Endurance Logbook

 

Hello!

There hasn't been much time for blogging lately, but I am very excited to give a sneak peak into a project that I've been developing in my spare time: the Endurance Logbook. This is a pocket notebook idea I've been developing that has finally started to solidify in the last couple of days. It's essentially my closest conception to the ideal pocket notebook, and I'd like to have the first ones made by the New Year. 

The idea with the Endurance Logbook (whose cover is pictured above) is to essentially create a pocket notebook that offers unfailing durability and quality, extremely functional usability, Biblical, Word and Prayer focus and support, and an elegance and coolness in form and visual aesthetic. 

There was a time when I thought and hoped that Field Notes Expedition would be my ultimate notebook, but while the design was really neat and the cover as tough as advertised, it was easily my least favorite notebook to use because of the fact that everything smeared on the synthetic pages. Rite in the Rain came closer, but it was limited still in appropriate writing instruments for the interior, and didn't offer the 3.5 x 5.5 stapled size that I find so useful.

The Endurance Logbook will give me (and of course the world, if we go global) the right solution. A waterproof, tearproof TerraSlate cover (thicker, by the way than Expedition), but an interior made entirely of normal, high quality paper. You won't need to do any writing on the synthetic paper; rather a Butcher Orange (FN reference) 80#T flyleaf will provide space for personal information and other fun stuff. The interior will feature Mr. Pen 5x5 graph paper, a really beautifully executed, thicker-than-normal product that's still not so over the top thick that the notebook becomes conspicuous in the pocket. Because of this thinner-than-FN-yet-quality choice, we'll bump the page total up to 52, allowing each of these babies to be a bit more of an experience. 

And we haven't even mentioned the printed content. As partially seen above, the outside cover will feature the epic photograph (wrapping around f and b) of the launch of the James Caird during the legendary Endurance expedition. That leaves the inside front cover, inside front flyleaf, inside and outside back flyleaf, and inside back cover open for THE GOOD STUFF! (Remember, outside front flyleaf is the basic information page). I'm still pondering ideas for each of these sections, but my current thoughts are:

Inside front cover (white) - A brief "Our Story" type of section, briefly explaining what the Endurance Logbook is, and where it came from. Will include an explanation of the cover photograph. This will be followed by Hebrews 12:1-2, along with perhaps a crucifix or other Biblical image.

Outside front flyleaf (orange) - Name, contact, start/end info, space for an encrypted message, notable contents, etc.

Inside front flyleaf (orange) - Psalm 130 text in full, epic looking

52 pages of graph paper - This is good graph paper.

Inside back flyleaf (orange) - Theological writing - perhaps Luther on prayer from the LC

Outside back flyleaf (orange) - Unit Conversion Table, Antarctic Data

Inside back cover (white) - "A Clean Heart" feature, incl. crucifix, Psalm 51 excerpt, write-up, American flag module.

Well, the vision is there. Next steps will be setting up the sections to be printed, and then going through the painstaking process of tinkering with spacing, size, and formatting so that I can print two covers and two flyleafs onto each 8.5 x 11 sheet. With prior notebook builds, it's taken a lot of trial and error on ordinary paper to get everything lined up before you load in the expensive stuff. If I get into a rhythm of making these for myself, I would like to eventually give them away and sell them. This would be considered "Model No. 0001" but there could be other editions that are variations on the same theme - for example, one with a Butcher Extra Blue flyleaf and a different choice of Psalm and theological writing. Maybe each variation would have a different color flyleaf and different Psalms and writings. I could probably get a half dozen variations in that way to mix things up.

Lord-willing we will have a real Endurance Logbook to analyze and write about in a few months! I may post about this as I get closer to building Mark 1.