This is a great video from Field Notes, explaining where their product has come from. Field Notes co-founder Aaron Draplin shows his vast collection of the agricultural memo books that inspired their range of note books. His passion is infectious, as you’ll see, he’s so watchable!

Here are the ones I have:

The manila ones are classic Field Notes, I got a pack of three; one lined, one plain and one grid lines (or graph). The front one has been knocking around in my handbag for a few months and I think they look even better when they’re a bit beaten-up.

The orange one in the middle is one of their ‘Expedition‘ editions. It has synthetic dot-grid graph paper, which is which is water, and tear-proof, so it’s super durable. Not that I will be going on any expeditions any time soon… But it looks great, and that’s all that matters, right?!

I also love the info on the inside front and back covers, which you can see is inspired by those farming memo books in the video:

I’m seeing these more and more (and copies of them…) in the UK now. Basically, they’re a very cool brand, and I want to be friends with Aaron Draplin.

Oh, also, here is a great place to see people’s Field Notes, new and used.