
Ask HN: What your favorite sketchbook/notebook to store your brain dumps? - ciaoben
I am having an unexpected difficulty to find a good notebook&#x2F;sketchbook to bring along with me and where to &quot;brainstorm with myself&quot; during my work as a software developer and my personal life.<p>As I enjoy using application with good UI and great UX, I want to find a notebook where I can store differents months of free thoughts (it seems that asking for more than 40&#x2F;60 pages is asking a lot) and that feels good.<p>Would like to know if some of the people here have some suggestion, I am interested in not too small formats (perfect would be A5).
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Jtsummers
Check out Staples line of Arc products. Similar to a spiral notebook in how
you can fold it, but the sheets come out easily like a 3-ringed binder and can
be reordered. The first page in mine is blank. I write the date and topic at
the top, use as many sheets as I need. Then move them to the appropriate
section or into another Circa notebook (as appropriate). The covers and disks
to create more notebooks are reasonably inexpensive, and you can purchase your
own punch for a modest price to make compatible paper out of any paper stock
you have available (and to make printouts and such fit into it easily).

Levenger's Circa line was my introduction to the concept, but their notebooks
and paper are more expensive and less available (compared to having a Staples
in nearly every city).

I use the Junior sized notebooks (8.5"x5.5", or roughly A5 sized for those not
in the US). It's not a pocket notebook, but easily carried and fits nicely
into most bags. Being able to reorganize the pages also reduces, for me, the
difficulty of first writing something down ("crap, it doesn't need to be in
_this_ notebook!" kind of nonsense).

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devnonymous
For brainstorming and note taking when reading books I use the boogie board
sync (
[https://myboogieboard.com/ewriters/sync](https://myboogieboard.com/ewriters/sync)).
I recommend it to anyone who 'thinks' by scribbling and doodling.

I am now waiting for remarkable
([https://getremarkable.com](https://getremarkable.com))

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eschutte2
Big fan of Clairefontaine although lately I've been using these Muji
notebooks: [https://www.amazon.com/MUJI-Double-
Notebook-48sheets-1504015...](https://www.amazon.com/MUJI-Double-
Notebook-48sheets-15040155/dp/B00MFBTOQS/ref=sr_1_9?s=office-
products&ie=UTF8&qid=1481616357&sr=1-9&keywords=muji+notebook)

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qwrusz
Where are you looking? What is the problem? # of pages?

I would stay away from notebooks with paper thats too thin and writing bleeds
through to the other side, had issues with this and moleskin but YMMV.

No affiliation, but on jetpens.com you can filter by page size and number of
pages etc. For example this notebook is A5, has 250 pages and the pages
numbered and there's a blank index to organize thoughts.

[http://www.jetpens.com/Leuchtturm1917-Copper-Gilt-Edge-
Noteb...](http://www.jetpens.com/Leuchtturm1917-Copper-Gilt-Edge-
Notebook-A5-Azure-Ruled/pd/16611)

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sogen
I'd go to any art supplies store and look in the stationery section, you'll
find lots of options in there.

Lately I bought some Pantone notepads, they come in several sizes, sturdy and
have dotted guides.

But 99% of the time I just use cheap 99¢ notebooks.

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tjt
I've always liked Black n' Red casebound notebooks.

[https://www.amazon.com/Black-Red-Hardcover-
Casebound-D66174/...](https://www.amazon.com/Black-Red-Hardcover-
Casebound-D66174/dp/B00015YOR4)

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ch215
Field Notes get my vote. Expensive but unrivaled quality. You can leave one in
your back pocket for a month and it won't fall to pieces.

[https://fieldnotesbrand.com](https://fieldnotesbrand.com)

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bemmu
I just have a stream-of-consciousness text file where I type anything that's
on my mind, including ideas. Main downside is that I can't scribble on it.

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samat
Moleskine would be default choice for me.

~~~
e_py
Mine too! Moleskine classic hardcover for me

