Having heard about Moleskines for some time, I thought the Reporter's model would be a good replacement for the little Mead spiral-top pads that have ridden in my shirt pocket for years. So I ordered one. Then I started reading on this site about people having trouble with feathering and bleed-through. Hmm.

Well, so far no problem. I have only used it with one pen-ink combination so far, a Sonnet fine point with black Quink. This does bleed through on the old Mead spiral pad, but not on the Moleskine at all. I will be trying other pens and inks, but I have to say I am pleased so far. The Moleskine seems like what I always wanted the spiral pad to be, even down to the pocket -- I used to make my own, on the inside rear cover of the spiral pad, using a Post-it and some tape along the edges. So this Reporter's pad is just dandy to me.

Both older and newer Moleskines have worked pretty well for me. In general, they work better with finer and slightly drier pens. Most inks have worked well, with the exception of Levenger Cobalt, and Private Reserve Sherwood Green. Those two are prone to smearing, and some bleed through.

I have the plain journal and cahiers and they're not so great. The cahiers seems to hold up to FP ink well, but the journal is really quite picky. I've had the best luck with Noodler's Black, but my Mont Blanc doesn't like it very well. I'm currently ordered a Miquelrius Flexible Notebook, which is supposed to be much better at handling FP ink.

So far I have tried the Sonnet with black Quink, a Waterman Maestro with Legal Lapis, and a Phileas with Tanzanite. All dry well, no feathering, no bleed-through. So either I have gotten lucky, or others have been unlucky. Hard to say with anecdotal evidence.

I've had feathering problems with the regular notebook paper, but the sketchpad version, with its thicker pages, is just fine with all the inks I've used. The only drawback is that you get fewer pages with the sketchpads.

I tried using a Sailor 1911M with a medium nib and Diamine's Grey ink today. Also worked fine. So, like I say, I am either lucky in my choice of inks, or the paper in this particular Moleskine is unusually forgiving, or others have had bad luck. A real statistical analysis would be hard to do. What we do know is that people who have had problems -- with any product -- are more likely to complain, than those who are satisfied are likely to applaud. Human nature. I'm glad the comments here did not put me off buying my Moleskine, anyway.

I use Moleskine Diaries and Journal and are very good papers to write on. I had problems only with a Waterman Kultur M and pelikan 4001 brilliant black but maybe cartridges were too old and ink was a little bit dense.
The best result I had was with a Pilot Namiki demonstrator with Noodler's Blue Ghost. It is a perfect contrast without a sign under the visible spectrum with the normal light.
I tried also other brands but are not so good papers and bonds, except for those leather bonds and handmade papers but they are too expensive. Most I like in moleskines is the feature to stay completely plate while open, perfect to use with a fountain pen.
Bye