Needed some new Moleskine cahiers. To try them out,I bought the plain paper variety with the brown cover in the 3.5x5.5 size. The paper seems different in that it takes ink better especially with a meduim gel pen and my MB FP. Anyone else notice this? I like it.

I don't know why this should be the case, but the few Cahiers I've tried all had better paper than the regular Moleskines. Regards,
David

It seems like the Cahiers I've used have had better paper, both in the lined and blank. You can also get them in the extra large 7.5 X 9.75 size. The paper seems to behave pretty well with no feathering in many of the Noodler's Ink's I've tried, but with a little bleed-through. The paper is thin enough that you can see a ruling guide behind it if you get the blank pages. I've never found the extra-large size ruled: some Moleskine Fancier always gets them before me! I use the extra-large size with a ruling guide I designed after the one Rod Graves made <a href="http://rodgraves.com/moleskine/">here</a>.

Others have noticed that the even pages seem to have a slightly grainy or rough texture, while the odd pages are smoother, probably from the way the paper is made. I have had good luck with the large size as a small notebook to keep one subject in, and the extra-large size for an ongoing manuscript project.

Cahiers to me have always had lower quality paper. Very scratchy. I'm probably going to try the Fieldnotes books the next time around.

I have just tried them and find them to be total junk...

There is a lot of feathering with all the inks I tried (Montblanc Royal Blue, J. Herbin Lie de The, Noodler's Midnight Blue, Pelikan Brilliant Black)
In some cases it made the text illegible especially with a wet writer like a Sheaffer Legacy Heritage M or Sailor 1911 B but even with a Pelikan M400 F they feathering is pretty bad.

The bleed-through [sic] to the opposite page was quite ridiculous. They look lovely but I would NEVER buy them again as they are unusable with the fountain pens and inks I am currently using.

I might try those Fieldnotes - anyone know where they can be bought in Europe?

I have been using Moleskines for some time now. I use both the cashiers and journals in the 3.5 by 5.5 size.

I have experienced the same as mentioned, that being the cashier’s paper is a little grainer and takes FP ink well. I use various FP’s, all with different colors of private reserve ink.

I initially bought the cashiers to keep in my shirt pocket for note taking. They took ink so well that I am using for daily journals. I right the dates used on the cover with a silver sharpie and keep them filed and handy.

Thanks for the posting; it made me realize how much better the cashier paper was than in the regular journal.

I use a cahier to keep in my shirt pocket. Very convenient. The paper quality isn't as good as other moleskines, and there is some bleed through but I tend to only write on the right side of the notebook. I rarely use both sides. They're also more comfortable in the pocket that a Rhodia no. 11 which is roughly 3.5. x 4. I would like the Rhodia more if it opened like a book rather than a reporters style note pad. I've never tried a Field notes but I've seen them online at Richard Binders site. I wish they had black covers which is what I get my cahier's in.

My experience with the Fieldnotes is that they are quite good for their size, my purpose and take to my FPs well as is evidenced here.

Here I am, late to thist topic:

Cahier paper holds ink better without bleed-through, is thicker and doesn't feather in the samples I've used.

My regular Moleskine has bleed-through on all inks but black and is very thin.

Mind you, that's not a large sample, but interesting to say the least.

The general thrust of this thread sums up perfectly what the issue is with Moleskin. You can never be sure what paper your notebook will have - just not good enough for a supposed top end product. I would revert back to Moleskin in a heartbeat if they had quality and consistent paper despite the price as they are an excellent notebook in every other way. But they have compromised their brand by this ongoing paper problem.