“My next expedition. I’m planning to set out to complete Captain Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova Antarctic expedition for the first time. At 1,800 miles and nearly four months long, it will be the longest unsupported polar journey in history, and it’s the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on.” Gear Patrol interviews Ben Saunders. We’re totally psyched to be a part of Ben Saunders and his crew, and their attempt to mount The Scott Expedition, an 1,800-mile expedition to complete Captain Scott’s ill-fated journey to the South Pole from 100 years ago.

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“This had become an absolutely vital part of my Every Day Carry.” Adam Savage, of Mythbusters fame, empties his pockets on the latest episode of the Tested.com video podcast and describes what he keeps with him at all times. Check at the four-minute mark where he reveals he’s currently rocking the National Crop Edition “Hay” memo-book and the Matte Black Field Notes Space Pen. Thanks a million for that. Here’s the tested.com site. Bookmark that, it’s always full of cool stuff.

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Bill Boudewyns of Minneapolis, MN sent us this lovely photo:

My 6 y/o son took his chance to use your notebook for making a list of items needed to build a car. “No, Dad. A real car!”

It surely says nothing of Mr. Boudewyns’ driving habits that his son considers the horn to be the foundation of an automobile.

Hey, while you’re here, you might want to join our e-mail list (above to the left) or order a COLORS subscription. No reason. Just saying. Wink, wink.

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We love being surprised when our notebooks show up unexpectedly. Michele was skimming Pitchfork the other day, and clicked on the gorgeous, dramatic video for “The Beauty Surrounds” by the band Houses, who recently relocated from our sunny Chicago to the barren wastelands of Los Angeles.

We asked Houses’ Dexter Tortoriello how he uses FIELD NOTES, and how they ended up in the video:

I carry a Field Notes notebook everywhere as a sort of daily place to jot things down, collect pieces of paper, press flowers etc… I’ve filled quite a few and have them in this small box in my bedroom. When talking about the video, we had decided to use a mix of things actually personal to us as well as some real props to set up the shots. The notebooks were special to me, so I brought them. I felt that they fit the concept of the video really well and I had actually drawn out a lot of the shots for the video inside them.

I use Field Notes as a sort of safety net. I don’t always trust technology with important things. There’s something really comforting about keeping a notebook and knowing that the contents aren’t going anywhere unless you want them to. For touring, I’ll usually paste in maps of areas where I’ll be as well as embassy information, close family and friends’ phone numbers, and vital information at the start of the book. Everything after that is open for writing, notes, drawings… whatever, really.

“The Beauty Surrounds” is available now on iTunes.

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Stephan Mantler is a professional photographer based in Austria, specializing in outdoor and adventure sports. Stephan uses Field Notes to keep track of his assignments, travel, and to, erm, take notes… in the field. Our new weatherproof Expedition Field Notes came in handy when he traveled to Martigny, Austria for the ISMF ski mountaineering race on assignment for the German and Austrian national teams and a major sponsor (see Stephan’s ISMF Alpiniski 2013 photos). Here’s his report:

On Friday there was a sprint race, in which athletes qualify in individual time trials for subsequent heats. My Field Notes contained the bib numbers and individual start times of the athletes I needed to cover, so I always knew when to have the camera ready for the next athlete and when I’d have enough time to change my position on the course or check up on the two GoPro cameras I had mounted on the course. These cameras were running in time lapse mode, so I took note of the start time to have an estimate on when to replace batteries or memory cards. After qualifications I also kept track on which athletes were assigned to which subsequent heats all the way to the finals.

The individual race followed on Saturday. Individuals are always a bit more involved, because the best photo spots aren’t easily accessible unless you can score a helicopter ride (it happens, but not this time). So I checked the course maps for potential locations (and shortcuts, to catch the athletes twice or even three times), and talked to the trainers on the day before to have an estimate on when the athletes would be coming through. Of course this all was taken down in the Field Notes again and provided valuable reference information in the field, ensuring that I had ample time to explore a few potential angles before the lead athletes arrived. One of the guys I need to cover usually comes through in the lead or top three, so it’s essential I’m all settled in and ready to shoot as they arrive.

The weekend was a fairly typical assignment; driving a total of 2200km (1,350 miles) in four days, covering two races in alpine conditions, editing and transmitting photos at night with little sleep in between means my tolerance for bullshit products is really low. I love the things that I can rely on, and Field Notes is one of them. I’ve come to prefer the durable Expedition Field Notes, because you don’t end up with soaked, smeared and torn pages when things are a little rough. And they always are when you’re an adventure sports photographer at 2500m elevation.

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We’re getting lots of great feedback from Expedition Edition users… here are three of the most interesting uses we’ve seen:

Field Notes user Mikail Soldatov really put the Expedition Edition to the test:

“First we put it in a working concrete mixer with sand for about 2 minutes. Then washed it in a soapy water, then rinsed it. After it dried out it looked brand new!”

Deeker (Ontario, Canada) is on his way to Togo, Africa, he sent a photo of his pre-trip “to do” list:

And Oddly Delightful filled a glaring hole in his “to-do” list system: He often found himself coming up with great ideas in the shower and no way to record them:

“I put your notebook with pencil in my shower today and already started using it… The notebook was so handy during my next shower that before I was done, I added a (third) item, “Take pic for Field Notes.” That item entered my system and, well, here we are.

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September 16, 2012
Greetings Field Notes crew,

I thought you might enjoy a couple photos of Field Notes hard at work! Ever since I picked up my first set this past spring, they have accompanied me on all of my birding excursions. True to their name, they are perfect for keeping notes while in the field. I use them to keep running tallies of what species I see and to make sketches. I occasionally try and dress them up a little with color drawings too.

-Sean Zimmer

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GQ’s popular “10 Essentials” feature this month is by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, the guys behind Instagram. Mike accidentally tested the durability of our memo books and took a lovely photo to prove it. Thanks for that.

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Check out the new video for “Gypsy” by Kim Boekbinder, a Canadian New Yorker who has worked with Amanda Palmer and Bauhaus’ David J.

Yep, that’s a County Fair “yellowhammer” in there, can’t quite make out the state. Thanks to Kim and director John Leavitt for sneaking that in there, we appreciate it!

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You may remember Lee Coleman, the California Field Notes fan inspired by our Fire Spotter edition to actually volunteer in that very capacity. Lee followed up a couple days ago…
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