Moleskine Notebooks

[Snargle]

Interesting news/radio article on Moleskine and the use of paper notebooks. I'm not crazy about Moleskine, but a lot of their usage and appeal applies to other paper journals. Too bad they didn't talk about the use of fountain pens.

Moleskine notebooks seek growth in digital age: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/moleskine-notebooks-seek-growth-digital-age

 

[nemo]

Too bad they didn't talk about the use of fountain pens.

I'd buy more if the paper quality went back up to where it used to be 10 years ago. Just about any ink/nib renders the reverse side useless.
And I've told them so ... not recently, though.

Interesting article.

 

[whavens]

I bought a lot of them when WaldenBooks went out of business, then I found out that they had bleed issues. I like the Rhodia notebooks a lot better, but the history of the Moleskines is pretty extensive.

 

[Slivovitz]

Can't say that I ever had the bleedthrough issues I've seen other people complain of, just some minor show through which doesn't bother me. My problem was that even the larger size is smaller than I like for writing at length. Looking through the one that I filled as a journal, and comparing it with my other journals, my writing in it is small and cramped, constrained by the small pages and narrow ruling.

The history bit is kind of phony, too, as far as I can tell. It's a modern attempt to capture the image of notebooks that might have been popular with artists and writers earlier in the twentieth century.

All that said, they are rather nice looking, with their elastic closures, sewn in bookmarks, and useful cover pockets for loose sheets. Since I bought four of the journals a while ago, and still have three left, I'll have to think of something to do with them. I also have one of the pocket sized ones with the alphabet tabs, given to me as a gift, and I'm gradually filling it as a personal reference with semi-alphabetized entries.

 

[cursethis]

If I could put Rhodia paper into a Moleskine binding, that would be my perfect pocket notebook.

 

[jumper]

I agree with Doug, 10 years ago the were a great product. Today's Moleskine is not a fountain pen friendly product. I've benn happy with Rhodia.

 

[andrew98]

Same here. I've used a small pocket Moleskine notebook within the last year or so, and its "fuzzy" paper just bled and got caught in the nib. I prefer Rhodia and Clairefontaine now.

-Andy

 

[OldSchoolYoungin]

Moleskine will never receive another dime of my hard-earned money. They've grown progressively worse. Kind of goes against the theme of their new self-entitlement of "luxury brand", does it not? Needn't there be some sort of luxury involved other than a "luxurious" price tag?

I've owned a few over the years and they've never failed to not impress. Their newest paper source can't even handle a Parker Jotter gel refill, much less a fountain pen.

 

[Shutterbug57]

I have just recently gone back to pocket notebooks after several years of recording thoughts digitally either on iPhones or computers. I went with the Rhodia Webnotebook and could not possibly be more happy with the quality of paper and, frankly the quality of the book itself. I avoided the Moleskine brand largely based on reviews I read here and other places online.

 

[InHotWater]

I have one of the Moleskine address books to keep my contacts in ( in case I lose the cel phone). It looks like it is well made, and should last a long time.

 

[chuckr9]

I still use them as journals - but there are much better papers/journals now than when I started usiong FP's (40 years ago).

 

[Legion]

I sometimes use a Cahier pocket notebook. I like how they have a pocket in the back cover, and the final X number of pages are perforated, so you can tear them out neatly when you need to. I made a leather cover for mine.

 

[rickcharles606]

I have a passport sized Moleskin notebook, and have never had a problem with bleed through and regularly use the back of pages when needed. I just started using it about a month ago, but have had it for quite some time. So, I'm wondering if I possibly have one of the "old" Moleskin products, when they were a better product? This was given to me a while back, and it's been sitting on my desk unused until last month.

 

[SmoovD]

I have a passport sized Moleskin notebook, and have never had a problem with bleed through and regularly use the back of pages when needed. I just started using it about a month ago, but have had it for quite some time. So, I'm wondering if I possibly have one of the "old" Moleskin products, when they were a better product? This was given to me a while back, and it's been sitting on my desk unused until last month.

The infamous quality of Moleskine varies from notebook to notebook. I have had some journals perform beautifully only to move on to the next journal from the same pack and found it horrid. Moleskine is like a box of chocolates....