Does Anyone Like Moleskine?

[Zeeppo]

It appears that everyone here hates the old Moleskine. I have noticed that they advertise quite a bit on this site. So someone here must be buying them.

 

I would like to hear from the people that like them. What have you been doing with them? Have you customized them?

 

I personally mostly use fine point nibs so I have never had a problem with them. Of course you need to buy them on sale. This is a lot easier to do with something you can pick up at Staples. I have put pen loops, pockets and extra book markers on them.

 

This one is a book that I am working on at the moment. It is pictured here up side down to show the additions better. It has cap from a Pilot Varsity attacked to the top of the book. I use that as a holder for my red pen. The sleeve attached to the side of the book can accommodate you average size fountain pen. In general I have a Nemosine Singularity on the pocket. My singularity always had a fine point nib.I have never had bleed through ghosting or feathering.

[Wendell]

Moleskines are one of my preferred journals, but with a big caveat. Quality is highly variable and only a fraction of the new ones I see are "good".

 

I like their slim profile and the ease with which they lie flat. This seems to be a product of the thinner than usual (71 gsm) paper, thin cover material, and the binding. I like the moderately slick feel of the paper and the hue of the cream color. I prefer light lines, which the old Moleskines normally had and newer ones sometimes do.

 

I find it easy to determine whether a new Moleskine is a good one. Just feel the paper. Bad paper will be noticeably thicker and softer, and the printed lines will be heaver and less sharp.

 

Assuming you have the good paper, you can use fountain pens and inks by choosing carefully. Most people assume you should choose a fine point, but I find that is not necessary. The crucial thing is that the point be extremely smooth, so that it does not disturb the paper fibers. I can write in a Moleskine with a broad, fairly wet nib and a wet ink (up to Diamine wetness but not Private Reserve level), and so long as the tip is buttery smooth there will be no bleeding.

 

I'd like to be able to buy Moleskines in bulk at a discount, but haven't found a reliable source. I see "opened" Moleskines for sale on Amazon at about half price and wonder what the deal is there.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Wendell

[inkypete]

I love what Moleskin has done for upmarket notebooks. Their marketing world wide is to be commended. They have created a market for their product and that has led to many more players entering the marketplace with upmarket notebooks. The constant change of paper makes them a 'never buy' from me but I think their general marketing has helped lift the entire industry and, thankfully, some of the imitators make products better suited to fountain pens. So a tick for Moleskin for creating the marketplace.

[sodul]

Finding a red Moleskine at the office and starting using it is probably what got me back to fountain pens eventually. But I have to agree that the paper quality is very variable and you can get much better, and consistent, paper for cheaper. I'm not going to list my favorites, since it would be off topic, but I've switched to bullet journaling in my Moleskin. Some 'modifications' are putting a title on the side so I can identify it more easily in my bookshelf, but also using cut outs from post it notes to mark 'chapters' in it: Index, Months, 'Today'. That post-it trick works more cleanly on other brands since the moleskine covers are not much larger than the paper.

[Tasmith]

I have a 2017 Moleskine Weekly Notebook that I use for logging business mileage and expenses.

 

Find the paper works very well with fountain pens, no bleed through, feathering or show though.

[Bromfieldpen]

We love Moleskine here at Bromfield Pen Shop! ✒️

[bogiesan]

It appears that everyone here hates the old Moleskine. I have noticed that they advertise quite a bit on this site. So someone here must be buying them. I would like to hear from the people that like them. What have you been doing with them? Have you customized them?I personally mostly use fine point nibs so I have never had a problem with them. Of course you need to buy them on sale. This is a lot easier to do with something you can pick up at Staples. I have put pen loops, pockets and extra book markers on them.This one is a book that I am working on at the moment. It is pictured here up side down to show the additions better. It has cap from a Pilot Varsity attacked to the top of the book. I use that as a holder for my red pen. The sleeve attached to the side of the book can accommodate you average size fountain pen. In general I have a Nemosine Singularity on the pocket. My singularity always had a fine point nib.I have never had bleed through ghosting or feathering.

I love molies. Fountain pens are not their market demographic; they don't care. We should be able to get over that around here but it seems we can't. I also don't have any problems with bleed through or ghosting because I only use the recto side of each leaf. It's neat, comfortable for a righty, and makes finding stuff quite easy because the data density is low.

 

I dont' think Moleskine advertises around here. I think your'e seeing the results of your google searches showing up on FPN's available advertising slots.

 

I try never to buy molies at full price. That's just silly to pay $13-15 for the pocket notebook. Look carefully at the molie online store. They have quarterly sales with deep discounts on weird notebooks that didn't sell well.

 

My favorite customizations>: stick an Apple decal on the cover, strap on the Quiver, put the notebook in my Gfeller's kip cover.

Edited March 31, 2017 by bogiesan

[bayernanhaenger]

I've been using a Parker "51" with Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher and it's been working out surprisingly well.

[senzen]

Live and let live, if people like them good for them, I love how they cornered the hipster market (not everyone who likes it needs to be a hipster!), ironically the same group of people who have no idea about fountain pens, inks or paper quality. Easy to snigger from my Clairefontaine / Tome River high horse.