A pocket notebook should form a part of your everyday carry. It goes along with your preferred writing instrument to keep your notes, thoughts, lists, sketches and drawing if you are so inclined. In this digital age, keeping handwritten notes is oftentimes more ideal, as writing helps us remember better, and we can be more creative when it comes to jotting things down. Writing is a good habit to develop rather than just keeping ideas your head, and risk of forgetting them later on. So read further to find more about choosing and getting the best pocket notebooks for you.
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Choosing the Best Pocket Notebooks
The best pocket notebooks for EDC should be small and lightweight, durable, and readily available when needed. Having a pocket notebook handy for short notes or lists is better than carrying larger sized notebooks that are difficult to keep in person.
There are many types of pocket notebooks all with different types of cover, paper, and binding. There are also certain notebooks ideal for specific tasks.
- Notebooks with stapled covers are good enough for daily use, but stitching will keep together pages longer than stapled ones.
- Notebooks with covers made from soft cardboard are lightweight and more flexible. Those that have hardcovers are more durable.
- Plain paper, ruled, dot-grid, or other custom type of ruling which depends on users preference.
- Paper is the most important item to consider when buying a notebook. Most notebooks will work with roller ball or gel pens. If you are a regular fountain pen user, then choose a notebook that uses thicker paper which will prevent ink bleed-through or ghosting.
- There are notebooks that are suited for specific purpose, like travelers journal, bullet notes, and those that you can customize to fit your needs.
Here are the top 20 best pocket notebooks for everyday carry.
The Best Pocket Notebooks
Field Notes Original Kraft Notebook
Field Notes makes some of the best pocket notebooks and a well known brand by everyday carry enthusiasts. The original Field Notes Kraft notebook is slim and lightweight. This pocket size notebook can be comfortably kept in back pockets or a shirt pocket. The notebook has 48 pages of bright white paper which is deal for ballpoint or gel pen users. Fountain pen users may have issues with ink bleeding through the paper. The notebook comes in three variants, ruled, graph, or plain paper. Field notes is a good budget pick for pocket notebooks so try it out
Field Notes Expedition Notebook
Field Notes Expedition notebooks are perfect for the outdoors. The dotted paper notebook can withstand the elements, rain, heat, cold and the paper is also acid-proof and tear-proof. Using ballpoint pens and pencils is a must, as gel or fountain pens will smudge due to the nature of the paper. This small notebook is best paired with a Fisher Space pen, both works under extreme conditions.
Field Notes Pitch Black Notebook
Field Notes Pitch Black notebook is an all-black edition notebook. It has sturdy black covers, glossy black staples and gray dot-grid ruling on a smooth opaque paper. If you prefer a dotted notebook with a dark theme for your everyday carry kit, pair this small notebook with a Palomino Blackwing pencil or a black pen. This dot grid notebook is a definite must have.
Rhodia Staplebound Pocket Notebook
Rhodia Staplebound notebook is a pocket sized notebook that has a durable waterproof cover. It has 48 pages of 80g extra-white acid-free Rhodia paper with light purple lines. Rhodia paper is fountain pen friendly and will work with different types of pens. Fountain pen users will love this as their writing notebook as ink bleed through won’t be an issue.
Rhodia Webnotebook
Rhodia Webnotebook is a larger sized notebook that features a cardboard with soft leatherette cover. It has an elastic closure, expandable inner pocket and ribbon marker. The dotted notebook pages are stitch bound and uses 96 sheets of super smooth fountain pen friendly 90g Clairefontaine paper. This high quality paper means no feathering or ink bleed through when using different pens. The dot grid notebook is great as a pocket journal and for taking notes. It is a must have for those who value high quality notebooks with the finest paper for writing.
Moleskine Classic Notebook
Moleskine notebook is a well known basic and traditional notebook. The Moleskine Classic notebook has a rigid cardboard cover with textured pattern and contains 192 pages of acid-free paper. You can select from grid, ruled, or blank pages. The notebook has an elastic closure, ribbon bookmark, and expandable inner pocket to keep those loose paper or receipts. Ballpoint pens are best used with this notebook as gel pens, rollerballs, or fountain pens may show some feathering or bleed through. Moleskine Classic is a reliable notebook for work, school, or travelling.
Moleskine Cahier Notebook
Moleskine Cahier are small pocket notebooks and perfect for day-to-day use. The notebook has flexible cardboard cover with visible stitching on the spine for added durability. There is a pocketon the back cover for keeping loose notes or receipts. It has 64 pages of 70gsm acid-free paper with the last 16 pages removable to easily share notes. This slim pocket notebook is best paired with a ballpoint pen or pencil as inky pens may bleed through the pages. Moleskine notebook is the best pocket notebook for todo lists, jotting notes, and random thoughts.
Moleskine Volant Extra Small Notebook
Moleskine Volant is a pocket sized notebook similar to Cahier. The main difference is that it is extra smaller in size, has a soft textured cover and only has 54 perforated pages with all pages detachable. This makes it ideal for keeping grocery lists, to-do lists, and sharing notes.
Rite in the Rain All-Weather Hard Cover Notebook
Rite in the Rain All-Weather notebok is ideal for people who loves the outdoors. You will be able to write in all weather conditions as the notebook paper is weather proof and will repel water. The paper is not tearproof, which means you can easily share notes by tearing off pages from the notebook. Due to the waterproof paper, ballpoint pens and pencils work best with this notebook. Pair this notebook with a Rite in the Rain All-Weather clicker pen and you are good to go even under extreme weather conditions.
Leuchtturm 1917 Classic Notebook
Leuchtturm 1917 Classic provides a variety of features for organization compared to other notebooks. The notebook has a durable cardboard cover with 185 thread-bound pages that opens flat for easy note taking. If you like a notebook with pockets, this one has an expandable inner pocket for keeping loose notes, two page markers to keep tabs on important notes and last page used, an elastic fastener, and stickers for labeling. The notebook paper is high quality 80gsm acid-free and bleed proof to ensure no-fuss writing with fountain pens.
Leuchtturm 1917 Whitelines Notebook
Leuchtturm 1917 Whitelines LINK notebook has a new feature that allows the content to be digitally captured without any ruling visible. The white lines or dotted rules on an off-gray paper with page markers will no longer be visible after scanning or photocopying the page. You can also take a photo using Whitelines LINK app and hare your notes or sketches and share it via email, Evernote or Dropbox. No more worrying about losing your notebook, you always have a way to backup digitally. Need to have a dot grid journal and be able to keep a digital version, this notebook is worth checking out just because of this feature.
Word. Notebook
Word. Notebooks are notebooks ideal for recording your thoughts, keeping lists, and documenting ideas. This notebook uses bullet point system for organization as each page contains with bullet points in the margins of each line. A brief guide about bullet journal available in the inside cover which makes it easy for beginners to start using the system.
The Adventure Log Notebook
Are you a traveler? Document your outdoor stories and travel experiences using the Adventure Log notebook. Compared to ordinary notebooks, it has easy to fill sections to log your travel location, date, weather condition, companions, and notes. Keep a pocket journal while travelling? Keep a record of your adventures, like hiking notes, road trips, cruises, wine or whisky tasting trips, and overseas travels with this excellent notebook.
Elan Field Notebook
Elan Field notebooks are durable pocket notebooks with highly visible bright orange covers. These notebooks are tough being both weatherproof and tear-proof. It is possible to write in the rain, or even underwater, so it is best paired with the proper writing instrument like a Fisher or Rite in the Rain pens.
Doane Paper Utility Notebook
This is the larger version of Doane Paper Utility notebook. It is minimalist looking with a unique combination of dot grid and line pattern on the pages. This makes it easy to write notes, create checklists, and even simple sketches or line drawings. The combination of grid and lines will make this notebook an ideal dot grid journal.
Clairefontaine Life Unplugged Roadbook Notebook
Clairefontaine notebooks makes high quality notebooks and is one the best pocket notebooks for fountain pen users. The Clairefontaine Roadbook has ruled pages with 64 sheets of 90g, opaque white, acid free notebook paper that prevents bleed through and ghosting. The hard cardboard cover has an elastic band to keep the cover shut and also doubles as a loop to keep loose notes or receipts.
Sigel Conceptum Notebook
Sigel Conceptum notebook is a well designed full featured notebook which won a Red Dot design award. The notebook features a ribbed cover with elastic fastener and pen loop. There are two ribbon markers that are used to keep track of important pages and the last page used. It is a notebook with pockets and inside are three types of filling compartments; quick pocket, archive pocket for loose notes, and a card slot for business cards. It has 194 pages of square ruled paper with numbered pages and included table of contents to easily index your notes.
First Draft Co. Notebook
First Draft Co pocket notebooks are minimalist looking notebooks that comes in different colors. The hardbound covers have a cloth like material that gives it a unique texture. Compared to other notebooks, it comes with a removable braided elastic side band with pen loop. It comes with 224 blank pages of thick 70# text stock paper which works well with ballpoints and gel pens. The blank pages means that you can write or sketch freely without any distractions.
Tomoe River Pocket Notebook
Tomoe River is a Japanese brand well-known for making ultra-thin, smooth, 52 gsm fountain pen friendly paper. The dotted paper notebook resists bleed-through and feathering which makes it possible to pair with a wide variety of pens and makes it an excellent writing notebook. This pocket notebook is compact with a soft cardboard cover and comes with 96 pages with dotted grid layout. It is possible to use the notebook on its own or as an insert.
Midori Traveler’s Notebook Passport Size
Midori Traveler’s notebook is a Japanese notebook system that consists of a leather pocket notebook cover and various inserts. This enables users to choose their own inserts and customize the leather pocket notebook to their preference. It can be as minimalist as you want or full featured with by adding inserts suited for your day to day activities. This makes the notebook versatile and the passport size makes it very portable.
It is a notebook with a high quality pocket notebook cover. Some of the inserts that you can add are a Midori clear zipper pocket, Midori craft file, and Midori monthly diary. The notebook comes with a 64 page blank notebook insert by default, spare band, and cotton bag. Midori makes high quality notebooks and the Traveler’s notebook is the best pocket notebook for those who like to customize and have a notebook just the way you need it to be.
Find the Best Pocket Notebooks for EDC
By now, you will have a good idea on what the best pocket notebooks are available. Time to choose from our list and start the habit of jotting down your notes and ideas.
