How Did You Customize Your Midori Traveler's Notebook?

[kansaskyle]

Has anyone come up with a solution for keeping a larger pen with them? For those with the zipper pouch, would it feel awkward to keep a pen in there?

 

I just close up my notebook, and slide the pen on the side with the clip over the elastic band.

 

Even on smaller pens, I found I didn't really care for the pen loop.

 

Note: I have a faux-dori, which is a bit oversized as compared to the official Midori.

 

[hedera]

I use something similar to the small Midori pen loop, but mine is made by Leuchtturm; the actual loop is elastic but very small, so I just put the clip of my pen through that (almost any clip will fit - although a Lamy Safari might be difficult) and then let the body of the pen be held by the TN's elastic.

 

The Leuchtturm loops have incredibly strong adhesive but I don't actually use that; instead, I attach the big part (so not the actual loopy bit) to an insert with some Washi tape.

Just a couple of strips, going in two directions, holds it rock solid - but if I want to, I can easily remove it.

 

This way, I can re-attach the loop to a different part of the insert or to a different insert when needed.

 

 

Eta: I'm a big fan of the zipper pouch, but anything other than a super-thin pencil or something would feel awkward in it, I think.

Edited June 23, 2015 by hedera

[kansaskyle]

Eta: I'm a big fan of the zipper pouch, but anything other than a super-thin pencil or something would feel awkward in it, I think.

 

I agree with hedera on the zipper pouch and adding a pen. It would add a bit to the overall thickness of the Midori, and cause it too look uneven with a bulge around the pen.

[Ted A]

I DO NOT LIKE the pen loops. They are too floppy and the pen seems to fly around. I don't make option a habit for my pens to be carried in my travelers notebook. I may have them together, but the pens are carried separately. The closest I come is to slide a 2 or 4 pen pouch between the elastic and the TN.

 

I will sometimes, at home, slide a pen into the groove between the elastic and the covers, nut that is to keep them together on my desk or coffee table. I don't trust the security of the TN to carry my pens

[Polanova]

I gave up on the pen loop as well and will furthermore not having any pen attached to my TNB (I simply don`t see a way to make that work other than some heavy duty customization)

 

Btw, am I the only one of the TNB community who has no little thingysomething attached to the string (but has a cloth wrap instead to protect the notebooks`s fore-edge?)

[grainweevil]

I actually don't mind the Midori pen loop, but it starts getting a bit spendy if you have more than one TN (albeit "faux", in my case). I found this DIY binder clip version quite effective though, and of course it can be readily sized for the larger girthed pens if required.

[Ted A]

That looks interesting. It looks like it could be made to be quite protective

[Obnoxiousblue]

Thanks for the ideas! I LOVE a the idea of putting my FP in the zipper pouch, it would also do a good job at keeping the pen safe in travel. I'm going to check and aee if I can get a piece of leather that matches my MTN, that looks like it might be a good option too if I can make it work!

Thanks!

[gordonhooker]

I have got mine and started to make changes to it to suit me... first of all I added 2 new elastics to it so I can easily add 3 books to it, I then found a 2015 week per page diary template and had it cut to size, I purchased some heavy duty card and created a folder for adding bits and pieces and I have ordered the brass bookmark and template, the plastic zipper and business folders. I have my journal at the front, my diary in the middle and a notebook for quotable quotes, poems I like and things I won't change. I got the regular size and think that is the perfect size for a journal, and I intend order the light paper in future for my journal. I have also made blotting paper bookmarks for the journal and quotable quotes booklet. Here is a pick of the additions I made to the rubber bands and a quick view of the diary.

 

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/gordonhooker/20150710_105153_zpswnc1owoq.jpg

 

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/gordonhooker/20150710_105234_zpstmupzk5n.jpg

 

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa33/gordonhooker/20150710_105137_zpsiwwqjaps.jpg

[ink-syringe]

I like everyone's doodads on the elastic. My problem is that I H A T E the knot on the back cover for the elastic. That knot was literaly reason why I went with other brands for fauxdori but there were other reasons why I gave up on those too and finally bit the bulled and got the real deal (Also it was my birthday and I had a coupon).

 

So far I love it but for one thing. The thing I predicted: I HATE THAT KNOT so for now I am just using it without that elastic. The solution on this thread seems just as bulky and weird to me as the knot and I never use a pen clip. I actually not very finicky but for that one thing, when I write the book has to be flat or it will make me bonkers.

 

There has to be some bulk free lay flat solution for this, no? other than just not using a close-y elastic thingamabob at all? B/C so far that is what I have been doing.

[stonezebra]

I didn't like the back bump either so my solution was to put it on the spine Works great. (see post #35)

[gordonhooker]

It is obviously all in the eye of the beholder.... personally I like the well worn and rustic look including the knots.

 

I agree about the bulky bit I have 3 notebooks and keep the size down, I have ordered the light paper for my journal once I fill the current standard notebook that is what I will use for journals.

[ink-syringe]

I didn't like the back bump either so my solution was to put it on the spine Works great. (see post #35)

 

I might try that. Though honestly, I am not sure it will be ideal either. i am beginning to think there has to be a way to use it where the whole band just comes off. hmm...

 

 

It is obviously all in the eye of the beholder.... personally I like the well worn and rustic look including the knots.

 

 

 

 

I am not sure what you are responding to. I have no objections at all to the knot aesthetically. I just want the thing to lay flat when I write in it but still band up for on the go.

 

Take a pad. Put a nickel in the middle of the pad between the cardboard backing ad the last page and then write on the pad. That is kid of how my lumpy Traveller is. I hate that. But also, I don't have 1827781 inserts in there like a lot of youse do. I suppose if your Midori is fat like a phone book you don't feel that band too much.

 

[Ted A]

I've made my own, so there may be some differences not accounted for but you could consider:

 

1. I usually have 2 inserts. The elastic is in the spine and the knot falls between the 2 inserts so I don't feel it. Though I might not be as sensitive to the thickness as you

2. Maybe you could consider putting the hole and the know on the very outside edge of the cover. Depending on the width of the inserts when open the knot might fall outside the paper.

3. Go to a fabric store and get a thinner elastic. It doesn't take a lot to hold the TN closed.

4. Pull the elastic out of the cover. Knot it to create a loop of the right size and treat is sort of like a rubber band: slide it on when you want to keep the TN closed. Slide it off when you want to use the TN.

[stonezebra]

I don't care much for typical pen loops and decided to try an idea I saw elsewhere.... I clip a small binder clip onto the cover of my Field Notes notebook curved edge facing the side opening and slip my pen clip into it. Seems to work well. My fauxdori has a flap along the outer edge which also helps to protect and secure my pen.

[hedera]

Before getting a Traveler's Notebook, I worried about the knot at the back as well - but in practice, I don't notice it is there at all.

 

I don't have a lot of inserts in mine; just the clear zipper pocket in the front, then my current writing/sketching refill, and then either the cardboard craft folder or a diary refill, depending on my needs at the time.

 

Even the craft folder is enough to mask the knot so that it is not noticeable at all when I'm writing or drawing.

[ink-syringe]

I may try a stiff insert and see if that helps. I only use the monthly and the thin note paper (which is excellent btw). Perhaps if i used the ziplock or craft folder the bumb in the middle of the book wouldn't drive me so bonkers.

[hedera]

I wonder if it also has something to do with having a 'heavy hand' while writing or not?

I don't think I press down very hard with my right hand - just enough to keep the page from floating upwards, as it were.

 

(I also use Banditapple refills rather than the Midori ones about 2/3 rds of the time - those lay open a bit more easily)

 

Maybe people who lean on the right hand page more notice the knot more?

 

Also, my Traveler's Notebooks (I have 2, a dark and a light brown, which I alternate roughly every 6 months) are... I think about 6 or 7 years old now.

The knot mostly disappears into a dimple that it's created on the back. ;-)

[ink-syringe]

(I also use Banditapple refills rather than the Midori ones about 2/3 rds of the time - those lay open a bit more easily)

 

I use those too (though oddly not yet in my Midori, I have a BanditApple traveller-a-like that he sold in a limited edition that I use too). He's local and when I need paper he meets me on the subway and passes me the books over the turnstiles so I don't have to waste a fair. Good dude. But that thin paper, it is so Tomoe River like, and shades like bonkers so ... but yeah I try to cheerlead for BanditApple and Arnie as best I can. I do enjoy his papers. Really nice guy too.

 

 

I fight with my book to get it to lay flat. I kind of hate that. If I let go everything shuts. One of the reasons I got the Midori is because it is super floppy. I am hoping as it and the inserts break in they get more loose and floppy.

 

The MD journals I use too (occasionally, when I have the money) and I use those because they lay so perfectly flat and the paper is great. L1917 "soft" also lay flat.

[ThreadorYarn]

I may try a stiff insert and see if that helps. I only use the monthly and the thin note paper (which is excellent btw). Perhaps if i used the ziplock or craft folder the bumb in the middle of the book wouldn't drive me so bonkers.

 

can you untie the knot and re-tie it with a weavers knot? It's a smaller knot than the overhand knot I see in pictures of the Midori.