It’s been almost two weeks since I received the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter (translates from German to the English: Red Thread Bag Companion) and it is life changing!
It arrived from the lovely peeps at Baum-Kuchen in packaging perfection; all the little details added to the ceremony of un-boxing.
From the neat wrapping…
to the letter-press card…and the origami receipt…
I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
As soon as I unwrapped it I felt like I’d made the right choice. It certainly isn’t a petite chic planner cover like many of the leather ones on the market and it certainly isn’t “kawaii” but it is stylish, functional, and capacious!
The design is simple and the attention to detail is excellent.
With the ability to hold both the Hobonichi Cousin and my bujo-wingman with ease (as well as a slim Hobonichi notebook) the Roterfaden gives me the portability I need. This is necessary mostly at home because I am constantly moving from one room to another with my planning paraphernalia multiple times a day. I do also like to step out once in a while and plan en plain air so this is fantastic! I can just grab up my Roterfaden and run out the door knowing I have all the essentials needed for a quality planning session.
SETTING UP THE ROTERFADEN TASCHENBEGLEITER:
This cover is the easiest to set up that I have found that fits the Hobonichi Cousin. It works in a similar way to the Midori Traveler’s, however, the pin system is a bit different to the elastic. I’ll try to give you a bit of a step-by-step set-up guide using a series of photos…I’m not up to videos yet coz I haven’t got the technology but you never know maybe in the future I will… 😉 however, if you really really need to see a video this one is short and sweet.
This is the Roterfaden empty. You can see the three sets of pins in the elastic stretchy spine which allows the cover to accomodate large and small notebooks depending on your requirements. It can also hold a mini iPad in the back pocket if you need (amazing I know!) but I use that pocket for my pens so I can dispense with the excess accoutrements when I want to travel light. There are also pockets in the front for business cards and other things like sticky notes etc. that you might want to carry around with you.
Start filling the Roterfaden from the back to the front…trust me it’s easier if you want to use two pins in one notebook. I wanted my Bullet Journal Wingman in the back like this…
I’m using the pins to divide my Hobonichi Cousin into weekly and daily sections so I can flip quickly from one to another. All you need to do is flip open the pins as above…lay the notebook in the cover like this…
Close the pins – bending them down into the centre of the notebook so they end up looking like this…
All you need to do then is go to the front section of the notebook, where ever you want the pins and do the same thing as above. I like to use the final set of pins to mark the weekly section of the Hobonichi Cousin in the front so I can easily find the current week! When the week is over you just open the pins out, turn the page, flip the pins down et voila the new week is bookmarked! This is also great if you’re travelling and want to keep your receipts or a map in a safe place…flip up the paddles and place in the loose paper, close the paddles and away you go. I know, I know, genius right?
So you can see here how it can accomodate pretty much any type of notebook you require. Even hardcover notebooks if they have a gap between the spine and the pages. How you ask? I was dying to tell you anyway.
Because the Roterfaden pin system is completely customisable you can actually remove the pins if you aren’t using them (maybe you’re travelling and don’t want the weight so you leave two sets at home so they don’t get lost). This also allows you to pull the pins out, as above, and bend the paddles (that’s my name for them anyway – don’t laugh) as you push the pins in to insert the paddle between the spine and the pages of a hardcover notebook (like a Moleskine or Leuchtturm1917).
So check out the Roterfaden website configurator if you want to create your own combo of felt lining, leather cover, and elastic strap – there are a number of options. I chose to buy mine from Baum-Kuchen because I really liked the dark brown leather combo they had and thought I would get it quicker if I went with a SOH item…but if you have your heart set on fuchsia felt and black leather with an orange elastic strap and your initials then check out the website 🙂 – go on be an individual…you know you want to 😉
At $132US +postage it isn’t a cheap option and I’m sure there are other alternatives but I think I’ll love it for quite a few years yet…
Have an awesome one!
Jxxx
P.S. this post is dedicated to Jess from @plannerbynature check her out on instagram or on her blog aplannerbynature.wordpress.com . One day my darlin girl this will be yours 😉 (I’m going to leave it to you in my will…).
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