The Binder Review Thread

NakedBinder

In my continuous attempts to hack the perfect stamp album, I am always on a quest to find the perfect binder to onto the album.

Well, today, my shipment of binders from nakedbinder.com came in. So I thought I should write something up. I'm going to be doing a lot of comparison to the Bindertek Barrister Binder, so you might want to read up on my review of that binder first, which I posted on stampcommunity.org: www.stampcommunity.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17401

According to nakedbinder.com, their binders are:

[*]Recycled: We use only board that is100% post consumer waste and 100% recycled.[/*][*]FSC Certified: Nearly all of our materials are FSC certified.[/*][*]Stronger: Our binders have been tested to 250,000 flexes without fail, making them perhaps the strongest 3-ring binder in the world.[/*][*]No Plastics: Naked Binder does not use plastics, vinyl or other toxins in manufacturing or shipping so everything is easily returned to the recycling stream. This takes pressure off of your waste management system, landfills and reduces the need for new production of virgin resources.[/*][*]Recyclable: Our binders are 100% recyclable.[/*][*]Innovating: We constantly test new materials to craft the most environmentally safe products that last longer, work better and look great.[/*][*]Local: All of our products are made in the USA, minimizing world wide travel to get to you. Our manufacturing plant is in Des Moines IA.[/*]

Outside

The binders themselves are similar to Bindertek binders, since they are made from one piece that is folded at the hinges, and are coated in tight paper. I ordered the fern binder, which looks like this:



The binder is pretty flexible and tends to sit open when stood up, though it's not as stiff as the Bindertek binder:



Like the Bindertek, there is pull ring in the spine, but it is not metal reinforced. This is probably done to keep the binder recyclable.



The binder also does not have the metal edge on the bottom of the binder to protect it from damage. Not a big deal for me personally.

The Inside

When you open up the binder, you see a nice black interior, and a set of back mounted D rings.



To open the rings, you need to pull on the top and bottom handle. The rings do not open very smoothly.

The rings are also the cheaper type rings (the same ones that Mystic chose to use)





Though the rings are D rings, I prefer the "ball and socket" type closing rings, such as these:



Pricing

The binder that I bought, the Fern Classic Binder with 1.5" rings cost $9.00, which is a pretty good price. If I had bought the actual naked binder, the price would have come down to $7.50. The snag I ran into was shipping. Shipping was going to cost $12.00. By comparison, the Bindertek binder costs $12.00 and the shipping is $6.30. So, to take advantage of the cheaper price of the nakedbinder, you'll need to buy more than one.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the nakedbinder is a much better binder than what you get at your typical office supply chain. It looks nicer, and I think it's more durable. It's not quite as nice as the Bindertek binder, but it is recycled, and is a better deal if you buy more than one of them.

Wanted to copy the stuff over before it disappears forever...

Ok, needed to add a bit more to the Scott Binder. It's ridiculously large. The binder makes me want to make larger pages for my collection, but I am limited to 8½x11 or A4 because I don't have a large format printer. Just putting letter size paper in the binder seems like a huge waste.

It's a seriously heavy duty binder, and as this style of binder goes it looks like it may be a bargain.

I did more Googling than I want to admit on this binder and I have learned that the hinge style for this binder is called "piano hinge" and the tight faux leather cover on it is called casebound. The only other binder I can find that is casebound with piano hinges is made by Wilson Jones, and it sells for more than $50.00 for one binder.

I found a piano hinge binder with a leather cover for over $100.00.

I spent a lot of time tapping the front and back of the binder and there is definitely metal in there. I don't think it's all metal. It's too thick for that. The binder would be REALLY heavy if the front and back we all metal. I think there is a piece of either plastic, wood, or fiberboard pressed up against the metal and then the whole thing is wrapped in a heavy duty leather-like wrap.

It's an expensive binder at $35.19. But for what it is, it's cheaper that similar binders made by other manufacturers.

A note about the Bindertek binders. I stopped using them, because their shipping got to be pretty darn expensive. The binder have come up in price a little. A 2" binder costs $16.00 now. But the shipping seems to be more reasonable. I can ship two binder to my door for $9.00 now. 3 binders is also $9.00 shipping.

For a while there, binders were $14.00 with $10.00 shipping. And when you ordered two more binders, the shipping didn't go down much per unit.

So, give BinderTek another look.

NakedBinder is among the living, but they no longer sell to consumers.  You have to contact them about your project to get a quote. So, I'm sure you need to order a minimum number of units.

I have a Mystic Premium Binder. I guess it's time to take some pictures and do a little writeup.

We R Memory Keeper Binders
$22.99 (Amazon)

8.5 x 11-inch Classic Leather 3-Ring Album by We R Memory Keepers | Real Red, includes 5 high-quality page protectors (other colors available)

These have a nice thick cover and will stand up on shelf even when loaded without easily tipping over. No slip case. I use these with protective sleeves for mini-sheets and souvenir sheets.



Two Sizes

Lighthouse Vario G (F has smaller capacity)

Price: $42.69 (Brooklyn Gallery).

This is what I use for my worldwide collection using Steiner pages. The biggest weakness is the ring mechanism as it does not have an assist. Some may not like the U shape rings. This was designed to be used with Vario pages, I own around 36 and only have had one where the rings did not line up so paper could snag but overall it meets more of my needs,  When I initially purchased the majority, I was able to buy in lots of 5 for much discounted price (around $30 each) but no deal like that now.