Traveler's Company Who? My New Favorite Notebook System - ROTERFADEN TASCHENBEGLEITER BESTSELLER A5 

Don’t worry about the elastic, I’ve been using mine for about 8 years and it’s still good. I can’t talk this brand up enough. There’s a reason why they’re pricey.

Thank you very much for the video and your review, it was really interesting to watch. You pronounced ROTERFADEN TASCHENBEGLEITER perfectly. We would like to go into some PROS and CONS - and some of your wishes. Regarding the suede leather: It is very durable and you don't have to worry about the inside pockets wearing out. In 17 years, we have not even had this reported by customers. Felt and suede are equally durable. For the closure strap: Many of our newer pocket companions no longer have a closure strap, as it is actually the weakest link on the TASCHENBEGLEITER Nevertheless, we buy the best quality available on the market. Sometimes it needs to be replaced by us after 7-12 years. We will then repair at cost price. However, the tape often holds up very well even after this long period of time. We think your feedback is very good about pulling the strap through two eyelets so that the customer can exchange it at any time without any effort or costs. This is the case with the TASCHENBEGLEITER ST_17 model. But these bands do not have the same power! For the back elastic: No worries, we buy material of the highest quality. You can see how firm the back rubber is. The number of back straps that have worn out or been the subject of complaints since 2006: zero Regarding the size: Of course, the M format has a certain size. I handle it like you: Sometimes the companion just stays at home. In the office and when travelling , however, it is worth every gram. For example, I draw a lot and the generous format is important to me. Regarding the weight: Leather unfortunately has its weight, but we are constantly testing new materials, Stay tuned. We look forward to seeing you test our new super light Taschenbegleiter. All the best for you!

i’ve had my roterfaden for almost 6 years and the elastic has yet to give out!

Looks great, but I am happy with my Traveler's notebooks. They have been with me every day for five years now and have been really helpful and enjoyable. Thanks for the video, Brad.

The company offers to replace the elastic for free. I use my RoterFaden since years - never an issue. It definitively has replaced the Midori for me. It’s cleaver and cool. The shop in Saarbrücken explains the notebook:lovely people

I got the A5 Roterfaden SO_20 (smoke blue/honey) from Nomadostore as I'm in the UK. I enjoy it as well but I do have some reservations about mine as well. I feel the same way as you about the suede leather in how it could stretch over time and also, in my version the suede holds the clips too. One of them is moving a little too easily for my liking and I think they will end up sliding out too easily. Gravity will always win and suede is not as strong as the black elastic for holding those clips in place. The back pocket of the SO_20 has a zipper on it and I just dislike that. Digs into the books; anything I put in there bulks up the back so end up writing awkwardly over it. I took a long time to make my mind up and still feel I chose wrongly 🤦🏻‍♂ Anyway, I am waffling...... Thanks Bradley for a great look at a superb cover. The whole idea is superb; they are very well made; great customer service as well when I was asking them things. Enjoy it in good health 🙂👍🏻

You absolutely rock Bradley! Your taste i find immaculate. You delight me with good reviews for years now! Pow!

I'm totally in love with this planner, unfortunately I can't spend so much money on a planner 😭

Been using my Taschenbegleiter for 11 years now and there's still no problem with the elastic band - or ANYTHING for that matter. With the quality you get, the price really is no problem neither.

Thanks to your very detailed review of the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter, I ordered mine today. I am quite intrigued by the clip system they use, and anxiously awaiting mine to arrive. Keep up the good stuff and things!

Very versatile notebook! Beautiful and versatile! Edit: there is now an A5 Slim version. It’s a little bit more portable.

One of the most useful videos about this stuff, thanks a lot for your work.

Looks like a beautiful notebook system! It was a pleasant surprise to see the Hobonichi Animal Crossing pencil board with your setup!

Interesting system and awesome review Bradley.... Love the engineering aspects and design thought process of this Notebook... It is more sophisticated than the Traveler's Company (Midori). However, i do still prefer the charm of the simplicity of the TC's Notebook system, where everything is held together by elastics (which gives you the ease of maintenance, like you mentioned, swapping out the elastics once they are frayed)... But would definitely love a further review down the road once you used it more... And am curious and would love if you can do a flip through of what you penned in your notebooks :)

So glad you reviewed this! Still waiting for mine to clear customs from Germany.

Nice review after proper usuage. The option to use any A5 insert within reason is nice. I do think that this is more a rival for Hobonichi Techo Cousin than a Midori, a thought that sprung to mind when you showed the Hobonichi pencil board. Midori being all about travel and designed for that purpose. This seems more of a home system or for occasional travel. I'd love a comparison with Techo Cousin with leather cover but obviously you may not have one avialable. Great review and an honest opinion after solid use.

I literally watched your Traveler’s Notebook video when I was contemplating getting one (and I got one) and now I’m contemplating getting a roterfaden and THIS VIDEO POPPED UP. 😂

Love your system, and your video is so thorough! I'm thinking of buying Roterfaden for the first time this year. The comparison with different brands and sketchbooks and booklets to see what fits and what not is super super useful! Thank you! :)

I finally received an ST17 direct from Roterfaden Germany. Paid u$40 for DHL international courier service. Took over two months to reach Canada. Roterfaden claim they have no other shipping choices! My package was labelled economy and low priority! Speaks to how Roterfaden values quick service. Nice binder but I won’t be spending again on this product when Roterfaden don’t seem to be customer focused.

A most excellent review, my good friend! I recently picked up a [in my best Sho Kosugi impersonation] “Midori” knock off from B&N…and even though it’s faux leather, the inserts are very similar. As someone who is rather fond of the notes app in my iPhone…I’m still trying to get reacquainted with simple pen and paper. $160 is a little steep at this stage, but after watching your review, I have no doubt that the quality is spot on. Great job Bradley

A happy medium between the two is using the A5 slim version of the Taschenbegleiter (found at Jetpens or Baum-Kuchen). I put my standard size inserts in it and a hightide pen clip sticking in one of the pockets to hold a pen that won't get caught when taking it in and out of a bag.

Looks like a really nice product…. may have to check it out. Thanks!

I love these metal clips, when I saw the midori I was thinking of an alternative to the elastic bands. mainly becuase of how thick they are sitting in the middle of the notebooks. What I don't like is the black cloth along the back spine, if they are going that rout IMO just give it a standard spine or preferable sew the clips into the leather. in any case great review thank you

I don’t know if you’ve done a video on it, but since you’ve got one of the inserts in there, the Lochby field journal is also an awesome A5 option if people don’t want to shell out for this one.

I wish your Midori voice was available for Suri on iPhones.

Plan to get the A6 one so that I can keep 3 ‘Life’ A6 notebooks (my fav. small notebooks) together. Thing that I think I’ll like most will be the ease of taking a notebook out to use and then put back in. Always difficult with the grabby rubber bands in my Traveler’s Notebook (Midori).

I have a ton of Notebooks and I may switch up to.this system. FYI jetpens sells the Roter Faden

Jetpens carries it and they have it in an A6 size as well... I have both...

If the red elastic did go loose and instead of trying to unstitch the bound-in ends, why not just cut the elastic leaving two small existing lengths top and bottom to which you could stitch a new length of elastic. This would obviate the need to unstitch and restitch a whole new piece into the binding. Hope that makes sense.

I don't think I've ever heard any one pronounce moleskin as Moleskineh, now I'm not sure if I've been pronouncing it wrong all the time...

I can’t seem to find the plastic sleeve for pen/ pencil holders. Can you link your inserts? Thanks!

I'm sure you will be doing an update on this notebook system. But my biggest question is how easy is it to write in the top notebook where you have the other notebooks underneath? I'm assuming there is a bump to overcome. Does it make it awkward to write? Also do the metal pens get in the way when you're writing?

Cool 🎉🎉🎉

While it’s easy to get when you live in EU, I’ll stick to Traveler’s notebook, mainly because of the size (and I guess the weight). You can purchase elastic band closure from their website if yours begins to loose its stretch, not easy but doable. There are other notebooks that don’t have an elastic spine (full leather) too. Thanks for the review

This is a great review, thanks! I was wondering what you thought of the paper quality of the Roterfaden inserts, with regard to fountain pens. From what I’ve been able to gather the sheets are thin so there is ghosting (I don’t mind that). But had issues with feathering, spread or bleed through?

I don't really understand why we need a system holding everything as well as we have so many systems at same moment. It may make sense with a passport size TN for some scattered ideas which is more likely being a catalogued index cards for carrying around. Otherwise, what make you feel it important to put everything in such a bundle?

Hi again… would the cotton wallet from Endless fit with the Roterfaden A5 notebook? I love your videos ❤

Weird thing for me in this Video, (aside from the lovely Review!) was the Audio.. for some reason when watching this on the RU-vid App on my Television the Audio was SUPER low.. I ended up having to ramp it almost to Max Output to get 'normal' SaT Volume levels.. I went in to the most recent SaTP Episode right after watching this Review and almost deafened myself with the transition. I have since tried it on my PC and it seems much less drastic so maybe just an issue with the RU-vid App? As for the Roterfaden, the only thing stopping me from checking it out myself is the Price Point. I just cannot justify that in Canadian Pesos. Still.. I will keep my eyes on it for a cheaper Domestic Option in the future. I have already alerted my Canadian Stationary Retailers :)

Hi there. New subscriber. Interested in buying one of these customized. Is the A5 the medium or large size? It seems the large would be too big, but then the medium seems like it doesn’t leave any extra space. A lot of notebook “holders” like some “fake” Midori Traveler’s Company notebooks are much larger in size. I have it all customized in the cart and just want to ensure I have the proper size for $200 including shipping.

08:05 conclusion

Have you looked at the Circa notebooks from Levenger? A much neater system in which you can tear out and reinsert pages.

How is the closure elastic holding up? Thinking about getting one. I really want to start journaling...

Maybe I’m not seeing it on their website but is their medium an A5? Thanks.

Do they make a smaller size? I love the system but prefer a more portable size

I wish I could have one, but they are near $300 CAD 😩, which just seems silly to spend that much 😩. But….. my Lochby Field Journal has 4 elastics, pocket as a folio, which all fit in at once, and has storage pockets too, for under $100, (but over $100 since I bought). Not leather, but nice durable waxed canvas and nylon.

I really wanted to like this new system but it’s so sloppy looking closed. Travelers system comes together cleaner IMHO

Is the A5 the equivalent of a size M on their website?

Weird question.. how much does it weigh? I am very attracted to this system but I tend to find weight will make or break how much I use something.

I noticed that you didn't demonstrate how the writing experience would be like when using this journal. Wouldn't those clips create a bump on the page and therefore make writing a bit uneven? You mentioned the size but did not mention the weight. That journal looks quite heavy. Elastic will lose it's elasticity over time. For $160, you shouldn't have to take the layers of leather apart (probably glued) just to change the elastic. That's an expensive design flaw.

Welcome to stuff and things for your 100% viewing pleasure of commercials. Lol sorry, I had to. Lol

I cant find the custom design your taschenbegleiter page anywhere :( is it still available?

How did you get this with 3 clips and no felt lining?

This is one of the very few things that's not on Amazon!! Where to buy?

Seems that camera focus is all over the place this episode

How’s the gerbils? Do and update

Oh no, another good option...

Over $180 on website

My notes are more simple, a 1/4 A4 and I'm done.

To me traveler’s company n roterfaden are just storage systems.. no different than a zipper pouch .. it just a place to keep your journals n accessories… not a journal system

I don't like Midori style notebooks. It seems insipid having all your eggs in one basket.

I understand that you are enthusiastic about this planner, but do you have to be so snarky about the Traveller's Notebook? Roterfaden has been around for years. You've just discovered it now. You're like Magellan or Columbus "discovering" lands that were already there and claiming it for their own when indigenous people were already there.