Do you like writing notes in book margins? I’m always wishing I had a pencil nearby when reading.
Recently, I discovered pencil clips that attach directly to books. Blackwing, known for their premium pencils, emailed me about a clip priced at $12—just a piece of plastic with their logo. (add on $4.33 shipping, and it’s a $16.33 clip)
While I love Blackwing pencils, $16 seemed a bit much for one clip. After some quick research, I found a set of four leather and metal clips on Amazon for $8.29 (affiliate link).
The clips arrived, and I’ve been testing them out.
On a large book like a Bible, they work great. I’ll definitely keep one on my Bible.
However, on a smaller book like a notepad, they’re less practical. The clip gets in the way of writing, making it difficult to use comfortably.
If you’re looking for a book clip, these work well for larger books but might not be ideal for smaller notebooks.
Looking back at the Blackwing clip, theirs is a smaller size than my leather clips. So Blackwing’s clip might work better on a notepad. Plus, their clip looks like the pencil snaps into place, holding the pencil firmly. My leather clips hold the pencil well. However, part of me wonders if the pencil will slide out at some point.
Thus, the Blackwing clip is less obstructive and holds the pencil firmly. Heh, goes to show Blackwing does really think about the design of their products. Hence, the higher price—but I’m still not going to buy one.
I’ve been using the same size notepad for years (since 2004). While I like having a notepad that can fit into my pocket, I wonder if the small paper size subliminally limits my ideas. As I like to say about Twitter, “small boxes yield small ideas.” Perhaps I should try using a larger notepad, to see what happens.