“Rite in the Rain” Extreme Journal, Initial Report

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Name:   Carol Crooker

Age:  44

Gender:  Female

Height:  5 ft 10 in  (178 cm)

Weight:  160 lb (73 kg)

Email:  cmcrooker AT att DOT net

City, State:  Phoenix, Arizona

Date:  August 8, 2003

Backpacking background:  For the past 6 years, I've backpacked about 30 days each year.  Most of my trips were three to six days long, and were in Arizona, the High Sierras, Oregon, Utah, Pennsylvania and New York.  My three-season base pack weight varies from 13.5 lb (6 kg) to 9 lb (4 kg).  I use a tarp for shelter in all four seasons.

PRODUCT SYNOPSIS

The Extreme Journal is a small, spiral bound journal with 50 pages of “tearproof and waterproof” paper, according to the manufacturer.  It is intended to be used outdoors in all weather conditions.

Manufacturer:  J. L. Darling Corporation

URL:  http://www.riteintherain.com or http://www.durarite.com

Year of manufacture:  2003

Listed weight:  none listed

Weight as delivered:  3.3 oz (94 g) 

Listed dimensions:  4” x 6” (10 cm x 15 cm)

Dimensions as delivered:  4” x 6” (10 cm x 15 cm)

Listed number of pages:  50

Number of pages as delivered:  44 blank, lined pages and 6 pages with preprinted information

MSRP: $9.65 

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The Extreme Journal arrived by Priority Mail on August 2^nd.  The Journal looked like what I expected from the description and photo on the manufacturer’s web site.  There was a cardboard hangtag attached to the Journal, which I removed.  The Journal has thin, green plastic covers and is spiral bound along the shorter, top side.  For some reason, I expected the covers to be stiffer.  Both are quite flexible, but still provide enough support to hold the Journal in hand and write on it.  The front cover says that the Journal is, “WATERPROOF TEARPROOF BLOODPROOF”.  The first 44 pages are lined on both sides, with a quarter inch (.6 cm) between lines.  The last 6 pages have preprinted information about trip planning, first aid, survival, climbing/bouldering, kayak/raft/canoe, snow, sailing, and signaling.  

My initial impression, after examining the Journal for a few minutes, was that this is a slick little journal.  The pens I tried wrote very smoothly on the paper, which is important to me.  The covers flip easily on the spiral binding.  The binding looks sturdy and well made.  The line spacing is good; close enough together to get lots of information on a page, far enough apart to have enough room to write normally.

OBSERVATIONS FROM INITIAL AT-HOME TRIALS

Pens write very smoothly and pleasingly on the DuraRite synthetic paper.  I tried ballpoint pens, a gel pen, felt tip pen, and three types of all-weather pens.  One all-weather pen was provided as a bonus by Rite in the Rain.  Its ink cartridge is made by Fisher.  The other pens are the Fisher Space pen and the Eversharp Astro Pocket Sport.  A pencil wrote easily on the paper, although not as smoothly as the pens. 

The all-weather pens, ballpoint pen, felt tip pen, and pencil smudged if I rubbed my finger over them immediately after writing something.  They did not smudge if I waited a minute.  The gel pen smudged very easily.  I had to wait several minutes before it would not smudge with my fingertip.  I wet my finger and was able to rub off some ink from the page (all pens).  I noticed that the Eversharp Astro Pocket Sport ink is not as easy to rub off and feels more raised on the paper than the Fisher pens.  This pen does not write quite as smoothly as the Fisher pens.  The ink cartridge on the Eversharp pen looks almost the same as the Fisher ink cartridges (in the Rite in the Rain and Fisher pens), but has no writing on it so I am not certain who makes the ink for this pen.

I wrote on the Journal paper with three all-weather pens and put the paper in a Tupperware container full of water for two days.  I put a glass full of water on top of the paper to hold it underwater.  When I turned the paper over after a few hours, I noticed that writing had transferred to the bottom of the Tupperware container.  I still was able to easily read the writing on the paper.  In fact, the writing on the paper did not appear to have faded at all.  None of the writing came off when I rubbed it with my finger.  I turned the paper over and left it underwater for two days.  At the end of two days, the writing was faded although easily readable.  I could rub off some of the writing from the Fisher pens but not the Eversharp pen, while the paper was still wet.  Once the paper dried, I could not rub off any ink. 

I put the whole Journal underwater and tried writing on it.  I could write on the paper (I was using the all-weather pen from Rite in the Rain) and it was readable, but faint.  I brought it out of the water and tried writing on the paper immediately.  The writing was very faint if I was writing in a drop of water still on the surface of the paper, and normally dark if I was writing in a spot without water.  This paper does not seem to absorb water like regular paper.  Water seems to run off the paper or evaporate.  I stood the Journal on its edge with some pages fanned out overnight.  The fanned out pages dried off.  There was some moistness on pages that had been next to each other, but I could write on them legibly.  

I ran water over a page I’d written on a few days ago, then rubbed it with a towel to dry it off.  Some ink came off, but the writing was just as readable.

I could not tear a page vertically or horizontally, unless I made a cut with scissors to start the rip.  In that case, the page tore easily (a little more easily in the vertical direction, perpendicular to the lines printed on the page) in a very straight line.  I was able to easily rip a page out of the journal along the square holes cut for the binding.

The paper is not a good fire starter!  It melts like plastic and it is difficult to create a flame.  The paper stays very hot after being melted and can easily burn the fingers of the idiot who tries to pick it up too soon.  

I normally tear some pages out of a small journal and staple them together to create my backpacking trip journals.  When I return home, I attach any notes I took to my gear and food lists to form an instant trip report.  I often end up referring to these notes to jog my memory on how well a certain piece of clothing kept me warm in freezing conditions, or the like.  I used to try to come home and type in notes or memories from a trip into my computer files, but found I often never got around to doing that.  My current system works very well for me.  Ten pages from the Journal with the holes for the binding cut off, weigh 0.5 oz (14 g).  For comparison, ten regular paper notebook pages (5” x 7” (13 cm x 18 cm) with the bound edge cut off, weigh 0.4 oz (11 g). 

There are 11 pages of information printed on the last five sheets of paper in the Journal.  Information includes planning, first aid basics, ten essentials, building fires, climbing/bouldering ranking scales, whitewater ratings, river emergency signals, a wind chill chart, hypothermia and frostbite treatment, building a snow cave, a Beaufort wind scale for use on water, and signaling for ground, air and water.  I did not find the information useful; I would have preferred five more blank pages.  I would have found the Beaufort scale handy if it had wind speed indicators for land instead of water.  The first Aid page had questionable information on tick bites, indicating that the tick should be covered with Vaseline or an oil film until it freed itself.  My internet search suggested that is outdated information. The advice on unconsciousness is incorrect.  It says, “Never give mouth to mouth to unconscious victim.  Place them in a recovery position.  Make sure person is breathing before looking for cause.”  A few steps were left out in these statements!  I noticed something on the Rite in the Rain ten essentials list I have not seen on anyone else's, a notebook!  Hmmm, I wonder whose notebook?     

TEST PLAN

I’ll take the Journal, or pages from the Journal, along on backpacking trips and day hikes during the test period for testing under normal hiking conditions

The following are particular areas I’ll be checking out: 

- What happens when I write on the Journal in rain (I’ll simulate this in a shower if I don’t experience the real thing)?  Can I write legibly, does the ink run or smudge easily, is the writing legible once the page surface dries out?

- I’ll test the journal while sweating.

- I’ve had a problem finding a pen that writes smoothly in cold weather.  I will be checking to see if the special paper of the Rite in the Rain Journal helps or hinders the cold weather writing process.

- I’ll note how quickly I fill the pages of the journal.  I’m curious to see how long one journal will last.

- I’ll also note how the journal holds up to being thrown in a backpack and toted around.

WHERE I’LL BE TESTING THE JOURNAL

Five-day backpack in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho in August.  Lows may be well below freezing and highs could climb into the 80’s F (27 C) with the occasional short thunderstorm.  Elevation at the trailhead is about 6500 ft (2000 m).  I’ll be hiking about 40 miles (64 km) at elevations up to 10,000 ft (3000 m). 

I plan on three more, two to three day backpacking trips before the end of the test period.  The trips will be in various parts of Arizona, and hopefully, one will be a snow camping trip.  I also will be doing lots of day hiking in Arizona and will take along the journal just to give it more of a work out.  

Thanks to Rite in the Rain and Backpack Gear Test for the opportunity to test the Extreme Journal!