Tag Archives: Story Supply Co

Story Supply Co. Pocket Staple – Edition 407–First End of Book Review

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I like the Story Supply Co. Pocket Staple – Edition 407 enough that I’m going to use another copy as soon as I can just so I can abuse it more.

The Edition 407 is named in honor of the 407 backers (this author included) who supported the original Kickstarter campaign. The original notebooks were nice, and still among my favorites, but it’s interesting to see how they’ve refined their production quality.

The notebook looks great. I especially like the 100# linen-finished burgundy cover. Unfortunately, because I kept it in a notebook cover, it remains pristine and hasn’t been given an honest test.

The front cover. It looks new and that isn’t right for a long term review.

Detail of the embossing on the front cover.

Inside, the 70# cougar paper is excellent. It doesn’t feather and is pleasant to write on. Only a couple of inks bled through, and only when I was trying to make them bleed. Even Wancher Matcha, which is usually the heartbreaker, didn’t bleed unless I tried to make it bleed.

Close up of some horrible handwriting on top of some bleed through. The green dots are Wancher Matcha.

My only complaint is a minor one. The insides of the front and back cover have writing and rulers on them. The writing explains the Story Supply Co. mission and offers a place to make a table of contents. The problem is, all the writing is black on burgundy so it’s difficult to read.

I personally would prefer to have the covers blank inside so I can make my own messes.

Once my current food journal is used up, I’m going to jump my planned notebook queue and use another Edition 407. I’m interested in seeing how well it holds up after being carried in a pocket for a couple weeks.

Story Supply Co. Pocket Staple Notebook—End of Book Review

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I probably should stop trying to break stuff.

There is a trend in the knife community where some reviewers take a perfectly good liner-lock and frame-lock knife and smack the back of the blade against something hard. If the lock fails, they treat this as proof the knife is terrible. The problem is, the odds of a blade being subjected to that kind of stress is very long indeed.

The same thing probably applies to notebooks. When I get a new notebook, my first act is to write on the back page with various pens and inks and try to break the paper. The problem is, that’s pretty easy to do but it doesn’t stop me from posting about the quality of the paper and the notebook.

In the case of the Pocket Staple Notebook (PSN from now on, because I’m lazy) from Story Supply Co., I was probably too hasty.

After extensive use, I’ve been really impressed with the PSN.

The cover of the Pocket Staple Notebook from Story Supply Co.

The cover of the Pocket Staple Notebook from Story Supply Co.

The PSN is 5.5” x 3.5” (the same size as the popular Field Notes notebook). The cover is 100# French paper with a blue coating and the 48 pages inside are 70# Cougar Natural. It’s all held together with three copper staples. The version I chose has blank pages.

Under normal writing, the paper holds up well to most inks. A few inks, especially when they’re in wet nibs, will show through and, on occasion bleed through, but not enough to make the other side unusual.

The backside of a page. The top two-thirds are normal writing; the bottom is where I tried to break it.

The backside of a page. The top two-thirds are normal writing; the bottom third is where I tried to break the notebook.

The paper handled pens better than the Field Notes Workshop Companion, but a few had trouble on the smooth paper. That, however, may be a testament to my inability to keep a consistent angle more than a fault of the paper.

The cover and the binding held up well, but since I carried them in an Old Church Works leather cover, it’s hard to judge the actual durability.

That said, I have a few more of these on hand and I’m already looking forward to the next one coming up in the rotation.

Note: for every pack of notebooks you buy, Story Supply Co. donates one of their Supply Kits to a young writer or artist.