Field Notes: Red Blooded and Fire Spotter

Red Blooded was an open-edition that was released in early 2012 as part of Field Notes Brand’s standard offerings. Conveniently, It came out before Valentine’s Day, along with a really cute, sweet film featuring a love letter Bryan Bedell (of Field Notes) wrote for his wife using a Red Blooded. Field Notes also had a promotion where every pack of Red Blooded came with a free red “Field Notes loves you” pencil. Darn, I missed it.

I think when Red Blooded first came out, it confused a lot of people because it looks just like Fire Spotter, which was released as the fall edition of the COLORS series the previous year in 2011. Apparently, Red Blooded was created because Fire Spotter did so well. No complaints from me!

They may look the same but note these key differences!

• The belly band on Fire Spotter is kraft brown; it's white on Red Blooded.
• Red Blooded is graph grid, while Fire Spotter is dot grid.
• The Fire Spotter design on the back cover is missing in Red Blooded, for obvious reasons.
• And the text on the inside back cover, like the Practical Applications, are different.

So if you look at both editions facing front, without their belly bands, you wouldn't be able to tell which is which, until you peek inside or flip them over. 

Red Blooded (front) and Fire Spotter (back)

Firsts

Nothing is too unique about Red Blooded, if you compare it to the previous releases. It’s a cousin to Fire Spotter, after all. But it doesn’t mean it’s not awesome. I personally love this particular red, the grey grid and the debossing. And I appreciate that Field Notes wrote a whole new set of “Practical Applications” for it that are different from Fire Spotter AND the original kraft brown ones.

I guess Red Blooded is the second after County Fair to join the standard line of products as a variation of the original 3-packs. Sadly, it has been “retired” after three printings. It sold out online at Field Notes website in November 2013. 

Some fun (for me) details:

• Red Blooded was released in February 2012 and is NOT part of the COLORS series. 
• Item number: FN-01b (County Fair is FN-01a)
• Edition size: ??? There were 3 printings before it retired.
  • 1st printing: October 2011 (Huh! Same as Fire Spotter.)
  • 2nd printing: March 2012
  • 3rd printing: January 2013
• Outside cover: French Construction 100#C “Electric Red” with text spot-varnished debossed by Flywheel Letterpress, same folks who did Raven’s Wing, Grass Stain Green, and Fire Spotter.
  • 1st and 2nd printing: Miehle V50 14" x 20" vertical cylinder press
  • 3rd printing: Original Heidelberg 10" x 15” Model T Platen press
• Inside cover: Red with black soy-based Toyo ink
  • 1st and 2nd printing: 1965 Heidelberg KORD 18" x 25.25" offset press
  • 3rd printing: Ryobi 3302M 13.375" x 17.75" Two-Color Offset press
• Wow. I have no life.
• Graph grid inside: light gray soy-based Toyo ink
• Paper inside: Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 50#T “Bright White”
• Belly band: white with black text
• Staples color: silver
• Film #1: We Made a Red One (it says it’d be available forever! Lies! :D)
• Film #2: Aaron’s Red-Blooded Video, if you prefer less cuteness.

My Favorite Practical Applications:

• #09. Red Herring Ideas
• #11. Salsa Rankings
• #15. Debts to Society
• #20. Fire Ant Attack Formations
• #29. Anger Management Reminders

Did you get those red pencils? Did you stock up on Red Blooded? You think Field Notes will ever bring it back?

Field Notes Colors: Fire Spotter

Fire Spotter is another Field Notes COLORS edition I did not get until much later. I ended my first subscription with Dry Transfer, and had decided to rely on local stores, so that I could pick and choose which editions to buy. In hindsight, that was a bad move because I learned that local stores don't consistently stock limited editions. One store even closed for good. This is the period in which I “missed out”, either because I couldn't find them locally, or forgot to buy them online. Rookie mistake.

Back cover with the edition logo

So. Fire Spotter. The red on this thing is absolutely gorgeous. I'm sure many Field Notes fans exclaimed, “Finally, red!” when it was released. (I don't think the red in County Fair counts. It's more red-orange than true red.) The impact of Fire Spotter was somewhat lost on me, unfortunately: by the time I got my hands on it, I'd already seen Red Blooded which is very, very similar (more on that here).

The inspiration behind this edition is quite interesting, though, and I like Field Notes as a brand for that. I knew diddly squat about fire spotters, so it was fun to learn as I searched what all the “Practical Applications” referred to. Did you hear about that Field Notes fan who, inspired by this edition, decided to volunteer as a fire spotter? Talk about inspiration!

Firsts

Fire Spotter is the first COLORS edition to feature dot grid pattern inside, instead of the graph grid found in the previous editions. Mr. Bryan Bedell of Field Notes said that the dot grid was “done on a whim” but that certainly didn't deter people from buying 1,500 3-packs online in less than 48 hours. Wow. To be honest, I wasn't a fan at first but I might prefer the dot grid over the regular graph grid now.

Another unique thing about Fire Spotter is that a temporary tattoo from Tattly was included in the 3-pack. The design of the tattoo is slightly different from the design on the back cover of the books but they both say, “Always Watching”. I don't have this tattoo. Boo hoo.

I should note, when this edition was released, Field Notes lowered the COLORS subscription price, from $129 to $97. I'm sure that prompted a lot of people to finally pull the trigger.

Kraft belly band

Some fun (for me) details:

• Fire Spotter (Fall 2011) is the 12th edition in the COLORS series.
• Item number: FN-01
• Edition size: 12,000 books printed in October 2011
• Outside cover: French Construction 100#C “Electric Red” with text spot-varnished debossed by Flywheel Letterpress, same folks who did Raven’s Wing and Grass Stain Green.
• Inside cover: Red with black soy-based Toyo ink
• Dot grid inside: light gray soy-based Toyo ink
• Paper inside: Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 50#T “Bright White”
• Belly band: kraft brown (looks identical to original kraft books!)
• Extras for subscribers and retail: one temporary tattoo from Tattly
• Staples color: silver
• Film: Field Notes Fire Tower (apparently, this film inspired the edition, instead of the other way around. More on the film and the featured tower here).

My favorite Practical Applications:

• #08. Binocular Cleaning Schedule
• #12: Unruly Hiker Descriptions
• #15: Lightning Strike Near Misses
• #24: Lookout Cookbook Recipes

Do you have the tattoo? Did you use it?