Moleskine, Asda, Sainsburys Notebooks

[wykeite]

When I bought some in ASDA last I had the impression that they probably wouldn't be restocked. The ones on the shelf were starting to show signs of having been there quite a while, missing labels and scuff marks etc.

 

I was in my local Sainsbury on Wednesday and they have restocked from the time I managed to snag the last reporter type notebook on the shelf. There are A5 ruled notebooks, A6 address and reporter type but that's the lot. It certainly doesn't look too good.

 

Both of them are streets ahead of Molies in terms of paper quality and vfm. The covers aren't so durable with ASDA being the worst.

 

Ryman also do an A6 notebook that's less than half the price of a Molie, not sure of the larger sizes though.

 

Having seen what the competition can put out in terms of price and quality I honestly can't envisage buying Moleskine again.

[rockydoggy]

While in London a couple of weeks ago, I tried to track down some of the Moleskine knockoffs at Sainsburys but the two I visited were out. However, I did see some very similar inexpensive ones at Ryman's under their brand. Has anyone compared the Ryman notebooks with the others reviewed here?

[wykeite]

While in London a couple of weeks ago, I tried to track down some of the Moleskine knockoffs at Sainsburys but the two I visited were out. However, I did see some very similar inexpensive ones at Ryman's under their brand. Has anyone compared the Ryman notebooks with the others reviewed here?

 

The cover is the nearest to the Sainsbury notebooks. The paper bleeds with the wettest writers as do they all it appears. The paper is much nicer that Molies, much better quality. Slightly thicker than a Molie but same height and width. Also has the ubiquitous 'back pocket'. The most expensive of the 'knock offs' at about £1 dearer than the supermarkets it still comes in less than half the price of a Molie.

 

I've overcome the bleed problem with them all by using Registrar's ink. It suits me to use it as I'm never far from water or indeed taking a ducking all in a day's work.

[Beechwood]

I have around 25 notebooks if anyone has a problem on supply, particulalry if you are outside the UK.

 

The A7 - measures 3.25 by 4 inches, 96 sheets 80 gram recycled paper - is a little charmer.

[vans4444]

I have around 25 notebooks if anyone has a problem on supply, particulalry if you are outside the UK.

 

The A7 - measures 3.25 by 4 inches, 96 sheets 80 gram recycled paper - is a little charmer.

 

 

25 - I thought I was being a little over the top buying 5

[richardandtracy]

I have used the ASDA 'Pukka Pad' copies (ring bound, straight ruled but with similar or the same paper) and have had to abandon BSB because the bleedthrough was so extreme that both the back of the page and the face of the next page were unusable.

 

Feathering is poor on this paper with all the Diamine inks I have (Turquoise, Claret, Sapphire Blue, Saddle Brown, Woodland Green and Imperial Purple).

Parker Quink Black, Visconti Red and Pelikan Turquoise are OK, while the five Herbin scented inks are not quite so good, but better than the Diamine.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[tawanda]

Pukka Pads are not exclusively made by any supermarket, they are a brand in their own right, so cannot really be compared with the Mole clones. But I do agree with you Pukka paper is not good for FP users. They do now make a 90gsm (I think) executive casebound pad, but it has the giant oversized rings to bind it with,and I loathe them.

 

As far as FP friendly pads found in the UK are concerned you cannot beat Europa by Tollit and Harvey

 

http://www.tollitandharvey.co.uk/

 

I've used these pads now for over three years and I've never had a bleedthrough or feather problem yet, and I've used some gushers on them! (Although I haven't tried BSB as I don't own any) You can get Europa pads from most stationery shops, esp Rymans, Staples and Partners.

Edited November 9, 2010 by tawanda

[vans4444]

Amazon have quite a range of A5 notebooks, I have not heard of many of them, such as Cathedral, Grandluxe and Whitelines. The A5 Whitelines looks interesting.

 

Does anyone know anything about these notebooks?

 

Until recently the office stationery cupboard had Black n Red A5 notebooks that were OK for fountain pens.

[tawanda]

I take some of that statement back! I've just looked in a couple of my old Europa's. I always use the back page as a test page. Every time I come to write in them I check and if I've not used that pen/ink combo before I make a note of it to see how it looks before I start writing proper. I see now that with the older, flexy nibs (Aurora 88, Geha) there's tiny blood spots. There is also feint showthrough on the broader nibbed pens.

 

But, overall, I still love these notebooks. They are much more well behaved than Moleskine or Pukka pads

[richardandtracy]

Pukka Pads are not exclusively made by any supermarket, they are a brand in their own right, ...

 

Agreed. I said 'Pukka Pad copies'. Our local ASDA originally stocked Pukka Pads, then deleted them for an ASDA brand item made to look almost identical, which is what I was referring to. The ASDA items are not as good as the Pukka Pads - I used the latter for my journal for as long as I could get them (they were adequate rather than good) and have reluctantly swapped to the ASDA brand.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[TheBimbler]

I have bought quite a few of these ASDA "Moleskine" copies A5 and A6 notebooks mainly the blank ones but a few squared ones as well. I got them primarily for sketchbooks, the paper is reasonably thick and takes ink fairly well.

 

The covers are a little soft and I don't think would wear as well as a real Moleskine, so I have covered some of them with thin leather or fabric especially tweed (I am in Scotland!).

 

They look great with this leather/fabric finish.

 

Edited March 2, 2011 by TheBimbler

[Beechwood]

Asda seem to have changed the specification, the paper is thinner on the new ones and the hard cover seem a little more flimsy.

[ImolaS3]

As an update for my two Sainsbury journals.

 

The bleed through was so bad that after a using a couple of pages in each, I managed to give one away and threw the other away. If you don't like bleed through, avoid these.

[tawanda]

Wow! I am using two Sains notebooks at present and they are really excellent. I'm sorry your experience has been so different.