Link Love: Moleskine Blowback!

rp_link-ana111111111.jpgPost of the Week:
Brad over at Pen Addict annoyed and infuriated a lot of people with his opinions on a recent podcast about the Moleskine notebook. This week, he posted his favorite Moleskine Alternatives and talked at length on the show this week about how Moleskines are not evil but they are more hype, marketing and brand recognition than they are quality paper goods.

Pens:

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Pencils:

Paper & Notebooks:

Other Interesting Things:

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6 comments / Add your comment below

  1. Moleskines are nice and all, but I gotta agree it’s a lot of hype for a kind of notebook you can get anywhere. And they do not play well with fountain pens!

  2. Moleskine notebook paper (and i mean notebook, not sketchbook) is simply not compatible with fountain pens except:
    A very dry extra-fine nib. What i mean by compatible is note bleeding through, and being able to write on the reverse side of the sheet, and later, not having the writing on the first side in anyway interfere with reading the reverse side of the sheet.
    The other fav notebook, at least their brown craft cover regular issue ones are equally incompatible, i.e., Field Notes. I have heard some of their special editions are ok with FP’s, but i do not know my self, since paper quality on the Field Note brand is – – – – shoot (playing a particular dice game :). I am using up the FN’s i have with pencil and space pen when doing notes during field observations of animals and the like.

    Interestingly enough, the inspirations for both brands, both being the leaders in nostalgia marketing for notebooks, where used with pencils (Hemingway et al in the little french black book), and the give away notebooks at feed stores, banks, etc.

  3. Ok. So everyone hates on moleskines.

    I don’t use fountain pens. So this is mostly not a concern for me.

    But I use a leuchtturm 1917 anyways, just for the table of contents.

    I also use a moleskine cahier, and really like it.

    Now I’m a giant snob, and completely willing to try out another cahier. I go through them reasonably quickly, and will need to buy new ones soon anyways.

    What’s out there that can substitute for the moleskine pocket sized cahier?

    Important attributes: Black. 3.5 by 5.5. Lined. Preferably stitch bound rather than staple bound. Not too far off in price from the moleskine cahier (three for ten bucks). Classy enough to carry into court.

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