Field Notes

Those of you who follow me on flickr might have noticed I like taking pictures of my Field Notes notebooks. 

For those of you who have never owned or seen one in real life, here is my overview and humble opinion of them.

Since I don't want to go into much detail about where they're from and how they came to be, I will simply tell you that they are made in the USA and that you can visit their page here.

Each Field Notes memo book measures 8.9cm x 13.9cm (3-1/2" x 5-1/2"), which makes it perfect for carrying everywhere with you.

There are 48 pages, either lined, graph or plain. And they are sold in packs of three.

What sets them apart,for me at least, is their covers.

There are the plain ones, with a 'paperbag' brown cover with the text in black. I love customising these!

There is the County Fair edition, with covers in blue, red and yellow, and the name of one of the 50 states on the bottom of the cover. Text printed in a sort of gold, yellow ink, and with fun facts about the selected state on the back cover.

And then there are the seasonal Limited Editions. In my opinion, these are the best! For each season, the lovely folks at Field Notes HQ come up with a gorgeous design, not just for the cover, but also for the pages inside, and sometimes they even throw in a little goodie, like last autumn's Traveling Salesman edition that came with a cool FN Representative button.

But as the name says, they are LIMITED, so once they come out, you need to get them as soon as you can. (Or you'll be like me who missed this year's Summer edition).

The other thing FN does different is that they also offer subscriptions. Yes, you read right: you can subscribe and receive for a year all the Limited Editions that come out, plus the current one (if it's not sold out yet). I think you receive even more goodies, but I'm not sure as I'm too poor to subscribe just yet.

The other day, Laurie asked me about their paper quality. I personally can't stand low quality paper, therefore I am always on the lookout for the best papers I can find. Of course, for some stuff I don't need to have a Clairefontaine or a Paperblanks, but still I can't bring myself to use something like a Pukka Pad (I really can't stand those), or the generic ones you find everywhere. Moleskine cahiers are okay-ish, but tend to be a tad expensive for their quality.

That is where my Field Notes comes in.

Although their paper is not the best for fountain pen ink, as it will bleed in some cases, it is still pretty good. I have noticed that some inks will barely bleed or feather, such as the iro-shizuku or the J. Herbin Orange Indien, so I frequently use them on my Field Notes.

Gel pens also work great, no matter what colour. I would say that if you're going to use a very wet pen, then you will experience more bleed-through.

I have also noticed that these little notebooks are also quite durable. Carrying them everywhere with me, I expect them to be able to take a beating or two, and come out victorious. Which they do!

I started using them in January this year. So far, I have used 6 already and have started my 7th just a few days ago. And every time I start a new one is simply glorious!

Have you used a Field Notes before? What do you think of them? Please do share your thoughts in the comments below!

Til next time,
Oni