Latest Field Notes News

It’s been too long since I did a links post! The last two months have been really tough for me, and I admit all the recent Field Notes news has been a welcome distraction and a source of happy moments for me. What would I have done without Shenandoah?

I was actually composing the next Extra Staples post, when I realized it was very long, so here is a separate post dedicated to the recent developments in the Field Notes universe.

Field Notes: The 56-Week Planner
A new product from FN! It’s a spiral-bound planner in the same size as Arts & Sciences. It looks like it’s not for any specific year. There’s one week per spread, and there are no dates printed. I don’t plan on getting this any time soon, as I need more space for the weekend, but I’m curious. Like, what does the inside cover say? What’s its item number? ;) Are you getting one?

Field Notes: “The Kit” and 2016 15-Month Work Station Calendar (scroll down)
Hey, look at that! The Kit now includes a pack of Shenandoah. A very nice looking gift, if you ask me. And the work station calendar is back, too. I’ve never bought one before but I’m considering it for next year.

Field Notes: 2015 XOXO
Ever since Myke Hurley teased us with a picture of his XOXO swag, I’ve been praying that FN/XOXO would have some extra packs for us to order online. And they did! 
☆ミヾ(∇≦((ヾ(≧∇≦)〃))≧∇)ノ彡☆
As expected, they sold out in less than a day. I’m on their mailing list, so I acted promptly. USPS, please hurry!

Nixon x Field Notes coming soon?
According to this official tweet, the Nixon-branded 3-pack I mentioned previously will be available for purchase in mid-October. That’s like, soon. Unfortunately, I found this piece of information too late and overpaid for a pack on eBay. That hasn’t stopped me from checking Nixon’s online shop every day, as I wouldn’t mind getting more of that gorgeous dusty blue book.

Lots of DDC “Dead Print” Editions
Aaron Draplin is one busy fella! I don’t have any information on how to get these very limited editions but here are some IG pic links, for your viewing pleasure/pain. They’re another set of DDC projects that give us a glimpse into Draplin’s dedication to the arts community.

• Irregular Issue “DDC Dead Print”
• Mondo x Field Notes “Dead Print”
• Landland x Field Notes “Dead Print”: one, two

Field Notes AMA (Ask Me Anything)
On Tuesday September 29, 2015, Jim Coudal, Bryan Bedell, and Matthew Jorgensen of Field Notes were at Field Nuts Facebook group answering some fan questions. I didn’t participate in the AMA but I was able to read through its archive at Field Nuts Forum. As expected, it was insightful and funny! And it was nice to be reminded once again that they’re a small company made up of people who really enjoy what they’re doing and who stick to their principles. One of the things I learned: if you have an idea for Field Notes, don’t submit it. :) And RIP grilled cheese edition.

Field Notes COLORS: 2014 Recap Video
Many Field Notes fans have been wondering when FN would make a 2014 recap video. Apparently, they made it months ago but never announced it! Ha! Love’em. It was brought up during the AMA, and the video is finally linked on their Films page. What I really enjoy from these recap videos is not so much how each edition did in sales, but the behind-the-scenes anecdotes and their personal takes on each COLORS edition. And they don’t have make these videos but they do, and I appreciate that. Now, go watch it! Spoiler alert: the Clic pen offer from Arts & Sciences is still unclaimed. Well, as of the making of this recap video. :)

Delfonics Rollbahn Textured Notebooks

This is a follow-up post to my Delfonics Rollbahn Spiral Notebooks. Please read it first if you’d like more detailed look at the regular Rollbahn notebooks.

I purchased this off-white Rollbahn notebook because I thought its textured cover was a nice variation from the regular Rollbahn notebooks. This cover has a faux-leather look, while the regular covers are smooth, with semi-matte finish. I thought the cover and the gold accents were the only differences but upon closer inspection, I found more, so I thought I would summarize them here.

Faux-leather cover is debossed with gold text.

According to Delfonics, this Rollbahn Memo with Pockets LP, as it’s named, is designed to look more “high-class” than the standard offerings, and you pay roughly 50% more for it. As far as I know, it comes in only one size “L”, which measures very close to size B6. And it comes in only 5 basic, muted colors: orange, black, dark blue, green, and white (the one in this post). The inside of this “LPL” notebook is pretty much the same as the regular editions though: the pale-yellow pages are perforated and graph-ruled in light gray, and there are 5 clear pockets in the back.

The key differences I noticed are:

• The front cover is textured and debossed with gold text.
• The inside front cover is black, as opposed to the standard white.
• The spiral is gold-colored, not black, and is bigger in diameter
• The elastic band is black, not navy.
• It has 30 more pages, totalling 170 pages, instead of 140 pages.

Spiral size comparison: Regular L (top) has a much smaller spiral than the LPL (bottom).

Although I agree that it’s a level up from the regular version, I am not sure I love the bigger spiral. Yes, it has to accommodate more pages, but the LPL notebook isn’t that much thicker than the original. It feels slightly bulkier to me, and I’m afraid the spiral will get dinged up more easily. You can see in my photo at the very top that I already managed to deform the bottom of the spiral a little. If you’ve read my Muji notebook post, you know I’m sensitive about these things!

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Inside of the front cover is black.

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Elastic closure comparison: black vs. navy!

But I like that the bigger, shinier spiral renders the overall look more “executive”. It goes well with the gold title, especially on this cream cover. And the black elastic band makes the whole package look less casual than the regular version’s navy band; it also matches the inside cover nicely. Overall, it looks and feels great, and as I discussed in my first Rollbahn post, I love the quality of the body paper. As a fan of Rollbahn notebooks in general, I have no regrets having this textured version in my stash. I’ll just have to be more careful not to damage the spiral.

Textured Rollbahn in “white” (left) and regular Rollbahn in “white” (right).