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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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The Gear Junkie: Paper keeps outdoor thoughts dry

Rite in the Rain makes a number of products that allow outdoors types to write down their thoughts without worrying about having the writing damaged by bad weather. Courtesy of Rite in the Rain (Courtesy of Rite in the Rain / The Spokesman-Review)
Stephen Regenold Special to Outdoors The Spokesman-Review
Rite in the Rain makes a number of products that allow outdoors types to write down their thoughts without worrying about having the writing damaged by bad weather. Courtesy of Rite in the Rain (Courtesy of Rite in the Rain / The Spokesman-Review)

Last fall, on a trip to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, I prodigiously journalized and took notes for two days, only to have my pages soaked on a kayaking trip into the jungle.

Lesson learned.

So for the past six months I’ve left regular notebook paper in the office, relying instead on Rite in the Rain “all-weather writing paper,” which eschews water like a duck’s back.

The paper, which has an acrylic-based coating, is made by J.L. Darling Corporation, a Tacoma company whose founder, Jerry Darling, first developed rain-resistant paper for the Pacific Northwest logging industry in the 1920s.

It has a waxy and almost sticky feel to it, though the paper is crisp and clean. Pages in a Rite in the Rain notebook never cling together. Ink or pencil lead easily transfers written word to page.

Put the paper under a faucet and water runs right off. The ink doesn’t smudge, and the paper stays strong.

The company ( www.riteintherain.com) makes loose leaf paper, notebooks, bound journals, and logbooks for specific scenarios, including activities as far flung as geocaching, birding, avalanche forecasting, and police work.

Artists can go with the company’s All-Weather Sketchbook ($14.95), an 8.5-by-11-inch spiral-bound pad with 85 blank pages.

For a small journal on a backpacking trip, I like the Sportsman’s Outdoor Log, a simple, lined notebook with 50 pages that are 4-by-6 inches in size. It costs $6.95.

Notebook covers for the company’s various products are made of flexible plastic or a cardboard-like hardcover material. Pages are bound and sewn, stapled, or held on wire spiral.

I got J.L. Darling’s All-Weather Tactical Black Clicker Pen to accompany my weatherproof notebook. The $9.95 pen can write on wet paper, upside down, and in temperatures from minus-30 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (just in case you land on Venus.)

On Earth, Rite in the Rain products are used in situations ranging from Mount Everest base camp to gorilla research encampments in the Congo. That’s according to J.L. Darling literature at least.

But I don’t doubt it. This stuff works. It’s simple and effective, letting you write, draw and record in the great outdoors with no real regard to the elements overhead and passing by.