My wet writing Pel 250 and the medium nibbed Ipsilon do not do so well in my 06 pocket planner. I am thinking of getting myself an XF or XXF fine nib for the Pelikan, or just plain getting another Peliksn like a 150 or 200 altogether. At any rate the nibs I have now leave too much ink to close the planner in a hurry without transfer or spotting.

What nibs do others have good results with in their Moleskines? Drier, thinner, both?

One option I am considering is to include a blotter bookmark. It is an additional way to mark your place and can suck up any excess ink when you close it in a hurry. The pin-up blotters from Richard are just about the right size for this. A plain sheet of rag paper from a craft store may also suffice. Caveat: I have not tried this yet. If the blotter shifts while closing, it could smear a blob instead of just soaking it up.

A drier pen would be good.
A thinner point, however, would be bad! Don't go there!

In my experience, the wider the point, the more the ink gets spread out so that the paper can catch and keep more on the side being written upon. Flow rates don't change by nib width, they change by pen model and pen brand.

If a Pelikan medium is too wet for your Moleskine, any narrower Pelikan would be worse, and a wider Pelikan might still be too wet.

If I remember correctly, all your inks are from pen brands (unless you got that Private Reserve Copper Burst). Therefore, you're already using the inks that are the least likely to behave badly on loose fiber paper. Moleskine's paper most definitely has loose fibers. Thickness and fiber density are two completely unrelated aspects of paper.

Use a drier pen on that Moleskine, with pen brand inks.

For waterproofness, the Mont Blanc iron gall blue black would be a well-behaved waterproof ink.

The only warning about iron gall and any other more-acidic ink (some pH lists are searchable on the FPN) is that, in pens with steel or even plated steel parts, the steel had better be stainless! Plated but non-stainless steel in the nib won't be protected enough. Iron gall won't damage non-stainless steel in a week, but it might in a few years.

My Moleskines work well with Lamy Safari EF nibs and J Herbin or Pelikan inks (haven't tried any others yet). Other nibs I've tried that work well too are:
Pelikan M150 F
Parker 61 (I'm guessing EF)
Parker Vector M

I think Goodwhiskers gives good advice. My driest writer, the Safari, yields the best results.

Aw, thanks, Myrtle!

Everything I've read and seen about J. Herbin seems to put it squarely in the same category as pen-brand inks, as far as behavior on mediocre paper is concerned.

From everyone's reported experiences, I'd guess that Moleskine paper is mediocre.

I like Moleskines for their size and practicality, but overall their paper is not what I'd call fountain pen friendly. I've found that a fine nib works best on their plain notebook with Waterman, Noodlers and even some Private Reserve inks. Personally, I stay away from their ruled notebook, because the above mentioned inks will tend to bleed through the pages (even with a fine nib). MoleskineUS.com states that their sketchbook is perfect for fountain pens, but don't believe them. Virtually every pen and ink combo I tried was not suited for that paper. I tried a variety of inks:Pelikan 4001, Noodlers, Waterman, Parker Quink, Private Reserve as well as several nib sizes from XF to M and the ink beads on the paper and looks horrible when dry. If you must buy a Moleskine for writing, go with the plain notebook and use a fine nib with Noodlers black for best results.

I have been using Moleskine notebooks since 2002. Back then, I had to special order them because nobody had any idea what I was talking about. Once, a clerk in Barnes and Noble asked me, Molly what?

The paper has changed during the past two years. I guess they opened new production facilities, and their suppliers are not the same. Yet, the ruled and squared paper notebooks are still pretty decent for day to day note-taking. Contrary to most opinions, I have experienced few problems with bleeding through. It has happened only with very wet pens, and with very free flowing inks. Aurora Black with a 1.1 Stipula nib, for instance. But most fine, or extra fine nibs, are okay.

Slow inks could be a problem. I use a piece of bloat paper cut to the same size as the notebook. When I'm done with one page, I just put the bloat paper, turn the page, and keep writing, or just put away the notebook.

I have several pens an use the same ink in all of them. (OK, I'm boring that way. ) I've found the pen to be the controlling factor in bleed-through and feathering.

My old Cross, Pininfarina, and the Namiki VPs all work just fine. My Visconti bleeds all over the place, and there is some bleeding with the Parker 21.

Other than that, I think they make nice journals.

Mike

I have a moleskine ruled journal that I write in everyday. Maybe it is just my luck but I have not had any problems at all. I have used every pen I own (7) Consisiting of Pilot Knights. Namiki, and Pelikans. They have the range of XF,F,Medium. All Noodlers Inks one Diamine, and one Waterman. Sometimes I think some inks take a little longer to dry but I am over all happy with the journal.

Or you could just get a better journal...! :bunny1: *runs away*

:ph34r:

I've had *no* problems using my Pelikan M805 in my Moleskine journal with PR Naples Blue and PR Blue Suede.

I've also used my Lamy Safari broad point with Noodler's Tiananmen Red with no problem.

I did have bleedthrough with Noodler's Permanent Green, but no problem with Noodler's Legal Lapis.

I like my Moleskines. If anyone else knows of a similar journal, with a similar binding that fits in the back of a jeans pocket, please let me know and I'll try it.

But it'd have to be really, really nice to best my Moleskines.

I just got a couple of Moleskine notebooks, and I noticed that the paper in these ones is different: much more even and smooth, and it does not feather, no matter how free flowing the nib (I tried from Extra Fines to Broad Stubs). One side-effect of this new paper is that nibs write a tad on the narrow side. I hope this change is for good.

We recently did a test a my company... we are a bunch of researchers on workforce issues so we write ALOT. We tested a montblanc 144 Lamy 2000, Waterman Phileas, and a cheapie parker (under $10) on the following papers....

Moleskine
clairfontaine
levenger
rhodia....

We found that the moleskin and the levenger performed poorly when the MB and the Waterman was used. They tended to bleed and they ink really seemed to spread. Since I WAS a die-hard moleskin fan, I was thinking of getting a smaller nib size for my montblanc because so much ink seemed to come outof the pen when I used moleskin. However, it turned out it really was the paper that was the problem. Clairfontaine has a basic black book like moleskine for 7$ as opposed to the $16 moleskine sells for. In addtion, the lines are 1/16 of an inch larger than moleskine so it is easier to write with a FP. I think the Pelikan btw are a great pen, I hope to make one my next purchase. But after seeing the results on this test I will use Rhodia or Clairefontaine.... Clairefontaine has better books like moleskine and Rhodia has better pads. You can purchase them (including moleskine) by calling the Daily Planner 1800-635-4321 in USA. Good Luck!

Do you have any recommendations, pocket size?

I like the look of the moleskine though <_<

Thanks

daniel

I have used the pocket and the large moleskin... however, clairefontaine has both sizes, but a third larger one..... two are approximately the same size as the pocket and the large moleskine, but they don't have the pocket.. However, they have the basic black hard cover....

So basically, if we could combine the best of Clairefontaine [paper quality, wider line rulings] with the appeal of the Moleskine [interior back pocket, ribbon bookmark, elastic band to hold it shut], we would have something veryclose to The Perfect Notebook[TM]-- something I've been searching since I started journaling at 9 years old.

In the US, the pocket size Barnes & Noble clones, as described before in FPN, have all this except for the back pocket, for only $4.95. I can buy a bottle of ink for the price of that paper pocket. Makes no sense to me! Be aware that I found a few notebooks in both black and gray that had narrow line spacing (they can be identified because they are shrink-wrapped instead of the loose plastic).

Recently, I found another clone sold through the Books-A-Million chain. They are called Naturals, and come in black, camel, burgundy, and dark green (if I remember right). The line spacing, the crappy paper, and the features are the same as Moleskine in both the larger and pocket size. The pocket size is about a half inch wider than the 'skines. I've tested a couple of them now and find the beige paper is just as FP-unfriendly as the Moleskines.

Bill

You can shut the Clairefontaine with a wide elastic band, and mark your page with an index card. It works for me, and for much less moolah than a Mole. With the pressure, your papers and cards will stay in the back of the notebook as if they were in a back pocket. Clairefontaine also makes medium-sized notebooks, with black or tan covers and spiral binding, that include two sturdy pockets among the pages.

Here.

Sonnet... I think you are correct... get the best of the paper with clairefontaine with the look of a moleskine (with 1/16 of an inch bigger line to write on using the clairefontaine). It's also much less expensive.

This is just my humble opinion. I have had the same dilemma as you in finding the right notebook.

Nice, very nice site

Mainly planners, too bad they don't have note books and journals.

Thanks

Daniel

That was my other beef with Moleskine notebooks-- the narrow line rulings. It forced me to use the blank-page journals-- but then my handwriting runs all over the place

Sparky,

Was this the Levenger desk journal (supposedly 60 lb paper) that you tested? One other journal to add to the list to test would be the Miquel-Ruis. When my current Moleskine runs out, I was contemplating switching to M-R or the Levenger. Sounds like Levenger is out!

Also, any chance that we could see pic of the various papers w/ ink?

Mike

I use a Waterman Kultur (not sure how much difference there is between that and a Phileas) on my Moleskine (both classic and cahier), Fine nib, Waterman Florida Blue ink and no bleed problems at all.

I actually have not had any pen issues in the Moleskines so far. Even my LAMY Safari Medium nib, which throws down lots of ink is trouble free.

Today I got two Moleskine jouranls with graph paper. At first I was worried that the paper would be too thin and would bleed through. However this did not happen for me. I use my Aurora Mini Optima with medium nib inked with Waterman Florida Blue for journalling now. I personally prefer the Moleskine paper over Clairefontaine! The latter is too white and too smooth. However I still use Clairefontaine for my note-taking and mathematics.

Diana

I find the line widths on the Moleskine to be very narrow. I think a medium is too much. I have used my Pelikan Fine point on the traveling journal moleskine without problem.

Just got a Hero 329, inked with Noodler's Black and it works very nicely in my squared Moleskines.

Finding a pen that would work great with a Moleskine drove me to "discover" the Parker "51" so I owe a great deal to the small black book with the perfectly colored cream pages. I now have three "51"s, one extra fine, one fine (both gold nibs) and one fine-medium with an octanium nib. All wrote well in the Moleskine until the nib on the fine-medium got damaged. Now that one lays down too much ink not only on Moleskine paper but on most papers. It is due for repair but I am finding use for it at times as is.

Not only have the "51"s worked exceedingly well but even my Parker Sonnet works nicely. My Parker Vac XF is a wet noodle compared to the others and it is very usable in a Moleskine, too. I can see a tiny bit of feathering here and there on close inspection but since it is a fountain pen, I find it perfectly acceptable.

Esterbrooks have been mixed with an SJ sporting a 9156 nib producing as good a result as the "51" XF that is my gold standard. I have three 9128 nibs that do feather so I rarely use them in a Moleskine. The most surprising result came from a 9314-M that produces almost no feathering even though it lays down the widest line. If I want to write something bold, this is the pen to use.

A Pelikan Go with a medium nib did slightly better than the 9128s and that was a surprise. I thought with my slow writing and the medium nib the amount of ink laid down would feather intolerably but not so.

Now to the inks. In the "51"s Noodler's Black, J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune and Quink Blue-Black all did well as did PR Gray Flannel in the Vac and Noodler's Legal Lapis in the Sonnet. Pelikan Blue-Black did very well in the Estie 9156 and is my favorite color in a Moleskine although in the Pelikan Go it is considerably blacker. Aurora Black with the 9314-M is excellent.

In the Estie 9128s Pelikan Brilliant Brown, J. Herbin Cacao Du Bresil, PR Black Cherry and Noodler's Legal Lapis all produced feathering with the last two being the worst offenders. Since Legal Lapis worked well in the Sonnet, the Estie nib must be the culprit.

So Moleskine paper can work beautifully with the right pen and ink. Half the fun is in finding the best combination to complement one's style of writing.

Oh, I do use a blotter sheet cut from Pendemonium's Blotting Paper placed between pages to prevent smearing. I just set it over the last paragraph, close my journal and pull the elastic band over the cover. The added benefit is that the blotter acts as a bookmark, especially nice for those days when I can't wait to get right to work.

Very interesting. I think I can honestly say that my writing style was ruined by using a Filofax diary planner which is of a similar format to the notebooks you refer to. Prior to using Filofax my writing was of a very respectable standard but now it is really quite poor. I guess I used Filofax for about 10 years when I was working and it contained all my appointments, addresses, phone numbers and schedules. I also used to write detailed notes in it often sat in a car. I have recently purchased a FP Conway Stewart with a broad italic nib to try and address the problem

Very interesting. I think I can honestly say that my writing style was ruined by using a Filofax diary planner which is of a similar format to the notebooks you refer to. Prior to using Filofax my writing was of a very respectable standard but now it is really quite poor. I guess I used Filofax for about 10 years when I was working and it contained all my appointments, addresses, phone numbers and schedules. I also used to write detailed notes in it often sat in a car. I have recently purchased a FP Conway Stewart with a broad italic nib to try and address the problem