Rhodia Vs. Moleskine Journals

[WriterJP]

Hey all - I'm looking to buy a fountain pen friendly journal, and it seems the two most widely accepted and hailed brands by users of this forum are Moleskin and Rhodia. My question to all of you is which do you prefer? Which is the most FP friendly? I've got access to both (luckily!) locally at a Paradise Pen Co. store.

 

Thanks!

 

JP

[Ghost Plane]

Rhodia for FPs. Moleskines depend on which batch of Chinese paper are in any given batch. Some folks manage with very narrow nibs and certain inks, but why be bothered when Rhodia works with anything?

[Ghost Writer]

+1 for the Rhodia. I find that I sometimes get a lot of feathering of the ink on Moleskines.

[Geoff V]

Rhodia for FPs. Moleskines depend on which batch of Chinese paper are in any given batch. Some folks manage with very narrow nibs and certain inks, but why be bothered when Rhodia works with anything?

+1. I agree 100%.

[jBeckett]

Nearly complete opposites, Rhodia is glossy and takes forever to dry causing more transparent inks to look lighter than they should, Moleskine is super absorbent and has bad quality control.

 

I also experience the exact opposite of what GhostPlane is mentioning, my wide italic nibs have no feathering on moleskine but I run into problems with fine nibs.

[jsonewald]

+1 for team Rhodia

 

Moleskine is inconsistent, and at best unremarkable.

 

Rhodia is consistent, and excellent. A comment about some inks being slower drying on Rhodia is somewhat true in my experience. It is not a problem as far as I am concerned.

[WriterJP]

Thank you for your responses so far everyone!

 

Since it seems unanimous that team Rhodia is the crowd favorite, I would like to redirect this discussion slightly towards Rhodia in particular.

 

Do you find that certain inks dry lighter on Rhodia paper as compared to others? I currently use a pen loaded with Parker Quink black, and wonder if it will be too weak of an ink to do such highly regarded paper any justice.

 

Any ink recommendations or words of wisdom on this would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

Thanks again everyone,

 

JP

[jBeckett]

Do you find that certain inks dry lighter on Rhodia paper as compared to others? I currently use a pen loaded with Parker Quink black, and wonder if it will be too weak of an ink to do such highly regarded paper any justice.

 

Any ink recommendations or words of wisdom on this would be greatly appreciated as well.

 

Thanks again everyone,

 

JP

 

It's purely cosmetic and still readable so not a big problem for most people. Quink Black might look slightly gray/blue but only if you're really looking. If you're just using blue/blue-black/black then I wouldn't worry.

[MrsGouletPens]

+1000 for Rhodia.

My hubby did some video comparisons about a year ago for Rhodia Webnotebook vs Moleskine:

http://www.inknouveau.com/2010/02/episode-13-moleskine-vs-webbie.html

 

It might take a smidge longer to dry on the Rhodia, but worth it! I don't know about appearing lighter...

[limesally]

As others have said, Rhodia is hands-down superior for fountain pen use.

 

However, once I finished my Rhodia webnotebook, I went back to Moleskine, purely for pragmatic reasons:

 

1) I can actually find it at a local B&M retailer - and took advantage of the holiday sale to get them for 50% off. I can only mail order the Webnotebook, and shipping add to the cost significantly.

 

2) the line spacing in the Moleskine is actually better for my handwriting size

 

3) I have a slight preference for the hard moleskine, vs. webbie "puffy" cover.

 

Being able to find Rhodia in a local store would certainly sway my choices, though. The Webbie is a very high-quality book notebook.

Edited February 28, 2011 by limesally

[UltraMagnus]

rhodia all day long...

 

moleskine paper is just too thin. Its a shame because I can literally get almost anything from the moleskine range from a shop just down the street from me.

Edited February 28, 2011 by UltraMagnus

[ExcaliburZ]

Rhodia, Habana, Zequenz

[rperson17]

I too prefer the Rhodia for all the reasons people have given already. I will note, however, that in my case the longer drying time on the slick CF paper can be a bit of a hassle, resulting in the occasional smudged page. I've learned that it's only really a problem with highly-saturated inks, which also tend to be slow driers. So, when writing in my webbie, I'm now careful to use a quicker drying ink. Pelikan BB is currently my ink of choice in that department. All in all, I think the Rhodia still comes out on top in a competition with the Moleskine, even with this caveat. Those inks that give me trouble in my Rhodia would have soaked through and feathered badly on the Moleskine, making the reverse side of the page unusable. Never had such a problem with the Rhodia.

 

PS - the slow-drying issue is also the reason I can't use the CF roadbooks. When I'm jotting down notes on the go, I need something that won't smear and won't take long to dry, and I need it to work with whatever pen/ink I have on me. So, I switched back to Field Notes, which people have given mixed reviews here, but work for my purposes, as they don't smudge much.

[WriterJP]

As per all of your recommendations, I went out yesterday evening and picked up a Rhodia webbie. Honestly, I've never felt paper so smooth that was made for the purpose of writing on. It's almost like the paper you'd find photographs and illustrations printed on that are dispersed throughout an anthology or textbook. Very cool, and very well made. Totally happy with my decision to get one!

[bongomon]

Just a note on finding Rhodia locally. I'm in Miami and have found Rhodia at Utrecht art stores, The Container Store, and previously but not recently at Target. Several sources online including the above-mentioned Goulet Pens.

 

Another plus for Rhodia. Just had Renaissance-Art make a cover for the small staplebound book, quite nice and still fits in my front pocket for daily notes and to-do's more easily than the Moleskin cahier size did even without the cover.

[Joe in Seattle]

I enjoy both and alternate.

[Escribiente]

The only Moleskine-type journal which is guaranteed fountain pen friendly is the Leuchtturm 1917. It actually says "ink proof" in the cover (look at the nib inside the circle). You can find them at this link. I got a few in Vancouver last December, and I can say that they are a perfect replacement for the Moleskine.

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/301329/Leuchtturm1917-Ruled-Notebook.jpg

[D Armstrong]

We've actually found Leuchtterm to be not as ink proof as Rhodia, depending on ink. I run Herbin ink in my (fairly dry-writing) P51, and find that it tends to go through the Leuchtterm paper. As well, anything will huge amounts of ink (think calligraphy) definitely goes through. To be fair, thicker ink (I also use Waterman, mostly for testing) doesn't go through quite so much, although it does tend to feather. To be honest, after being sold on Leuchtterm by the enthusiastic salesperson, we were definitely let down.

 

On the other hand, Rhodia has been great, no matter what the application or product (webnotebook or pads.)

[hudsong]

Hey,

I just found an amazing set of notebooks made by Muji:

http://www.muji.us/store/stationery/note.html

They come in all sizes, from large notebook down to pocketable. I use the A6 30 sheet books: a pack of 10 was only $14.00 with shipping! I also really like that they use standard "A" paper sizes.. not so easy to find in notebooks.

 

Additionally, I've had experiences with both Molskine and Rhodia, and I prefer Rhodia too.

 

Cheers!

[benn093]

The only Moleskine-type journal which is guaranteed fountain pen friendly is the Leuchtturm 1917. It actually says "ink proof" in the cover (look at the nib inside the circle). You can find them at this link. I got a few in Vancouver last December, and I can say that they are a perfect replacement for the Moleskine.

 

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/301329/Leuchtturm1917-Ruled-Notebook.jpg

 

Could I ask if you got them in Vancouver? I am in Victoria. The only place in Canada I have found them so far was in Toronto, at Midoco and at Laywine's, but would love to get more here. They are far, far better than Moleskine!