Review: Shibui Traveler's Notebook Cover

In August, the creative team and developers behind the world-class products at Shibui PH sent me a prototype of their latest product, a zippered traveler's notebook cover, to evaluate and review. The prototype for the Shibui TN cover is very impressive, it looked perfect to me then, and after several discussions with the team, they were able to produce their very own TN covers and Shibui PH is launching them today! (Read towards the end of this review and check the special launch discount that Shibui PH is giving  away.)

The Shibui Traveler's Notebook Cover is made from high-quality leather and shows excellent craftsmanship. It's classy, elegant, well-made, and I'm so proud that this product is made by talented and skilled Filipino leatherworkers. This TN cover has all the features that a traveler and TN user could ask for: high-quality leather cover, pockets for cards and all kinds of paper bits, Shibui's Pull-Tag™ for any pen size, sturdy built-in elastic, and a zipper to keep everything together.

Shibui's leather products are presented in large white boxes with the Shibui logo. Inside the box are the TN cover, a small flyer with leather care instructions, and a postcard. The inside bottom of the box contains the Shibui brand philosophy, contact details, and their social media accounts.

The Shibui Traveler's Notebook Cover inside the Shibui's simple and neat white box. 

I've been using a traveler's notebook for several years, and I love keeping several inserts in the TN together with my diaries and a lot of ephemera and paper bits. Now that I have the Shibui TN Cover, I will transfer some of my inserts to the zippered cover to tidy them and keep my ephemera and paper bits together. I also think that this will be very useful for when I can travel again because it can fit so much paper stuff inside. I can have a notebook, pen, passport, tickets, IDs, and other cards in one zippered sturdy leather cover! It's very useful and so handy for travelers.

Shibui's own Traveler's Notebook Cover in regular size.

The Shibui TN Cover is available in both regular and passport sizes and in several colors including Ocean Blue, Olive Green, and Saddle Brown, which is the one in this review. It measures 23cm x 12cm x 2cm and fits regular sized Traveler's Notebook refills/inserts.

This TN Cover is definitely a dream come true for TN users. Aside from the elastic to keep a regular insert, it has so many pockets and slots for cards, an extra insert, a pen, and other stuff. I was able to fit my passport in the pocket behind the card slots.

The prototype that I received in August did not have a built-in elastic and I found it was a bit of a challenge to put it in the cover's spine. I also thought that sourcing it may be a challenge to some users, so I suggested to the team to include an elastic band to the TN cover so that each product is ready to use as purchased. 

The Shibui TN Cover has a built-in elastic for a notebook insert/refill with each purchase so it's ready to use.

It's very thoughtful of Shibui to include the Pull-Tag™ in their TN Cover. The Pull-Tag™ is a unique feature of Shibui's pen cases. It's an adjustable soft leather band that holds pens securely in their slots inside pen cases. The Pull-Tag™ allows pens in any size and thickness to fit securely in their slots without any risk of pen damage due to tight elastic bands. A pen inside the Shibui TN Cover is held securely in place by the Pull-Tag™.

Card slots, pockets, Pull-Tag™ in the Shibui TN Cover.

The back cover has three slots/pockets that can fit an extra regular-sized notebook insert/refill, a passport, and some extra bits of paper.

Shibui PH now has its own metal zipper tag. I love this branding!

Shibui has definitely made some design changes to the TN Cover prototype. I noticed that they reduced the height by maybe a centimeter, which gives the contents, especially the inserts a tighter fit inside the Cover. They are basically the same, but I like the extra space in the prototype because I get more room for my stuff.

On top is the final product, the prototype is at the bottom. The final product is 1cm less in height, but both have the same thickness.

It seems that they also reduced the TN Cover's width by a centimeter.

Again, the Shibui PH TN Cover is an excellent product and a useful travel companion. Like their pen cases, the TN Covers have their own characteristics — no two pieces are alike and each carries its own look and personality. The passport size is interesting, too! Get both for your travels and memory keeping!

My Shibui TN fits two notebook inserts (one in the built-in elastic and another in the back cover), my passport, a standardized fountain pen, and several bits of paper.

Shibui PH products are designed and crafted by Filipinos whose vision has always been to create a brand that will promote Filipino leather craftsmanship to the world. Shibui's creators are firm believers of local craftsmanship and their goal is to enrich local industries and compete with other brands on a global stage. They envisioned a brand that will have a strong local and international following because they believe that providing jobs to Filipino leatherworkers means that more families can stay together and will no longer need to look for work overseas. This way, fathers can stay with their children, train them, and pass on the legacy of leather crafting to the next generation, a skill that is slowly fading as next-generation leather workers become interested in other endeavors.

Shibui also offers 3- and 5-pen cases, an 8-vial case, Hobo Weeks Cover, A5 or A6 Notebook/Journal Covers, A5 or A6 Life Organizers, Travel Wallet, and Travel Organizer. To see (and buy) these amazing Filipino products, visit the Shibui PH website (https://www.shibuiph.com/).

In the Philippines, Shibui pen cases and other leather products are also available in the following stores: Scribe.ph (SM Aura, Glorietta 4, and Eastwood branches), Analog, Noteworthy (Podium, Rockwell, BGC, and Alabang Town Center branches) and Everything Calligraphy.

And did you know? Shibui PH has now reached the global stage! Overseas, Shibui leather pen cases are available in Malaysia (Pen Gallery), Singapore (Cityluxe), Hong Kong (Pierre Cardin), and the United States (Endless Pens). 

The Shibui Traveler's Notebook in this review is provided by Shibui PH where it retails for PhP2,895 for the regular TN Cover and PhP2,350 for the passport cover. If you buy one now, Shibui PH is offering a 10% discounted price at PhP2,605.50 and PhP2,115, respectively. The promo runs until December 12, 2020. For more details on buying Shibui PH products, visit their website at https://www.shibuiph.com/.

Review: Quiver Pen Holder

When I saw this newly-released pen holder late last year, I was both curious and excited because of its name. Most people know I named my blog after the centaur with a bow and arrow that is my sign, but only a few knows that I am a former archer. Which is why the pen holder held my attention the moment I saw it. It brought back happy archery memories way, way back. When I was an archer, a leather hip quiver held my arrows, and now that I am a pen collector, a unique pen holder holds two of my favorite pens to a favorite notebook, and it is called the Quiver.

Quiver Global's Bob Koch kindly sent me one of their pen holders to review. I received a double/dual pen holder for large notebooks and I used it as soon I took it out of the envelope. It was love at first sight. Who wouldn't fall for these penholders? They are made from genuine soft leather and hand-stitched by Quiver's skilled leather craftsmen. It's perfect for my pens! I got a brown pen holder, but it is also available in black.

The Quiver pen holder is very easy to use because of its simple design. Just slide the pen holder over the notebook's front cover and move it according to the desired position. The photo below shows the wide elastic band that keeps the pen holder secure on the notebook's cover. This elastic band also offers maximum flexibility to the pen holder so it can be used on a number of large notebooks. Quiver's website has a list of Quiver-compatible notebooks.

The double/dual Quiver pen holder comfortably accommodates two pens. Its soft leather can be stretched a bit, so two large pens can fit in. I tested several pen combinations shown in the photos below, and I paired a big-sized pen with a thin one so they will not scratch each other.

On the Webbie: Haolilai and Esterbrook SJ. 

On the Reecovid notebook: Lamy Safari and Sheaffer thin cartridge pen.

On my red Scribe notebook: Waterman Hemisphere and Lamy Safari.

Lastly, two birds on my 2011 Starbucks planner: Pelikan M200 and the yellow M205 demo from the M205 Duo set. Love, love, love this combo!

The pen and notebook combinations are great! I love seeing two of my favorite pens on the cover of my notebooks and it makes writing very easy for me. I don't need to open a long pen wrap to get a pen to write, I just need to get one from my Quiver.

Quiver pen holders are available for online purchase through Quiver Global site. Other Quiver products include:

• single pen Quiver for small notebooks;
• single pen Quiver for large notebooks; and
• double pen Quiver for small notebooks.

Quiver also offers an adapter for use in softcover notebooks. Also available are a number of Combo Sets that include any Quiver pen holder paired with a Moleskine notebook of choice.

The Quiver pen holder used in this review is courtesy of Quiver Global. Webbie is from Exaclair, Reecovid from Reecovid, and Scribe from Scribe. Pens and Starbucks planner belong to my personal collection.

Drool

Remember this blog entry sometime in May? Well, my orders for leather sleeves from Chie Acosta of Creativille arrived in time, I just didn't have the chance to post any photos.

The sleeves were delivered promptly, and they came wrapped in beautifully crafted paper with a wax seal. How nice. My joy was indescribable when I saw the sleeves. When I slid my Moleskine into the sleeve's holder, ah, my joy was truly complete.

The sleeve was lovingly handcrafted by Chie Acosta, who got excited when I told her that the sleeves she will create will be commemorative for a special occasion. So she used two different types of leather to make the sleeves a unique set. The sleeve that Chie created for me is from darkly-tanned, very smooth leather. The other sleeve (which I cannot show because I gave it away already) is an exact opposite of the other, made of scuffed, lightly tanned leather with silver embellishments. Both sleeves have straps created from the same leather material.

Here's how my Moleskine fits into the leather sleeve.

And here's how it looks when it's tied with its strap:

(New) Notebooks to Look Forward To

Wulf, a Mac lover and a fellow member of Philmug.ph recently posted a notebook/journal product in the Moleskine Club. The journal is covered with leather, and the inside pages are blank, with an aged finish. Cover and notebook inside are kept together by a leather strap and a silver clasp. Simple, yet classy, elegant, and uniquely lavish. These journals are personally handcrafted by Chie, of Creativille and she keeps a gallery of her creations at http://www.amberluke.com/.

I just ordered two journals, one with light-tanned leather, and another with a darker finish, similar to the black one in above photo. Can’t wait to have them!