Calling all Travelers Notebook users

[Kas]

I have several Journals spaced over 30 plus years, I have used all sorts from A4 hardcover note books too, well all sorts. Over recent years I have moved to A5 single use leather journals as when the are completed they go into the bookcase. Generally I run two at a time one is a daily one and the other is a travel only journal.

 

I find in general that the refills you get tend to be inconsistent In quality, except I must say for the Positano Handmade Leather wrap Journal/refill.  

 

Currently I am using Cortona Italian leather journals, I find the paper is very good for a fountain pen with no bleed or show through. My last purchase in March when I used it wrote very badly. I contacted my supplier at and they were absolutely brilliant. They asked if I could send two photos of writing, using the same pen ink etc. one from the old journal and one from the new. Within a day they contacted me to tell me the Italian manufacturer had changed the paper without telling them and offered me a similar journal from a different supplier. The new journal was with me the next day. Can't fault them and the journal writes very well. 

 

Sorry bit long winded but good service and product deserves a mention. 

[Misfit]

@txomsy I think Amanda is looking for non-leather because she is a vegetarian. It frustrates me when I search for PU or faux to get so many actual leather hits on Etsy. I’ve read your point on this elsewhere, and do not mean to argue. We all search out certain types of paper systems. I thought I’d bought my last leather cover, then Travelers Company had to bring back Olive. 

[txomsy]

12 hours ago, Misfit said:

@txomsy I think Amanda is looking for non-leather because she is a vegetarian. It frustrates me when I search for PU or faux to get so many actual leather hits on Etsy. I’ve read your point on this elsewhere, and do not mean to argue. We all search out certain types of paper systems. I thought I’d bought my last leather cover, then Travelers Company had to bring back Olive. 

 

Absolutely agree and I understood that. PU leather is not in any way of animal origin. Despite its name.

 

My complain is not about using one material or the other. We all have our own views about what we like and why.

 

My complain is about advertising techniques that make it difficult to find what you want by trying to lure prospective buyers to only (or mainly) see their product whether is is what they explicitly demand or not.

 

Yours is a great example: it is like if you enter a major chain, ask for the vegetable section and get 90/100 times directions to the grocery, or if you go to the veggie section and 90% of the products are actually grocery ones.

 

Or vice versa.

 

Plus often the product force fed is cheaper to produce but sold at a premium as a pseudo "improvement" with dubious marketing/labeling/definition techniques.

 

I may understand that sellers want to induce us to buy what is more convenient to them, but I still complain when someone tries to sell me what I do not want disguising it as what I do actually seek (I hate small print).

[AceNinja]

Another question:  Pen loops for TN.  Is there a pen loop which is large enough to comfortably store a fountain pen?

[Misfit]

The medium one TN sells holds some pens. If you share some pens you’d like to put in a loop, I’ll see if I own the same, and try them in mine. 

[AceNinja]

Kaweco Sport classic.  I'm not sure mine is Medium or small size, but I can barely fit a Sport by the barrel, but its kind of difficult and troublesome to stretch the loop everytime.  Which makes me feel uncomfortable using it.  If I want to loop until the cap (ie it's more 'centre' of the pen), that's even more difficult.

 

And also a Retro51 tornado roller ball.

[Misfit]

This is the medium pen loop attached to a different brand notebook. 
 

[TSherbs]

Your pics ( @Misfit very helpful, by the way) are a reminder of why I don't like pen loops: hanging a fountain pen by the side of a notebook is not my idea of convenience or secure fastening. I would only put the cheapest of pens with the most secure caps in such an exposed position (eg, Pilot Varsity).  But that's just me....YOMV

[dragondazd]

I use goulet tomoe river or Franklin christoph refills.

 

You could try tying a knot in one of the closure or inside bands to hold a larger pen... I'd likely use the leuchtturm loop if it adheres.

 

I have a cat that chews my bands and ribbons!

[Misfit]

There are pen belts that are elasticized to fit over A5 notebooks. That way the pen is secured on the notebook.  I’ve seen them on Levenger, and a cheaper notebook friends gave me. 
 

I don’t know if they would fit the regular TN. Of course if you are not at home, you have to keep track of the belt pen holder once you take it off the notebook. 

[inkstainedruth]

On 5/13/2023 at 7:52 AM, txomsy said:

 

Absolutely agree and I understood that. PU leather is not in any way of animal origin. Despite its name.

 

My complain is not about using one material or the other. We all have our own views about what we like and why.

 

My complain is about advertising techniques that make it difficult to find what you want by trying to lure prospective buyers to only (or mainly) see their product whether is is what they explicitly demand or not.

 

Yours is a great example: it is like if you enter a major chain, ask for the vegetable section and get 90/100 times directions to the grocery, or if you go to the veggie section and 90% of the products are actually grocery ones.

 

Or vice versa.

 

Plus often the product force fed is cheaper to produce but sold at a premium as a pseudo "improvement" with dubious marketing/labeling/definition techniques.

 

I may understand that sellers want to induce us to buy what is more convenient to them, but I still complain when someone tries to sell me what I do not want disguising it as what I do actually seek (I hate small print).

Online is even worse.  I've been shown links for sliced cheese when I looked for  Gatorade (a specific brand of sports drink).  And when I pointed this sort of thing out to customer service they don't seem to understand the issue....  EVEN WHEN I HAD what I was LOOKING FOR in quotation marks....  And then yesterday evening was looking a SPECIFIC brand of of poison ivy killer when I spotted some in my front yard.  Finally told the woman in the chat window for a major hardware chain (I had to give someone a ride home and was going past one of their locations enroute) that their lousy IT just cost them a sale and she would be the one to explain that to Corporate....  Because amongst the products I was shown (NOT the brand I *know* works, BTW) I was shown "GOO-GONE" -- a product to remove residue from sticky labels off of surfaces!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[txomsy]

That, I suppose, is another marketing imposition, not lousy IT. Just like when supermarkets spend a lot of effort in reorganizing their shelves. It is not to make demanded products more available, but to ensure people who knew where they were have to search again and be exposed to lots of additional, unrelated products in the hope that they will fall for something they originally didn't intend to buy.

 

[inkstainedruth]

Yeah.  There was a grocery store in CT that one set of in-laws liked (I could NOT fathom why).  The place was designed with the main aisle being a SPIRAL (with a few spokes back out to the perimeter of the building).  And had stupid animatronics throughout the store besides.  

Not sure if the place is still open -- the founder got busted for tax fraud or something....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Anne-Sophie]

Misfit how do you like your 2023 Hobonichi items, so far?

 

 

[Misfit]

@Anne-Sophie I haven’t tried writing in it yet. Once I do, I’ll let you know. 

[Misfit]

@Anne-Sophie if you find this, I now know what I think of the Hobonichi Weeks. It is too small for my purpose. I think it’s more for adding times of events, plans, meetings. Not enough room to write about your day. The paper is Tomoe River, which is nice. Travelers Notebook makes Weekly plus Memo inserts that are quite similar to the Weeks layout, and are larger. I used those a few times, and was happy with them. Now I’m using an A5 notebook, and likely will stick to that. 

[Anne-Sophie]

I completely understand, being a person with big handwriting, I cannot use anything smaller than A5 gridded sheets with no extra writing to take space.

 

A couple of years ago, I attended an evening course at a community college, they gave an A5 two pages per week Filofax type, wire bound notebook. I loved the layout but the outer margin was taken by campus events. 

 

I recreated the layout in printer paper, then on Rhodia grid. Perfect!

 

It just occurred to me that I could write each day of the week on washi tape then add the date on the paper. 

[Misfit]

I tend to write bigger as well, and like using stub and italic nibs. So yep, I got seduced by the Moon phases in the Weeks.  I’m glad I got the CR Gibson Bulleting Log notebook. I’ve kept with it, maybe missing a day a few times, but writing it the next day. All the Leuchtturm notebooks I had then bought at reduced prices at Home Goods now have a future use. I’ll run out of pages in the CR Gibson notebook before the end of the year.  I had started a Leuchtturm as a daily notebook, but gave up on it. I can use that next. Give the extra ribbon bookmark a use. 

[Anne-Sophie]

On 9/18/2023 at 5:45 PM, Misfit said:

CR Gibson Bulleting Log notebook

 

This, I need to check, never heard of it.

[Misfit]

10 minutes ago, Anne-Sophie said:

 

This, I need to check, never heard of it.

Prices vary. I got mine at Office Depot. It was a better price there.