How do you carry your notebook?

September 8, 2006 8:29 AM

Writers, artists, and general note-dashers: how do you carry your notebook?

As a sometime writer and student, I like to carry a notebook on me so I have a place to jot down quotes and ideas. The only problem is that keeping the notebook with me at all times is often a tricky proposition. Most notebooks are too large to ride comfortably in a pants pocket; placing them in an inside jacket pocket is better, but you can't wear a jacket 24/7. I'm not even going to get into the problem of safely carrying a pen.

So, Mefites, how do you carry your notebook? Do you wear a palm pilot on a belt clip? A stack of index cards and a pencil stub in your back jeans pocket? A moleskine in a shoulder holster? And what can I do to carry my notes safely, comfortably, and conveniently?

posted by Iridic to travel & transportation (32 comments total)

A mini-moleskine and pen in my pocket. It's not much bigger than a wallet or cellphone or iPod.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 8:31 AM on September 8, 2006

The Moleskine I was talking about...
posted by sjuhawk31 at 8:32 AM on September 8, 2006

Carry the smallest steno pad (with soft cover) you can find, in your front pocket, and a pen tucked in next to it. You won't even notice it's there.
posted by Succa at 8:32 AM on September 8, 2006

I carry a Hipster PDA in my back pocket. Has come in useful a number of times, whether it be for writing directions, phone numbers, addresses, shopping lists, or random lyrics that pop into my head.
posted by mysterpigg at 8:34 AM on September 8, 2006

I have the same Moleskine as sjuhawk31 ('cept it's squared, not lined) and I carry it in my hand. It also fits in my back pocket when walking. It's generally the only thing I carry (along with a pen), so it's not particularly difficult.

Moleskine makes some soft-cover books with less pages which would be even less intrusive in a pocket.
posted by dobbs at 8:35 AM on September 8, 2006

alas, i always jot on scraps of paper (receipts, etc). not the best way. but, they do have mini composition books that i've always thought of carrying with me. they have them at cvs and such, and are about $1 a piece.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 8:39 AM on September 8, 2006

I once saw a man carry a moleskine-sized notebook tucked halfway into his back waistband.
posted by leapingsheep at 8:41 AM on September 8, 2006

plastic grocery bags ... they wear out after awhile, but there's always more
posted by pyramid termite at 8:53 AM on September 8, 2006

If you have a Japanese bookstore or stationary store nearby, try there. They tend to have lots of small, well made notebooks and pens. The one I currently carry is made by Maruman, with a Sailor mechanical pencil tucked in the binding. Fight right in my front jeans pocket, no problem, but I don't remember if I bought in in Japan or America...

Love Moleskin, but can't even seem to fit it in my pocket (Always have at least one in my bag though.)
posted by Ookseer at 8:55 AM on September 8, 2006

I think that there's no perfect way to carry a notebook, it's just habit, getting used to having it.

Experience has taught me when I'm most likely to take notes (performances), so I decide whether I have a bag for the notebook (moleskines), bring a tiny notebook (dinner), or risk it with scraps of paper I can find which end up in boxes at home. Usually if I have a notebook I also have a bag so I'm least likely to lose it. That would be disaster.
posted by scazza at 9:20 AM on September 8, 2006

This isn't quite the best for long-term storage of notes, but I have one of those foreign-word-of-the-day page-a-day calendars and I keep the pages for scrap jotting paper.

I often take a few sheets folded into quarters in my pocket if I think I'm going to need to jot something. It's just the right size to fit even in women's tiny pants pockets.
posted by cadge at 9:21 AM on September 8, 2006

I keep a Moleskine pocket cahier in my back pants pocket. The cardboard cover gradually takes on a curve from me sitting on it, and the binding is durable enough to last a month or two before disintegrating. This coincides very well with the amount of time it takes me to fill it. Plus, there are several pages in the back which are perforated for easy detachment, which is great if you need to leave a note for someone else. I keep a pen in my shirt pocket, or tucked into the button placket, or in a front pants pocket if there isn't a convenient place on the torso for it.
posted by leapfrog at 9:29 AM on September 8, 2006

smaller notepad (3"x5") in a cargo pants pocket.
posted by juv3nal at 9:39 AM on September 8, 2006

I have a combo billfold/notebook that an HPV-awareness organization sent to my work as a sample. Gotta love free samples (especially when you can remove the logo).

It's slightly larger than a wallet, and it has an elastic loop made to hold a pen.

I hope it holds up, because I haven't the forggiest idea where to get one like it.
posted by hermitosis at 9:47 AM on September 8, 2006

they do have mini composition books

I find that these fall apart really easily (at least, the one I got at Target did). They aren't sewn like full-size composition books.

I have a mini moleskine in my purse, but I am going to switch to the cahiers because I never want to write in the "nice" moleskine.
posted by cabingirl at 9:48 AM on September 8, 2006

In my purse.
posted by lampoil at 9:57 AM on September 8, 2006

Medium-sized black hardcover blank book that I carry in my hand, with a Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5 Extra Fine pen tucked inside.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:01 AM on September 8, 2006

Ooh, but now that I think of it, as part of a goody bag-style xmas present last year, I got a little tiny notebook and a little pen. While both could easily fit into the front pocket of me, a girl, the notebook probably isn't much use to this question, since it's essentially just a few tiny pages stapled together...not much of a "notebook" in the way you mean.

But the pen would be perfect for a man who wants to carry a writing utencil without carrying a bag. It's like three inches long, it has a ball point you can retract by twisting, and both ends are rounded. It's kind of fat, but it's small enough that it would fit easily into pants pocket but with no chance of stabbing.
posted by lampoil at 10:08 AM on September 8, 2006

Heheh, "hipster pda" is awesome. I've done something very close for years, but now I have a name for it.

Fuck those expensive moleskines.

So I have the cards clippied in my pocket (back, the one without the wallet for balance, boo-ya) and a large hardbound notebook in my man-purse next to my Nobel Prize.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 10:23 AM on September 8, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

I carry a small bag (it basically is a purse). I'm a big proponent of this. The idea that only women can carry purses is ridiculous. Most mens' pants can fit a wallet, keys, a phone, and not much else. If I am carrying anything beyond that, I bring the purse.

Also, some moleskines are pretty small. If you wear pants that are average as far as bagginess, one should probably fit, provided you aren't carrying too much else.
posted by gauchodaspampas at 10:44 AM on September 8, 2006

I go through phases of keeping a notebook in my front pocket, it gets bent and broken after a while, but I like that. Especially if it means cracking a moleskine's spine.

When I'm not in one of those phases, I keep my notebook by my computer, and have to remember to write anything down when I get home. I usually forget. Thinking about it now, I should probably write things on my arm.

A friend of mine used to carry around a dictaphone, but he looked furtive when he used it. Note to self...
posted by einekleine at 10:44 AM on September 8, 2006

I carry mine in a backpack; I can't quite bring myself to carry a man-purse. If I'm going somewhere that the backpack isn't quite appropriate (like to a nice restaraunt or the theater), then I just carry a few blank 3x5 notecards and a pen in my front pocket. I don't have one, but it looks like the Fisher Space Pen is a good option for avoiding pocket impailment.
posted by jknecht at 10:48 AM on September 8, 2006

Treo 650 on a pouch on my left hip. Why carry a notebook when you can carry a notebook and a phone (and an MP3 player and a diary and a camera)?
posted by Hogshead at 10:53 AM on September 8, 2006

Worth mentioning in this discussion: The Pilot G2 pen isn't bad when there's no V series around...and now, there's a pocket version.
posted by gnomeloaf at 11:03 AM on September 8, 2006

Backpack. Notebook = old clipboard, for what it's worth. I need space & flexibility for that sort of thing.
posted by furiousthought at 11:12 AM on September 8, 2006

I'm in the tiny notebook and stubby pen club. A local store carries these little pads with pictures of bugs and farm animals on them. Unfortunately, the site doesn't tell you where to buy, and appears to only sell in lots (with a display case).
posted by booth at 11:37 AM on September 8, 2006

I carry a shitty spiral bound notebook (it keeps me honest, when I tried carrying a moleskin, well, I felt like an asshole) in a backpack. I use Pilot HiTechpoint V5 Extra Fine pens, in black, because they rule. The rest of my notes: on napkins, torn pieces of paper, whatever is at hand.
posted by theinsectsarewaiting at 11:57 AM on September 8, 2006

I used to save all my ATM receipts and keep them in my wallet to scribble random thoughts on, but it turned into a Costanza-wallet embarassment, so now I try to remember to always bring my trusty Mead Five-Star spiral notebook (the roughly trade-paperback-sized one) with me as much as possible (usually in a backpack, which is a bit of a pain in the ass, but what are you gonna do).

Highly recommend the Mead Five-Stars, by the way - the pages are perforated at the spine so you can neatly tear out pages for collation and filing, thereby avoiding the twin inconveniences of having to flip back through shopping lists to get to the good stuff and of having little superfluous bits of torn spiral-notebook page cluttering your files.
posted by gompa at 12:23 PM on September 8, 2006

I have a notepad that is clipped to the visor on the driver's side of my car that came with a pencil that has been long misplaced. Therefore, there is a pen in the cup under the emergency brake where my cell phone hangs out. In my purse, two small notebooks (currently transitioning from the end of one to another).In my referee bag, a pad of notepaper swiped from a hotel in Italy. On my desk, a stack of post-it notes along with (at the moment), three pens. My bedside table contains two journals (one for day-to-day ramblings, one for more creative exploits) with 3 different pens in the drawer.

And I also have a spiral bound notebook with a page size of approximately 10"x7" that I transport between my house and the car where I write directions, notes about pissy coaches and crappy schools (for work), and other little "notes to self" that might not make it onto the visor notepad.

Whatever method you decide to use, make sure you are consistent with it. Worst thing is to realize: "I had something really awesome and probably incrediably important written down...now where'd I put it?"
posted by sperose at 6:59 PM on September 8, 2006

I second the Pocket Cahiers - I keep one on me at old times to jot notes, and set triggers for me to act on.

As for pens, I've found that the fisher space pen is perfect for the pocket. Its small enough to be unnoticeable, and with its cap, is indestructible in day to day use. I carry one on me at all times for 2 years now and have never yet had any problems with it.

One other idea there are some decent man-purses out there that don't give a man-purse vibe. I have a cool old ww2 army surplus map case. Its perfect for carrying a book and notepad. There are several remakes out there. Keep in mind that Indiana Jones always carried a man-purse. A WWII "MkVII" British Gas Mask Bag to be exact. I don't remember anyone calling Indy a pansy.
posted by jlowen at 8:04 AM on September 9, 2006

Wallet Notes™ Works great for very short notes; the self-stick stickiness is definately not Post-it quality; however, it does fit in my wallet and allows me to record little stuff.

For everyday, I keep a Mead Corp.'s Fat Little Wireless Neatbook notebook in my backpack.
posted by chase at 9:23 PM on September 9, 2006

I carry my pocket plain moleskine(s) in my timbuk2 messenger bag. Ordinarily I'm not swayed by brand names, but these two fit together so well; the timbuk2 bag has this wonderful slip-in pocket in front of the bag just under the flap that is perfectly-sized for the moleskine. Moleskine, well.. I'll write complete crap in mine without any qualms at all, it's just a blank book, not the crown jewels. And nothing else is like them that I've found, so they're worth the extra money to me.
posted by seancake at 7:57 PM on September 10, 2006