proud to be the world's #1 moleskine hater. get fucked you inferior overpriced toilet paper. if you roll into any self-respecting stationery community with a moleskine notebook you will just embarrass yourself. the paper is notoriously overpriced and just plain bad and can hardly handle extra fine pens with water-based ink. if you use anything other than a pencil or ballpoint pen it is prone to feathering and soaking through the page instead of the crisp lines that basically every half decent and self-proclaimed "fancy" paper company is capable of. ink should not be spreading out or marking the next page. and all at a bullshit high price.
this awful brand is mostly only popular due to marketing and having a hard cover, which people think is exclusive to moleskine for some reason. they took the description of quality types of notebooks, trademarked it, and then churned out horseshit. moleskine has so many different factories with so many different types of paper that even if you manage to get a decent one, the exact same notebook type bought the very next day might be completely different and way worse. moleskine paper quality varies by notebook, by factory, and by year. their paper is genuinely some of the worst and most inconsistent garbage you can buy at that price, and their lack of functionality with ergonomic rollerball and fountain pen inks forces people to stick with ballpoint and pencil, causing unnecessary hand strain and sometimes even permanent injury. writing is not supposed to hurt and if you use moleskine that is part of why it does.
for the price of a moleskine notebook or cheaper you can buy some of the best fucking paper in the world. seriously if you go into any decent fountain pen circle and ask if moleskine is good just about every single person is going to cringe. it happens a lot and it is always funny. moleskine can not handle any significant amount of quality water-based ink (which have existed since forever), and can basically only reliably hold up to ballpoint ink, which is a thick paste-like concoction made of oil and fat. not at all impressive, especially since ballpoint ink is so thick that ballpoint pens require way more pressure and hand strain to write with than just about any other reasonable writing utensil around. and you know what else can handle ballpoint ink? paper towel
the following is just a few respectable alternatives to reaching for a moleskine that have actual good writing paper. these hold up better to ink found in fountain pens, gel pens, rollerball and more without looking like a sharpie in some tissue, in no particular order (these are not affiliate links I just hate moleskine) (this is just off the top of my head and nowhere near a comprehensive list because there are so, so, so, so, so many types of paper that are better than moleskine):
midori md a5 in dot grid. this paper is creamy in texture and color. a vintage looking paper that is gentle on the eyes and gentle with the texture. shows great sheen and shade with minimal bleed and feathering. also comes in graph, lined, and blank. feels great under the pen or pencil, without snagging any gross loose fibers like in a moleskine. by the way this has lay flat binding. it will lay flat on a table.
hobonichi a5 plain notebook. this grid-ruled, silky smooth tomoe river notebook sets out to emphasize that paper does not need to be thick to be better than moleskine. at 52 GSM, tomoe river is internationally famous for its strength and beauty while having a delightful crinkle. a ton of pages in a tiny space. this is the same paper used in hobonichi planners, and it can withstand watercolors, while being about as thick as tissue. meanwhile moleskine can barely handle rollerball. your fountain pen inks will look some of their best on tomoe river, with excessive sheen and shade. more great lay flat binding.
traveler's company starter kit in brown leather. want to look cool, feel cool, and not use moleskine? traveler's company is famous for its sturdy products in practical and stylish form factors. this particular notebook uses midori md. more than a notebook, this is a companion.
leuchtturm1917 notebooks. do you think hardcover notebooks with elastic closures and little flaps in the back are exclusive to the moleskine line? absolutely not. leuchtturm1917 has all that and more while being able to hold up to thick gel, rollerball, fountain pens, and more. their paper and binding quality over the past few years has been somewhat spotty but it is miles ahead of any of the garbage coming out of moleskine
rhodia webnotebook. speaking of hardcover notebooks with elastic closures and little flaps in the back, here is another notebook with a similar form factor to moleskine, and will not embarrass you to use in any respectable stationery or study circle. fountain pens, rollerball, gel, and more in big sizes are all fair game.
blackwing slate. this one is really funny because it comes from the makers of an internationally famous line of pencils. blackwing pencils are popular for artists, animators, journalists, and more. and despite being a notebook from a pencil company, it STILL holds up to ink infinitely better than moleskine. hardcover, elastic closure. and it has a slot for a pencil or pen on the side, and comes with a silky smooth blackwing pencil. by the way, one of the main methods to make a moleskine notebook not feel like total bumpy ass is to use a blackwing pencil, one of the smoothest pencils in the world. how about just get another notebook
drug store paper: for anyone who thinks that paper needs to be expensive to be good, you are wrong! there are so many papers that cost pennies and still handle some of the heaviest water-based inks around. the caliber paper from fucking CVS (the kinds that say made in vietnam specifically) can withstand a 6mm calligraphy nib. even more embarrassing for moleskine, this school grade binder paper makes ink look absolutely fantastic with heavy levels of sheen and shading. if you tried this on a moleskine it would soak through the page like you threw it in a bucket of ink. I cannot even begin to count the number of paper I have found for pennies that handles ink better than moleskine, because moleskine is some of the worst and most overpriced paper around. staples, walgreens, daiso, office depot, muji, walmart, random brands on amazon, all have paper that is better than moleskine if you know what to look for.
clairefontaine flying spirit. you want smooth? you want professional? clairefontaine. this leather cover notebook has cream pages made by one of the most ubiquitous names in paper, clairefontaine. clairefontaine excels at butter smooth paper that gives all your inks rich sheen and shade. clairefontaine has countless models of notebooks and paper, and just about every single one of them is better than moleskine by a marathon. even their cheapest, ugliest notebooks will make writing on moleskine seem like scribbling in dirt.
black n' red notebooks. you can find these online and at office depot, staples, target. their bold contrast of black and red (because they are named... yeah) is a sneak preview at how bold your inks are going to look on their smooth paper. despite some of their notebooks coming with things like QR codes and motivational quotes, this is quality paper that give your inks rich sheen.
cosmo air light. the winner of the 2019 award for best fountain pen friendly paper at the san francisco pen show, cosmo air light is one of the few notebooks out there to dethrone tomoe river in terms of how much contrast and sheen it gives inks. this unsuspecting paper drinks ink like a free lemonade stand in the middle of summer, and is some of the best you can get in terms of making your inks look even better than tomoe river. one thing to note is that lines will be slightly wider on cosmo air light, but will still have nice crisp lines. there was no 2020 winner for the best fountain pen friendly paper. a pandemic blocked the 2020 event, much like moleskine is blocking people from realizing most paper at that price point is not shit
apica. these usually floppy, sometimes not floppy notebooks are cheap as hell and still better than moleskine. with smooth pages and an index, these are popular for use in school, and only cost a few bucks each.
maruman mnemosyne. forget your preconceptions of ring-bound notebooks, this paper is smoother than anything moleskine can dream up, and comes in cool colors perfect for both professionals and gamers.
kokuyo campus. hey do you watch anime? you know how in anime, there are students who use notebooks? a shit ton of the most iconic notebooks in anime are kokuyo campus notebooks, because these are really popular basic notebooks for students in japan. the bottom of the barrel notebooks have better paper than moleskine
graphilio. do you just want to try good paper? do you not give as much a shit about fancy covers and binding, and just want to experience some of the best writing paper humanity has to offer? graphilio.
pro tip! do you want a notebook with a nice cover, but also have a particular paper you like? then just get the notebook and a separate reusable notebook cover. these are sometimes called refillable notebooks. notebooks generally come in standardized sizes like A5 and A4, you can find reusable notebook covers for just about every size of notebook, and you can use notebook covers again and again. there are notebook covers with tablet holders. there are notebook covers for notepads. there are notebook covers for ring-bound notebooks. there are notebook covers with built in wallets. there are notebook covers that are silky soft to the touch. there are notebook covers made out of quality leather. there are notebook covers that can hold several pens. there are notebook covers with metal claws inside them to hold several notebooks at once. find a notebook you like, find a notebook cover you like for it and then every single notebook has your favorite exterior, textures, and features. every single time.
writing is not supposed to hurt and paper does not have to be expensive to handle nice inks and ergonomic writing tools. if you have ever wondered why moleskine feels better to hold than it does to use, it is because they prey off of people who do not know that decent paper is supposed to handle more than ballpoint.
thanks to the internet you can look up all kinds of paper and find out which ones suck in a matter of minutes. with the help of your search engine of choice, simply look up [paper model] [fountain pen/marker/gel pen/your desired writing utensil friendly]. inspired by the countless types of deceptively shitty paper on the market like moleskine, the stationery community prides itself in testing and evaluating every type of paper it can get its hands on. in general, if something can handle fountain pen ink well, it can also probably handle rollerball, gel, and water-based marker ink. use stationery websites, use search engines, read reviews, and look at paper tests before buying paper so you do not wind up miserable and committed to something like moleskine, one of the stationery community's biggest mistakes.
moleskine is not good paper. good pens need good paper. bad paper makes people hate good pens. bad pens hurt people. fuck moleskine
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