I have been a casual fan of Field Notes for a while, but it took me a while to hop on board. When I first discovered them, I had just missed the beautiful Night Sky edition. Plus, I already had a small pocket notebook that a friend gave me as a gift, so I figured I would finish that first before buying any new ones. The release that finally got me in on the Field Notes game was SHELTERWOOD, the Spring 2014 Edition.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Field Notes — four times a year, a seasonal limited edition is released. It is a one-time-only, limited run of a good couple thousand copies, and it lasts until the edition is entirely sold out. As of now (Spring 2015), Shelterwood has been long discontinued, but I still wanted to review it because it matches the aesthetic of my new site :)
Shelterwood is a beautiful edition that is made of real American cherry wood veneer, sliced super thin and glue-bonded to their usual kraft paper covers. Because they’re made of real wood, each one looks different! A pack of Field Notes includes three memo books, and here you can see the varied wood grain of the three I received.
The cover text, which is printed with “Ghostflower White” ink, is subtly semi-opaque so the wood grain shows through. It gives the cover a rustic look — according to the Field Notes page, “like a faded whitewashed fence”. To keep with the theme, I filled in the inside cover information with white ink as well.
My favorite pen to use with this edition has been the Pilot Hi-Tec-C in Kurikawa, or Chestnut Brown. It’s a dark brown-black (lighter than it appears in this photo) that fits perfectly, in terms of both size and color.
I always enjoy reading the Practical Applications listed on the back — “Treehouse Blueprints” is my favorite. I’ve been using one for blog planning!
The inside paper even handles brush pen pretty well! I’ve heard this paper is great with fountain pens too, but I’ve mainly just been using pens and markers. This is a Pentel Fude Touch pen in green.
Overall, I have to say I loved my first foray into Field Notes! Unfortunately Shelterwood was discontinued some time ago, but it was replaced by the Cherry Wood edition, which is similar but with graph paper inside instead of lined. Personally, I prefer lined paper, so I’m glad I picked up an extra pack while I did!
