A surprising tale of 3 notebooks

[DKbRS]

After hearing so many bad things about Moleskine notebooks (re fountain pens) and so many good things about Quo Vadis Habana and Rhodia notebooks, I decided to buy one of each and see how they performed.

 

I bought the following notebooks:

 

Moleskine Reporter 9 x 14 cm

 

Quo Vadis Habana 10 x 15 cm

 

Rhodia Webnotebook 9.5 x 14 cm

 

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/IMG_4854.jpg

 

 

I carried out a very unscientific test using the 4 pens that happened to be inked and on my desk:

 

Pelikan brown in a Lamy Vista (1.1 nib)

 

Sailor red-brown in a Sailor Pro Gear (M nib)

 

Sailor evergreen in an Aurora 88 (stub nib)

 

Montblanc violet in a vintage Aurora 88 (flexible M nib)

 

The following images show the results. I was surprised at how the Rhodia and Habana notebooks performed relative to the Moleskine. There seems, to me at least, that there is less feathering and less bleed-through with the Moleskine......

 

 

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/moleskine1.jpg http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/habana1.jpg http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/rhodia1.jpg

 

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/moleskine2.jpg http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/habana2.jpg http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/DKbRS/Pens/rhodia2.jpg

[PelikanT]

neat comparison between the three. much more bled-through the page

[limesally]

After hearing so many bad things about Moleskine notebooks (re fountain pens) and so many good things about Quo Vadis Habana and Rhodia notebooks, I decided to buy one of each and see how they performed.

 

I bought the following notebooks:

 

Moleskine Reporter 9 x 14 cm

 

Quo Vadis Habana 10 x 15 cm

 

Rhodia Webnotebook 9.5 x 14 cm

 

 

The following images show the results. I was surprised at how the Rhodia and Habana notebooks performed relative to the Moleskine. There seems, to me at least, that there is less feathering and less bleed-through with the Moleskine......

 

 

Yep - if you bought the Rhodia and Habana in Canada, this is true - and judging by your scan of the Habana, that's the non-US version with narrow ruling.

 

The results are different with the US versions of Webnotebook and Habana.

 

Nice writing and scans, though, and a great comparison!

Edited February 16, 2010 by limesally

[RitaCarbon]

Wow! That's amazing. I am totally surprised. When they sell Rhodia (I ovserved that at the LA Pen show), they always advertise that Rhodia is much better for writing with fountain pens. Obviously, not so...

 

But I also heard that Moleskines improved the quality of their paper. Do you know if it's their new improved paper?

 

Need to get more of those Moleskines... I love that graph paper design.

 

 

[DKbRS]

Yep - if you bought the Rhodia and Habana in Canada, this is true - and judging by your scan of the Habana, that's the non-US version with narrow ruling.

 

The results are different with the US versions of Webnotebook and Habana.

 

Nice writing and scans, though, and a great comparison!

 

 

Yes, these were indeed bought in Canada... My understanding is that this does affect the Habana paper weight. I didn't realize that it also applies to Rhodia. I wonder why this is the case? Does the reverse apply re Moleskine?

[Alexander Winter]

Thank you for this review. As I see it the ink colors show up better with the Habana.

[Shinma]

@ DKbRS: I think the Moleskine paper weight usually hovers in the lower 70g zone, while both Habanas and Rhodias are available in 90g and Habana's smaller journal comes in 64g.

 

Concerning the Habana and Rhodia journals, it matters where you purchase them. The ones shipped to the US I believe are different from any other styles.

 

If any of my info above is incorrect, please, feel free to make my mistakes known

Edited February 16, 2010 by Shinma

[limesally]

Yes, these were indeed bought in Canada... My understanding is that this does affect the Habana paper weight. I didn't realize that it also applies to Rhodia. I wonder why this is the case? Does the reverse apply re Moleskine?

 

Both the Habana and Webnotebook are Clairefontaine products (the parent company). The US distributors responded to complaints about the paper quality when these two notebooks were first released, and re-issued the notebooks with paper from a different source. Thus, those distributed by Exaclair in the States are actually different books than the ones we get in the rest of the world. If you go to the links in my sig, I've reviewed both versions with scans and comparisons of the US versions vs. the Canadian/UK versions.

 

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

[RitaCarbon]

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

 

Does it mean that we will get completely different results here in the States?

 

I thought the message of this post was that Moleskine is the best.

[farseer911]

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

 

Does it mean that we will get completely different results here in the States?

 

I thought the message of this post was that Moleskine is the best.

 

 

Yes it does, the Habanas and Webnotebooks are 90g her State Side, and will outperform moleskines 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. Check out the great comparison by Gouletpens he made and excellent video doing a side by side by side comparison.

Edited February 16, 2010 by farseer911

[RitaCarbon]

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

 

Does it mean that we will get completely different results here in the States?

 

I thought the message of this post was that Moleskine is the best.

 

 

Yes it does, the Habanas and Webnotebooks are 90g her State Side, and will outperform moleskines 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. Check out the great comparison by Gouletpens he made and excellent video doing a side by side by side comparison.

 

Cool! We so lucky...

 

Live and complain...

[Yuki Onitsura]

It may be unscientific, but the results are still quite interesting.

 

Yuki

[Ed Ronax]

Nice comparison, thanks.

[GouletPens]

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

 

Does it mean that we will get completely different results here in the States?

 

I thought the message of this post was that Moleskine is the best.

 

 

Yes it does, the Habanas and Webnotebooks are 90g her State Side, and will outperform moleskines 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. Check out the great comparison by Gouletpens he made and excellent video doing a side by side by side comparison.

 

Yup, I'm afraid this review is only good outside the US. The US version Webbies and Habanas kick Moleskine's butt so bad that Hemmingway has a bruise (I say this joke despite my feelings about the shady claims of Moleskines being used by him....).

 

I've done several reviews on my vlog Ink Nouveau, so I'll give you the links and you can see for yourself how the US versions stack up.

 

US version Webbie overview

US version Habana overview

US Habana vs. US Webbie comparison

US Habana vs. Moleskine Ruled Notebook comparison

US Webbie vs. Moleskine Ruled Notebook comparison

'Torture Test' between the US Habana, US Webbie, and Moleskine RuledNotebook

Moleskine Ruled Notebook paper thickness (gsm weight) calculation

 

Enjoy, all!

[ClassicBlack]

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

 

Does it mean that we will get completely different results here in the States?

 

I thought the message of this post was that Moleskine is the best.

 

 

Yes it does, the Habanas and Webnotebooks are 90g her State Side, and will outperform moleskines 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. Check out the great comparison by Gouletpens he made and excellent video doing a side by side by side comparison.

 

Cool! We so lucky...

 

Live and complain...

 

Agreed, after my first taste of real paper I gave away all my Moleskines and Picadilly notebooks to friends and family. I was a rookie to fountain pens and thought something was wrong with my pen and that it was putting out too much ink(duh!). I had no idea of different paper, weight, feathering, and bleeding. Right now it is only Exacompta, Habana (US version), Webnotebooks(US version) and Rhodia pads. Moleskin has done a great job of advertising and capturing the public eye with its image but once you get your hands on a true quality paper with a fountain pen, there is no turning back!

 

We so lucky...(Sorry had to copy that one)!

[TriggerT]

Good info. I am getting ready to have a journal cover made, and I was planning on having it set up for Moleskine refills. Now I am not so sure.

[dizzypen]

Moleskine paper, on the other hand, is uniformly inconsistent no matter where you buy it

 

Does it mean that we will get completely different results here in the States?

 

I thought the message of this post was that Moleskine is the best.

 

 

Yes it does, the Habanas and Webnotebooks are 90g her State Side, and will outperform moleskines 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. Check out the great comparison by Gouletpens he made and excellent video doing a side by side by side comparison.

 

Cool! We so lucky...

 

Live and complain...

 

Agreed, after my first taste of real paper I gave away all my Moleskines and Picadilly notebooks to friends and family. I was a rookie to fountain pens and thought something was wrong with my pen and that it was putting out too much ink(duh!). I had no idea of different paper, weight, feathering, and bleeding. Right now it is only Exacompta, Habana (US version), Webnotebooks(US version) and Rhodia pads. Moleskin has done a great job of advertising and capturing the public eye with its image but once you get your hands on a true quality paper with a fountain pen, there is no turning back!

 

We so lucky...(Sorry had to copy that one)!

 

Sorry to be off topic but I love love LOVE your avatar!! Awesome...

[Koyote]

I believe the test was done with the smaller Habana, which means 64g paper even here in the US; the larger Habana uses 90g paper (at least in the US) which is very resistant to 'echo' or 'see through.' I have the larger version and have no problem using both sides of the page even with a wet pen.

 

PS: the large Habana lays flat, which for me is essential. (I don't know about the smaller version.)

Edited February 16, 2010 by Koyote

[DKbRS]

I believe the test was done with the smaller Habana, which means 64g paper even here in the US; the larger Habana uses 90g paper (at least in the US) which is very resistant to 'echo' or 'see through.' I have the larger version and have no problem using both sides of the page even with a wet pen.

 

PS: the large Habana lays flat, which for me is essential. (I don't know about the smaller version.)

 

Thanks Koyote. This is another interesting point. Of these 3 particular notebooks, the only one that actually did not lay flat was the Habana which was another surprise to me as I had expected it to be the one that did.

[limesally]

Thanks Koyote. This is another interesting point. Of these 3 particular notebooks, the only one that actually did not lay flat was the Habana which was another surprise to me as I had expected it to be the one that did.

 

I just mislaid my small Habana but it actually was not too bad at lying flat. However, the large non-US Habanas will stay open if left that way, but there is a "hump" in the middle that is kind of annoying. The large US Habanas lie completely flat. Both can be folded back so you can write on them like a tablet, though (if you like doing that kind of thing).

 

My small Habana is actually not too bad for bleed-through, but the paper is really quite thin, and you can easily see the writing on the other side - to a much greater degree than in a moleskine.