Sometimes the campus bookstore just calls me. I try to resist - really I do - but it usually gets the better of me.

So I went in to see why I was summoned. In addition to getting a good fall jacket off of the clearance rack, some lovely pistachio stationery, and a Thai cookbook which lists calorie contents, I found these Moleskines at the checkout counter.

They now have Moleskine notebooks (I'm not sure why they wouldn't be cahiers - they're soft-cover) in various colors (two shades per pack) AND they have tinier ones. I got a pack of two 2.5" X 4" ruled green ones.

No report yet on how they write. I assume, standard Moelskine "ymmv." It will be a while before I get to them. (I also ordered a bunch of Apicas this morning - really didn't need MORE noetbooks.)

Volants were around a few years ago, Modo & Modo stopped making them, then people who liked them yelled and so they've brought them back. I was one of the Volant fans -- bought a whole case of them after M&M stopped production. Originally, M&M had lots of quality control problems with the Volant -- some came to users covered in dust or dirt, some had the perforated pages (see below) in the wrong places, and of course there were the inconsistent paper quality issues that drive some people to distraction but which some of us have learned to think of as adding to the charm of the product line.

They used to come in black only and only in one size (same as the small Cahier). The cover is paper, but with a plastic coating on the outside. Stiffer than a Cahier cover, not as stiff as a Moleskine. Signatures are sewn, but the cover is glued on. Still opens flat. Half of the pages (the ones in the back of the book) are perforated so they can be detached. No pocket in the back. Still has the heavy paper "flyleaf" front and back, with the "In case of loss" feature. In spite of the glued cover, they survive being carried in the back pocket of my jeans.

The Black Volants "look like" a skinny version of a Moleskine, which is what the original attraction was. The rigidity of the cover helps when using them away from a desk. They look more professional than the Cahiers, yet they slip in and out of a jacket pocket or a shirt pocket where a "pocket-size" Moleskine is too thick to do that.

All of my comments refer to the old Volants. I've heard the new ones are the same except for the color covers, but I haven't actually had my hands on one. Got quite a few left in the case I bought 7 years ago. (When I said "case", I meant "CASE." )

Not everyone will love the Volant. It suits a need I have, and I am glad to see them back.

Saw them in a brick and mortar store, but I was skeptical about how rigid the rigid would be.

I would compare them to a plastic hanging file folder, but of course being only plastic-coated paper, they are not the same in any respect other than stiffness. Put it this way -- they are flexible, but not floppy, they are stiff, but not rigid. I don't know how else to explain it -- don't want to raise the expectation that these are like little tanks, but they are pretty durable. They are not "rigid" like a hardback book is rigid. You could flatten a mosquito with one, you could not drive a nail with it. Which is why in my previous post I referred to "stiffness" and "rigidity" -- qualities, not absolutes.

As I said, they suit a particular need I have, they won't suit everybody. And I know I can look forward to people whining about the "poor quality" of the covers because they were expecting a cheap Moleskine and what they got was quite a different product altogether.

All:
Got a couple of sets off fleabay, this past summer out of the UK. This was before they were available in the USA. Bill's description is spot on, IMHO. Paper wise, acceptable to me with a Fine Pelikan and Waterman Blue Black. But I'm a fairly tolerant guy, when it comes to ink and paper peccadillos. If I can decipher my notes a week later, I'm one happy camper. YTMV paper, pen and Ink wise, Jim