As I recently got my A5 Plotter, I have started the trial and error phase of seeing how and what I want to use in the Plotter and in what order. Part of this is looking into the variety of brands that are out there to find the right options, and not necessarily lock myself into a single brand.
As luck would have it, right after I got my Plotter, my local store The Gentleman Stationer posted about having just received a new offering from Laconic that was a binder and pre punched 6 ring inserts. Since I am just getting into the 6 ring A5 world, I picked up a variety of the inserts as well as a binder to see how they might be of use. The inserts that I got are Monthly, Weekly, Meeting and My Life. There are a few other options like Spreadsheet, but I didn’t think the other formats would be of use to me at this time. One big perk of these inserts is that they are undated, so they offer much more flexibility when it comes to calendars. This is going to be great for me, as I don’t have to commit to a years worth of calendar inserts if I end up not using the A5 for calendar long term.
Part of moving into the A5 is the variety of accessories. I mentioned in my Plotter video that I was on the hunt for a binder to store my extra pages, and this Laconic I think is going to fit that need. The ring mechanism is easy to open and it holds plenty of pages, so this is going to be how I start for paper storage, as I think this notebook will still be useful if I find a better option in the future. For now, it is filled with my blank sheets of the various insert styles, and with this being as inexpensive as it is, I could see getting as second one in the future to use for used pages vs unused.
I mention in the video that my initial hole punch ended up working decently, but it was punching with a different margin to the holes when compared to the Plotter paper. I was able to get a recommendation from a friend who is already into the Plotter system, and I ended up picking up a Bira Adjustable 6 Hole Punch from Amazon. So far, it seems to be a much closer margin which is what I was looking for.
I mention in the video that my A5 Plotter that I got initially was having issues with the tabs to open the rings, so I contacted Dromgoole’s and they did a warranty return. I have to say I am glad that I reached out as my replacement arrived and the rings opening are a night and day difference.
All this to say, it never hurts to reach out if you get something new and it doesn’t seem right. There are always one of issues that can slip by quality checks on any product.
I look forward to continuing this journey into the A5 Plotter world and will continue to look for other accessories and inserts to let me fully customize this setup and use experience.