And we should be here talking about the notebooks that Cal Cedar sent us, the beautiful new Field Notes (in the mail!) or publishing a few reviews we’ve had in the works for months. I’d promise that it will happen this weekend. But, well, the weather in Baltimore is too nice for that.
But stay tuned. There aren’t enough Paperblanks reviews out there, and we’ve got a great one coming up.
A month or so ago, we received a package of books from Whitelines (see also the US site), a Swedish company who makes very fine books with a unique feature: WHITE LINES. That’s right. The lines are white, while the paper is a very light grey. Does it make a difference to this pencil user? Read on!
Vitals:
Cover Material: Coated cardstock.
Paper: 80 g acid-free; grey-tinted paper with white lines.
Binding: Sewn.
Size: Assorted; A5 and “pocket” as tested.
Page Count: 48/36 sheets (96/72 pages).
Unique Characteristics: White lines on grey paper.
Origin: Sweden.
Availability: Online, even on Amazon.
We were sent two of the Hard Bound books and two of the Perfect Bound books, one each in black and white. What’s immediately striking about Whitelines books is both the color scheme and the construction. Covers are strong. Corners are rounded precisely (even more than Moleskines and Field Notes, to tell the truth). The bindings are tight. The package containing our four review samples was actually pretty badly damaged by the mail service; the stuffing was everywhere from a large hole, etc. The A5 Hard Bound book suffered minor damage, but the A4 Hard Bound book had two corners badly crushed. I know this was not Whitelines’ fault at all. I mention it because, although the package went through hell, the large book’s binding was completely intact. Intact enough that we’ll do a second review of the Hard Bound Whitelines in the near future, featuring more of the company’s history. These books merit it, for sure.
What I’ll mention in this review of the Perfect Bound books is a little about the concept behind Whitelines.
“Whitelines® is the new generation of writing paper. The concept is patented and yet very simple: Since markings from pens are dark they interfere with the traditional dark lines of ordinary paper. On Whitelines® there is no visual interference between the lines and the pen colour. Whitelines® makes your writing and sketches stand out.” (More.)
The lines also disappear under copymachines, and the paper comes lined or with a graph print. We tried both. The graph spacing is just right, and the lines are also very well-spaced for graphite writing.
I have to admit that I was skeptical of two things. First, I didn’t think that slightly grey paper and white lines would really be easier on my eyes. On the contrary, I assumed that they would be more difficult to see (especially since my daughter broke my unbreakable titanium glasses, and I haven’t had time to go to the eye doctor yet). I was also nervous that graphite (which is grey-to-black) would not show up on grey paper very well.
I was wrong on both counts. The lines are not difficult at all to see, and the paper just seems, for lack of a better word, mellow. Rather than shining up at you, begging you to write on it, it’s just grey and relaxed. And, while I was afraid that graphite marks would be more difficult to see, the opposite was somehow true. I checked with my wife, and we both agreed that writing stood out at least as well as on white unlined paper – perhaps more. (If more, don’t ask me how that works. My degrees are in philosophy, not physics or physiology.) In my own experience, the claims of the benefits of Whitelines’ paper prove wonderfully true.
But how does the paper handle graphite? Ghosting is not perfect, but it’s on the better side of standard, that is, very good. Graphite ghosts less than Field Notes (way less than Moleskines) and us up there with much thicker paper like EcoJot‘s recycled paper. To be clear, I’ve never found anything (even cardstock) that doesn’t ghost at least a little with some of my favorite softer pencils. The texture of the paper is similar to a Field Notes book, which is to say smooth, but with a nice tooth. Writing in a Whitelines book is as easy on one’s hands as on the eyes. Aside from Whitelines’ own special features, where this paper really shines is its smearability, which is on par with Rhodia paper – paper that lots of us know is very very smear-proof. It took some very soft leads and hard rubbing to product any smearing at all. In short, Whitelines books have nice paper that resists ghosting and smearing much better than most papers, with gentle white lines and grey paper to boot. You can’t lose.
Add to this the tight and durable binding of the Perfect Bound book (which spent no less than two weeks in my backpack) and the thoughtful sizing, and you’ve got a very nice book. The A5 we tested fits well for meeting and reading notes; that’s what I used it for during the test period. The “pocket” size is similar to a Moleskine or Field Notes, only thicker. The pocket version is no less durable than the A5 version. As we promised Whitelines, I beat them up quite a bit. And they survived, looking pretty new, too. And stylish.
In our up-coming review of the Hard Bound books, we’ll talk about Whitelines’ environmental commitment also. Stay tuned.
In the spirit of the holidays and of Hemingway (a pencil champion!), we present A Visit from Saint Nicholas, In The Ernest Hemingway Manner, by James Thurber.
“It was the night before Christmas. The house was very quiet. No creatures were stirring in the house. There weren’t even any mice stirring. The stockings had been hung carefully by the chimney. The children hoped that Saint Nicholas would come and fill them.
The children were in their beds. Their beds were in the room next to ours. Mamma and I were in our beds. Mamma wore a kerchief. I had my cap on. I could hear the children moving. We didn’t move. We wanted the children to think we were asleep.”
(Read more.)
Coming up with new versions of this poem of your own is a favorite holiday pastime. I finished my Raven’s Wing Field Notes book yesterday, with my own version in native Baltimorese. But it’s way too foul-mouthed to post here.
Happy Holidays to all!! We’ll be back after the holiday with a look at a pencil-friendly selection of planners/organizers, a review of the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener and even an interview with the legendary Pencil Hero Aaron Draplin (of Field Notes!) in the New Year.
Best and warmest wishes to you and to yours, for the best holidays yet.
(Click to enlarge.)
With a nod to our friends at Field Notes.
Earlier this week, we reviewed the fragrant pencils that Field Notes sent us for review. Today, we will review the ubiquitous brown notebook. Field Notes thoughtfully send us a Mixed Pack, with one lined, one graphed and one just naked. We’ve put one through a good number of pencil tests and offer this pencil-specific review. (And thanks for Field Notes for the great mention on their site!)
Vitals:
Cover Material: French Dur-O-Tone 80#C “Packing Brown Wrap.”
Paper: Boise Offset Smooth 50#T “White.”
Binding: Three-staple saddle stitch.
Size: 3-1/2” X 5-1/2”.
Page Count: 48 pages.
Unique Characteristics: Witty information printed in front and back of cover, including reward/address blank; possibly also being made in the USA.
Origin: United States.
Availability: From FieldNotesBrand.Com and select online and brick-and-mortar retailers.
When you first open a three-pack of Field Notes, you might notice that the package resembles a certain “Cahier” produced by a company whose products and historical claims are not without controversy. There are three identical, soft-covered notebooks held together by a central, horizontal band. However, the notebooks diverge there.
For starters, let’s compare the claims. One notebook claims to be the favorite of Hemingway, Chatwin, et al., although the company was founded in the 1990s and produces its notebooks in China. While I don’t have a problem with Asian production in itself, and while the company in question has revised its statement to call their notebooks the “heir” to the classic used by some of my literary heroes, lots of people have felt intentionally duped. For myself, I have a softspot for Moleskines that I can’t seem to quit. The claim made by Field Notes is that they are inspired by classic pocket ledgers and farm notebooks. No one is claiming that Field Notes will boost anyone’s creativity. Field Notes claim to be useful. The premium price ($10 + shipping for three thin notebooks, unless you’re lucky enough to live where you can get them in person) seems to run contrary to the simple and down-home heritage. However, I honestly have no idea how much old farmers’ notebooks used to cost, let alone with taking inflation into consideration.
So, Field Notes are useful pocket tools for writing down information on the go. Their size and weight definitely lend themselves to this purpose, and their solid construction continues in the same vein. There are myriad other reviews on the net (see Field Notes’ site for a list) which call them durable, practical, attractive and a pleasure to use. I found all of these claims to be more than true.
First, the cover is stiff, with clean printing. Even after rolling around with graphite pencils, in a vintage Army bag and being stuck in piles of other books and notebooks, my Field Notes book actually looks barely used. The book tends to stay open as a result of the stiffness of the cover. This doesn’t bother me, but I can imagine it bugging the heck out of some Comrades. There is no bookmark, which did bother me a bit, but a tiny binder clip did the trick nicely and actually looked very good doing it. (A Field Notes binder clip one day?)
The paper is white, with lines that match the cover (in this case, brown). They are well-spaced and even throughout the notebook. The last time I bought a pack of pocket “Cahiers” with graph paper, two entire books were off-center, one so much that it was difficulty to use. The Field Notes’ paper feels both thicker and stiffer than a “Cahier,” and it has a better tooth and more consistent texture. That bodes well for pencil lead being able to make nice and dark marks. I noticed that lighter and harder pencils are difficult to use on this paper. Anything lighter than an HB Mirado or Grip 2001 didn’t leave a mark that I could read. The paper works very well with soft pencils and exceedingly well with pencils with a bit of a scratch factor. As you might remember, I said that the Field Notes pencil had a little scratch to it and that I thought it made sense, so that Comrades could write on the run and know they were leaving a mark. I think something similar can be said about the paper. Pencil doesn’t glide across it the way that it glides across Rhodia paper, but that’s not what Field Notes are made to do. They are made to travel in your pocket and help you to remember things, solve problems, etc. A durable pencil and durable paper, especially when the “feedback” indicates that you are, in fact, writing down legibly the name of that author your Comrade mentioned on a hike or the contact information of someone you met on a trip. Besides — overly creamy paper in a rough and stiff brown cover seems like a bizarre contradiction somehow. One problem I found with using pencils in these notebooks is ghosting. “Ghosting” is what I call the transfer of graphite from one page onto another by means of the pressure from writing on the backs of pages. This happens with soft pencils all the time in notebooks. But it feels like Field Notes are especially prone to this messy graphite shadowing. However, I’m sticking with my idea of these as practical notebooks, not pieces of art. As such, ghosting is only a moderate issue, when writing is still perfectly legible. Unless you actually pet your notebooks and re-read them often, it’s not likely to bother you.
Not only that, but the notebook and pencil make a great pair, with their matching aesthetic (not just the print), durable and practical design, and slight edge. I like to think of Field Notes products as akin to bags made of Army canvas. Their roughness amounts to, as I said, an edge. They are hardy and do seem to sacrifice delicacy for practicality. That’s what I personally like about my vintage Army map case (shown above) and, often, about pencils in general. They always just work.
The nice people at Field Notes sent a parcel to the Pencil Revolution HQ last week for review purposes. It contained a mixed set of their excellent notebooks, a pin, a rubber band and two Field Notes pencils. The first part our two-part Field Notes review is a reflection on this striking pencil.
Vitals:
Material: California Incense Cedar.
Shape: Round.
Finish: None at all.
Ferrule: Aluminum, bare and plain.
Eraser: Green (in color and gradability).
Core: Ceramic/graphite composite. Available in #2/HB.
Markings: “fieldnotesbrand.com | FIELD NOTES | BONDED LEAD | No. 2 / ABOUT THIS PENCIL | Lacquer-free Renewable Cal-Cedar Wood Casing, Recyclable Aluminum Ferrule, Enviro-Green Degradable Eraser and Certified Non-Toxic Imprint Inks”
Packaging: Pack of six; also inserted into parcels of Field Notes notebooks, legend has it.
Origin: United States.
Availability: From FieldNotesBrand.Com and select online and brick-and-mortar retailers.
When you remove a Field Notes pencil from whatever package or bag in which it came, you won’t first notice the unfinished wood, the interesting graphics or the green eraser first. You will be hit full-force with a strong smell of cedar. But, of course, that is not a bad thing but winds up being one of my favorite things about this very nice pencil.
There is no finish whatsoever on the Field Notes pencil. It is round and sanded, like a little dowel full of lead. The print on the barrel is dark, sharp and in keeping with the aesthetic of Field Notes gear in general. Both of our test models had very well-centered cores. Combined with the fine wood, this allowed some of the easiest sharpening I’ve seen lately on a pencil that runs for under $1 a piece. The ferrule appears to be glued onto the pencil, rather than crimped. One of the test models had a few splinters at the ferrule, but these came off in second with my thumbnail. The ferrule/eraser assembly is fairly well-centered, though not perfectly centered, which puts it on par with most quality “office pencils” for sale in the United States. The eraser also appears to be glued. Interestingly, the units we were sent for review have two different eraser lengths; one was longer than most pencil erasers. However, it is firmly stuck into the ferrule. So I view it as a bit of serendipity in having a slightly larger eraser. I am a sucker for unfinished pencils. I get a kick out of the veneer that my sweaty hands leaves on the virgin wood, the dark tinge that it gets from my dirty mitts. Field Notes has succeeded in making a very visually appealing pencil to go with their well-designed notebooks.
The core writes very well under most circumstances. The HB runs a little darker than a Mirado/Black Warrior HB and feels very much like General’s Cedar Pointe to me. Considering that the pencil is made in the US and that there are very few pencil factories operating within US borders, I wonder if the manufacturing of the Field Notes pencil might not be contracted out to General’s Pencil Company (?). I noticed a hint of scratchiness to the lead, but not so much that it bothers me. There are certainly instances wherein I prefer a pencil that lets me know I’m using it and that there’s writing being accomplished. In the dark or when I’m writing standing up (or even while walking), I like to know that my pencil is making marks on paper. I might even stretch this line of thinking to say that the Field Notes pencil, because you know you’re writing with it, goes with the entire field notes (small F and N) concept. Smearability is pretty average, I think, running about the same as an HB Dixon. The mild scratchiness on the Field Notes pencil could even come from the fact that there is no paint or finish to dampen vibrations. I have some unfinished sample pencils from another manufacturer, and they are a bit on the rough side for writing, despite their finished counterparts (with identical cores) being extremely smooth.
The eraser is green and soft and works reasonably well. There’s not much to say about it except that I would really like to see a Field Notes eraser as a block with their graphics on it, made from this pleasant green substance. The eraser takes the graphite off, leaves the paper and more or less performs the way that it is supposed to. And I have to mention its color again. It’s somehow retro-looking and matches the Field Notes aesthetic perfectly.
As I said earlier, the most striking feature of this pencil, for me, is its aroma. I’ve never used a pencil that smells this strongly of cedar and have seldom ever used one to match it. It’s been a pleasure for my nose to use, and I’ve caught myself in at least one important meeting sniffing it like some sort of pencil junky. The unit that I’ve been carrying around and using has actually been the object of envy from my father, a retired Warrant Officer, because of the aromatic assets of this pencil. When Field Notes gets more in stock (or if they’d like to send us some to spread the word to the People!), I’ll definitely be gifting these lovely pencils.
I’d offer Field Notes a few suggestions, aside from the big green Field Notes eraser. While I love this pencil, it doesn’t fit into a shirt pocket with a Field Notes notebook because it’s just too long. I could cut it to size, but I can’t waste half of a pencil. I’d love to see 1/2-sized Field Notes pencils with pocket clips and point protectors, so that they can travel more easily with their paper Comrades. Or, to avoid having to stock two different kinds of pencils, Field Notes could offer a set of a metal point protector and a pencil clip, which the user could attach to a shortened pencil. We’d lose the graphics, but Field Notes are as much about handiness as they are about great design — at least in my mind.
In the end, this is a great pencil that I wish I could find more easily locally. The eraser and graphite work well, and the designed lack of finish and enhanced aroma (though the latter could be a happy accident) make this pencil not just a keeper, but one Comrades are likely to actively seek out. Just don’t get caught sniffing it in a meeting.
With apologies for what might seem, at first, to be a moderately chauvinistic post about the lost art of being a “man,” I have read two very interesting articles from the companion blog to the book The Art of Manliness (or did the book come first?). First, there is The Manly Tradition of the Pocket Notebook, which features our favorite writing implement. This post has gone around the writing blogosphere for a few weeks now, but this particular passage hits close to home for an Eagle Scout:
The Boy Scout
“In one of the pockets there should be a lot of bachelor buttons, the sort that you do not have to sew on to your clothes, but which fasten with a snap, something like glove buttons. There should be a pocket made in your shirt or vest to fit your notebook, and a part of it stitched up to hold a pencil and a toothbrush….No camper, be he hunter, fisherman, scout, naturalist, explorer, prospector, soldier or lumberman, should go into the woods without a notebook and hard lead pencil. Remember that notes made with a hard pencil will last longer than those made with ink, and be readable as long as the paper lasts.
Every scientist and every surveyor knows this and it is only tenderfeet, who use a soft pencil and fountain pen for making field notes, because an upset canoe will blur all ink marks and the constant rubbing of the pages of the book will smudge all soft pencil marks.
Therefore, have a pocket especially made, so that your notebook, pencil and fountain pen, if you insist upon including it—will fit snugly with no chance of dropping out.” -The American Boys’ Handybook of Camp-lore and Woodcraft, By Daniel Carter Beard, 1920
This week, they published a piece on The Pocket Notebooks of 20 Famous Men. I did not see any mention of Thomas Edison’s custom-made pocket pencils, but I was very happy to learn about Mark Twain’s custom notebooks, about which I knew exactly nothing. We have reviews of two pocket notebooks (Field Notes being one) in the works on Pencil Revolution and wonder what kinds of pocket notebooks work especially well with pencils.
The good folks at Field Notes Brand have sent some excellent Field Notes samples to Pencil Revolution HQ in Balitmore, and we are excited to give these babies a thorough test-run and pencil-specific review. Thanks, FN! There is more gear to review in the post from other comrades; so there are more reviews on the way!