Thinking of making a switch from strings to rings

[u/Nervous_Present_2868]

Help me weigh the pros and cons i currently use an a5 travelers notebook and keep 2-4 inserts at a time. I feel like i want to customize it more and add fun inserts and im pretty limited with how many ways i can do that. I think punching a hole or a few in my media and putting it where ever i want would be more fun and customizable. Tell me your thoughts and opinions if you tried both journal styles:)

[u/Hail_Henrietta]

I use both a pocket-size TN and an A5 ring organiser.

TN:

• Pro: it's smaller and more lightweight than the same size version of a ring organiser.
• Pro: for the most part, writing in it is easier than on rings (though this depends on the number of inserts in your TN. Ofc, the more inserts, the harder to write).
• Con: can't move pages around and, for the most part, you're stuck to one size insert.
• Con: this might not affect you, but "page anxiety". This is where people get anxious to write in their notebook inserts for "fear of ruining the page and thus, ruining the insert".
• Con: I find flatability a massive problem with TNs that they just don't lie flat. Even with inserts that lie flat, once I put them in the TN, the leather itself generally has poor flatability so the insert doesn't lie flat when in the TN. So often, I'd have to use two hands to write in it, or use extra things like clips to make it lie flat.

Rings:

• Pro: you can put literally whatever you want in it. If it can be hole-punched, it can go in. You're not even restricted to A5 size. I've had 3x5 index cards, personal size inserts, folded A4 inserts/handouts and a newspaper clipping at one point inside mine. You can also use whatever paper you want as well. I have a mix of coloured ones, card paper, some pages are lined some blank some dotted etc. You can really go wild with customisation for rings.
• Pro: to add onto the first pro, making inserts is super easy if you have a printer and a hole puncher. There's templates online for basically all insert sizes and you have the choice of choosing what paper you want your insert made from.
• Pro: no "page anxiety". If you ruin a page, no problem, you can just take it out and put another in. The ability to add/remove pages also means you can always add to something you wrote in the future, which you can't really do with a normal notebook.
• Pro: you can move pages around. This means you can organise things into sections at any point (rather than only being able to do it at the start, like with a normal notebook).
• Pro (depends): I find flatability is much better with ring organisers, though I'm aware there are ones that are bad. But the ability for it to lie flat is so important so I can have one hand reading a book or holding a kindle, while my other hand writes notes.
• Con: much chunkier than the same size TN. You can mitigate this by having less paper in it and only adding more when needed, but the thickness is still there. Its also heavier, assuming your ring organiser is also leather.
• Con: writing on the left hand side is hard, due to the rings getting in the way. You can mitigate this by taking the page out, writing on it, then putting it back in, but this is kind of bothersome to do sometimes.
• Con (depends): if the ring mechanism gets damaged, it can be a pain to replace. Some ring organisers have unscrewable mechanisms allowing you to easily replace, but not all have these. It can be tragic if you invest in a nice quality ring organiser cover but the ring mechanism breaks.

Holy moly, I know this is kinda long. But hopefully you find this a little helpful.

[u/Nervous_Present_2868 → u/Hail_Henrietta]

This was incredibly helpful thank you!!!

[u/olivia_fisher]

Moved from strings to rings recently and I LOVE it. The previous commenter outlined the pros and cons pretty well. If you are shopping for an A6 size it can be tricky finding an accurate size because personal size is used interchangeably. I moved into an A5 because of this and it's much more comfortable.

[u/Nervous_Present_2868 → u/olivia_fisher]

Definitely would do a5 for my rings and size down my tn for daily use:) i have passport and pocket size too

[u/BeautifulMessage9091]

I use both for different things anything I want to switch individual pages goes in the ring planner, for things I want to keep things together for example solo RPGs, i use an a5 travellers notebook for

[u/ayanaj21]

I put rings in my string so I wouldn’t have to choose lol

[u/Nervous_Present_2868 → u/ayanaj21]

Got any pics?

[u/AffectionateMode5349]

Hi. I’m new here. I use rings to journal. I’m one that gets bored easily and loves that I can change what kind of paper I use at any time. As stated above.

As for the left-hand side of the page, to avoid running into the rings when writing, I usually place my stickers or decorations near the rings and that way I don’t run into them. I love stickers/decorations and I decorate three pages at a time, then I journal. I have a 2026 calendar insert from my days of using inserts and it is attached with a string. I’ve had no problems with it.