When I purchased my first Filofax back in 2009, I didn't know much about binders.
I had come across Philofaxy, but didn't start to really read much until some time later. After a bit of looking around, I managed to find a cherry personal Classic for the great price of around £40 and starting to use it. Sadly after about 10 months of gentle use, I returned it to Filofax as it started to have the bubbling/cracking on the spine that some of the Classics seem to have. It was actually a blessing in disguise as Filofax agreed to replace it with a crimson Malden instead, which I realised was a model I much preferred. If I was buying my first Filofax now, I'm pretty sure that I'd get either a Kensington or a Winchester.
Would you still purchase the same first binder if you were just starting out now?
And as always as it's a Friday, please feel free to discuss anything ringbound planner related.
Have a great weekend.
If starting out now I would probably try a personal Heritage compact. But I doubt it would have the same durability as the calf leather 3CL model from the late 80's that I carry to work and which still looks nearly as good as new.
ReplyDeleteI like the A5 format but found my big ring Filofax too bulky. I recently dug deep and bought an A5 Heritage. It's a much better size of ring and since I use it for notes and script rather than as a diary the model might just move me away from boy d journals. Fingers crossed
DeleteIf I could still buy one new then yes.... but I still own my first one!! Likewise I didn't know a great deal about them 30+ years ago! I had discovered them via an article in one of the Sunday papers/magazines
ReplyDeleteMy very first organiser was a large vinyl A5 Time Manager binder. It was very heavy when full and fell apart after excessive use. It was replaced by a leather version, that I still own. Remember that (certainly for men) in the mid-80s the size - especially the thickness of your organiser indicated how important you were in the company. I’m sure many men carried around a lot of unecessary paper in bulging binders!
ReplyDeleteI certainly wouldn’t buy the same organiser today. 90% of what had to be kept in paper format - diary, to-do list, contacts, birthdays/anniversaries etc. is nearly always done digitally these days. I much prefer a very slim organiser that just contains the essentials. Whether A5, Personal, A6 or Pocket - that’s a different and ever on-going debate!
My first binder was a nylon zip model with leather trim Cambridge brand binder, circa 1991. It was Navy half Letter size with huge brass rings, and although it matched my Jansport sport backpack nicely, it was bulky and turned me off binders for a long time. I tried a leather Franklin Covey in 1998 for grad school, but it was stolen at my retail job before I had barely moved in and I couldn't afford a second. A couple years later, at the end of grad school, I bought a microfiber zip binder called City by Cambridge from a drug store. Liked the slimmer rings and smaller size, but it wouldn't lay flat. I stayed away from ring binders after that.
ReplyDeleteMy first Filofax was a pretty burnt orange Compact Calipso I found locally in 2013, but it had ring gap and the only options for exchange at the shop were a Raspberry Finsbury or a Racing Green Original. I took the Original, because it was slimmer. Never liked it - too floppy. It sent me on a the hunt for the holy grail of binders.
I would possibly rebuy the Calipso at a different stage in life. I liked the squishy structured leather and slim rings. I've got an A5 at the moment that I love to touch, but never used.