I wanted a reusable and refillable cover for pocketmods. I don't use them constantly, but when I do I generally destroy them quickly because they have no protection and my pocket is a meat grinder for paper.

Wait, what's that? You don't know what a pocketmod is? Oh! Let me explain. Pocketmods are a clever way to take a single sheet of US Letter and turn them into a small, pocket-sized 8 page booklet. …and if you really want to stretch it out, you can unfold the pocketmod, fold it inside out and have a second 8 page booklet from the same sheet of paper. (You could do it with any size of paper, but this model is specifically sized for Letter-sized paper, like the original pocketmods were designed.) You can use them as recyclable organizers, game rules references, just-in-case medical history records, or just about anything else you can imagine needing or wanting to record/track. …but if you really are curious then let me help you with better resources:

• The original resource: Pocketmod: The Free Recyclable Personal Organizer
• Some of the cleanest folding instructions I've seen: PocketMod Mini-Booklet: MyLifeOrganized

So you're interested in pocketmods now and think you might be interested in this cover? Well, let me give you a big caveat:

This model isn't quite perfect, but you probably won't care.

The cover does NOT want to rest quite all the way closed, even when it's empty. I'll be honest: this was my first project with hinges, and I'm a bit stumped. That said, the cover WILL happily comply with being closed if there is any force at all, and whether you have a rubber band on it (while it sits on your desk) or whether it's in your pocket (where it will also stay nicely closed without being annoying or stabbing you) I doubt you'll ever have a problem with it. Heck, it means that the cover tries to open slightly so that you can flip it open easier with your thumb. …so maybe it's a feature? In any case, I wanted to share in full disclosure.

You will need a rubber band to keep the pocketmod snugly inside the cover. (Look at the pics and you'll see how it loops over the whole cover between the hinge barrels and the pocketmod is slipped in.) I recommend size 19 bands, mostly because that's what I always have on-hand as a magician for tricks. Personally, I keep 2-3 bands on my cover because 1) if one breaks there's still at least another holding it and 2) sometimes I steal one off the cover during the day to use for something else.

Pay attention to how you assemble the cover. You'll need an extra piece of filament for each hinge. I use a lighter to melt the ends slightly and push them flat with a knife. The round barrels of the hinge should go to the OUTSIDE of the cover. (Again, look carefully at the photos.) There is a chance (depending on how reliable your printer feels today) that the holes for filament will be partially blocked. If you can't just shove the filament through with pliers then you might need to use either a small drill bit or a hot needle to clear the passages. In any case, rest assured that if your printer messed up the print that I wasn't just playing some sort of prank on you. Fortunately, your printer shouldn't have done anything that won't be easy to fix.

There are a bunch of plates in the model with different printing options available. Want it all single-color? Done. Want it with just a filament swap because you don't have an AMS? It's in there.  Want it AMS-ready so it looks all clean? I've gotcha. Want a blank cover without any design? At your service! Want the blank covers and hinge on separate plates to make multi-color printing easier? Pshah. Ask me for something tricky. Whether or not you like my “mushroom cloud brain” image I wanted to make it easy for you to have what works best for YOU. After all, that's the entire point of pocketmods!

Commercial use of this model is OK. …but if you're wise then you'll probably at least change the image and put something on that makes more sense for your branding, etc. I'm not going to make you pay to be in my Patreon or join my channel. This was an uncomplicated model that you could easily just replicate anyway. If you have a couple of boosts to throw my way, though, they won't go unappreciated.