A few months ago, I decided to switch to Moleskine Large Ruled Notebooks for work - I had been using a leather padfolio with legal paper. I liked the compact size and layout of the Moleskine itself but it lacked some key factors for me - places to hold business cards, a pen holder, other storage.

I stumbled on this cover at the Franklin Covey store - it's made for their spiral style planners but fits a moleskine journal nicely.

http://shopping.franklincovey.com/shopping...&id=prod1070026

The left side has multiple storage pockets and business card holders. The right side of the cover actually has two pockets that the journal/book slips into- the back cover could actually accomodate a wider notebook.

I am going to be switching away from Moleskine due to the issues with FP bleeding and going to try the Miquel-Rius flexible notebooks next. I think any standard A5 size book will fit.

Mike




Mike

Hey Mike!

I'm wondering if perhaps the thickness of the A5 Miquelrius will cause problems... however, they have new ones that are much thinner- much more close to a Moleskine in styling. I think Pendemonium now carries the new ones as well. [I an only find the old ones at Barnes and Nobels- they haven't picked up the new ones yet...]

I use a thick A5 for my work, and I will mention that the paper weight does allow for a bit of bleed-through with a thick nib... but I have no problem with it. If you'd like me to scan in a page for you, I can show you what it's like..

-Allen

WOoops! At least currently, my avatar includes this already!... the paper in my avatar is from my A5 book I use for reference notes, and the ink is Noodler's Legal Lapis, written with a fairly thick Pelikan Fine nib (I smoothed it, but it's quite a wet writer- very smooth, but lays down an M line). You can see a bit of the bleedthrough/seethrough there... It's significantly better than Moleskine, however- and I enjoy the thickness- I don't fear using it up too quickly...

Allen,

I haven't tried the Miquel-Ruis for sure but I think that the smaller 100 pg flexible notebook would work. I agree that the other versions 200 pg or 300 pg would not fit correctly.

Do you know if all the M-R papers are the same? I looked at the M-R grid journals at B&N and they didn't seem to be a real thick paper.

If you could scan in a page of the Miquel-Rius, I would greatly appreciate it...

The other "refill" that I have considered is this refill from Fiorentina...I'm currently using a Fiorentina journal for my personal journaling - great thick paper, ink dries amazingly fast....

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...402899560&itm=6

Mike

Another choice for Moleskine leather covers can be found at renaissance-art.com
They have several models to choose from. I haven't tried them personally, but they seem robust and I do believe that they will even do custom work if you contact them about it.

The FranklinCovey Compass series leather covers are intended for wirebound notebooks. They will also work with thin notebooks like Moleskine and probably Miguelrius notebooks as well. The Compass covers are well-built and although the leather is thin, they come with a one year warranty.

As far as Miguelrius goes, this is the only paper in my not-so-extensive testing of a dozen or so different papers and journals that has successfully taken every nib/ink combination that I have tried. This includes Waterman, Visconti, Pelikan, Lamy and Parker nibs in widths from XF to B using various Waterman, Noodlers, Private Reserve, Aurora, and Lamy inks. Even PR Ultra Black, my most finicky ink, has not feathered or bled-through.

I agree that the Miguelrius paper seems quite thin, but they must be doing something right in the manufacturing process. It has been and still is my favorite paper journal for fountain pen inks.

Regards

Hey Mike! Putting a post-it on my scanner- hope to have it for you tomorrow. There is a bit of "see through" for me, but it's so slight that it doesn't bother me at all... and I can't see any feathering etc.,- paper is quite smooth for all the nibs I've tried.

Will update tomorrow! <if I forget, PM me!>

Chat with you soon!
-Allen

Covers specifically made for Moleskine journals.

I bought a Franklin Covey leather refillable wire-bound journal for $40 at Office Depot. I refilled it with the 9.75 by 7.5 marbled composition notebook.

Wow, the Renaissance Art covers look quite nice, and the prices seem very fair to me. It's almost making me want to get another Moleskine. (I'm actually pretty happy with the Moleskine cahiers, but I think my next notebook will be a hard-cover Clairefontaine.)

Finally got this done... sorry it took so long. I hope the quality is ok. The paper is from an A5 Miquelrius notebook, soft cover, black, with the standard quadrille rule. The pen was my first Pelikan- an m150 F. It's been smoothed a bit by me, so it's a bit of a wider line, but not as scratchy now. It was written with Legal Lapis (Pendemonium) Blue-Black Noodler's Ink. As you can see, there is a bit of see through/bleed through (are these 2 different things, or the same?) this is likely due to the paper-weight, which isn't very heavy. It is however, heavy enough to keep the bleed-through well at bay, even with this thicker line. (probably similar to a Japanese M) My Moleskines don't take this nib and ink very well at all.

The paper is wonderfully smooth. Not as much as a Triomphe, but nice enough to be enjoyable to write on. One of the things that I love about the thicker books, is that I never fear of running out of space. For the price, you get a fantastic amount of paper, much better in quality than the Moleksines. I do have to admit to missing the back-cover pocket, the enclosure, and the ribbon. But, my FP's just won't let me work with them anymore.

One drawback of the thicker Miquelrius- is that you often have to prop up your hand to write on it, or move the book in such a way that you can do so- as the thickness hurts your ability to write inside it. [But, I love it...]

Hope this helps a bit!
-Allen

Allen,

Thanks for posting the images....I finally located a store that carried Miquel-Ruis locally and bought the 100 page flexible notebook.

As you and RetroTech noted, it's a huge improvement over the Moleskine notebooks - there is some "see-through" of the printing on the back side of the sheet but nowhere near the bleeding through of the Moleskines.

I'll probably switch to the grid version next time as I like a smaller line spacing (always liked college ruled vs wide ruled paper).

The only thing I wish was better with the M-R was that it laid flat - as you pointed out, you have to "fight" the book somewhat when using the left page or trying to write close to the margin on the right page.

Thanks for your help!
Mike

Hey Mike!

Thanks for letting me know about your experience with the Miquelrius journals! I'm glad you seem to find it smoother and a bit nicer than the Moleskine paper as well. That's been my experience, but it's always nice to know I'm not insane. ha ha ha. [Sometimes I wonder...]

I do hate to fight the binding on the book, but for some reason my mental difficulty in writing in a book that's too think (too few pages), prevents me from using the book more fully. I guess I have to get over it a bit... and be willing to disrespect the journals a bit more than I do. After all, if I don't write in them, what in the world do I need them for?

Very glad to hear you're liking yours, Mike! Thanks for the update!!
-Allen

I didn't realize that Renaissance Art made custom and semi-custom leather covers for Bibles, books and journals.....I also thought you had to get the flap style with tie but they have a traditional option - just a basic cover that you slip the book into.

You provide them the size of the book you are covering and they meet the dimensions....

I just ordered the Medium leather Book / Novel Size Cover for $28.
http://www.renaissance-art.com/Prod90/Product.aspx

It should fit Miquel-Ruis, Firoentina and even the larger Moleskine books so it is flexible with whichever journal you are using. I placed an order at 11 am and got notification at 12 pm that it shipped!!!

I am planning on using it with Fiorentina refills (which sell for $7.95) for a cheap, refillable option.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearc...402899560&itm=4

I've been using the non-refillable Fiorentina journals which sell for $25 and they have in my opinion the best paper for fountain pens - minimal bleedthrough, feathering, and quick drying even with inks that normally take time to dry. And the Fiorentina journals lie flat like Moleskine's....my biggest gripe with Miquel-Ruis.

Hey BlueShadow!

Thanks for that info! Wonderful news. I'll have to check both your suggestions out.

Thanks!!
-Allen

Allen,

No problem....your previous posts convinced me to try out the M-R journals (and even convinced me to try Legal Lapis ink!).

I'll probably use the Miquel-Ruis journals for work and the Fiorentina for personal journaling. Pendemonium told me that they have new style Rhodia pads coming in (Non-Orange) so I may have to give them a try.

Mike