As you all know, I have a gorgeous new Roterfaden and I was online searching for quality A5 notebooks to use as my next bullet journal. I love the Leuchtturm1917, but I also dearly love trying new things. I’ve been curious about the MD notebooks from Midori so I thought it was high time to try one out!
Here is my first impression video…
Overall, I am very impressed with the paper quality. Midori has some of the nicest paper, in my opinion. I love the paper for the Traveler’s Notebook and official Traveler’s Notebook inserts and the MD notebook did not disappoint. None of the pens and markers that I tried bled through! None! I am still stunned!
As compared to the Leuchtturm1917, the pros and cons are…
Pros
- MD has better paper quality
- No bleed through
- Grid guidelines every 2 (dash) and 10 squares (dot)
- More grid boxes per page
- Less expensive
Cons
- No page numbers
- Less pages (just under 200 as compared to Leuchtturm’s 250)
- Only 1 ribbon marker
Neutral differences
- Slightly yellower paper
- Grid rather than dots
- Bluish markings rather than grey
- No hard cover
- Exposed spine, I personally like this
Personally, I am very excited to finish my Leuchtturm and start using the MD notebook for my bullet journal. A big part of that excitement is not being so limited in my pen choices due to bleed through. And not having page numbers is just fine with me, I rarely use my index as it is and I prefer having the extra grid boxes for journaling.
Once I fill up my Leuchtturm and get to switch over, I will keep you all updated on how it holds up over time.
The pens I used for the pen test are*:
Pilot Hi-Tec-C Maica black in 0.4mm
Pilot G-2 black 05
Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen in Fine, Pilot black ink
Sakura Micron 01
Staedtler Triples Fineliner
Stabilo Point 88
Paper mate Flair M
Mildliner in purple
My current bullet journal is a Leuchtturm1917 Dot Grid in Lemon.
The MD Notebook by Midori in grid.
Happy Journaling!