Pen Bandoliers, From Etsy Shop Cleverhands

[kiavonne]

Quite some time ago, I'd heard of the pen bandoliers being offered on Etsy. I remember looking at them, but life was somewhere else at the moment, and the moment was forgotten. Recently, though, I was reminded of the bandoliers, and went back out to Etsy to look again. The Etsy shop is cleverhands, by Emily Oinen.

The bandolier is basically a very wide band (2 inches) of high quality elastic mated with either a cotton canvas or recycled rubber to create a strap pen holder that can be placed around notebooks to keep the pens handy. Honestly, they will keep them tight, too. Wiggle room is minimal. The standard bandolier has spaces for up to six pens, pencils, paintbrushes, etc. and are set at about 1 inch for each. The construction is flat, and it is the elastic band that stretches to allow a pen to be inserted in the bandolier. With a cotton canvas material, the stretch will allow a pen up to the size of a standard Sharpie. However, with the recycled rubber (from the inner tubes of bicycle tires), the stretch of the elastic and the rubber will allow up to the size of an Edison Collier - but it is a really tight fit.

The bandoliers have a velcro closure. It is very sturdy. However, I found that the best spot for the least possible way for it to come undone upon its own is at the back of the notebook by the open edge. It also happens to be a good spot for quickly grabbing and releasing the closure. Once released, the pens are still held tightly in the bandolier, they won't fall out, not even with a good shake.

Emily's construction of the bandoliers is exceptional. No crooked seams and reinforced in all the right spots. The bandoliers come in mini (for pocket notebooks/journals), small, medium, and large, as well as an adjustable bandolier to accommodate a range or multiple notebooks. She is also making bandoliers for smartphones and iPads, and she accepts custom orders, as well, without a big custom increase in price. The bandoliers come in a variety of patterns.

I purchased three bandoliers to try out, all adjustable (from circumference 9 to 22 inches), with two in cotton canvas and one in recycled rubber. I wanted to try and test the limits of the bandoliers, and that I did. For my test notebooks, I used the Circa bomber jacket zip folios, in both Letter and Junior sizes. The Letter size is an extreme size, and that's what I wanted for testing, while the Junior size is my every day planner, and I wanted realistic function, as well.

I used the recycled rubber and one of the cotton canvas bandoliers around the Letter size folio, and the other cotton canvas bandolier around my Junior folio.

My main purpose with the Letter folio was to test extremes. It is my largest folio in use. The two bandoliers around the Letter folio were a tight fit, adjusted to maximum circumference. The recycled rubber bandolier fared better and held well, though stretched tight. With pens in place, I worried the rubber might start to tear, but it held. The cotton canvas bandolier didn't much like the Letter folio, but I did get it on. It was an extreme fit, and started to stress the elastic band a little bit. It was also a bit more difficult to keep the cotton canvas bandolier in a spot where it wouldn't try to release the velcro. In my photos, you can also see both bandaliers putting a bit of scrunch on the folio itself. These would not work (unless customized in length) for a Circa with 1 inch rings. I only had half inch rings on the notebooks inside my folios.

I used the cotton bandolier on my Junior folio. It worked like a dream. I had overlap of the bandolier band, but the velcro closure allows for this with two strips of loopy whatevers, and it held fast without a problem and without stress. The bandolier did not move around at all, it stayed where I put it, and the pens were very secure. I did manage to get the lip of the cap of my Edison Collier into the pen slot, but it was pretty tight. That little bit of the cap is just a little too much for this bandolier with standard pen spacing of 1 inch. For carrying big pens in earnest, I think I'd have a custom bandolier made with even just one more eighth to quarter of an inch in space size. I was very pleased with the bandolier on my Junior zip folio, especially since I had room to grow with larger rings on the notebook inside.

A note to the wise, pens should be inserted in the bandolier before wrapping it around a notebook, as the hold is so secure it is hard to remove and replace pens while the bandolier is in place.

A couple of quick photos (note the sealing wax stick is covering personalization, and is not there for comparison purposes):

Front

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Z%20Other%20Stuff/bandolier02_zpsdbaf1233.jpg

Back

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Z%20Other%20Stuff/bandolier03_zpsd56ab5a1.jpg

As an added bonus, when I received the bandoliers, I was pleasantly surprised to find Emily had included a free, handmade cahier notebook with each bandolier, in complementing color. The notebooks are covered in heavy stock (not dissimilar to a field notes notebook), and the paper is an offwhite/ecru, subtle laid paper. I do not know what type of paper it is, but it is nicely smooth for being laid paper, and it is acceptable for fountain pen ink. The pen nib I used to test it is a wet medium and the ink is Noodler's 54th Massachusetts. There was some feathering, but not really too bad. I neglected to get a photo of the backside after writing, but the only bleed through was very slight and only from a few heavier points from writing. I could write on the backside, if I wanted to. Really not a bad bonus at all for a freebie!

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Z%20Other%20Stuff/bandolier01_zps2787d8de.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Z%20Other%20Stuff/bandolier04_zps6f993e64.jpg

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j111/kiavonne/Pens/Z%20Other%20Stuff/bandolier05_zpsb0ed1dd2.jpg

[Just I]

I would like to second the quality and usefulness of the bandoliers. I bought a couple a few years ago for sketching supplies and am still using them. While sketching I tend to wrap the Bandolier around my forearm for easy access to different tools. Great idea and quality construction.

 

No affiliation.

[Ana_]

I love mine. I think it's from the same maker as yours Kiavonne, I bought it about 4 years ago in SF at an arts festival where pens and rare edition books and their prints were sold. Amazing. I love to keep my fountain pens in mine and love the way it hugs my current read, journal, and pens.

[DaveBj]

When I saw this thread, the first picture that came to my mind was one of the stereotypical 19th-century Mexican bandits with those crossed ammunition-carrying straps across his chest, only each slot would have a pen. Now THAT is being prepared!

[inkstainedruth]

When I saw this thread, the first picture that came to my mind was one of the stereotypical 19th-century Mexican bandits with those crossed ammunition-carrying straps across his chest, only each slot would have a pen. Now THAT is being prepared!

Admittedly I thought the same thing....

Actually, those Cleverhands ones are fairly nice. Do they close with Velcro?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[dannyboy]

I didn't know about these pen bandoliers until this review--so I'm grateful for all the detailed information you've given in your review. Let's hope Cleverhands recovers soon and will be back making these useful items. Thank you, kiavonne, for a thorough and interesting review!

[Just I]

Admittedly I thought the same thing....

Actually, those Cleverhands ones are fairly nice. Do they close with Velcro?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

Cleverhands had a few different ones when I got mine. There were some that were made with wide elastic and designed to fit a small or medium size moleskine and others that closed with velcro.

[mtnbiker62]

I have two of these from Cleverhands: one that fits a large Moleskine notebook and a larger, adjustable one. I liked the fact that they reused bike tubes, so I bought a couple of them. They turned out to be really great items. I wish the Velcro on the adjustable one was a bit longer; it pulls open a little easier than I'd like it to, but it still works great.

[amberleadavis]

Oh dang, she's not available.

 

 

cleverhands is taking a short break.

Due to illness Cleverhands is temporarily going on vacation. Fret not - if you have an outstanding order I will get it to you ASAP. We will reopen as soon as we get things sorted out. Thank you for your patience.
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