of the hundreds of Moleskine books that I own, I have had only suffered one softcover deterioration because it got wet.
i have a handful of the old moleskines with the all orange labels that i found on ebay, the newer ones sometimes have cover issues where they will warp, thats already happened 3 times for me😟, i still use the sketchbooks
Hi there! Thanks for sharing! :)
Have you got any newer made Mioleskine sketchbooks (165gr) Artbook please? Do they worth the price as they did in the past? I found a small one. but it's super expensive. Also, is the color of the paper, that nice cream color the old ones had? Thanks in advance
Could you do a review of the moleskine pro project planner? Many thanks!
I'll look into it! :)
Why don't you try Pebble Stationary Co.?
Hi Ko! Thanks for the recommendation. I just reached out to them and asked for a sample to do a review! :)
@@journaljoy what about antony Oliver journals. They have good quality leather really nice paper quality and probably works with every pen
Have recently brought a journal from dingbats and have to say the paper is alot better for my needs and I feel it's a better quality than moleskin.
Hi Tracey! Yes Dingbats paper is definitely better quality. I just wish they would make plain black ones.
This sounds like good news.
I love your videos.