Unfortunately, I don't have a working camera so I can't take pictures of some pages, but I have a great moleskine replacement for you all.
I was at Staples, looking for a notebook (I needed to take some notes, and didn't have any paper) and there was a Moleskine-esque 3.5x5 notebook there marked "Markings by C. R. Gibson". I picked it up, and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality.
It's made with bonded leather, the cover is a bit shinier than a Moleskine, and there is a line of stiching that runs around the edge of the book, about 1/4 of an inch in. It has the elastic band to hold the cover shut, though the band is a little lax compared with the Moleskine band. There is a bookmark as well, which is made of black ribbon instead of the usual Moleskine braided doo-dad. It also has the famous rear pocket, and if anything, this one seems to be a bit better than the Moleskine - it opens a little wider than the Moleskine does.
The paper is fairly smooth, though not as "slick" feeling as the Moleskine paper is. It's not that it is any rougher, there's just a different quality about the paper.
I tested the paper with three different pens, a Parker 51 demi Fine, a Waterman Phileas in Medium, and a Lamy Vista in Extra Fine. All three wrote without any signs of feathering, with Noodler's Legal Lapis. Unfortunately, I don't own any wetter inks to test with, but it seems promising since I suffer feathering in one of my Moleskines with a Fine nib and this ink.
There isn't to much of an issue with bleed-through. No matter what I did, I couldn't get ink to soak through the page and onto the next. However, in spots where my pen lays down a bit more ink (dots and beginnings of letters, where the strokes start, or pause) show through very slightly on the reverse side of the page. Not enough to make writing on the revers impossible, but it is there if you are very picky.
I took a cuetip and swabbed a sample of ink onto a page. Even with the large amount of ink on the page, there wasn't any feathering. It did take a while to dry though. The ink did not soak through to the next page, but there was noticeable bleed-through to the other side of the page.
An odd feature of the paper I came across was the way ink from my P51 dries on page. It seems almost "spotty" but very legible, almost like the shading went a little further than usual. I also noticed this with my Waterman, and in the lighter half of the ink smear test.
As far as smoothness, well, this paper is outstanding. My toothy EF LAmy nib wrote like a dream, and the other two pens where even better. It writes more smoothly than my Moleskines do (any of them, including the one or two that play well with fountain pen ink!) and drying time is acceptable.
I wrote "Smudge Test" in large lettering with the Medium Waterman, then immediatly drew my hand back across the wording. Only the last two letters smudged, and the "s" smudge is barely even visible.
Overview:
Pros:
In-expenssive (~$7)
Moleskine Design
Low smudging
Smooth Writing
No Feathering
Cons:
Odd drying pattern (if I can get my camera working, I will take a picture and post it)
Unproven consistancy
Needs more "breaking in" than a real Moleskine (the spine is less flexible)
Full Version: An Outstanding Moleskine Replacement
I looked at those more than once.
IMHO, Blood dots (on the reverse page) from any Noodler's ink will mean lots of bleeding from any other brand. Noodler's seems to typically behave better on cheaper paper than other inks.
Please let us know if you test this with any inks other than Noodler's.
IMHO, Blood dots (on the reverse page) from any Noodler's ink will mean lots of bleeding from any other brand. Noodler's seems to typically behave better on cheaper paper than other inks.
Please let us know if you test this with any inks other than Noodler's.
QUOTE (the hobbit @ Jul 17 2008, 02:45 PM) 
Unfortunately, I don't have a working camera so I can't take pictures of some pages, but I have a great moleskine replacement for you all.
I was at Staples, looking for a notebook (I needed to take some notes, and didn't have any paper) and there was a Moleskine-esque 3.5x5 notebook there marked "Markings by C. R. Gibson". I picked it up, and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality.
It's made with bonded leather, the cover is a bit shinier than a Moleskine, and there is a line of stiching that runs around the edge of the book, about 1/4 of an inch in. It has the elastic band to hold the cover shut, though the band is a little lax compared with the Moleskine band. There is a bookmark as well, which is made of black ribbon instead of the usual Moleskine braided doo-dad. It also has the famous rear pocket, and if anything, this one seems to be a bit better than the Moleskine - it opens a little wider than the Moleskine does.
The paper is fairly smooth, though not as "slick" feeling as the Moleskine paper is. It's not that it is any rougher, there's just a different quality about the paper.
I tested the paper with three different pens, a Parker 51 demi Fine, a Waterman Phileas in Medium, and a Lamy Vista in Extra Fine. All three wrote without any signs of feathering, with Noodler's Legal Lapis. Unfortunately, I don't own any wetter inks to test with, but it seems promising since I suffer feathering in one of my Moleskines with a Fine nib and this ink.
There isn't to much of an issue with bleed-through. No matter what I did, I couldn't get ink to soak through the page and onto the next. However, in spots where my pen lays down a bit more ink (dots and beginnings of letters, where the strokes start, or pause) show through very slightly on the reverse side of the page. Not enough to make writing on the revers impossible, but it is there if you are very picky.
I took a cuetip and swabbed a sample of ink onto a page. Even with the large amount of ink on the page, there wasn't any feathering. It did take a while to dry though. The ink did not soak through to the next page, but there was noticeable bleed-through to the other side of the page.
An odd feature of the paper I came across was the way ink from my P51 dries on page. It seems almost "spotty" but very legible, almost like the shading went a little further than usual. I also noticed this with my Waterman, and in the lighter half of the ink smear test.
As far as smoothness, well, this paper is outstanding. My toothy EF LAmy nib wrote like a dream, and the other two pens where even better. It writes more smoothly than my Moleskines do (any of them, including the one or two that play well with fountain pen ink!) and drying time is acceptable.
I wrote "Smudge Test" in large lettering with the Medium Waterman, then immediatly drew my hand back across the wording. Only the last two letters smudged, and the "s" smudge is barely even visible.
Overview:
Pros:
In-expenssive (~$7)
Moleskine Design
Low smudging
Smooth Writing
No Feathering
Cons:
Odd drying pattern (if I can get my camera working, I will take a picture and post it)
Unproven consistancy
Needs more "breaking in" than a real Moleskine (the spine is less flexible)
I was at Staples, looking for a notebook (I needed to take some notes, and didn't have any paper) and there was a Moleskine-esque 3.5x5 notebook there marked "Markings by C. R. Gibson". I picked it up, and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality.
It's made with bonded leather, the cover is a bit shinier than a Moleskine, and there is a line of stiching that runs around the edge of the book, about 1/4 of an inch in. It has the elastic band to hold the cover shut, though the band is a little lax compared with the Moleskine band. There is a bookmark as well, which is made of black ribbon instead of the usual Moleskine braided doo-dad. It also has the famous rear pocket, and if anything, this one seems to be a bit better than the Moleskine - it opens a little wider than the Moleskine does.
The paper is fairly smooth, though not as "slick" feeling as the Moleskine paper is. It's not that it is any rougher, there's just a different quality about the paper.
I tested the paper with three different pens, a Parker 51 demi Fine, a Waterman Phileas in Medium, and a Lamy Vista in Extra Fine. All three wrote without any signs of feathering, with Noodler's Legal Lapis. Unfortunately, I don't own any wetter inks to test with, but it seems promising since I suffer feathering in one of my Moleskines with a Fine nib and this ink.
There isn't to much of an issue with bleed-through. No matter what I did, I couldn't get ink to soak through the page and onto the next. However, in spots where my pen lays down a bit more ink (dots and beginnings of letters, where the strokes start, or pause) show through very slightly on the reverse side of the page. Not enough to make writing on the revers impossible, but it is there if you are very picky.
I took a cuetip and swabbed a sample of ink onto a page. Even with the large amount of ink on the page, there wasn't any feathering. It did take a while to dry though. The ink did not soak through to the next page, but there was noticeable bleed-through to the other side of the page.
An odd feature of the paper I came across was the way ink from my P51 dries on page. It seems almost "spotty" but very legible, almost like the shading went a little further than usual. I also noticed this with my Waterman, and in the lighter half of the ink smear test.
As far as smoothness, well, this paper is outstanding. My toothy EF LAmy nib wrote like a dream, and the other two pens where even better. It writes more smoothly than my Moleskines do (any of them, including the one or two that play well with fountain pen ink!) and drying time is acceptable.
I wrote "Smudge Test" in large lettering with the Medium Waterman, then immediatly drew my hand back across the wording. Only the last two letters smudged, and the "s" smudge is barely even visible.
Overview:
Pros:
In-expenssive (~$7)
Moleskine Design
Low smudging
Smooth Writing
No Feathering
Cons:
Odd drying pattern (if I can get my camera working, I will take a picture and post it)
Unproven consistancy
Needs more "breaking in" than a real Moleskine (the spine is less flexible)
Well, I'm planning on getting a few new inks (thinking about some MB racing green or some PR inks) so once I get those, I will try them out on the notebook and post an update.
I've been using these notebooks for a little while, and in the past they have been superb. Very little bleed through (even with non-Noodler's inks) and good drying. Unfortunately, the most recently purchased notebooks seem to have new paper that does bleed through and doesn't dry very well. There is a thread about it somewhere in the Pen and Paper Paraphernalia forum. Anyway, I'd skip the most recent versions of these journals.
QUOTE (DrScott @ Jul 18 2008, 02:38 PM)
Unfortunately, the most recently purchased notebooks seem to have new paper that does bleed through and doesn't dry very well. There is a thread about it somewhere in the Pen and Paper Paraphernalia forum.
Could you find the link? I searched and didn't find anything about that.
The worst is that one person (donwinn) found different paper in the back than the front of his (the paper in mine is the same, front or back--very good).
Here are the links mentioning the Markings, terrible cell phone camera pictures in this first thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=56902
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=27809
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=61223
Without a link about the paper going south, I'll stand by my recommendation to seek out and purchase the Markings by C. R. Gibson. I have the larger size but when my Moleskine brand pocket notebook runs out I'm going to get the pocket sized Markings. I found it at Target, Donwinn mentions Wal-Mart (mine doesn't have it, but does have Ampad envelopes), and now Staples!
One advantage to this brand is there is no self-serving fictional insert in the pocket like there is with Moleskines.
I just picked one up at Staples. $6.99. They come in spiral notebook form with hard covers in black and brown. One has an imprint that says "ideas" the other "thoughts" (subdued with sunken lettering, no ink). They have an elastic band to hold the book closed. Also, there's a double sided inner sleeve after the last page that contains pockets. Not a bad little feature.
Very nice paper quality! Very much like Moleskin, for a heck of a lot cheaper.
Thanks for the heads up on this.
Very nice paper quality! Very much like Moleskin, for a heck of a lot cheaper.
Thanks for the heads up on this.
Thanks for the heads up on these notebooks.
As a big buyer of molskines I was looking forward to trying a cheaper alternative. I went to Staples yesterday and bought 2. One in black leather 6.99 and one in an orange tone synthetic 5.99. What great prices.
Black leather is shiny as mentioned but still looks a bit classier than the moleskine. It reminded me of the Bosca leather products I have bought in the past. They had a few other color choices. The other colors all had something embossed on the covers. Like Thoughts on the orange one, Plans on another color, Notes on another, etc. I really like the different colors; however I could do without the embossing. I would prefer to decide myself what the color will indicate.
Bit of a nitpicker, but I immediately noticed that the ruled rows were 1 millimeter shorter than the moleskines. However, I started writing and soon forgot about it. It wrote well with a fine nib Duke Germany fountain pen using Private Reserve Ink in American Blue color.
I did find the web site for c.r. gibson, http://www.crgibson.com/. However, I went to the site and could not find these journals at this price. No problem, I will just keep going to Staples
Thanks again for the heads up; with the money I save on journals, I will buy more pens.
As a big buyer of molskines I was looking forward to trying a cheaper alternative. I went to Staples yesterday and bought 2. One in black leather 6.99 and one in an orange tone synthetic 5.99. What great prices.
Black leather is shiny as mentioned but still looks a bit classier than the moleskine. It reminded me of the Bosca leather products I have bought in the past. They had a few other color choices. The other colors all had something embossed on the covers. Like Thoughts on the orange one, Plans on another color, Notes on another, etc. I really like the different colors; however I could do without the embossing. I would prefer to decide myself what the color will indicate.
Bit of a nitpicker, but I immediately noticed that the ruled rows were 1 millimeter shorter than the moleskines. However, I started writing and soon forgot about it. It wrote well with a fine nib Duke Germany fountain pen using Private Reserve Ink in American Blue color.
I did find the web site for c.r. gibson, http://www.crgibson.com/. However, I went to the site and could not find these journals at this price. No problem, I will just keep going to Staples
Thanks again for the heads up; with the money I save on journals, I will buy more pens.
QUOTE (excarnate @ Jul 18 2008, 10:01 PM)
QUOTE (DrScott @ Jul 18 2008, 02:38 PM)
Unfortunately, the most recently purchased notebooks seem to have new paper that does bleed through and doesn't dry very well. There is a thread about it somewhere in the Pen and Paper Paraphernalia forum.
Could you find the link? I searched and didn't find anything about that.
The worst is that one person (donwinn) found different paper in the back than the front of his (the paper in mine is the same, front or back--very good).
Here are the links mentioning the Markings, terrible cell phone camera pictures in this first thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=56902
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=27809
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=61223
Without a link about the paper going south, I'll stand by my recommendation to seek out and purchase the Markings by C. R. Gibson. I have the larger size but when my Moleskine brand pocket notebook runs out I'm going to get the pocket sized Markings. I found it at Target, Donwinn mentions Wal-Mart (mine doesn't have it, but does have Ampad envelopes), and now Staples!
One advantage to this brand is there is no self-serving fictional insert in the pocket like there is with Moleskines.
Here is the link I mentioned earlier.
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=66931
So far, so good with the Markings I'm currently using, a red, kind of shiny and textured covered spiral, about 7x9. The ruling could be just a tad wider (or even better nonexistent), but it's a small quibble. I'm really fed up with searching for good paper. I liked this one so I bought another, and two smaller ones (all from Staples). Hopefully they'll last a while. The best paper I've tried (I use F nibs) that suits my taste is Strathmore calligraphy paper, kind of a parchment, but it only comes in a pad form. At least the Markings won't break the bank.
They dont appear to have these at Staples in the Uk so I guess I will have to go on using my Moles. Re bleedthrough, I have found that my P45 with PR black ink bleeds through qiuite a bit in my new Moleskine der pocket diary (18mth) which I am disappointed with.
I cannot see these Makrkings notebooks anywhere for sale - shame.
Ive even looked on the Gibson website and they do not seem to have them.
Any ideas chaps? I am in the uk but would buy a good notebook or three from around the globe.!
Cheers
T
Ive even looked on the Gibson website and they do not seem to have them.
Any ideas chaps? I am in the uk but would buy a good notebook or three from around the globe.!
Cheers
T
I'm sorry, I can't find any of these on ebay or anywhere else. The only mention on the website is about some refill paper for one model.
An Update:
1) This thing handles "pocket abuse" quite well. I've been carrying it around in my pocket most every day since I got it, and it seems to be working fairly well.
2) I got a Pelikan M200 with a Binder Cursive-Italic nib that is something of a firehose. It is a really wet nib, and I'm not having a problem with bleedthrough (still with Noodlers though). There are a few spots where I get some spotting on the reverse side, but that might be due to my agonizingly slow italic script than the paper.
3) The paper is just a bit to thin for me to like writing on both sides. I've done it, and it is still legible, but it doesn't look as neat.
4) The odd spotty drying pattern disappeared with my new pen (the shading is magnificent) and wasn't noticeable with any pen other than the Waterman Phileas.
An Update:
1) This thing handles "pocket abuse" quite well. I've been carrying it around in my pocket most every day since I got it, and it seems to be working fairly well.
2) I got a Pelikan M200 with a Binder Cursive-Italic nib that is something of a firehose. It is a really wet nib, and I'm not having a problem with bleedthrough (still with Noodlers though). There are a few spots where I get some spotting on the reverse side, but that might be due to my agonizingly slow italic script than the paper.
3) The paper is just a bit to thin for me to like writing on both sides. I've done it, and it is still legible, but it doesn't look as neat.
4) The odd spotty drying pattern disappeared with my new pen (the shading is magnificent) and wasn't noticeable with any pen other than the Waterman Phileas.
QUOTE (the hobbit @ Aug 4 2008, 10:25 AM)
I'm sorry, I can't find any of these on ebay or anywhere else. The only mention on the website is about some refill paper for one model.
An Update:
1) This thing handles "pocket abuse" quite well. I've been carrying it around in my pocket most every day since I got it, and it seems to be working fairly well.
2) I got a Pelikan M200 with a Binder Cursive-Italic nib that is something of a firehose. It is a really wet nib, and I'm not having a problem with bleedthrough (still with Noodlers though). There are a few spots where I get some spotting on the reverse side, but that might be due to my agonizingly slow italic script than the paper.
3) The paper is just a bit to thin for me to like writing on both sides. I've done it, and it is still legible, but it doesn't look as neat.
4) The odd spotty drying pattern disappeared with my new pen (the shading is magnificent) and wasn't noticeable with any pen other than the Waterman Phileas.
An Update:
1) This thing handles "pocket abuse" quite well. I've been carrying it around in my pocket most every day since I got it, and it seems to be working fairly well.
2) I got a Pelikan M200 with a Binder Cursive-Italic nib that is something of a firehose. It is a really wet nib, and I'm not having a problem with bleedthrough (still with Noodlers though). There are a few spots where I get some spotting on the reverse side, but that might be due to my agonizingly slow italic script than the paper.
3) The paper is just a bit to thin for me to like writing on both sides. I've done it, and it is still legible, but it doesn't look as neat.
4) The odd spotty drying pattern disappeared with my new pen (the shading is magnificent) and wasn't noticeable with any pen other than the Waterman Phileas.
All:
Parlez-vous Francais? I got mine , a black smooth cover, and a brown and a red aligator/crocodile imprint at that great French store (NO, not Jacques Penn eay) Tar jay. Don't know if you Brits have to deal with big box stores, but if you do check out Target. They use a big red bulls eye in their adds. I too, looked all over the net including the Gibson site and drew a big goose egg. E mailed customer service at Staples, as I couldn't find it on their website. They had no ideal what I was talking about. Try Target, in Office/school supply section. Jim
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