I read about
1.61 Soft Goods on the
Baum Kutchen blog and checked them out. Very cool stuff! Their leather Field Notes covers caught my eye and I though I'd give it a try. It arrived today and I have to say it's pretty nice.
I chose one in british tan from their sample sale. The look and feel is great and the new leather smell is awesome. It's a very simple design; a leather cover with an elastic cord that keeps your notebook in place and also serves as a closure. (I actually had to adjust mine to keep the knot at the bottom, but it's very easy to do.)
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| Everything from 1.61 is hand made. Wrapped in hand stamped craft paper with a personalized stamped hang tag, tied in red and white bakers cord. All nice touches. |
These will certainly draw comparisons to the Midori Travel Notebook (which I also have, and like very much) but this isn't a cheap knock off. It's nice quality leather that I'm certain will age and wear beautifully and the little design touches, like a notch for the enclosure cord, prove it's been given consideration. I do wish the enclosure cord was separate from holding the notebook in place, but other than that I think it's terrific.
And for $20.00 it's not a bad deal. Plus they offer free shipping in the US.
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| The leather cover does not come with a notebook. This is a craft cover Field Notes book with grid pages. |
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| The small design details, like this notch, is a nice touch. |
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| The items from the sample sale might have imperfections. I think they add character to the leather. There is a very modest 1.61 branding on the inside back cover. |
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| You can see the texture of the unfinished inside cover. |
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| This is how the cover looks without a notebook inside. |
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| Moleskine paperback notebooks fit just as well as the Field Notes. |
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| 1.61 Soft Goods does and awesome job. My order shipped quickly... and free! So will yours! |
