Guidebook Page Binder

Marcus, you can find things like this or similar substitutes, cheap at Office Depot, Staples, or most places that sell kids school supplies. Not the right size? Trim it down with scissors.

i just used a binder clip, and put the book pieces in a plastic bag. They're expendable.

Or maybe just one of those black binder clips you probably already have in a drawer will do the trick - that's what I use for the pages I pull out of the guidebook before I leave. You could clip all the pages together and use a smaller clip for the ones you want to use that day. Just an idea that doesn't cost anything.....

Marcus, exactly what are you hoping to do -- mark pages?

I buy a lot of travel guide books (Ricks and others). For any trip where I'm serious (it's specifically scheduled or going to be within the next year), I'll take it to a local copy shop, have them slice off the binding, and re-bind it with a plastic coil binding. The books then lay flat, can be folded back on themselves, and pages can be torn out as you go if you want to (without wrecking the remaining book). Not expensive. I just use sticky-notes to flag specific pages. Eventually, I might use a highlighter on some pages to call out important bits.

As suggested above, there are plenty of other options available at your local office supply chain store.

Amazon has the Cypress Lane brand. $9.99 for a pack of 10. Search under slide grip clear report binder.

I have done what David suggests, inexpensive and holds up well. I have used the do it yourself method as well. Your trip will cost thousands of dollars and securing your guide book pages is not costly, rather a good investment.

Great ideas all! David's idea is brilliant - I have an easy solution. Hadn't even thought of that one. Done!

Not as elegant as the coil binding, but I just staple mine together. And if they're too thick, I take them to FedEx Office or the like and use a heavy-duty stapler.

I found the RS binders didn't work. The pages slipped out, and then a bit of rain wrecked them.

I staple the sections, which are usually pretty well stuck together anyway, then run a strip of packing tape along the whole spine. I sometimes also run an additional strip of packing tape along the binding of the middle spread of pages. Hasn't let me down yet.

Marcus, I bought the covers from an office supply store and made my own on our first RS tour. They worked ok, but they were thrashed after one use. I bought some of the RS covers when I was ordering some other items and they are so much better. The cover and spine are more robust material and the pages were much better protected. I’ve taken the RS covers on three trips to Europe so far and they still look like new.
I bought a couple of sets of RS covers to bind all the sections that we would need for our entire trip, but when we went to Spain this year I discovered I only needed to bind the section we’re actively using. I keep the other sections rubber banded in my suitcase.
There are promotions at different times of year when shipping is waived, like for the end of the year sale. If you’ll be going on a RS tour, you can order additional items when you order your tour kit, and there are no shipping fees.
Ellen

I used to do something similar to Stan: clip out applicable pages, staple groups together, put them all together with one big clip and keep them in a plastic bag. As the trip went on, I'd toss the groups of pages I'd already used and no longer needed.

Now I take photos with my phone before the trip. Everything is in my photo gallery, no paper to carry. I'll find the pages I want to use the night before or morning I'll need them.

I've also bought kindle versions of guidebooks, but I find it harder to find what I'm looking for than just keeping the pages I want in my photo gallery.