Hello all,

For a long time now I've struggled with the "Great Journal Dilemma". From browsing around these forums, I can see I'm not alone. Moleskine, Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Moleskine, Rhodia, Moleskine, Clairefontaine, Rhodia.... Every so often I'd switch, as some aspect of what I was using bothered me. The grass was always greener in the other notebook syndrome.

Just recently found Pentalic "A La Modeskin Traveler's Pocket Sketchbooks". Clearly a Moleskine copy, but in many ways I like it better. Their second-smallest size is a little bigger than the pocket Moleskine - suits me better. (They've a tiny one as well, and a large size.) Cover is not hardboard like a Moleskine, but I think it does just fine. Also, the cover is a bit bigger than the pages, so it protects their edges. Lies flat. Pocket. Elastic closure. Ribbon page marker.

The paper is the real treat, though: cream colored (a bit lighter color than Moleskine sketchbook paper), takes fountain pen ink well, and no bleed-through at all. The paper seems to be a bit heavier than Clairefontaine, and it's sewn in. The sewing, from what I could see, actually seems better than in Moleskines - and these are about half the price.

Has anyone else used these? For some reason they seem to have a low profile; I only found a few stores in NYC that sell them.

Highly recommended.

They look promising. I tried their store locator and it doesn't seem to work for me. I am in the MD/DC area.

Actually, it didn't work for me either. Must be something wrong with their website; I thought it was just me. I sent them an email and they sent me a list of retailers in NYC.

Good luck!

Okay, share: where in NYC can I pick up one of these to try?

Any idea where I can get one to try out? I emailed due to store locator not working; however, since Paradise Pens is the ONLY pen store in the entire Dallas Fort Worth area, I am not optimistic about finding it locally. The two online sources I found charge more for shipping than for the notebook itself, or, alternatively, minimum order of $25, which means purchasing 6 to find out if they are any good.
Donnie

Pentalic - I use one for sketching, but I didn't like how my pens write on it...
They are available from The Fine Art Store, which has a storefront on Amazon.com.
The store is actually located here in Rochester, NY.
I paid $2.99 for a 4"x6" sized sketchbook.

Link:Fine Art Store

Pep,

I saw the Fine Art Store web site. But I didn't want to pay $7.99 shipping on at $2.99 or $4.95 (for the next larger size) notebook, only to find out I didn't like the way my pens write on it. Another site is s comic book supply store with a $25 minimum order, which meas ordering 6 to get $7 shipping to find out if they are good for my situation. I am not an artist -- I can barely draw flies so I couldn't even use them as sketchbooks if I didn't like the fp use.

Donnie

Donnie,
I'll do a test tomorrow of various pens & inks and take a picture. I'll post it here.

I have a couple myself. Haven't tried them yet (currently daily journal almost, but not quite, full) but look forward to it. Mine are ~6" x 8". I post this as my wife found the Pentalic journals at the UW bookstore in Seattle on sale for ~$3 each. For those in that part of the world, you might check in if interested.

Cheers,

Bill J

OK, I did the writing test. The Pentalic sketchbook performed well except in one case - my Parker 45 M with Polar black exhibited some feathering.
The paper is an off-white, not a pure white.
My main criticism is that the book does not lay flat.

I inquired for store location in MD/VA/DC on June 8 and just got a response.

MISH MISH INC
125 N MAIN ST
SUITE 200
BLACKSBURG, VA 24060
5405521020


ART THINGS INC
2 ANNAPOLIS STREET
ANNAPOLIS, MD 21401
4102683520

BARSTON'S CHILD'S PLAY
1406 SHOEMAKER ROAD
BALTIMORE, MD 21209
4103210755


CREATIVE FRAMING
THE ART BOX
2125 IVY RD SUITE
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA 22903
4342955426

FOLLETT GEORGETOWN
UNIV BKSTR LEAVY CTR
3800 RESERVOIR RD
WASHINGTON DC 20007
2026877492

I sent an email to Pentalic on the 9th, asking where I could purchase the notebooks, and today received a reply stating there were no resellers in Texas, but giving me a link to another art store. I checked, then replied to the email that I was looking for a B & M because my goal was to be able to buy one without paying more for shipping than for the notebook, although the notebook at $6.95 and $5 shipping was not more, but $11.95 is not a bargain for the notebook, so I would just find something more widely available. I received a reply with the name and phone number of an art store in Dallas which purchased Pentalic materials, but they (the person from Pentalic) did not know if the modeskin notebooks were among the items purchased.
Donnie

A local art store (The Art Depot in Mechanicsburg, PA if you're local) carries these, and I bought a set for my daughter and two nieces who've all been pleased w/ them.

William

I just joined this network after searching on the Web for the smallest size of Pentalic sketchbook. My husband accidentally ordered the wrong size and ended up with 10 Pentalic 4x6 size sketch books. He likes the pocket size and I'm searching for those (if anyone knows a source, please let me know). He purchased them for $2.99 each and would probably be willing to send them for the cost of the book plus actual shipping. He has a bookstore: www.bedrockbooks.com where you can reach him.

Hope this helps!

Patti Borneman

I just stumbled on these yesterday, and am shamed not to have been the first to bring the news. I will add to the "hows it stand with FPs" question that under a mid-40's Shaeffer medium-width Truimph point feeding bog-standard Quink blue-black, it's one of the better writing surfaces I've found. Another recommendation.

-- also, the small one fits in the breast pocket much better than those little spiral-bound note pads.

For those in the D.C. area, Sullivan's Toy Store (the fine arts shop attached to it) on upper Wisconsin Ave., NW, has started stocking these in all sizes.

Sorry to pipe in on such an old thread! Since it was just revived in March of 08, I figure it can't be too much of a faux pas for my first post...

I ran into this notebook at my local non-bigbox hardware store. I am not really in need of a notebook at this particular time, but I'm always on the lookout for good Moleskine-ish notebooks, especially ones that are either cheaper or composed of higher quality paper. With Pentalic's pocket notebook I found both. I like the slightly larger size (4" x 6"). It is probably not the best choice for those for whom image is paramount, it is definately a cheaper-looking notebook from the outside. The actual cover material isn't cheaper per se, but appearance of the stitching suggests pleather rather than oil cloth, at least to me.

The paper is much nicer than the pocket reporter quadrille Moleskine I take with me everyday, though it is a sketchbook rather than a notebook per se. The paper in a Moleskine sketchbook is heavier, though at the expense of the number of pages, and unless you're making painting, mounting photos or making gluey collages, the ultra-heavy paper is a waste IMHO. It dealt well with my fountain pens, though ink definately took longer to dry than it does with my Moleskine or the quadrille Mead comp book I use, both of which have toilet paper-like absorption qualities. No bleed-through at all, even with the B nib'd cheap Schaffer calligraphy pen (the only fountain pen they had at Michaels when I first began to get interested in FPs) . You can see the ink on the other side but it isn't distracting.

Unfortunately, the $8 is still what the seller on Amazon is charging for shipping. A bloody shame that- they could move a lot of these if it was something more reasonable.

If there's anyone who wants to try out one of these notebooks, let me know! The hardware store only had a few of these, though it's the same few that I saw when I was there a month ago. They were $4.95. With tax and at-cost shipping it'd be about $8. If there is someone who is very curious about this notebook PM me and we can set something up through PayPal. Shipping would just be via First Class USPS. I'm not a professional bookseller, nor do I sell often on eBay, just thought I'd offer. They also had a bigger notebook in the identical style, though it cost $12 IIRC.

It's funny what you find at hardware stores. At the downtown Ace Hardware here in Duluth, MN, one can find a wider assortment of art supplies (at least of the kind I'd want!) than at the gigantic Michaels or the University Bookstore. One of the things I've been keeping my eyes open for is fountain pen ink, and nothing at the above stores. But leave it to the hardware store- they had a dozen colors of various Higgins ink, though I don't think any of them are actually safe in a fountain pen- they were all either India Inks, Calligraphy Inks (do these work fine?), or drawing ink. Not useful for me, but still- it's odd that the hardware stores is so well stocked while Michaels, which has an two entire two-sided aisles dedicated to drawing, has much less, and no bottled ink except metalics for calligraphy. Oddly enough, this hardware store had a few kinds of dip pens, lots of dip pen nibs, ink cartridges for different pens, blotter paper, and plenty of different kinds of notebooks and sketchpads. The selection of the later also bested Michaels handily!

Aaron

I too like the size of the Pentalic. The large size Moleskines won't fit in a back pocket and the Pentalic fits nicely, though the top sticks out. (It looks like Pentalic makes A5, A6 and A7 size books... I have A6, but the A5 would make a good replacement for the large Moleskine... just a little wider.) As previously mentioned, the cover isn't as stiff as the Moleskine's but it's also not as noodley as the Miqelrius's cover, or the "soft" Moleskines. At 80 leaves/160 pages it's a lot more than the Moleskine sketchbook.

I haven't tried the paper yet. Soon. Really. I still haven't tried the paper in the Derwent journals, though really I mean to soon. The Derwent journals have white paper, which I think I prefer for drawing, though I really like the cream color for writing. If Pentalic would make a ruled version, I think they'd have a real winner.

Quick paper+ink notes:

- Private Reserve Copper Burst in a Lamy Al-Star, which has been pretty slow drying in the other kinds of paper I've tried, works wonderfully on this paper. It goes well with the cream colored paper to boot. A really nice level of shading and subtle color variation comes through as well, which I've not seen in the other kinds of paper I've tried since getting this ink (just this morning). Good combo.

- Sheaffer Slovenian Jet Black takes a week to dry and a little washed out when using the broad nibbed cheapo Sheaffer calligraphy pen, but does well in the F/EF Hero 100. Sort of a plain let down compared to the rich brown, though.

- The Parker Vector w/ Black Quink gets that almost gray, washed out look as it does on various sorts of paper that isn't cheap notebook paper, or something else super absorbent.

- Campo Marzio-Roma Blu is pretty washed out looking, which is the opposite to what it's done on everything else. It dried quickly enough.

If anyone knows where these might be purchased in NYC or area, please post the information. I emailed the company and have yet to receive a reply. I would love to try these journals but I would not love to pay 4 times the price of the journals in postage!

playpan, I have a wee small one, in Navy, used one age. If you are interested in trying it out...send me a PM and perhaps we can meet in the middle of NEPA. I believe I bought it from finearts.com but with a large enough order that postage was not as much of an issue.

Z

These are available locally in San Diego for $6.98 at Warwicks if anyone is interested. I went in looking for ink (moderately successful) and happened to see these (I think I got 5x8?). I had pretty much given up on a Moleskine replacement, but these will do just fine. Doesn't lay totally flat, but I'll force it and make it, darn it. The paper is just so NICE. I got a black one and a spring green one. I just can't see myself writing in red, though it's one of my favorite colors, or the orange one. I actually picked up 4 because my friend wanted a couple >.<. And, hell, for $6.98 + tax? Yeah. I like it better than the Journey notebook I paid $20 for and haven't put a mark in. Think I'll try to sell that one.