Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter Review

There are few tools in my life that I use every single day. The Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter has become one of them.

I purchased the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter LTD_020 from the JetPens online store. It's a beautifully designed leather organizer handmade in Germany. The model I chose has a dark brown leather exterior with a bright matcha green, wide elastic strap, and sage-colored suede interior. It’s a cover system meant to house multiple A5 notebooks at once, held together by a series of metal clips along the spine.

The leather is thick and substantial but softens and molds around the journals it houses. The suede interior feels buttery and plush. The clip system is very clever. You simply open the clip, slide your notebook in, and snap it shut. It’s mechanically simple. But it must be a custom part they have to manufacture, because I've never seen a clip like it. It gives a nice weight to the organizer and feels solid and well-built. Overall the Taschenbegleiter is a joy to hold and touch.

The organizer also features a variety of practical pockets: a pocket for loose papers, checkbook, or even small tablet or ebook reader; smaller pockets for receipts and sticky notes; and an elastic loop on the side that holds a pen. One minor disappointment: my suede lining arrived with a small natural defect, a faint circular scar (likely a bug bite). Roterfaden maintains a guarantee that you may return your Taschenbegleiter if you are unsatisfied with it. But because I had already waited a month on backorder, I decided it wasn't worth the hassle of shipping back and more waiting. As the leathers have aged and worn in, it bothers me far less than it did initially.

I keep four notebooks inside my Taschenbegleiter at all times:

1. Bullet journal – this is my master log of tasks, vocational stuff, life logisitcs stuff, monthly pages, weekly pages, retrospectives, and big picture goals
2. Math journal – scratch work and notes from my university classes
3. French journal – vocabulary lists, grammar notes, and practice writing
4. Dev journal – system design sketches, bug lists, ideas, and side project notes

I substitute these journals in and out depending on what’s a priority in my life and the time of year. I have many interests, but realistically, I stay focused on three major things at a time outside my primary occupation and the personal admin that daily life requires. So the quantity of metal clips in the organizer works perfectly for me.

The clip system lets me swap these out at will. The Taschenbegleiter fits any A5 softcover, and over the years I’ve built up a hoard of these compatible journals:

• Decomposition Books by Michael Roger
• Roger la Borde notebooks
• Peter Pauper Press Journals
• Rhodia Rhodiarama Softcover Notebook Dot Grid
• Rhodia Composition Book
• Kokuyo ME Notebooks
• Moleskine Cahier (Large 5x8.25”)
• Paperblanks Softcover Flexi Notebooks
• Albertine Press Skylines series

My favorites by far are the Rhodia Rhodiarama and Moleskine Cahier. They’re the right blend of durable paper and affordability, but not so precious that I’m afraid to tear out a page. The Paperblanks notebooks are almost too beautiful to use, which makes them better suited as personal diaries or gifts. Sometimes I get crazy and squeeze a Paperblank diary in there, loose without a clip, bringing the total to five notebooks. This is doable but pushes the Taschenbegleiter to its limit. Usually I just keep my diary next to my bed so I can record my dreams in it.

As for my bullet journal system, it’s a slightly pared-down version of the original Bullet Journal method (before it went behind a paywall and became commodified). Each month gets a dedicated monthly spread, followed by daily task logs, with four days per page. I use X's to mark tasks as finished, small arrows to move tasks forward, and strikethroughs to delete tasks that are abandoned or obsolete. If I’m feeling reflective, I’ll add a monthly retrospective page, not just productivity wins, but things like, “Caught a cold twice this month” or “Ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in years.” Sometimes I’ll glue a National Geographic magazine photo into my Rhodia bullet journal, or sketch something that caught my eye. But I really try not to focus on decorating it, because I find that leads me to distraction and reduces the utility of the exercise when I am focused on perfecting the design. I also like making dedicated spreads for big-picture thinking pages like “Goals 2025,” or “Health Habit Tracking.”

I’ve been keeping a bullet journal for about 10 years now. I've developed shortcuts to best fit my needs, but the core idea has remained the same: write things down by hand, reflect often, reconnect with what truly matters, and reduce mental clutter.

The Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter has become the perfect home for that system: beautiful, durable, and tactilely enjoyable. I see myself using this organizer for the rest of my life, and I hope sharing these tools and habits helps someone else bring order to their thoughts too.

If you're on the fence about buying the Roterfaden Taschenbegleiter, here's the advice I would give. It makes sense to buy this if you’re already deeply committed to bullet journaling and want a system that will evolve with you. Make sure that you've tried bullet journaling in a couple different styles already so you have an idea of what you like and don't like. The Taschenbegleiter is ideal for those who use primarily A5 paper, dislike the narrow size or thin elastic closures of typical traveler’s notebooks, and believe in the “buy it for life” philosophy. The Taschenbegleiter is a big, fat traveler’s notebook on steroids, perfect for people who need to carry multiple journals without compromise. There are traveler's notebooks out there under $30 which will meets the needs of most individuals. But if you have a complex schedule (like working and studying at the same time) and want to consolidate many journals and notebooks, this will certainly help. If you already feel about 70% certain that this will suit your workflow but hesitate because of the price ($150–$250), I can say from experience that it’s likely to exceed your expectations. Once you hold it in your hands, the craftsmanship and pleasure of use become obvious. For something you’ll pick up 20 or 30 times a day, it’s an investment that quickly proves its worth.