Poor dye work
This is one of those items I want to love. It’s nice thick leather, well stitched, and attractive. Unfortunately, I have a few issues with it - the size is larger than I expected (I don’t hold this against the product - and it’s not the reason for the 3 stars - it’s me not checking with a tape measure before buying) - it takes a very portable field notes and makes it the size of a paperback (with more grip). If you keep your field notes somewhere other than your pocket, this probably isn’t too much of an issue. The thickness is a mixed bag - I love good thick real leather - but this is more thick than several field notes notebooks piled on top of each other. Again, depending on your use case this may or may not be an issue.<br /><br />For me, these are minor problems (and I really wish there was a pen loop) - the major issue is the dye used. I’ve been using this for 2 weeks, and the dye is still coming out of the leather (I was being generous with giving it time to stop bleeding - I shouldn’t have to wait for a purchased leather product to be usable without staining things around it). You can see the first page of my field notes - all of that is just from the first page resting against the leather.<br /><br />Last Friday I had a meeting and slipped a business card in that I was handed - same thing - I took the business card out today (Monday), and it’s covered in yellow/tan dye that’s bled from the cover.<br /><br />At this point, I dare not put it in a pocket, or leave it on a surface that can’t easily be cleaned... and I’m considering just tossing it in the trash. Which is a shame, because it is beautiful in a bulky leather kind of way.
Rating: 3 stars