Spiral or Bound?

I have had a fascination with sketchbooks ever since I can remember. The most exciting bit is opening one up forthe first time and contemplating the marks i am going to put on the very first page. In the end it always ends up that the pressure of creating an exciting first page prevents it from happening and that all the more exciting things happen in the middle or even end of the book once I have settled into it. I have hundreds of sketchbooks varying in size and they go back over a decade. I will never throw them away which means I have to find cleaver storage solutions for them...at the moment i have it under control.

I always ponder the best kind of sketchbook. Spiral? or Bound? I had this conversation with a new friend and she believes that bound is better because of the way they look on a shelf. Most of my sketchbooks are spiral and after some contemplation I agree that they aren't the most attractive on a bookshelf however, I think that they offer more flexibility and you can stuff loads in. My friend Elizabeth creates beautiful journals. She boasts about having the fattest journals around. I think I have journal envy...if that's even possible? I like to create pockets within my sketchbooks to collect different bits and pieces in. That way i can keep it all together without having to stick it in. This fattens them up a bit but nowhere near to Elizabeth's.

I love looking at peoples sketchbooks. They are an art form in themselves. So what is the consensus with regard to your sketchbooks? Spiral? Bound? Or is loose and free better?