Midori travellers notebook

[Toffer]

Has anyone got or played with a travellers notebook? I'm thinking of getting one but am not sure yet, would love to be able to touch and look at one in the flesh but don't know of any shops that sell them in the UK.
They are quite expensive but look really nice what do people think?
I have watched Brian Goulets excellent video on it and looked at all the different extras on various websites.
So basically are they worth it, and which size should I get? Leaning towards the passport size one.

[magnesium68]

They are interesting but.... 50$ for a piece of leather and elastic ,its crazy!

[KrazyIvan]

I have a hand made alternative made by a nice lady in Japan. She calls it the Brain Pocket. Unfortunately it seems she is not making them anymore. There are plenty of alternatives. I see Davisleatherworks.com has some. It's the bandit apple version.

[fountainpenkid]

I think it seems expensive as well, but it can b re-used with the refill system. Brian Goulet's video convinced me...lol

[Bogon07]

They are interesting but.... 50$ for a piece of leather and elastic ,its crazy!

Well there are two different coloured bits of elastic included plus a metal toggle clip thing, oh and a bunch of packaging.

I've been tempted too; looking at the ones on display a Kinokuniya but the suspicion of falling for marketing over comonsense has stopped my credit card from taking a hiding. Brian did a fantastic job of 'selling' the concept. Scription has some good DYI planner inserts for the system on his site:
http://scription.typepad.com/blog/20...-a-prayer.html

I hoping those people that make cheap leather wallets for the discount shops cotton onto this.

Actually I'm surprised that Moleskine haven't started their own version although I would expect theirs to be around the same price range. They could really go to town on this and release yearly special edition toggles for the rubberbands and bookmarks.

[Toffer]

Thanks KI, for some reason I hadn't thought about alternatives on Etsy etc. Got to caught up in the marketing! The Davis leather works look good! Will have to search around a bit more. Thanks Bogon will take a look at that.

[TheRoXFiles]

Glad to see this thread here--I think I've been caught up in the marketing too, just a bit.

As magnesium68 says...ultimately, you're still just paying for a piece of leather and some elastic. It's still really cool that a notebook built this way can be customized so easily because its construction is simple like that, but still... :/ For me, the problem is, if I splurge on one of these Midori notebooks, am I actually going to use it, or do I just like it because it's a novel little toy for me? I suspect that for me, it's the latter, meaning I'd be wasting my money on one of these...so I'm going to want to wait and see how I might actually need one of these notebooks first. Besides--I'd rather use the $50 for the TWSBI Diamond 580.

[KrazyIvan]

A nice think about those alternatives is you can still use all the fancy Midori accessories if you want.

Here are some pictures of my Brain Pocket.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_ro...7616964478679/

[TheRoXFiles]

This is reminding me of a couple of the issues I have with this style of notebook...for one thing, I wish there were more colors. For another, well...couldn't this same notebook be made with other materials aside from leather? Or another size? I can understand why the full-sized Midori notebook is shaped the way it is, since the Japanese can write vertically, not just horizontally, if they want. But I wouldn't mind something more squarish, either. This is a big reason why I wouldn't want to splurge on that full-sized Midori, for example, and why I think it'd be little more than a toy for me, in my case--I don't know how much use I'd get out of a notebook that has those dimensions, and I think that roughly $50 is too high a price for me to find out. :/

[Toffer]

Its a shame the Brain pocket isn't made any more, looks really nice! The things I like about the Midori the most are the fact you can put more than one notepad in. I think I would use it if I could do this, so have a diary, lined notepad, plain notepad etc in it. And that you can put replacements in when you have filled them! But the thing putting me off is the price!! Im looking at the pocket sized one as I think the large is to big for me to carry around. I haven't really found anything similar yet though apart from the Davis leather works one. Most are notebooks with a leather cover attached.

[Bogon07]

There are a few DYI threads on FPN including the Davis Leather one

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...ther-notebook/
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...otebook-cover/
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...lers-notebook/

One good idea I have read about was to reverse the cover so the knot at the back was not under you all the time. I suppose it would be a problem it you write on the back of the pages all the time.

[KrazyIvan]

There are tons of leather covers to be had on Etsy. Here are some tips when shopping for a leather cover. This is just from my experience buying different leather notebook covers. Most everyone is marketing to Moleskine users because that's what a large percentage of the population knows. That makes searching for your cover a little easier if you add "Moleskine" to your searches.

If you find a cover that fits the small Moleskine cahier, it will fit Field Notes, Doanne Paper, Clairfontaine Life.Unplugged pocket notebooks and Banditapple Peewee size. Pretty much any soft cover notebook in the 3.5"x 5.5" size will fit.

If it fits the Moleskine Small hard bound notebook, it fits Rhodia Webbie - small and Clairfontaine Life.Unpluged pocket notebooks, just slightly loose since they are not as thick. They still work. I think the small Luechterm (sp?) will work too but I will have to check on that when I get home. I forgot if it does or not.

If it fits the large Moleskine hard bound books, it fits Picadilly Medium Soft bound and hard bound books. It will NOT work with Rhodia Large Webbies.

Handy size Banditapple notebooks fit Midori covers and Brain Pocket.

[Bogon07]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n25g9LOpmk8 Midori Traveler's Notebook: the cult of adventure journaling a video review by Pelahale. Very detailed about 19 minutes long includes a comparison between the regular and passport versions. He also discusses alternatives along with the many accessories available. Fascinating and informative. I can see from this that I would have a lot of trouble not over-accessorizing to the point it would be too big to fit in any pocket I have.

[KrazyIvan]

Nice one Bogon. I need to catch up on Pelehale's channel.

One other thing I forgot. Passport covers work great on the Moleskine Cahier sized notebooks. I have one in a nice soft brown leather. I don't have an inside picture though.


Leather Notebook and "El Grande" by IvanRomero, on Flickr


2011-10-17 14.54.37.jpg by IvanRomero, on Flickr

[Bogon07]

That looks rather nice KI.

There was also an interesting bamboo notebook cover on kickstarter last year the pandapad but there doesnot seem to be much activity on their site these days.
http://thebeehive.net.au/products/pandapad

I notice there is a metal case like cover now on kickstarter for small & medium pads. Sort of the anthesis of a leather cover.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...otebook-covers

[KrazyIvan]

That looks rather nice KI.

I notice there is a metal case like cover now on kickstarter for small & medium pads. Sort of the anthesis of a leather cover.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...otebook-covers

Aluminum-Magnesium alloy? Doesn't that remind you of Minidisc units, Bogon? I like that cover!!! My phone case is the same concept.

[Bogon07]

Aluminum-Magnesium alloy? Doesn't that remind you of Minidisc units, Bogon? I like that cover!!! My phone case is the same concept.

Yes it does a bit. I recall seeing some-one using a gutted MD player for carrying tobacco on a train once. I wonder if you could fit one of those micro-moleskine notebooks into one.


The also look like the LE steelbook covers for DVD & Blu-rays. mmmm They could be used for some of those bigger thinner notebooks.

[Bogon07]

Daycraft HandyPick holders could be used in a similar manner to the MTN system. I've yet to see any of these but I like some of their other notebooks with soft pseudo leather covers.
http://www.daycraft.com.hk/products/...ck-holder.html

They also have a range of notebooks and accessories for them
http://www.daycraft.com.hk/products/...ck-extras.html

[Toffer]

Ordered a Davis leather works pocket notebook today, looking forward to seeing what its like, the photos aren't great on the website.

[Bogon07]

Ordered a Davis leather works pocket notebook today, looking forward to seeing what its like, the photos aren't great on the website.

What type and colour did you select ?