Does anyone else here use the Moleskine knock-offs called "Markings" that are sold in the U.S. through Wal-Mart and Target?

I've used them for some time, but now they've changed the paper. There is so much sizing in it, fountain pen ink floats on it like oil on water. I wrote to the company that makes them, but of course got no reply.

Most disappointing.

I am near the end of my pocket-sized Markings notebook, and am very sad to hear that. I still have a 5 x 8 (approx) journal I use for note taking, but my daily carry notebook is nearly filled. Maybe I will break down an order a bunch of the Pentalic sketch books instead.

Donnie

I've actually just started a new Markings journal the other day and noticed the exact same thing. There just is no saturation with the ink on the page any more. It seems like the pen is constantly just barely putting any ink down, though I know that is not true.

I don't know if you guys will like this... but I love the Office Depot wide ruled composition book. Make sure it says made it Vietnam. It's item 588-268. It sort of feels like parchment in a way-- I like it.

Is there any way to check and see which are the old style and which are the new? I like the larger size to replace the Moleskine journal-- they are just plain enough to be utilitarian, and just nice enough to receive lots of use. If I can get a several of the old stock I want to stock up-- they last me 3-4 months.

The old paper was whiter than the new. The new has a yellowish cast to it, it's really obvious if you take one of your old ones to the store and compare it.

I was using the larger Moleskine-knockoff size too, with the elastic band and the envelope in the back.

I've been testing ink on the new Markings notebooks.

1. Herbin and Sheaffer inks float on the paper.

2. Private Reserve Chocolat is absorbed into the paper to the point of bleeding through.

3. Higgins India permanent (non-waterproof) is the only ink I've found so far that neither floats nor bleeds through, but I've tested it only using a FP Hero. There's a drying/smudging factor, but at least the letters don't break up like oil on water.

I came here to announce the same about the Markings paper. I've just started a big fat journal and now have to suffer this blotchy drying for the next several months. Darn!

I got one of these journals as a Moleskine alternative and have noticed this blotchy non-absorbency. However, one family of inks is at least tolerable:

Noodler's Bulletproof inks. Upper Ganges Blue, Luxury Blue, Legal Lapis and the Aquamarine for Swisher all settle down with some permanence if you hate the idea of wasting a journal.

I also have a Preppy Eyedropper filled with a warm brown: my own mix of the swismix Seminole Sepia and Walnut. It does a really nice job. Walnut on its own will not work, but Seminole Sepia will.

It is still not an ideal ink saturation, but far better than other inks I've tried from Noodler's, Private Reserve and Waterman.

Higgins Calligraphy ink (available at Micheal's and art stores) neither bleeds nor floats, so that's what I've been using consistently. Both the brown and the black work okay.

Eternal also works, but not as well as their Calligraphy ink. (Just make sure you don't use their waterproof ink - it's made for dip pens, contains shellac, and will ruin a FP. "Permanent" is not the same as "waterproof", so Higgins "permanent" inks are ok for FPs - no shellac.)

And I never heard back from Markings, so I guess they don't care. The rest of the world, I'm sure, uses gel pens and toddles along nicely with the paper.

I've been using these notebooks for several months (the off-white paper with the slight coating), and I like the coating. Er... ahem. I use Noodler's OMB and Polar Blue and a mix of Tsuki-yo/OMB, and, yeah... OMB in my P51 isn't as saturated as the Polar Blue in the Hero (or the P21, when I was using that one), but coming out of the Visconti Metropolis, the OMB and the Tsuki-yo/OMB mix are rich and dark and shiny.

I'm having only the barest of bleed-through with the Polar Blue, but not enough to stop using it. The other pens, with OMB, do not bleed through. I LIKE this paper. I like the dynamics between the surface and the nibs and the inks. Works for me.

I've noticed that the Markings books at Target and the ones at Staples seem to be different.

If you have one with poor paper, where did you get it from? What is the UPC?

I don't know the UPC - I took off the sticker.

I've gotten both good paper (lighter creme) and bad paper (more yellow) at Wal-Mart. I didn't notice a problem with the two I bought at Target, but they're 12 miles away and I've not been back there. They don't sell the Moleskine-style Markings at the Staples store here - only the larger journals that I don't use. So all my troubles were with that style journal.

Since I solved the problem by finding inks that worked on the dratted stuff, I stopped worrying about it. I'm sorry I can't be of more help - perhaps someone else can?

I just got one of these too. I was so excited because it felt good, opened flat, seemed well made, etc. Then I discovered the "coating." I will have to try some other inks. If I can't find anything, I'll either return to Moleskine or try another alternative like Field Notes or the Piccadilly notebooks. Nothing is ever simple. Sigh.