I take my notebooks EVERYWHERE

[@GaryMeacher]

"I could probably look that up, but I like supposing". Again, such a charming viewpoint.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for watching and for your comments! Much appreciated.

[@amigadecachorros]

I carry a spiral hello kitty notebook everywhere since I was 8. I think if you’re into it when you’re young it never leaves you.

[@BlankFirstPage]

That's a great habit! Do you have the same notebook that you had when you were 8 or do you always find new versions to buy? Thanks for watching!

[@amigadecachorros]

@@BlankFirstPage lol. I’m always buying new ones . Tiny little stacks of pink paper. It takes the sting out of remembering to go to the pharmacy.

[@darthblade2016]

The value of having a notebook on your person cannot be overstated and has come in handy so many times for me. My memory is terrible, so i have found that writing it down as soon as i remember or think of it has saved me multiple times. Stumbled upon your channel and enjoying it so far!!

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you so much for watching and for your comments, glad you are enjoying the videos!

[@LeeDee5]

My grandfather used to always have notebooks with him and he would write down absolutely everything. I don't remember him having the fanciest supplies but he truly loved to take notes. After he passed, unfortunately (and heartbreakingly) my grandmother was essentially kicked out of her own home through some unfortunate circumstances and we lost all his things.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for sharing. Definitely don’t need fancy supplies, and sometimes the less fancy, the purer the notetaking! I am sorry about the ending to your story.

[@PatyLavir]

I never used Field Notes in my life but it's SO COOL how the brand is always doing new covers and styles for different occasions. I use my own notebooks - each one are different and special.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Indeed! Always something new to be excited about. Thank you for watching!

[@GaryMeacher]

"making a song and dance about it" to help memory is a major point for notetaking. Nicely put.

[@davidanderson3425]

Hi Lucas, as you said this channel is young but already I am looking forward to your next video. I enjoy hearing about your note taking techniques.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you so much for watching David!

[@jemmaw1675]

The Tech giants absolutely hate paper notebooks, as they cannot access, harvest and sell your data!

[@BlankFirstPage]

Great point, notebooks have got to be the most secure tech out there!

[@emeliefoster3781]

Just stumbled upon your channel. I love listening to people talk about their love of journaling and notebooks. And I was literally just writing today in my journal how I sometimes wish I used a smaller size than an A5 because I get kind of tired of being in the same book for more than a couple months! Looking forward to your next video!

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thanks so much for watching! I say treat yourself to a small notebook and use it for a while. No better excuse to get a new notebook!

[@stashedinwords448]

Thanks for the nice video! I really agree with the point about choosing to use smaller notebooks with less number of pages. Over being portable and getting to use more, they also help in letting us look back at the more stages of writing and the changes in our style. Awaiting the next video. Yours truly, Fellow stationery admirer.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you so much for watching! Agree, such an enjoyable activity looking back through notebooks. Fewer pages = more notebooks to go through!

[@lorrimaglione8478]

I just found your video and finally found someone that uses a notebook simply to meet your needs! Most videos of notebooks are works of art. Pretty…but for me, not practical. You have a great voice and I believe your honesty got me hooked. I really appreciate your videos. Keep up the good work! Liked and Subscribed. 😊

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for the comment - It is exactly why I started this channel, I love the messy, practical uses of notebooks! Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@alma4teal]

I love Supposing too! I’m loving your content and hear myself chucking while watching

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for watching!

[@adventurelogs]

after watching this, I'm inspired to start using Field Notes. After hearing you talk about Portugese food, I want to go back to Spain and Portugal. Best trip ever and the food was *chef's kiss*. Right now, I use a pocket moleskine for travel notes and impressions, and I use a larger dot grid moleskine for my bullet journal. I laughed when you talked about using your notebook as a coaster; that's definitely a multiuse EDC item right there!

[@BlankFirstPage]

*Chef’s kiss* indeed, I would love to go back, and not just for the Portuguese tarts! Do you use the hardcover pocket moleskines or the cahier? Thank you for your comment and for watching!

[@adventurelogs]

@@BlankFirstPage I use the hardcover moleskine for my travel notes.

[@marilynpfeifer5214]

I am going to love how often you answer the questions thrown at you. I am a new member…your insight is right down my a,eye, as I have loved pen and paper since I was in fifth or sixth grade! Now? A senior citizen. Lol

[@marilynpfeifer5214]

Sorry meant right down my alley

[@BlankFirstPage]

Once you love pen and paper, that connection stays with you for life.

[@karinhart489]

Thanks for your channel & using a Field Book size notebook that fits in a shirt pocket. I started using off & on a slightly smaller grid note pad some 40+ years ago that I got as a “gift” from a hardware store I regularly picked up parts at for my job. Then a few years ago I saw a Field Book notepad with grids & I recalled those hardware store flip pads of yore, so I picked up a 3 pack to write down ideas to sketch out for troubleshooting a problem (then I’d text a photo from my phone of sketch to person I was working on it with). Then a few weeks ago I decided I wanted to be more organized in how I use them. I’m trying out the dot instead of grid.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Nice! And I wish more hardware stores gave away notebooks like you mention, how cool. I find dot really good for sketching because it gives you the same structure of grid, but doesn’t get in the way of the final drawing as much as grid does.

[@francesrobinson1335]

This is the second video of yours that I've watched. I just subscribed. You are actually quite delightful.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for watching and subscribing!

[@jooky5]

I’ve tried numerous pocket notebook brands (rite in the rain, moleskine, stalogy, dingbats, zequenz, travelers, etc) and I always come back to the convenience of field notes

[@BlankFirstPage]

Field Notes win!

[@Flatability]

I totally agree with using slimmer notebooks. I use both thicker notebooks, and the slimmers ones, but, as working tools, I prefer the slimmer ones. Thanks for sharing.

[@ashleygovender4104]

Thank you. Unfortunately, I cannot find Field Notes note books in South Africa. Thanks for the ideas.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thanks for watching!

[@michaelgarcia2973]

I used to watch Colombo on TV and he would always scribble notes on a tablet and the Detective Maigret too.i remember back in 2017 i went to a local record shop and everytime i bought a CD the cashier would give me a notebook as a gift and i did use it for a time and i thought to myself that it was a neat gift.

[@BlankFirstPage]

That's an excellent gift, I wish more places did that!

[@TracySmith-xy9tq]

I haven't used pencils since my school math classes. I do have favorite types of pens, however. So far as notebooks go, I generally prefer the A5 size, as I generally don't carry one with me. Your Field Notes notebooks look good for everyday carry, however

[@BlankFirstPage]

I love A5 sized too. I tend to use them for work as I always have my work bag they can live in.

[@siennablack4690]

I carry my journal everywhere too! No matter if I think it will be a day I will have time to use it or not - I just don't feel comfortable leaving the house without it haha! It's so lovely to have a catch-all space, and one that is tactile and handwritten. :) I use paperblanks for my journal (which last about 6-8 months) and moleskins for my commonplacing. Though you have inspired me to start carrying field notes with me for more lightweight, everyday use (I am hoping it will replace the notesapp... Which in my case is full of hundreds of notes and incredibly disorganised).

[@kan-zee]

I love the PENTALIC Field bullet Journals (4x6 size) ...but they boosted the prices from $15 to $45 a book ....and now I am looking at buying up these Field notes , in the future, with a leather cover. To bad...cause the paper that Pentalic uses..is fantastic.

[@BlankFirstPage]

I’ve never used them. Damn.. that’s quite the price increase!

[@SmithsFitness]

Awesome work mate. I'm currently trying to make a field notes version for my gym programs. We have an app, but I want to use it almost like a business card. Something tangible, tactile that people can keep, get dirty and value :) :) Keep up the good work!

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for watching! I’d be signing up to a gym that gave out field notes!

[@lorengaffin4469]

Just found your channel! I have been journaling all my life. I have used Field Notes to record my knitting projects. I use the boring ones regulated to lefties. I guess the company doesn’t think Lefties like pretty notebooks to carry around for note taking. I do! Thanks for your channel!

[@BlankFirstPage]

I always wished I was a leftie. Sometimes I practice writing with my left for fun. I have a field notes solution for lefties but it involves writing in them back to front and upside down. Not great if you have stationery ‘rules’ like I do, but it could open up the field notes world to you. Thank you for watching and for your comment! Much appreciated!

[@charlierharper]

I agree, some of the best experiences with brands are when they do one thing exceptionally well. I am trying to expand from the Field Notes into using commonplace books. I agree about the thicker notebooks, I've picked up some Baronfig Vanguard flagship-sized dot grid notebooks which are thin and flexible I want to start incorporating as project notebooks. One thing about bullet journalling to take away I guess is the threading aspect if I am going to do that. Are you threading from your field notes to your larger notebooks?

[@BlankFirstPage]

How do you find Baronfig paper? It's one brand I've never tried. Had to go watch some videos about what threading is! It's a very interesting and organised concept. I haven't done it with my field notes to larger notebooks. If I've got a specific large notebook for a project, what I'll do if I've got short notes in my field notes is to either copy them over again, as if I'd written them directly into the project notebook, or else use the Field Notes notes as a 1st draft, and then when I transfer over to the project notebook, expand and re-write, so that I get a second, refined draft that way. One thing I like about the haphazard kind of way (no index etc.) I use my field notes is that when I need to go find a previous note, I often have to flip through the whole notebook, or multiple notebooks. That's kind of a forced way of having to interact with the notebook again and spend more time with it. I like that.

[@charlierharper]

@@BlankFirstPage The Baronfig paper has more tooth but is still great. I like it because it doesn't have as much ghosting to it as Field Notes or Leuchtrum notebooks. I will say that the Vanguard notebook covers seem more flexible and less durable than Field Notes so I don't think I would try their pocket sized version as a alternative to Field Notes, but the flagship sized notebooks are great, light, and I really like their dot grid. Their dot grid really does disappear it seems into the page as you add your content unlike other brands of dot grid paper. The dots don't show through to each page either so you never get that double vision of dots like you would in a Leuchtrum notebook which is terrible IMO. I might would debate you on the use of threading and indexing, I don't think it takes away the joy of flipping back through, a index would quickly remind you of what all is in the notebooks to flip to with more intention and inspiration. But i get the feeling of going back through and seeing where my mind was at in my old notebooks too. I will say, since yesterday's comment about Goodnotes on my iPad I may have jumped the gun on a few things, I may need to revisit it for certain reasons related to work, but the pen and paper still reign supreme. Happy scribbling.

[@Wolverine3660]

I carry my Field Notes notebooks either in the breast pocket of my shirts and if a pocket is unavailable, I carry the notebook in the shoulder bag I usually carry. I do such that the pencil in pages of the notebook does not smudge or rub off like what you showed in your notebook. I also think I have to start using a ballpoint pen or a gel pen to write with instead of using a wooden pencil or a mechanical pencil like I have been doing.

[@BlankFirstPage]

When you use a normal wooden pencil, do you also carry around a sharpener? I find the Blackwing Extra-Firm core are pretty good at resisting breaking, don't think I've ever had a point break while using it, and I do use a point protector, but I always feel slightly on edge if all I have is my pencil and no sharpener!

[@evilcritter]

I asked for those signs of spring notebooks for my birthday and for christmas, but I never got them and now they are sold out at my pen shop!

[@BlankFirstPage]

That's very disappointing! There are some online stationers around that still have them - hopefully where you live doesn't mean shipping is as expensive as the notebooks! Thank you for watching!

[@planningandpowerlifting]

I'm thinking of using an EDC notebook for when I don't feel like carrying my purse and B6 slim planners with me. Eventually, I will probably use either a passport traveler's notebook or a mini Plotter, but for now, I will probably use a memo notebook so I can be lazy and simply tip pages into my planner.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Definitely all for an EDC notebook, whatever form it takes. A memo notebook that you can directly feed into a planner is a great system too! Thanks for watching!

[@Rick-fz7tt]

I meant the name of your kaki canvas bag you carry your journals? Thank you😊

[@jonrutherford6852]

Circa 4:30 -- think of it not as dirt but patina....:-)

[@BlankFirstPage]

Yes!

[@tinakoyama8258]

You had me at "Pastel de nata"!! I ate so many of those in Portugal, too! 😋Thanks for sharing your shopping, too!

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for watching!

[@qiqerod]

How’s your calendar system? Seems interesting the way you do your monthly layout. Love your content man. New subscriber here

[@BlankFirstPage]

I lay out 2 months per page, and then will circle (events) or square days (time off work/public holidays) to mark specific things. Sometimes I’ll scrawl tiny notes against the day if I’ve got more than one thing on. It’s very simple but it works! Thanks so much for watching and subscribing!

[@scottallen2190]

My wife loves the Muji pens.

[@BlankFirstPage]

They are great

[@VereneLemieux]

I love field notes!! I wish i can afford them haha

[@hollyhockNYC]

Portuguese custard tarts... Drool.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Yes.

[@isil.8090]

i really like your video. 3 Years ago I bought a Travelers notebook from the Travelers company in regular and passport size. I really enjoy the aging of the brown and camel color. Have u tried those ones? they also sell inserts wich are interchangable.. So you keep the leather cover and you change just the little booklets. I think that you would like them too :D

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thank you for watching! I've never tried the Traveler's notebooks, although I've thought about it for exactly the reasons you describe! After 3 years you must have an awesome looking cover. They just get better and better with age

[@isil.8090]

@@BlankFirstPage That is absolutely true. My cover looks just awesome. I could really see you with one. I recommend the brown ore olive ones.

[@lindyredmond9838]

I just found your videos and now have watched a few. I find your thoughts so interesting. Also you collection of 92 Field Notes is inspiring. I have a question and i don’ t mean it to be a criticism. I am a journaler so i value nice notebooks, paper, and keeping memories as you do. But my question is why do you so value to keep notebooks that are mainly To Do lists that you cross off when you finish? Why would you want to know those things you completed two years from now? I understand that you jot something then transfer it to another notebook if you need to keep it but why keep books that the tasks are all completed? Not a criticism, just trying to understand. Thank you.

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thanks for watching! I like the look of a scratchy notebook with to do lists and random notes. I don’t normally have much that is meaningful to write down, but I often remember where I was or what I was doing when I look back on my notes, even if it’s just to do lists. So it’s kindof like a photo album that’s just triggering memories. I enjoy the texture and the feeling of a well used notebook so I just like leafing through them for the tactile feel of it, even if what’s in them isn’t that interesting.

[@lware1]

Where did you get the leather pencil tip cover?

[@BlankFirstPage]

I made it!

[@lware1]

@@BlankFirstPage nice work! Great idea

[@BlankFirstPage]

Thanks! It works quite well and is nice and light too

[@Rick-fz7tt]

Would you let men know the brand or model of your kaki back you carry? Thank you

[@BlankFirstPage]

Sure! The brand is Filson and it's a 'Rugged Twill Original Briefcase' in Otter Green

[@Rick-fz7tt]

@@BlankFirstPage 🙏 thank you

[@lware1]

What do you document in the pocket field notes? I would like to see more specific examples if possible.

[@BlankFirstPage]

I will see if I can put a video together exploring what I document in the pocket notebooks. I'd say most of it is lists (vid coming soon)- shopping and to-do lists. I write lists over and over, so if I've completed 70-80% of a list, I'll take what's left and write a fresh one out, as the remaining items tend to get lost in the mostly crossed out list. I also track my weekly spend and personal finances in the notebooks (vid also coming out soon). And then the rest of the notebook is filled with a general category of notes I call chicken scratchings. One-line notes about book recommendations, video ideas, clothing/furniture/homeware brands I've found etc. - anything and everything :) Thanks for watching and thanks for the interest, I'll work on that video!

[@lware1]

That sounds like a great system. Would love to see a video. Thanks!

[@PlanYourOneLife]

😅 “I like supposing.” 😂

[@pomoster]

But what happened to the other .5? Did someone eat it? I hope so! (Love your channel, btw.) :)

[@BlankFirstPage]

I can’t find it, which I definitely need to because I was borrowing it :) Thank you for watching!

[@prissscilla9952]

I like supposing as well 😂

[@matthewhayes9734]

I see you like black. Why not use a black bag as your everyday carry?

[@BlankFirstPage]

At the time I bought my EDC bag (Filsom briefcase), Filson didn’t make an all black version. I think in the years since then, they have released special editions that are black, but now I’ve got mine. I have thought of dying it, although I’m not sure how well that would work