Journal paper

[Groucho]

I know folks have tried various papers to use for keeping a journal while on the trail. I'd like to use onion paper. Does anyone remember that? We used to use it in typewriters, years ago. It was thin and ultrafeatherlight, and we used it because you could erase typewriter ribbon printing on it. I can't find it anywhere now. I tried the big office supply places online, local paper suppliers (although I'm in kind of a small town), and even Amazon, no luck.

Anyone know if they still sell onion paper, and where?


Try eBay. Type in "onionskin paper".

[snuffleupagus]

Anyone know if they still sell onion paper, and where?I believe with the onset of the computer age the only trades people using that medium to write on are tattoo artists or various cartoonists. I've used similar products but they are hard to come by. While I'm sure there is a market for it somewhere, off hand I can not think of where. You may want to try acid free tissue paper like the stuf you use at Christmas to wrap a nice shirt or pair of pants. Some women I know stuff lots of things with it. Can be found anywhere(department stores, craft stores,etc) very cheap and lightweight. Just cut it down to the size you need and store it in a zippy bag. Good luck writing on it after a sweaty day of hiking though......

[illininagel]

Try eBay. Type in "onionskin paper".

Yes. I always check there first. There are two auctions currently underway for onionskin paper.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&ht=1&query=onionskin+paper

[Doctari]

I did a search on Google, found these sites:
http://www.officeclub.com.ph/programs/11sub.cfm?Dept_ID=10&Group_ID=85
http://www.papercatalog.com/gradelist.asp?grade=business
http://www.alkaloid.com.mk/cc.asp?linksbr=1&linksbr1=3

I remember Onionskin from grade school, great stuff. Seems that we had reams & reams of the stuff & used it because it was so cheap, haven’t seen it in years (30 or so). The sites above seem to have it, at quite a price.

That is a good idea, I will also check some of the print shops & may use your idea. Will let you know if I find it cheaply.

Doctari.

[MOWGLI]

I know folks have tried various papers to use for keeping a journal while on the trail. I'd like to use onion paper. Does anyone remember that? We used to use it in typewriters, years ago. It was thin and
ultrafeatherlight....

Just a bit of advice from someone who religiously keeps trail journals. Your papers will get wet from time to time. I usually keep my journal in a zip lock, but from time to time, it gets damp or wet. I'm not sure Onion Paper would hold up all that well.

There are lots of ways to save weight while backpacking. Honestly, I don't follow many of them. I just use plain 8.5" x 11" paper, or a small spiral bound notebook. I have wasted money on waterproof paper in the past. IMO, it's not worth it.

Just my .02

[walkerat99]

I agreee with MOWGLI16 about the paper getting wet, even as careful as I was I still had a few times where the paper got wet either from rain, or sweaty hands and ect. However, it may be worth it to give it a try on the onion skin paper.. My entire hike I used regular notebook paper, I carried about 10 to 15 sheets and when I reached a town I mailed it home to be kept for me. I usually wrote a letter or postcard anyway, so it was not a problem to mail it. I used a lot of maildrops, so I always had 10 or 15 sheets sent to me in each drop, so when I mailed the pages home, I would have more paper to write on... Just my 2 cents.. but whatever works for you.
Happy Trails....

Ed (Never Alone)AT99

[Two Speed]

I've used a surveyor's field book for about 5 or 6 years now. The field books are intended to survive field conditions, and allow recording of notes and sketches in the rain or mist, if you use a pencil. There are three types, a hard cover, soft cover and loose leaf versions. Personally, I use the soft cover because of weight considerations. They are somewhat pricey compared to ordinary notebook paper, but make up for it in terms of durability (IMHO). Don't get confused by "engineer's," "transit" or "timber cruising" ruling; all a backpacker wants is ruled, water resistant paper, so any version will work.

Any surveyor's supply will have them, as will most construction supply stores. If you have a college in the area with an engineering, mining, forestry or surveyor's program, the book store will have some on the shelf, along with a good selection of mechanical pencils and pencil lead. I'd reccomend at lease a 2H lead;anything softer will smear, wet or dry. Ben Meadow's (benmeadows.com) will has a variety of them available, but please be aware that Ben Meadows usually is the high priced alternative.

[Footslogger]

I used a 4" x 6" spiral bound notebook made by Mead. Got it at K-Mart ...or maybe it was Wal-Mart. Anyway, it fit perfectly in a freezer strength zip-lock back along with a pen and I never had any issues with the pages getting wet.

The pages were perforated for easy removal, which was good because I would tear out the completed pages about every week or so and mail them home and from there they would be transcribed and uploaded to my on-line journal. I ended up using 2 of these notebooks to get me all the way to Katahdin.

If I had it to do all over I'd carry, in addition to the notebook, a small voice recorder. Reason being ...very often during the day something of interest would happen and my journal was burried in my backpack. Later on in the evening when I sat down to recount the days happenings I would invariably forget some of the details. I really light weight digital voice recorder would be a great way to capture the thoughts and events as they happen and could serve as a means of remembering what otherwise might be forgotten.

[Perkolady]

What about "tracing paper" - perhaps art supply dept's. Another suggestion is to check Quilting supplies. Although, for quilting, I often use regular Parchment paper - found at Wally's !!
It's thin and light and fairly sturdy too (and no where NEAR as expensive as other tracing papers!)

Good luck !!
Perkolady :cool:

[Jaybird]

Anyone know if they still sell onion paper, and where?




try these people:

http://www.monk.ca/itemdata/i-2460.htm


how about rice paper?
you could also try tracing paper if you cant get the onion or rice paper.

just a suggestion.
i use water-proof thin paper from the Forestry service.
along with a Space Pen (yes...like the astronauts use!) a few dollars but, it'll last forever! :D


see ya'll UP the trail in 2004!