I’ve been thinking about the direction to take this blog for a little while now, and am looking to deviate from a self-commentary on setting up a blog on the various platforms I’ve tried so far (Ghost / Jekyll).

Instead I’m experimenting with a new concept, which I’m calling, things I enjoy. More specifically, stationery.

For those that know me they’d say I’m organised, and that I have a particular style to how I note things. Whether this is with fountain pens, or an everyday carry paper and pen notebook, or a diary in Japanese. It’s simply my curation of things, things I enjoy.

To kick-off this series, I’m going to start with something that I carry (almost) everyday, my field notes capture tool, or as I refer to it Muninn. Muninn (after one of Odin’s ravens in mythology, the other raven being Huginn or my iPhone).

What I call Muninn came about as a collaboration between Field Notes, and Bellroy. Originally it came with a few Field Notes notebooks, but I’ve since used those up and am now working my way through a small stockpile of Field Notes notebooks. With the latest, in use, notebooks being TRAILHEAD (or FNC-51: SUMMER 2021) one of a limited 30,000 pack edition.

Trailhead cover Trailhead spread

The specifications (cover and original notebooks), in traditional Field Notes style, are listed as:

  1. Proudly printed by the good people of Service Graphics, Inc., Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.
  2. Cover: French Dur-O-Tone 80#C “Packing Brown Wrap,” with a thick, brute force, 1-color application of “Dachshund Nose” black soy-based Toyo ink.
  3. Innards: Finch Paper Opaque Smooth 60#T “Bright White,” with a fine, 1-color application of “Double Knee Duck Canvas” light brown soy-based Toyo ink.
  4. Cover printed on a Mitsubishi Diamond Series 40” 6-color printing press.
  5. Innards printed on a Miller TP104 28” × 40” 2-color printing press.
  6. Bound by a Heidelberg ST350 “Stitchmaster” 8-pocket saddle stitcher, with appreciation to Samuel Slocum, George W. McGill, and William J. Brown, the “Founding Fathers of the Staple.”
  7. Corners precisely rounded to 3/9” (9.5mm) by a CRC round-corner machine.
  8. Graph grid: 3/16” × 3/16” (4.7mm × 4.7mm). 48 Pages.
  9. Memo book dimensions are 3-1/2” x 5-1/2” (89mm x 140mm).
  10. Field Notes uses only the Futura typeface family (Paul Renner, 1927) in its materials.
  11. All Field Notes memo books are printed and manufactured in the U.S.A.
  12. Case dimensions (with one Field Notes Bellroy memo book): 4-1/8” w × 5-7/8” h × 1/2” d
  13. Case made of vegetable-tanned leather, dyed through
  14. Case fits Memo Book, 4-6 Cards, Pen, Magnetic closure
  15. Designed by Bellroy, in Australia. Manufactured in India.
  16. UPC: 9343783004461

cover cover

With the cover being used to hold:

  • Field Notes memo book (3.5” x 5.5”)
  • Pen/pencil
  • Bank-card (contactless payments) working through the cover)
  • Public transport card
  • Holding my library card

and the Notebook being used as a:

  • Capture tool (in the Getting Things Done style)
  • Somewhere to Brainstorm and make lists

References: