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From “Bryan” at the Field Notes Dispatches blog:
The anniversary date of “Field Notes” varies a bit, depending on who you ask. Aaron Draplin first used the name (typeset, of course, in all-caps Futura Bold) on a customized one-off red hardcover notebook in 2002. Our “official line” sets the birth of the company in mid-2007, when Coudal Partners and Aaron first printed a batch of 3-Packs for the “Swap Meat,” followed shortly by the establishment of “Field Notes Brand” as an actual thing.
But a good case can be made that the very first Field Notes were made in “early January 2005,” making this, January 2025, an important 20th anniversary.
I’ve been using Field Notes since September 2007[1], and a subscriber to their gorgeous quarterly Limited Editions since at least June 2016 (possibly 2014)—though I reluctantly admit that most of them have become collector’s items rather than daily carries.
Field Notes and a favored pen[2] have long been my preferred capture tools. Even as I’ve shifted toward using my iPhone as my primary capture device[3], I still gravitate toward Field Notes for capturing unstructured notes (like whiskey tastings) where I might need to scratch out, annotate, or revisit an entry, or for times when fumbling with a phone might seem boorish. (No one has ever raised an eyebrow as I scribbled in my notebook—except, perhaps, in appreciation on those occasions when it’s impeccably dressed in rich leather attire.)
Tapping on a phone feels weightless—ideas are recorded, then dismissed, permanent yet inconsequential. Scratching words onto paper feels momentous, at once discursive and considered, ephemeral yet archival.
Unsheathing my Field Notes is a declaration: This moment matters.
I know because three days after my first order, I received an unsolicited (Unconfirmed Opt-In) email from Coudal Partners, sparking righteous indignation and a 500-word rant on my now-defunct personal blog. ↩︎
At any given moment, a Pentel Energel 0.7, a Uniball Signo Ultramicro 207, or a Uni JetStream 0.7. Or when I feel fancy, any number of inexpensive fountain pens, like this Lamy Studio ↩︎
Photos, voice memos, and instant searchs are crucial—almost overwhelming—advantages. ↩︎