Noodling about in a Norderly
A what?
Ah. One of the many reasons I love writing for Nero's Notes is that I get to see some of the new stuff before all of you lot, and get to see prototypes. The Nero's Notes crew were delighted to be sent a sample of a new pocket notebook - the Norderly - recently.
The Norderly is made in Scandinavia by a Norwegian company - Norderly Co. - run by Endre Myrvang. The Norderly pocket jotter has 44 pages of 100 gsm paper and a sturdy cover of 225 gsm.
Below is the sample version... [apologies for the darkness of the pictures - they were taken in Scotland when about 100% of August's rainfall was arriving in one day!] but the ones on sale at Nero's are the same.
So, what's it like?
It's really, really good! You know me - I can be a fussy madam over paper and whether they'll play nicely with fountain pens... these are fantastic. Even when I threw my 'mean' pens at it (the 1.1 mm stub nibs with a wet ink), it didn't phase the book. There's some great shading going on, zero feathering and zippety doo-dah bleed-through. There's the merest hint of ghosting but I really am being a picky madam over that! It's certainly not a problem.
The cover is sturdy - certainly able to withstand being carried in a back-pocket or a bag - and there are some great wee touches in the cover, with space to include when the book was started and finished and the co-ordinates of your location. In the back cover there's some information about the company and its ethos and a space to note especially important pages.
Where do these fit in an already quite crowded market place? Well, they're a gazillion times nicer than a Field Notes, IMHO - both in build quality (which surpasses FN by a country mile) and in design, with the clean lines and muted tones. They play very nicely with a fountain pen if that's your thing (and if it is, then the market is far from crowded with most pocket notebooks being a right royal pain in the behind!). And of course, they also play well with any other writing implement. Price-wise, they come in at £11 for a pack of two which won't break the bank.
Go on! Try one! You won't be disappointed. (You can trust me. I am a doctor! I'll even tell you the title of my doctorate if you're that interested...)
