LEUCHTTURM1917 - Notebook Hardcover Medium A5-251 Numbered Pages for Writing and Journaling (Army, Dotted)...

I've been using this journal over a year now, and really love it. It still looks awesome on the outside... and on the inside, well, there you'd find my private thoughts and artwork. I use this notebook exclusively with fountain pen inks... a variety of inks. Usually there's no bleed through. Occasionally there is. As an artist, my challenge is to make the bleed through situations into something beautiful. I find that to be a lot of fun... so am staying positive and not complaining. This is a great notebook for writing in. There's an index of several pages at the beginning, and the pages are numbered, so it is perfect for use as a bullet journal or writer's journal, or whatever you like. The pages seem kind of thin, but still good quality. I have other bullet journals with thicker pages. But it is what it is and either you like it for what it is or you don't. I would not hesitate to buy another journal like this one, when this is full. However - if I was to do it again, I wouldn't limit myself just to fountain pen ink in this journal. Probably there are other pens that would be better for this one, like the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens which are bright and beautiful and will not bleed through. (I just tried them on my pen check page at the back of the notebook, and they are perfect for this thickness and quality of paper. The cover of my Leuchtturm 1917 is hardcover, and the color is pink... what they call berry. It is so pretty. I'm glad I bought this one. It comes with the elastic, as pictured, and there's a nice sturdy pocket on the inside back cover. I've found it very handy for smaller items I pick up during my travels. The endpapers are white... a sort of creamy white. Everything about this notebook journal speaks quality. I've used this as a travel journal, for recording quotes, and as a memoir journal, using a prompt book. I'm not using it for my daily observations of life, though it could be that type of journal if need be. I do a lot of ink painting in this journal. I use the same inks I put into my fountain pens - Noodlers Inks in a variety of colors, and De Atramentis Document Ink . I've also used the Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens in this journal. It does well with all, but as you can imagine, if I put on the ink too thickly there's that risk of bleed through... so I've learned how much to use, and how much I can get away with layering it before the ink goes through the paper. It is a learning process. Recently I used a pen with a medium nib, and that bled through. Not good... and usually I use the extra-fine nibs which are better for preventing bleed through. Not a problem though - I turned the page and used the bleed-through page to create a bit of art using fountain pen ink applied by water brushes. I like the way it turned out even with the bleed through - it became part of the art. So, if you're looking for a good quality notebook with thin paper... numbered, with an index and pocket, this could be the right journal for you. I recommend it. I like all the colors, especially the berry pink which is so, so pretty. No complaints from me.

I've been bullet journaling for about a year now, but until a few weeks ago I've been using a faux Midori system with cheap lined notebooks. I decided to upgrade for 2016 and I'm so pleased to have picked this book. The pages are thick enough that almost nothing bleeds through to the other side. There is a bit of ghosting when I use a dark pen color, but it's not enough to be distracting. Because my style of journaling leans towards art journaling, I end up gluing a lot of daily ephemera to my pages as well as using watercolors on my pages. This notebook can handle the abuse. It's not watercolor paper so there's some warping, but not nearly as much as I've seen in cheaper books. The reason I opted for a Leuchtturm was because it's designed to perfectly compliment the BuJo system. The grid paper lends itself to drawing in calendars, dividing the pages into smaller sections, and making check boxes for my to do lists. Of course, any quad ruled notebook can do that. What convinced me to spend a few extra dollars on this book were the pre numbered pages and included index. Those features are key to using a BuJo successfully and having them already incorporated into the book gave it added value to me. The two included bookmarks, storage pocket on the back cover, and how it opens perfectly flat no matter what page I open it to are just the cherry on top. If there are any cons to buying a Leuchtturm, it can only be the price. I know that I can buy any number of notebooks that cost significantly less than this one. But the quality is good enough to justify purchasing more of these in the future. A Leuchtturm notebook is still significantly cheaper than some of the dedicated planners on the market and, depending on your planning style, can last just as long. I would highly recommend this product to anyone who spends a lot of time writing analog notes for any project. I think it would make a particularly good travel journal due to the hard cover and elastic band that holds everything in place. Despite the way it's bound, mine doesn't have any trouble expanding to allow me to glue in business cards, mark the page edges with washi tape, and use numerous sticky notes and page flags on every page. I could see someone filling one with watercolor scenery sketches, photos, and postcards from a trip. And, of course, if you use the bullet journaling system, you can't go wrong with this book.