Leather 3 X 5 Card Holders- Your Experience

[RussG]

Levinger has a "pocket briefcase" for its 3 x 5 note cards. Crane has a similar leather holder for its note cards. has anyone seen or used either or both and can provide any insight as to differences between each? thanks.

[JefferyS]

Levenger. Mine has been through the washing machine several times, and is about 7 years old.

[cellmatrix]

I have a Levenger international pocket briefcase, and its a good product, but I hardly use it for two reasons:

 

1) If you put a fountain pen in it, its extremely bulky, and if you are not a person who wears a sport coat or carries a purse around all the time, its not going to fit easily into your pants pockets.

 

2) finding local fountain pen friendly 3 by 5 index cards that don't feather badly is a very hit and miss experience, mostly miss if, like me, you are not a fan of extra fine nibs and very dry writing inks. I heard there were some fountain pen friendly cards (topps?) at target once, but that was long ago, the current ubiquitous ones Ampad, Oxford all perform very badly in my experience.

 

edit to add-- are the crane cards any good? or does anyone else have a fountain pen friendly 3 by 5 card they can recommend? (I would imagine that the OP is interested in this too!)

Edited September 12, 2011 by cellmatrix

[KrazyIvan]

I had the Levenger but found I did not use it. I ended up selling it here. I also have a Renaissance Art 3"x5" 3 ring binder with pen loop in black leather with blue leather interior. I don't use that one much either.

 

http://www.renaissance-art.com/images/products/alternateviews/Binder_3X5_basic_side_3-4_NL.jpg

 

I just rather slip some index cards in my folio or in the back of a notebook.

[JohnS-MI]

I have two of the Levenger model:

 

*The simple shirt pocket briefcase has two compartments for holding cards (fresh/used or however you wish to arrange) and some tabs that hold cards exposed for writing. If you don't stuff cards in it, it is about one-tenth inch thick, but with cards it can bulk up.

*The International pocket briefcase is better suited for a suit coat. It has all the above plus a cover flap with more pockets, and a large wallet pocket. Empty, it is 0.25" and can bulk up a lot more. For travel, the pockets are good for receipts you have to save, foreign currency that is larger than US currency, etc.

 

I use the shirt pocket one quite frequently, the International ONLY for travel.

 

 

It is hard to find FP-friendly 3 x 5 cards. Levenger used to be good, and I have a small remaining supply of their cards. Many have reported here the newer Levenger cards are not so good. To make that supply last, I have bought other cards; they are generally fair to poor and I use them for less critical uses (and with nibs and inks less likely to cause feathering)

Edited September 12, 2011 by JohnS-MI

[DriedUpBob]

I've carried the Levenger version (without pen loop) off and on for about 10 years and like a previous pster several trips through the Maytag. It has held up very well and the leather has worn gracefully. The cards are mediocre so I found myself just reloading with import cheapies as I use the cards for more than writing on but that's a whole nuther thread.

 

+1 for the Levenger

 

Bob

[Nolan613]

Had the Levenger pocket briefcase for several years. Love the leather, hate their cards. Still use the case but have done better with cards from Walmart.

 

+1 for Levenger.

[Joe in Seattle]

I have the Crane in British tan. Very sost, well finished leather. I use it with Crane cards - pricy, but lovely to write on. I haven't gone to the expense to have them printed. The ones I buy have a horizontal quill pen in sepia across the top. Bought on sale, and in bulk not too bad. I love writing on all my Crane papers.

[PJohnP]

The Crane leather model is well made and holds the cards neatly. Crane replacement cards are available with the card holder in Office Depot at a reasonable price. The plastic card holder is not as well made, and doesn't offer a large difference in price, so I recommend the leather model.

 

 

 

John P.

[tmenyc]

I got so disappointed with card quality (crane is too rich for my diet...) that I put my ancient pocket briefcase away and switched to a small Apia notebook, the larger version of which I use for meeting notes. It has generally worked well but sometimes I miss cards.

 

Tim

[Pippin60]

Had the Levenger pocket briefcase for several years. Love the leather, hate their cards. Still use the case but have done better with cards from Walmart.

 

+1 for Levenger.

 

Same here, I've tried the Levneger cards they're not too bad, but I also have found TOPS brand 3x5 cards to be quite fountain pen friendly. The last place I found them was Target and Walmart.

[pmsalty]

I have used a Buxton 3x5 leather holder for about 5 years. It has held up quite well, it cost about $7.50..

PMS

[ommoran]

+1 for the Levenger which I bought from e-bay for about $15. I love mine, very useful when I'm at tradeshows, business lunches - anywhere my notebook can't go.

 

I'm a big fan of GTD (whole 'nother thread) so the cards to me are immaterial and disposable. It's write it down for later process, period.

[vickiehof]

After reading about leather 3 x 5 card holders in this forum last year, I bought a Franklin Covey # 755235. In addition to holding the cards, it's a great place to store: credit card receipts, an extra credit card or my other plastic cards to free up space in my small wallet, extra emergency cash, business cards etc. I find that I'm constantly jotting down notes, good books to read and other tidbits of information which I may not want to type out on my iphone notepad icon. I wish it was available in more colors. Black items seem to get lost in the black abyss of my purse.

 

Somehow, I have accumulated over 18 packs of 3 x 5 cards (store clearance sales, yard sales, and thrift shops). I don't care about the quality of the cards because, as Ommaran said, these cards are "immaterial and disposable", like a Post-it-note.

[radellaf]

I have a no-loop pocket breifcase and... found it pretty useless. Nicely made, sure it's great in the right circumstance, but I just cannot find or even make up a situation for myself where I could actually use it. I looked up Get it Done, but... too much work. Would have saved me some embarassment and expense a few times in my life if I used something like that consistently.

 

So, good with their leather. Not so much with the neoprene, if they offer that. My 3 pen holder was stored next to the PB and the outside is kinda flaking off. I should see if they have a waranty or something, place like that might.

 

Oh, good index cards. How about the exacompta ones Goulet sells? 4x6 only, but possibly the smaller ones could be special ordered?

Edited September 16, 2011 by radellaf

[rickn99]

I used a Levenger one for years, mainly for shopping lists. I left it on a counter at a store when picking up an order and, by the time I realized it and returned, someone else had a nice leather pocket briefcase. Now I use a cheap fake leather and cloth one that I got at Staples or OfficeMax.

[FearNot]

Used a "pocket briefcase" from Office Depot, I believe. Rather large for carrying around in shirt pocket (left no room for glasses or pen). Now I just carry a small business card case. Don't take much in the way of notes, but it's good for jotting down quick information - much handier than 3X5 cards IMHO.

[Chrontius]

The Cutter & Buck pocket briefcase I ended up with was a garage sale find probably left over from a corporate promotion or retreat; I wish I had cleaned them out at the time, as they wanted like two bucks for each, and they had a few. :bonk: Does Cutter & Buck still make these? They look pretty nicely made, in spite of the corporate branding.

 

http://cl.ly/AH4U

http://cl.ly/AHU1

[RussG]

thanks to everyone who replied. this was the kind of feedback I was looking for. Now I have to make a decision.

[RudyR]

Renaissance Art has cardholders and 3 x 5 custom prints available. Maybe with a little input from our community the would get a paper for their stock that is FP friendly, if it isn't already.