Rite in the Rain is a subsidy of JL Darling which is a Tacoma, Washington business founded in 1916. They came with Rite in the Rain in 1917 when a lumber company approached them about creating a better way to record the scaling of logs and tallying the numbers of logs in inclement weather. Thus Rite in the Rain was born. Although the company has since come a long way from the original product, they still stick to the core principle, being able to write on their product in the rain.
If you’re in the military, law enforcement, or an outdoors man, then you have definitely either heard about Rite in the Rain or used their products. Rite in the rain products are designed to get wet and maintain their usable properties. The water just rolls off the paper, even when completely submerged.
I have personally used Rite in the Rain notebooks both for professional and personal reasons. I’ve never had the notebooks fail or come apart. Even after being submerged for some time, the only noticeable difference in the paper was a little water seeping into the edges of the paper. This, however, didn’t cause the paper to come apart.
Although the company has several products, I’ve grouped a few of them in this review that would be useful to anyone looking for basically a starter writing kit.
First is the Rite in the Rain all weather tactical black clicker pen. You can use any pencil on the rite in the rain paper and it’ll work just fine, but it can be smeared and sometimes you just need a pen. This pen is a metal pen but it doesn’t weigh a lot. You click the end to expose the ball point. These pens have special ink that is under pressure which allows the pen to write upside down, under water, in temps from -30°F to 250°F. This pen writes extremely smoothly and unlike others I have tried, it doesn’t gum up at the tip causing a big glob of ink on your first few letters. Refills are available for this pen as well. MSRP: $9.95
Another item I’ve been using on a regular basis while out in the field testing gear and taking notes is the 3 ring binder and cover kit. The notebook included here is a 3-ring binder and comes with several different forms used in the military and regular notebook paper can be bought for it as well. The binder is made of durable polydura material and rust proof metals. I dropped this several times from a height it may get dropped from in normal use to see if the rings would let loose…they didn’t. BUT, if they were to let loose, the whole thing is enclosed in a binder cover made of cordura. The cordura feels like possibly 600D cordura, but either way it’s pretty durable. It includes pockets on the inside, front and back, and pen pockets on the inside front. this cover zips closed. The color I got was the tan, but it’s closer to coyote, which has become very popular in the past couple years. MSRP: $47.95 (with included pen)
Then there is the bound tactical field book which I have used professionally over the last few years. Of course, the newer version had the newer paper, and a nicer cover (called field flex), which is still very durable, yet a little thinner to reduce weight and makes carrying it in a pocket much more comfortable. The size is 4 5/8″ x 7 1/4″ and it has 160 pages printed in a pattern that is very useful. The pattern is basically a light graph paper pattern. I like this as it allows several different applications. This item is extremely durable and if you need to keep a log or any other type of notes that you’ll want to have for some time…this is the way to go. MSRP: $14.95
The last item, the tactical pocket notebook with included cover is another item I have used for many years professionally as well. The 3″ x 5″ notebook itself has 50 waterproof sheets with the same universal graph pattern as the bound notebook. The Cordura cover (again, very close to coyote in color) is durable and has 4 pen slots on the front. The cover zips closed. I have been using this on a daily basis for the last few months in hot humid environment. It has gotten drenched in heavy rains and all sweaty and hasn’t shown any wear, either in the cordura cover or the notebook itself. MSRP: $22.95 (with included pen)
Based on my experiences, the Rite in the Rain products will not only do what they advertise but they are built to last. There are so many different products too that you can literally find anything you need depending on your situation pretty easily. I would definitely recommend Rite in the Rain and their products! 8.5/10.
Smooth