Paper Review: The Field Notes Steno Pad

I know, it’s hard to believe that I’ve never used this product before now, but Field Notes’ contemporary take on a classic piece of stationery - the lined chipboard steno pad - has somehow stayed off my radar until I received a couple of them in a retail display assortment that arrived a few weeks ago. You know what? These are surprisingly good, even with fountain pens, and definitely should be on your radar as a durable everyday writing pad that’s made in the USA (something many may be paying more attention to these days as there’s increased uncertainty surrounding potential increases in the cost of imports).

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The Field Notes Steno Pad features a classic Gregg ruling with brown ink on bright white paper. Note the elegant rounded corners.

Specifications and writing experience

The Field Notes Steno Pad isn’t fancy, and that’s by design. It’s a 6”x9”, 80-page, Gregg-ruled classic steno book with a brown chipboard cover and a black double-O wired binding. The paper is white Finch 70# stock, which exhibits some show-through with fountain pens but honestly is pretty good. I’ve had no issues using both sides of the paper, especially given that I generally use steno pads such as this one as a general catch-all below or to the side of my computer keyboard at work. Nearly everything I jot down on it gets incorporated into something that I’m immediately working on, such as a brief, letter, or e-mail. It’s effectively scratch paper.

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This 70# paper shows no very little to no feathering with fine and medium nibs, and even one architect.

The reverse of the page photographed above. I would call this more “show-through” than bleed-through and perfectly fine for how I use this pad.

A lot of the Field Notes appeal is in the design, and there are slightly less expensive options, but from a practical perspective, I do enjoy how sturdy this steno pad is. The chipboard cover is quite stiff, and the pad itself is large enough to cover a folded letter-size piece of paper. I’ve found myself tucking notes inside the cover and then slipping the entire pad into my bag as a makeshift mini portfolio. (You can even wrap a larger rubber band around it and the chipboard will hold up without bending.) As I wrote long ago in this early post on the original Kraft paper Field Notes pocket notebook, Field Notes excels at balancing classic design with usability, and their take on the classic steno pad is no exception.

Just to give an indication of size.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

You can always rely on Field Notes for a fresh take on the basics, and if you’re looking for a classic, vintage-style Steno pad with good paper that will stand-up to heavy use in a bag, give this one a try. A huge benefit to these is that they are relatively easy to find, both online and in local stores, as Field Notes has broad distribution. We’ve started carrying the Field Notes Steno Pads in our own shop, both online and brick-and-mortar, alongside the rest of the Field Notes line. These notepads/notebooks retail for $12.95 and are sold individually.

Come visit us in person! Public hours are Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, Saturday from 10-2pm (closing early on 2/1), and otherwise by appointment. We look forward to seeing you this week! We’ve just received a large restock of paper from brands such as Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Field Notes, and more, so be sure to check it out.

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You even get a free short course in Gregg shorthand.

New Arrivals: Tennessee-Made Pencils from Musgrave and A Blackwing Restock!

Musgrave Pencils, made just down the road from us in Shelbyville, Tennessee, are one of my all-time favorite stationery products. A family-owned business for more than 100 years, Musgrave makes a variety of pencil styles at a reasonable price point, and we’re happy to offer a fairly large selection from the outset. To get started in the Musgrave world, I often direct people to the “Heritage” sampler set, which contains 12 different pencils from across the Musgrave line, including a couple of “jumbos” and some of their specialty graphite such as news and test-scoring pencils. We also have classics such as the Harvest Professional (a classic yellow No. 2), three different varieties of the Musgrave Bugle, a 4B “Songwriter Pencil”, and the B/No. 1 “Pencil King”. (The latter two pencils are round, and extremely comfortable to use.)

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The latest Volumes release features extra-firm graphite and a burgundy eraser!

Finally, nearly all Blackwing is back in stock, including additional Blackwing 602 pencils, the latest Volume release (“Native American Art” Edition), and one-step long-point sharpeners. We’re going to continue to add pencil products throughout the year, so stay-tuned!

Come visit us in person! Public hours are Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm, Saturday from 10-6pm, and otherwise by appointment. We look forward to seeing you this week!

Sunday Reading January 26, 2025

1. Do I Really Need to Get Into Pantone Brown (A Gathering of Curiosities). Also not sure I’m all-in on this one.

2. 24 Memorable Inks in 2024 (via Olive Octopus Ink). Seriously, hide your wallet.

3. 2025 Philadelphia Pen Show Recap (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). I missed the Philly Show this year, so it was great to catch up.

4. 14k Flex! The Magna Carta Mag 650 (via Figboot on Pens). Magna Carta has experimented more than most with larger nibs and flex nibs, and here’s an attempt at a vintage-style 14k flex. Honestly this looks good.

5. Fountain Pen Cleaning? (via Stationery Pizza). I’ve fallen waaaay off the wagon on my fountain pen cleaning lately. I need to do a reset soon.

6. Dressco Cloth Notebook (via Blake’s Broadcast). I’ve seen Dressco notebooks available and have been curious, but I’ve never tried one. Same for “Conqueror” paper.

7. How Do Your Various Interests Complement Each Other? (via SBRE Brown). Do you find that all of your interests complement each other or compete for your attentions?

8. What Makes a Good Ink Bottle? (via Rachel’s Reflections). Another take on what makes a good ink bottle. Emphasis on stability.

9. Journaling the Backyard (via From the Pen Cup). What a cool journaling idea. Another great post from Mary.

10. Shachihata Daily Log Stamp - Weather and Days of the Week (via Well-Appointed Desk). These daily stamps let you add dates, weather and more to your planner and journals. I’m exploring stamps more lately.

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In Case You Missed It….

This week on the blog I reviewed my latest “Workhorse Pen,” the Pilot S20 Ballpoint with the Dr. Grip “Cocoon” hybrid refill. I also wrote a new installment on my 2025 writing/notetaking system, in which I look at pocket notebooks and index cards, and how the two might work together.

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The Musgrave Bugle is a classic capless wood pencil that comes in three different finishes!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

We had a big week of new arrivals in the shop, including not only a fresh shipment of Pilot and Uni ballpoints, but new notebooks from Anecdote Goods, the latest Lochby Release (Field Journal Mini), a giant shipment of wood pencils from local-to-us manufacturer Musgrave, and the latest Volumes release from Blackwing with a full restock of sharpeners and more! The January hold has lifted on most distributors and new goods are arriving every day. Be sure to check out Thursday Drops for a full list of new arrivals.

Our brick-and-mortar shop will be open again this coming week. Come by and see us!

Musgrave

Notsu

Anecdote Goods

Field Notes

Check Out T.G.S. Patreon for Breaking news and first access/Special pricing on exclusives and Sample Sales

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No matter how you support us - even if just with a comment, recommendation, or encouraging word - we greatly appreciate your readership!

Everyday Notetaking and Creating an "Idea File": On Perforated Field Notes and Index Cards

One thing I’ve struggled with in my notetaking system over the years is organizing and managing information for longer-term use. Sure, if my notes are immediately incorporated into a larger piece of work, like a blog post or a legal brief, this isn’t much of an issue because I typically won’t keep the raw notes and will just discard them when I’m done with the project. But what about those stray thoughts and ideas that I write down not necessarily for immediate, or even intermediate-term, use? An idea for a post or product or book that I might not get around to writing for a year or more? I’m sure that I have dozens of such ideas and stray thoughts buried in old journals and notebooks, but they’re not easily accessible, much less organized by topic or in any other useful way. Lately I’ve been preoccupied with creating a filing system for this type of information with minimal structure that doesn’t take too much time to maintain.

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Some pocket notebooks from years past. Some are VERY old.

As I hinted at in my post earlier this year discussing my planner setup for 2025, I’m renewing my focus on finding and using the right tool for the job, rather than trying to make everything fit within the confines of a single system, like I tried last year with Hobonichi. So what’s the solution here? I spent some time over the holidays sorting through my personal “archive” of old notebooks, and honestly when I felt the most “organized” (relatively speaking) was when I consistently carried a 3x5 pocket notebook to collect the random stuff. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but when I finished each notebook, I was in the habit of quickly flipping through and extracting the important ideas from the shopping lists and other miscellany, and either transcribing it somewhere else, tearing out the page and photographing or scanning it, or simply writing up a quick index at the back to highlight the best bits and then filing the entire notebook away.

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These are good perforations. They’re sturdy enough to hold together in the notebook, while still allowing you to remove pages cleanly. (The paper is what I would call “decently” fountain pen friendly, and very good for Field Notes.) I’m also considering testing some of the Maruman Mnemosyne A7 and B7 pads, which also have perforated pages and will have more fountain pen friendly paper.

I started considering a return to pocket notebooks when I saw that the latest Field Notes special edition (“Vintage”) featured perforated pages that are about the same size as a 3x5 index card when detached. I’ve also been using more index cards in general, and have begun carrying them around in my bag because I like being able to sketch out thoughts and ideas while visually rearranging the cards. I’ve had mixed luck with index cards, in terms of finding ones that can handle all the various types of pens and pencils that I use, but recently I’ve been very impressed with two brands: Levenger (a classic) and a new brand called Notsu, which makes very ink friendly dot grid index cards as well as some foldable “To Do” format cards.

The Notsu “Centre Rise” is a product I’m testing out. It’s a combination card case and stand that fits together magnetically and ships with dividers you can use for a mini filing system. I’ve been carrying this one around in my briefcase, and made a small-ish test order for the shop. You will likely see a separate post on the system itself.

A few weeks back I went on Amazon and purchased a 3x5 index card file box with dividers, which I’ve since been using to collect and organize not just index cards but torn out pages from Field Notes, old sticky notes and small slips of paper, Plotter cards and Mini 5 sheets and more. I’m still working on how broadly/specifically to organize topics and ideas, but I’m liking how the project is taking shape.

Isn’t This a Use Case for Digital Software?

Maybe for some people, but I’ve tried using tools like Evernote, Devonthink, and Tinderbox over the years, and for me, each of them adds another layer of complexity and digital work (mainly tagging files with hashtags) in order to make the system usable. It also requires you to regularly go back through your notebooks and journals and physically transcribe or type information. I end up spending more time tinkering with the software than actually writing. While some might find my system archaic (though probably not readers of this blog), I vastly prefer a simple physical filing system, though it does require a periodic review to keep it relevant and useful.

One thing I like about this Notsu card case - separate and apart from the “stand” functionality - is that it closes up into a fairly compact, sturdy box that slips easily into your bag for taking notecards on the go. (It fits any 3x5 cards, not just the Notsu brand.)

I’m also becoming more interested in index cards and how people use them. Do we have any other index card fans out there? I’ve read many articles on how professional writers - and particularly writers of nonfiction - use index cards to organize research and ideas, though these systems can get pretty elaborate and span multiple boxes of cards. Personally, I’d love to keep just the single card file for storage, and regularly prune it back by discarding those ideas that don’t turn into anything that I’d ever use. Stay tuned!

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

Thursday Drops: Introducing the Lochby Field Journal Mini, New Notebooks from Anecdote Goods, and More!

Now that we’re into the second half of January, we’re starting to see new arrivals show up on our doorstep as warehouses restart shipping. The first big new product release of 2025 is the Lochby Field Journal Mini, designed to hold up to four pocket notebooks in the “standard” 3.5” x 5.5” size. (This includes Field Notes and the Lochby Tomoe River 68gsm paper notebooks.) We also received a general restock of our other Lochby products, which include the popular full-size Field Journal, the Quattro Pen Case, and the Venture Pouch.

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We also want to welcome Anecdote Goods, a Los Angeles-based notebook company that makes sturdy notebooks covered in either buckram cloth or vegan leather. We’ve tried to find some new brands that represent a balance of performance and value, and these perform quite well for a $20-and-under price point. Finally, we have a fresh shipment of everyday ballpoints, including Pilot S20s, Pilot Birdies, and Uni Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pens in colors old and new. (Perhaps to pair with your new Anecdote?)

Our brick and mortar shop is open again this week for regular hours Thursday through Saturday, and otherwise by appointment. For directions and specific hours keep an eye on this page, which will also reflect any changes each week due to inclement weather, travel, etc.

1. Lochby Field Journal Mini. One of the main requests at pen shows last year was a Lochby Field Journal sized to fit the Lochby Tomoe River Pocket Notebooks. Well, that day has come! Available in the same three colors as the rest of the Lochby lineup, the smaller Field Journal has a four-cord setup that allows you to loop in four different pocket notebooks.

2. Lochby Pocket Notebooks. These 3.5” x 5.5” pocket notebooks feature 68g Tomoe River Paper in either dot, lined, or plain format, and are back in stock just in time for the Mini Lochby Field Journal.

3. Anecdote Goods Hardcover Journals. A common request that I’ve had in the shop is for a solid everyday notebook that represents a balance of quality and value. These hardcover notebooks from Anecdote feature a buckram cloth cover with a pleasant texture, and either dotted or lined paper that handles most ink fairly well, though especially wet inks and fountain pens broader than medium might see some show-through.

4. Anecdote Goods Softcover Journals. These inexpensive softcover journals feature 192 pages of lined paper and a vegan leather cover with an elastic closure. Note that this paper is lighter weight than in the hardcover journal and should probably be limited to non-fountain pens.

5. Profolio Notebooks. These softcover fountain pen friendly notebooks feature multi-lined paper similar to Nakabayashi Logical Prime/Logical Air and Clairefontaine Seyes-Ruled, though in a warm cream tone.

6. Lochby Quattro Four-Pen Case. One of our most popular accessories, the Quattro features four pen slots, which are offset to allow for a slimmer form factor as well as additional protection for your pens.

7. Lochby Venture Pouch. The reversible Lochby Venture Pouch combines a standard pen/pencil/stationery pouch with a pen case, using a cool reversible design. Check out this YouTube video to see how it works.

8. Pilot S20 Ballpoint Pens. The Pilot S20 ballpoint has become one of my favorite new everyday workhorses. The refill is the Dr. Grip-style “Cocoon”, which features Pilot Acro-ink in a .7mm fine tip and is available for purchase separately. Check out our Workhorse Pens write-up from yesterday.

9. Uni Jetstream 4+1 Multi Pens. Now including a new beige color! These favorite 4-colors-plus-mechanical-pencil multi pens come in muted pastels plus a comfortable bamboo grip. (Oh, and we have more of the Karimoku collaborations as well, which include a section made from repurposed furniture wood.)

10. Anterique Brass Ballpoints. The classic click pen, kicked up a notch. These feature the exceptionally good Anterique Mach-Ball refill and a brass barrel which gives the front of the pen a nice balance. They also patina well over time.

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