I've wanted to try a Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter ever since I heard Myke pronounce it on the Pen Addict Podcast. It may be the most fun-to-say product in the stationery world, but it's also a good product. If you have one, you get all the benefits of its use, and you get to say "Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter" every day.
The notebook cover is made from recycled leather. It's very soft and supple--not the thick, firm leather used by many notebook covers. It is stitched to several layers of thick recycled wool felt that line the inside of the cover. It's a much thicker lining than I had expected. On the one hand, it's taking up space I could be using for notebooks. But it does allow for a variety of useful pockets, and it creates a nice cushion, so those pockets can be used to house things like delicate electronics.
There are two card slots and a larger pocket on the inside front, and one large pocket on the back. It fits a small e-reader, as long as it isn't too bulky. There is a thick elastic strap that is attached to the back that wraps around the front to keep the book closed. There's also a very narrow pen loop. It does not fit most pens.
The most unique thing about the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter is the notebook holding system. Instead of elastic bands, like many notebook system holders, this one has metal hooks. They are on hinges. To insert a notebook, you lift the hooks open, lay the notebook inside the cover, and bend the hooks down to hold it in place. They look a bit bulky and obstructive, but the metal is thin enough that it doesn't affect the writing surface of a page until you get to within a page or two of the hook. Once you're at that point, you can feel the hook through the pages and might have to adjust it to write smoothly until you're past that center page.
The metal hooks are lightweight, and their stems continue down the fabric spine of the notebook holder, lending structure to the soft leather. I also worried about the hinges being secure enough, but they hold things in place very well. I had a number of concerns about how well the clips would function, and the folx at Roterfaden seem to have anticipated them all and solved them ahead of time.
Right now I have it holding my school notebooks, which are a bit thicker than the Roterfaden notebooks (which I will review soon), but they fit nicely. Anything bulkier would likely not fit, in triplicate. "But, Sarah," you say, "I thought you prefer larger notebooks with tons of pages!" You're right, dear reader, I do. And I need notebook covers that are versatile enough to hold notebooks with 300-400 pages. The thing I like about these Roterfaden clips is that they don't have to go into individual notebooks. It actually fits a seven seas writer perfectly, if you put a clip inside each cover, and one in the middle. I've done the same with elastics in traveler's style notebooks, but it is a lot easier, and sturdier, with clips.
Overall, I would say this is one of my favorite notebook covers that I've used. There are other sizes and styles available, and you can even create a custom one on their website. The tricky part is, they are not inexpensive. This one sells for $155 on Jetpens. That takes the price of what I consider an expensive notebook cover and doubles it. There are things about it, though, that do explain some of the cost. These are proprietary, engineered parts, and there are a lot of patterned pieces to fit and assemble. Each of those clips has its own reinforced stitched channel along the spine, and every seam on the piece is precise and sturdy. Roterfaden also claim it will outlast me, which is a bold statement. I'm a bit skeptical on that one. I've worn out hardier notebook covers than this one in under three years. I'm going to find out, though, because I love it enough to keep using it. And I hope it does last forever, because at that price, it better.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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