Four Short Reviews: Composition, Rhodia, Moleskine, Tomoe

[cmalanis]

In the past 12 months or so... I have run through four notebooks.. here is my review hoping it is helpful. If one reader finds light at the end of this message.. my mission is complete!!

 

Before notebooks I tried all types of printer paper with a wide range of average results... until I found the first one:

 

1) Composition book (From STAPLES made in Brazil)

(100 pages? / $1.00 aprox?)

I was honestly surprised by the performance of this underestimated notebook. All inks behaved fantastic .. with very low tendency to ghost (see-through) and practically NO feather or bleeding. Some inks even seem to get better over time, like Noodlers Blue Eel and Noodlers Black Eel. Great notebook for the price.

 

2) NotePad: Rhodia / dot ruled.

(160 pages / $8.00 aprox.)

a complete shift from the previous piece. I found out I hated the notepad for my journal purposes and thats the only thing to dislike. The paper is outstanding.... with NO feather at all... zero ghosting and zero bleeding. All inks behave great and some produce fantastic shading... like P.R. Sherwood Green and PR. Orange Crush. The dot ruling allows to use it vertical or horizontal which is a great feature! A serious performing paper for fountain pen users.

 

3) Notebook: Moleskine / line ruled.

(160 pages / $18.00)

cant remember the model, but it is a very typical.. about 5.5" x 8"... Great built. sturdy hard covers... looks great everywhere with its fancy elastic to hold pages (or hold it closed, depends how you use it) and spreads open almost flat. Nevertheless... I was a bit disappointed by the paper itself on fountain pen inks. It is too absorbent, tends to feather and ghost.. and some inks even bleed. Some inks behave terribly like Pelikan Amber and Montblanc Black,. first and last moleskine Im buying.

 

4) Notebook: "Seven Seas Writer" Tomoe River paper (from nanamipaper dot com)

(480 pages / $35.00) ...and worth every penny!

I had a tough time finding tomoe river after testing a couple of sample sheets a friend gave me in a pen show. Let me say, this paper is a Jewel! You would easily underestimate its performance if you judge it by its weight and thickness (or better said: "thinness") It is incredibly thin (of course, a bit transparent) but takes a load of your wettest Montblanc or Pelikan nib without the slightest hessitation. Zero in major categories: 0 Feather / 0 Bleeding. some ghosting (some say) but I dont blame it.. being soo thin. My most underestimated ink behaves fantastic here: Pelikan royal blue. and the better inks.. are outstanding like PR Orange Crush, Noodlers El Lawrence.. and some others yield a fantastinc shading like J.Herbin Cacao do Brezil or J.Herbin Bleu Pervenche. Only downside ... takes a bit longer to dry.. but, hey, Im not competing in any race against time... oh! and it comes with a VERY helpful piece of blotter paper to prevent staining pages on wet ink) !!

 

happy inking!

 

enjoy!