Initial Report: Rite in the Rain Adventure Travel Journal

My e-mail: dojers@charter.net
My name: Jodi Cornelius
My Age: 41
Height: 5’4”/1.6 m
Weight: 160 lbs/73 kg
Gender: Female
City: Derrick City
State: PA
Country: USA
Date: August 10, 2003

My area of the country: Northwest Pennsylvania near the Allegheny Mountains

My Background:  I am somewhat new to backpacking.  I have only been backpacking 2 years but did quite a bit of camping before I was introduced to backpacking.  I started out with a mega loaded pack (a medium Army ALICE pack that I loaded so bad it weighed close to 50 lb/23 gm!) and have gradually gotten more comfortable with going with “less”.  Now my base weight is around 20 lb/9 gm and would love to get it even lower.

My background specific for this test:  I love the idea of carrying a journal on trips because I can write notes at the end of the day and can go back and re-read about my trips and remind myself of stuff that happens that may slip my mind as the years go by.

Product Information:

Manufacturer:  J. L. Darling Corporation – Rite in the Rain All Weather Writing Paper http://www.riteintherain.com
Year of Manufacture: 2003
Product: Rite in the Rain Adventure Travel Journal
MSRP:  $15.95

Features from the Website

This 4" x 6 1/2" pocket sized hard-bound book has 78 sheets of horizontal-line page pattern and 15 pages of handy travel reference material. It fits easily into your back pocket so you can travel anywhere protecting your memories and trip notes.

First impression:  The journal arrived on Monday, August 4, 2003 and I was pleasantly surprised to note two extras that I plan on doing an Owner Review for.  These were their All-Weather Pen, and a package of their All-Weather Copier paper that I plan on printing maps on for future backpacking trips.  They also included a brochure of this particular journal, a catalog of their products, a number 2 pencil and a very nice “thank you for testing this” letter.  Those were a very pleasant surprise to discover when opening the package.  The website doesn’t mention how much the journal weighs but when I received it I checked it out and it weighs a hefty 8 oz/ 227 gm.  It is beautifully made - hard bound with no staples and appears to have been “stitched” to bind the pages together which tells me it should hold better than just glue would when it gets wet.  It is a nice shade of yellow with gold embossed printing on the cover stating that it is the All-Weather Adventure Travel Journal.  The journal does measure 4” x 6.5”/102 mm x 165 mm per their website specs.
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The first thing I did upon receiving the journal and looking through it was to dump my can of diet caffeine free Coke™ all over it.  So, being the tester that I am, I decided to try the pen out on Coke™ instead of rain.  It wrote wonderfully.  So not only is it waterproof, it is Coke™ proof.

The nice thing about the binder is the information that exists in the journal pages.  The lined pages have a Date and Location line then the remainder of the page is for writing your notes.  There are some really neat features in this journal that makes it nice for traveling abroad.  In the front of the pages there is a page for important numbers, medical information and vehicle information.  The opposite page has all your personal information along with emergency contact information.  The pages are thicker than expected (I expected “normal” notebook thickness paper) and also waxy feeling.  I was curious as to how well a regular pen would work on the waxy covering and it does work fine.  In the back, you have an index page that lists the following:

Tourist Commissions
US Embassies
The Ten Essentials for backpacking
Planning a Trip
Beaufort Wind Scale
Climate Zone Map
Time Zone Map
Wind chill Chart
Heat Factor Index
A Metric Chart

I admit to being a bit surprised to see the Wind chill chart and the Heat Factor Index were all in Fahrenheit and nothing in Celsius.  But these pages are a very interesting addition to a journal.

Test Plan:  As the weather this summer has been quite wet, I feel I’ll be able to really test the product in the manner for which it was created.  I will be carrying the all-weather pen, the pencil, a Sharpie®, a regular ink pen, and a gel ink pen to see how well the inks stand up to moisture.  So far, I have discovered that the all-weather pen ink does work well on the pages regardless of whether the pages are wet before or after writing on it.  I am also carrying it in my back pocket everywhere I go to test the sturdiness of the book to humidity from my body and constant carrying in a pocket.  This will also tell me if it will wear a spot on my rear that will get tender or if it’s feasible to carry it this way with a pack on.  I will be carrying it in my Deuter Futura 32 if it doesn’t carry well in my pocket with the pack on.  I have a number of weekend trips planned and like I said, the weather has been very wet and will probably get a chance to test it really well in the rain.  Next weekend I have a family reunion that I am going to use it for to write down memories of the reunion and then after that I have an overnighter planned which will allow me to take it into the woods and test it.

Things I like:  I like the color.  Should be easy to find.  Fits really well in my back pocket.  Seems to be very sturdy.  I don’t need to locate a good writing surface for it to work.

Things I dislike:  Not sure if I like all the personal information that they give you space to fill out.  I know I don’t have to put that info in, but that was the only nit I could find.  Will comment more on this should I find anything further to report on.