Everything You Need to Know About the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter
From front to back, the A6 dancefloor black, A5 coral red teacher, and A4 black leather are three members of the Roterfaden family.
The Roterfaden taschenbegleiter (pronounced like wrote-er-fod-in tash-in-beg-light-er) is a German invention that allows you complete freedom to customize your organizer. In English, taschenbegleiter means “bag companion”, and that’s really what it is for us! Our Roterfaden organizers come everywhere with us, and there’s a reason we recommend them as a gift for any and every occasion. We’re currently one of the only retailers in Canada to carry this wonderful brand, and we think that you should know more about it!
One of the taschenbegleiter’s best features is how it holds up over time. Like any leather product, it will wear with use, but it is so high-quality and well-designed that it should last you a lifetime. Each Roterfaden is made to order and boasts that it is 100% made in Germany, so you can be sure your organizer was made with complete care each and every time. The Roterfaden we have in the shop has been with us for years and it has stretched quite a bit to fit more memories and information, but it still works like we just took it off the shelf today!
You can carry up to three notebooks at a time in this system, so you can mix and match your favourite paper or stick to a uniform style. You can separate out your work notes, calendar, journal, bullet journal, recipe book, or whatever else you carry without having to lug around a different notebook for each topic.
The Roterfaden system also uses standard sizes for the inserts, allowing you unlimited variety and customization options. Essentially, that means you don’t necessarily have to use Roterfaden refills for your cover, unlike many other brands and organizational systems. Of course, you can use Roterfaden’s lovely paper or calendars if you’d like to, but you’re not forced into buying their size of paper every time you need a refill. Any A5 refill will fit the A5 size, any A4 refill will fit the A4 size, and any A6 refill will fit the A6 size!
No matter which refill or size you choose for your perfect system, the Roterfaden uses its unique clips to keep them secure. The clips are easy to lift up and adjust, and they can even slide out if you’re trying to attach a thicker notebook or if you’re carrying something oversized inside the elastic closure. Because of the ease of opening and closing the clips, they’re also great for holding onto small items like receipts, tickets, and even momentos like leaves and flowers!
The clips can also function as bookmarks, so you can always know exactly where in your notebook you left off. Each organizer is complete with a pen loop that is the perfect size for a Caran D’Ache 849 ballpoint pen or your favourite Blackwing pencil. Each taschenbegleiter has a variety of pockets for storage and a sturdy elastic to keep it closed. The colour of the elastic on the pen loop and the elastic closure will match on most models, and the colour choices are red, black, or black transparent.
When you’re looking for refills, we recommend looking for slim notebooks. We find that ones that are staple-bound or thread-bound work best with Roterfaden’s clips, but that won’t limit your options when it comes to your favourite paper! For instance, if you’re looking for refills for the A6 size, our new MacLellan books exclusive Tomoe River notebooks fit perfectly, as do the standard Field Notes, A6 staplebound ClaireFontaine, Rhodia, and more!
Use your favourite kind of paper with the Roterfaden clip system in standard sizes. You can also get handy inserts like plastic sleeves, card holders, and calendars!
If you’re looking to fill the standard A5 size, the most common size-choice by far, you have lots of options from some of our bestselling brands:
Leuchtturm1917 A5 softcover notebooks in lined, grid, dotted, or plain
Laika notebooks in various designs and paper styles
So many more! Ask us to find your perfect insert or use the search functions on our website!
The notebooks you carry aren’t the only way to customize your Roterfaden either. We carry a couple of different styles of the taschenbegleiter in the store, each with unique properties and colour combinations!
The bestseller — that’s really what it’s called — is the variety we stock the most of because of how well-loved and well-used it is. You can see a video of it at the top of this post! It comes in a variety of pocket styles, but the standard configuration that you can usually find at Phidon has two business-card sized pockets and a smartphone sized pocket on the left inner cover, as well as a large pocket on the right inside cover that can hold a 7” iPad or tablet, loose papers, receipts, or whatever else you want to hang onto! Another popular option for the pocket on the right is a reporter’s-style flip-up notepad to give you even more paper to work with.
There are endless ways to customize your Roterfaden, even from the colours of the pockets!
The bestseller has a bunch of different options for materials as well. For the outside, you can choose between classic leather or vegan “dancefloor”. The leather is soft to the touch and comes in black, coral red, dark brown, or light brown. Dancefloor, named because it is designed with the same material used in the floors of professional ballet studios, is a smooth alternative that is just as strong and durable. This option also comes in a variety of colours, including black, green, red, and pigeon blue. Both materials for the covers are fingerprint resistant and easy to clean.
For the interior on the bestseller, you can choose between soft suede or felt. The suede comes in two colours, cement or turquoise, and is vegetable-dyed. The mottled felt seems like it has endless options, like turmeric, light grey, dark grey, and magnolia. Whether you’re choosing your taschenbegleiter for work, pleasure, or both, you can get a colour that suits your unique aesthetic!
Occasionally, you’ll also be able to find an ST_17 in the store as well. These taschenbegleiters have the same clips and flexibility of the bestseller, but they have a different pocket configuration and are made of different materials. As you can see in the video, the ST_17 has horizontal pockets, as well as a padded outer pocket, made with various colours of upcycled tent material (that can no longer be repaired) from Vaude. Each ST_17 is unique and sustainable, and it’s all pulled together with lovely, vegetable-tanned grey leather.
Because of the variety of options you can have with your taschenbegleiter, we don’t have all of the options that are available from this great company all the time. If you don’t see your perfect Roterfaden in stock, please reach out to us at phidonpens@bellnet.ca, and we can let you know when our next shipment is scheduled to arrive! As with all products and brands we carry, we’re always happy to custom order products for you, just remember that it is made-to-order and shipped from Germany!
What’s your favourite part about the Roterfaden taschenbegleiter? Have you ever used one? Let us know in the comments, and happy writing!