Honestly, the Leuchtturm Journal isn’t all that bad. I used it for my first year of bullet journaling. I can’t say I had a great year of bullet journaling though. Some part of that was because I was new to it and didn’t know what I was doing yet. But the biggest problem I had was with the journal itself.
The Leuchtturm journal is supposedly great for beginners. It was also relatively cheap and faster to get than any other journal. (I could find it in my local bookstore.) Because of all that, I decided to give it a try. At the time, I didn’t know much about other journals or even that different journals would have varying page thickness.
The journal and I didn’t start that off great. I immediately learned that the paper was practically see-through. I could see all of my spreads through to the other page. Even pencil marks can occasionally be seen right through the paper. It was kind of devastating to discover that all my pens could be seen from the other side of the paper. It ruined practically all of my designs.
The journal, though cheaper than others, still wasn’t cheap. So I decided to stick with it. I also wanted it to last, so I felt like I had no other choice than to use both sides of the paper. Eventually, you just get used to seeing your previous spreads through the paper. It was annoying but I dealt with it.
The bigger issue started when I bought new pens. I had heard of the Fudenosuke Brush Pens from bullet journalers on YouTube. They seemed amazing (and they still are)! They are my favourite pens! I was so excited to get them that I immediately tried to incorporate them in my bullet journal spreads. The writing was so pretty and I was happy. Until I looked at the other side of the page. The ink had bled right through!
My new favourite pens were practically useless in this journal. The hard tip pen would occasionally work and not bleed through, but I was wary of using it. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I was super excited to use those new pens and I wasn’t able to. It’s like buying a new pair of jeans and realizing they don’t fit.
As you can see in the picture, not only are the words on the previous page (my pen testing page) visible from the other side, some of the pens have bled through the paper as well.
Still, I didn’t want to waste the journal, so I kept with it for about a year. I never even finished it because I was getting so fed up with the thickness of the pages. I decided to buy a fancier journal with twice the page thickness. It was so different and so much better! As you probably already know by now, I’m a huge fan of the Archer & Olive bullet journals. They have 160 GSM (grams per square meter) for page thickness compared to Leuchtturm’s 80 GSM.
I would never want to return to a journal that has less than 160 GSM. Seeing my designs through to the next pages has put me off of thin paper in my bullet journals forever. Though I still believe the Leuchtturm bullet journal is a good one if you are just getting started and want a cheaper journal, I would suggest you weigh the pros and the cons.
The Leuchtturm journal is cute with lots of colours and thin enough to easily carry around with you. It has lots of benefits like a built-in index, a pocket at the back, and numbered pages. However, for me, none of those benefits were able to change the fact that the pages are just not thick enough. You need thicker paper if you plan on bullet journaling for the long term.
That’s just my opinion! Take with it what you will, but just know that the Leuchtturm journal works for some people. It’s just not for me.
Related Articles
- How to Make Your Bullet Journal Beautiful: The Best Bujo Products
- How to Start Your New Bullet Journal: Creative Spreads for Your Bujo
