Reviews > Books > Blank Journals and Writing Implements > RITR - Extreme Journal > Todd Martin > Field Report

Field Report - Rite in the Rain Extreme Journal

Description of Experience and Comments on Product Performance:
The Extreme Journal was taken into several slot canyons on the Colorado Plateau. Slot canyons can be very rugged environments which require hiking, scrambling, bush whacking, rock hopping, swimming, climbing and rappelling to negotiate. They can be physically demanding as well as tough on gear. As the author of a web site which details hike and canyon descriptions, I need easy access to a journal in order to take detailed notes of the hike. For this test, all hikes were performed with the journal in the stow pocket on my hiking shorts. No further effort was made on my part to protect the journal from the elements to which it was exposed. For all hikes a ball point pen was the main writing implement used for taking notes in the journal (specifically a Rite in the Rain All Weather Pen).

The Rite in the Rain Extreme Journal is billed as a waterproof, tearproof and bloodproof notebook consisting of synthetic 'paper' pages. In my initial report I described how I was unable to tear the paper in the journal. My experience is that the journal appears to live up to that claim. Now how about the other two?

The first trip the journal accompanied me on was a day hike through an Arizona canyon in the Coconino National Forest. The canyon required quite a bit of bushwhacking through thickets of mesquite, scrub oak and willows to enter. As a result of pushing my way through these woody and thorny plants, I was left with several long scratches, and as chance would have it, the opportunity to examine the 'bloodproof' claim. As can be seen from the photo at left, the journal was thoroughly tested. After several minutes, I used my water bladder to rinse the page and, sure enough, no evidence of the red stuff remained. I was able to use a ball point pen to write in the same area, with no distinguishable difference in performance from a clean page. While the 'bloodproof' claim is clearly a marketing device to go along with the 'extreme' theme of the journal, I can vouch for the fact that this claim is nevertheless valid. Blood does not appear to stain, adhere or effect the synthetic paper in any way.

Ok, on to a more meaningful test, that of being 'waterproof'. The location for this test was another Arizona canyon, however this one features a sizeable perennial flow with several waterfalls and pools which must be jumped, rappelled and swum. The notebook was kept within easy reach (in my shorts pocket) during the trip.

The Extreme Journal sees some moisture in a wet and wild canyon.	Taking notes after both pen and paper received a soaking.

As illustrated in the photos above, the Extreme Journal was subjected to a bit of water while detailed notes were taken throughout the hike. First let me say that the paper and journal cover were not adversely affected by the water. There did not appear to be any loss of strength, and no damage or wrinkling that you would expect with a normal pad of paper. When subjected to moisture, water forms a sheen on top of the synthetic paper of the journal. This causes the pages to adhere together slightly, making it somewhat more difficult to flip through the sheets, but does not otherwise affect the notebook. Writing on the journal when it is wet is no different than when dry. The paper maintains enough friction with the roller ball in a ball point pen tip that it continues to function, creating continuous, unbroken lines. I did find that the ink smears slightly, particularly as it first comes out of the pen onto a wet page. Smearing was not significant enough to affect the legibility of any of the notes I took, even though my handwriting is on the small side. One thing I did find, was that after the journal became wet and was closed and stored in my pocket in this condition, ink from contiguous pages did bleed slightly, leaving a faint impression on the adjacent sheet. Once again, this did not cause any of my notes to become illegible or difficult to read.

After exiting the canyon, I allowed the pages to dry. I found that the journal dried to as-good-as-new condition, with no noticeable evidence to suggest that it had been through a soaking. All notes remained readable and the pages, cover and binding were undamaged. My conclusion is that the Extreme Journal measures up to the claim of being 'waterproof'.

Writing Utensils:
My main writing implement during the test period was an all weather ball point pen. I was able to write with the pen under both wet and dry conditions with little difficulty and produce readable notes. I did find that while water did not appear to effect the journal in any way, it did wreak havoc with the spring action on my pen, which now barely functions. I also used a mechanical pencil for writing in the journal and found that it is somewhat less effective for note taking. While dry, a pencil works quite well with the synthetic paper, however, I found that the pencil marks can rub off when the paper becomes wet, which makes the writing fade over time. One advantage of a pencil is that it is erasable, and my experience is that pencil marks erase effectively from the Extreme Journal. I did find, however, that repeated erasing will begin to remove some of the lines on the notepad itself.

Summary:
Overall, I am pleased with the performance of the Extreme Journal. So far I have been able to store it in a convenient location for note taking without having to concern myself with whether it will hold up to the hiking conditions to which it is being subjected. While I have experienced some smearing (both of ink and pencil) when the journal becomes wet, so far it has not affected the writing to the point where it has become illegible.

Reviews > Books > Blank Journals and Writing Implements > RITR - Extreme Journal > Todd Martin > Field Report