Waterproof notebook and pens

While working in the field we always need some notebook. But we can't look at the weather and some rain should not let us down ... But when we would use normal paper it can be a problem. Therefore it is advisable to use some waterproof notebook.

For this experiment I chose two kinds of waterproof scrapbook. The original Rite in the Rain is brown and the cheaper notebook is green for clarity (the manufacturer is not important).

I used the various pens and markers that are most commonly used for this type of paper on the two papers.

Standard pen

Rite in the Rain pen

And the various alcohol based permanent markers

At first I tested them on dry paper and I also tried to find out if the written text could not be blured. This happened only in one case…

I also wondered if the text would not be visible on the other side of the paper. As you can see at the cheaper it is visible really a lot. We can use only one side of the list unlike the brown…

Then I both dipped in the water and he also squeezed them and straightened them. They were under water about 3 minutes. In addition to a single inscription that is totally unreadable and washed off all others are readable without the slightest problems.

I also wrote on them with each pen when they were wet ("na mokrém" inscriptions). Apart from one it was not a problem. However the paper might be wet but there should not be water directly on it. It needs to be wiped out. It can also be seen that cheaper (and somewhat weaker) green paper is torn from some markers.

On cheaper paper it is definitely impossible to use the back side because all the inscriptions are visible through... The more expensive one work just better - even the other side is usable.

I dried the two papers completely. Because I noticed that I was writing somewhere on wet paper when there was still water on it I wiped it with my hand and tried again.

There is really a difference in the quality of both papers. The brown one took much longer to suck the water and when wet it was also significantly stiffer. I wrote on wet papers when they were on the mat but if the whole notebook was so wet the green paper would have torn a lot more I'm sure. After drying the brown paper is still in a reasonable shape even though I have both under water softened - it holds a more straight shape unlike the green one. I would have to equate the green one with iron to be usable... It also more difficult to write on the green one after drying out.

Overall I have to admit that I expected more from the green notebook - even though it is a little cheaper... I would almost say that its features are somewhere between Rite in the Rain and normal paper... And it does not cost half of the Rite in the Rain.

As for the question of writing on such paper? To use the ordinary pen does not make much sense. This test did not show up so much but the ordinary ballpoint pen has a problem when is cold and wet (fog, for example). Rite in the Rain pen does not know these problems at all. You can rely on it under any circumstances. But its price is not so pleasant... Additionally sometimes I need to write something on different surfaces - laminated charts, plastics and other surfaces. So I started to use them with my notebooks and found that they work very well on these waterproof papers.

Today I use only the Rite in the Rain and the alcohol based markers. They are more versatile they can be used on more surfaces and their price is really more favorable.