One of the problems a notebook owner will face is the fact that they will not only have to lug notebook all around, all the time; but that they would need their writing materials handy as well.

Moleskine owners often tend to take their writing materials just as seriously as the notebook they write on - just like me. I only want(ed) to use a [mechanical] pencil with the notebook, and that I like to have a “pen-eraser” (for lack of a better term) for mistakes I make (because mechanical pencil built-in erasers, if present at all, suck).

There have been a lot of “hacks” done with Moleskines in the internet that address just that: trying to integrate your writing materials into your notebook to make it easier to transport. We have hacks such as the Moleskine pen-hack, pencil holder hack, quiver hack, duct-tape pen hack, among others - feel free to post a comment if you know of another hack, I’m trying to check all options to see what might be the most effective (and cheap) implementation.

And so in this post, I present my own pen-holder hack, sort of a tutorial (actually more of a commentary) on the reasoning behind the materials used, and construction “decisions.”

Goals and function

While the hacks mentioned above are awesome, not one of them addressed all the needs I needed personally. Namely:

1. Multiple instrument handling
   Since I use a pencil and eraser, all single writing instrument solutions are not an option.
2. Unobtrusive, non-destructive
   The holder shouldn’t hinder your ability to open or close the notebook, and should be easily detachable. This meant that any hack that entailed having to “stick” to the notebook (via tape or glue) was out of the question.
3. Reinforced, thinnest possible shape
   I wanted the holder to be a bit sturdy in the sense that its shape shouldn’t easily distort. It also had to be as thin as possible, because who wants to see their notebooks bulge unnecessarily. This meant that anything that used tape alone, or cloth, etc. wouldn’t make the cut.
4. Modifiable
   As much as possible, I want to be able to change elements of the hack without having to create a new one.

Materials I decided to use

1. Cardboard (from a folder)
   To create the strip (which I will call a “spine” from now on) that “hugs” the notebook, I believe cardboard or anything hard-ish would be ideal. This is to address the 3rd goal I wanted. I started doing a strip with duct tape only, and how it tends to “crumple” isn’t a pleasant sight. You could opt to make it tightly hug the notebook, but that would mean it would be hard to take out (ergo defeats goal #2 as well), and maybe even put too much pressure on the top and bottom of the Moleskine.
2. Duct tape
   Preferably black, but I used the standard (silver) because it was what I had available. Duct tape is very resilient in the sense that you can stick other stuff on it with good adhesion (like another layer of duct tape), but also makes it possible to detach them and not wreck anything. This makes my need for #4 more feasible.
3. Ruler case
   This was an arbitrary decision. I selected it because it had the ideal size I needed for a quiver. And from what I mentioned about duct tape, changing this case to any other type of instrument container down the road would be extremely easy to do - so no worries should I change my mind.

Creating the hack

The result of the exercise is the picture you see on the right.

It’s extremely brain-dead simple to make. Measure and cut cardboard to the width and length you want. Then slap on your favorite “finish” on it (in my case, it was duct-tape). You end up with a very simple, thin but reinforced strip you can hug the notebook with.

Notice that I made it a point not to connect the spine at the back. On my earlier attempts, I did just that - it ended up being such a pain in the ass to insert/detach easily - which went against goal #2.

At this point, you may opt to put a “strip” accross the spine for your writing instrument to clip on, and you’re done. You’d also end up with a much more elegant looking pen holder. Unfortunately, my eraser didn’t have a clip so I had to have a quiver-type container.

So the next step now is to take your favorite instrument container, and stick it to the spine. At this point, you now begin to appreciate the layer of duct-tape you put in the cardboard spine. From the picture you see it’s just stuck into the spine via duct-tape as well - which can be easily detached and replaced while using the same spine.

Here’s the contraption in action:

Something not entirely related (but still related somewhat) are 2 other “tips” I came across which I thought would be good for people to know.

1. Purchase a small ruler which you can put into your Moleskine’s back folder pocket. You never know when you’ll need to draw straight lines.
2. For those like me, who prefer use the plain non-ruled notebook, but would still like to make sure your paragraphs are properly aligned, carry an index card that can fit in that same back pocket. When writing, just put the index card behind the page - the page should be thin enough for you to see the lines and write accordingly.