My Top 5 Pocket Notebooks

[heath]

This was my first “official” top 5 list I believe. I hope to begin making these lists in more areas soon but I have been thinking a lot about pocket notebooks over the last few months and I think I have a pretty solid list in terms of knowing a lot of what’s out there and in being confident of my favorites although I have to admit I don’t think any are perfect. For the sake of this list I want to briefly define pocket notebooks. I am including only fold over notebooks as that is a key component in making these pocket friendly. Some manufacturers consider their “perfect” binding or “squared” binding to be pocket notebooks such as Princeton Architectural Press’ Pocket Dept. 4×4 square and Moleskine’s “Plain Soft Notebook – Pocket” but those types aren’t included in this list. Moleskine’s Cahier line of pocket notebooks are eligible but didn’t make the list.

---

So without further ado, Pen Paper Ink Letter’s Top 5 Pocket Notebooks:

1. Word. Notebooks
   -One of the more fountain pen friendly pocket notebooks I have used. These books are well made and have begun to tap into the genre’s hype worthy attributes such as good cover design and limited editions. If I could change anything it would be to add a third staple.
   
2. Scout Books
   -Scout Books pocket notebooks are not 3.5″ x 5.5″ but are rather passport size. For me this is a huge asset in that I can carry them in my passport wallet. These are also somewhat fountain pen friendly.
   
3. Field Notes
   -These might be the king of the Pocket Notebook world in reality but they aren’t reaching the top in terms of overall paper quality with all writing instruments. Setting that aside they stay on this list because they are well made, well thought out and I love the designs, limited editions and special papers they use in some of those LEs.
   
4. Hitlist Notebooks
   -Marketed as a fountain pen friendly book these do indeed succeed in being mostly FP friendly and having better paper than most pocket options. They rest a bit to much on this idea though to be at the top of the list but I do use these enough to give them a nod in the top 5.
   
5. Doane Paper Grid + Lines
   -This was a bit of a dark horse making on this list but the more I’ve used this one the more I have found a benefit in the ruling setup. I also like that, like Field Notes, they have chosen to add a third staple.

I admit none of these are perfect for fountain pens but in the pocket notebook world I think we have come to understand that there are trade-offs.

-Heath
@WeThePPIL