Rite in the rain

Rite in the Rain are a company that produce notebooks, bound books, pads, forms, loose-leaf sheets, labels, cards, copier and printer papers, and more, all in waterproof paper, plus covers, planners and kits, write anywhere pen, and more.

There is a vast selection of sizes and styles or notebooks etc., with different kinds of binding, cover material, page design and size, but illustrated here are just two – the Tactical All Weather Notebook No 935T and the Tactical All Weather Fieldbook No 980.

I chose to look at the Tactical models as they come in subdued colours – green or tan paper with green or tan covers – which are more practical for field use than the standard Rite in the Rain white paper with bright yellow covers – much easier on the eye!

The All Weather Notebook No 935, which costs around £4.99, measures approximately three x five inches (7.5cm x 12.5cm) with a Polydura cover and a top spiral binding. There are 50 sheets of notepaper, each printed with horizontal lines and vertical pecked lines to make note-making or scale drawing easy, while the medium stiff Polydura front and back covers are printed with useful information such as inch and cm rules, map scales, measurement conversion tables etc., while the tan paper is, of course, waterproof, and the notebook has tan covers.

The All Weather Notebook No 935 is the same as the No 935T, but has green paper and covers.

Brought to Book

The All-Weather Fieldbook No 980, which costs around £16.49, has a green Field-Flex cover and 80 sheets of green waterproof paper, again with the grid overprint, measuring 4.5/8 inches (11.75cm) x 7.25 inches (18.5cm). The covers are, again, printed with useful cm and inch rulers, map, scales, etc., and there are 16 pages of tactical reference material from ‘Tactical Mission Graphics’ and ‘Range Card Preparation’ sheets to casualty evacuation/ First Aid aide memoires and a medevac request form that may prove useful beyond military usages. Each of the pages in this perfect-bound fieldbook is perforated for easy removal.

Although you can write on the All Weather Paper with an ordinary ballpoint when it is dry, when the paper is wet you are better off using a pencil or the Rite in the Rain All Weather Pens. There are several models of these available, various colours and styles of pen and colours of inks. They all share the All Weather performance.

I have been trying out the Black Ink Black Bullet Pen. It is a simple clean style 5.25 inches long when open for use, and 3.75 inches closed, and is pressurised to write at any angle – including upside down – on wet or dry paper and in temperatures from -30 degrees F to +250 degrees F (-34.4 degrees C to 121 degrees C), temperatures that I don’t think I would be able to write anything myself!

The Rite in the Rain All Weather Pen costs around £24.99 and there are refills available.

 

Take Note

There are many types and brands of weather/waterproof paper and notebooks out there in the market place, but Rite in the Rain products seem to me to have the edge in quality, performance and eco-credibility.

Unlike notebooks made of synthetic or poly-coated papers, Rite in the Rain Paper is as recyclable as ordinary paper, the wood pulp used is from FSC certified sources, the inks are soy based, the water-based proofing process emits only steam, and the factory energy efficient, the Polydura covers are recyclable and contain recycled material, and all offcuts, printing plates and processing liquids are recycled. Impressive eco-credentials!

The Rite in the Rain products are not a compromise, sacrificing performance for eco-cred, but are top-quality. The paper is tough and durable – even when dunked in water scrunched up and pounded it can be flattened out and written on, or read easily. All the while the paper feels… like paper, not plastic.

The covers are strong and do not fall apart, even with rough handling, while the pen just writes and draws like a pen, despite the paper being soaked! If you cannot find a Rite in the Rain product to suit your needs, then a custom service is offered.

For more information call: 0116 234 4646 or visit: www.riteintherain.com.