Field Notes County Fair – Review

Specs From Field Notes:

• Dimensions: 3.5″ x 5.5″
• Paper: Finch Opaque Smooth 50#T Whitewash White
• Ruling: Light Blue 4.5mmx4.5mm Graph

Review Supplies: 

• Rotring Rapid Pro Ballpoint with Parker Gel refill
• Rotring 600 Lava with Diamine Grey
• Sailor Magellan with DeAtramentis Plum
• Montblanc 149 with Kon-Peki
• Pilot Metropolitan with Noodler’s Navy
• Pentel Sharp – 0.7mm pencil

Notes:
I’m starting to finally come around on pocket notebooks. It’s hard to ignore the amazing designs and colorways that Field Notes Brand always has coming out. Instead of reaching for a post-it note, I find myself now grabbing for the nearest Field Notes.

Re: Fountain Pens. I’m going to be honest, it’s really not great paper for using fountain pens with. There’s usually feathering, bleeding, and show through, but some nib and ink combinations work. I’ve had better luck with extra fine nibs and Sailor’s Kiwa Guro Nano Black ink – the combo works.

The paper in the County Fair edition is actually more responsive to fountain pen ink than the other Field Notes I’ve used. The Finch Opaque Smooth 50#T Whitewash White paper doesn’t feather too much, and not all inks go right through. A plus to this is that the ink dries very fast. It’s nice for you to be able to take a note, close it right back up and put it away without waiting 30 seconds for the ink to fully dry. There are definitely pros and cons to the Field Notes paper.

The County Fair Regional Editions are pretty cool. They come in a three pack of Blue, Red, and Yellow and are themed to each of the 50 states, depending on which pack you get. I opted for the New York pack, because that’s where I’m from. Kind of a no-brainer there. The “Practical Applications” are funny as well, and are all fair-themed.

The coolest part about the County Fair edition is the back cover, which is loaded with facts about the state, in this case, mine has New York’s state capital, motto, state animal, and 20 or so other facts, along with a map of the country showing where New York is. The cover has an awesome linen pattern to it, that ages wonderfully. The blue is wearing away to show the white paper underneath, and showing off the texture of the cover quite well. The blue was my favorite of the three, with the gold lettering really popping off of the cover.

Conclusion: They look great, and I’m happy to have an American-made product in my back pocket. Field Notes Brand stays fresh with their quarterly special editions, which have a habit of inciting small scale riots when they are released and hefty prices for older books on eBay. The brand has definitely helped convert me to a pocket notebook guy. Not a day goes by without a Field Notes in my back pocket.

Gallery:

Field Notes County Fair edition

Back cover.

Inside.

Inside page 2.

Related Reading:

• Field Notes Colors: Fall 2013
• Doxie Flip Scanner