User blog comment:Meganstrickland/The search for my next notebook/@comment-28266109-20170210122129

Hi, it's Floodid, from the paperie and planner guild too.

I don't have a lot more useful suggestions, but maybe I can bring some precision.

I use my notebook as a bullet journal and to jot down quick preliminary sketches with pigment ink and some watercolor with low water content. My regular fountain pen as a fine nib and is filled with platinum carbon black ink (reagularly cleaned). I use sakura pigma pens too. So, pigment based inks, that allow me to sketch and somehow support being water paint over.

The current moleskine paper is totally terrible for this! It bleeds through and the ghosting is really important. And It doesn't handle the smallest amount of water (and I use it very scarcely), so I would expect it to be a no-go for water-based inks (which are the easiest on fountain pens). With staedler pen, it bleeds through too. 0.05 and 0.1 micron pens are ok. I also read that they change their paper quality some years ago, so it's better to decide upon recent tests (sorry, I don't have a link here).

The Leuchtturm paper is better for my use. "Archival" ink doesn't bleed trough, and I can use my watercolors: the paper doesn't curl. So, I would expect that water-based inks work better with it than with the moleskine.

A thicker paper makes things easier (thanks for the references, CarolinaAsh!), but how the ink behave with the paper can have importance too.

This shop propose ink tests, especially water resistance and drying time. Combined with the tests that bloggers report with their specific ink/notebook combination, maybe you can make your choice easier :).