Rite in the Rain Field Books

Well, for the rest of the world that does not work in the rain they may not be worth the extra cost but as for those of us in the beautiful North-Wet they are a necessity. They stand up to our long wet winters well. I think you could even use them if you were doing a hydro survey the hard way, wearing lead boots and a garden hose. Just make sure you use a hard lead pencil. Not only can you 'Rite in the Rain' on them, the material can take a beating.

Personally I prefer to use the loose leaf level sheets. I even buy the 8.5x11" stuff to print out dip sheets and observation logs for those really wet days.

On the bright side, we are go to break the 20C with sun this weekend.

Have some books that have been on the shelf for years. I use loose lief level sheets.
jud

I use the 300F Transit hardback, the 301 Transit soft cover, and the 371 universal (small and easy to fit in a shirt pocket). I also have 8-1/2 x 11 and 11 x 17 copy paper for printing out stuff for the field, just don't use an ink jet!

-JD-

Rite in the rain are the only field book to use. Once my I-man Mark and I were doing a topo on a 1900's hydro electric dam that was being retrofitted, had been sketching for about 3 hours and while leaning over the cat walk drop the field book in to the river. We stood there silently looking at one another when Mark said "I got it". It was hot outside, so Mark stripped down and jumped in, on his third dive down brought the field book up. As happy as I was he found it, I just knew it was ruined. I opened the book and every page was perfect. I was sold then there and have never purchased anything else. Needless to say Mark got 12 adult beverages for the extra effort.

The coating on the Rite in the Rain books doesn't allow pencil lead to adhere to the page as well as with standard books. It tends to smear if you get your fingers on what you've written down.

On the other hand, If you work in constantly wet conditions or in heavy rain, the pages in a standard book will start to tear or disintigrate after a few hours. Rite in the Rain books are indispensible under such conditions.

If you only occasionally work in light rain, then you are better off sticking with the standard books. If you sometimes work in very wet conditions, it's worth having a few Rite in the Rains around to use.

> Rite in the Rain ... appear to be twice as expensive as ... Elan books...
Rite in the Rains have 48 pages. Elans have 20. Hence one reason for the difference in price.

I've never had to use an Elan book in the rain, so I can't really say. But I can say that Rite in the Rains can get pretty wet and still function. What is more, if they do get wet a few minutes on the defroster puts them right again.

> > Rite in the Rain ... appear to be twice as expensive as ... Elan books...
> Rite in the Rains have 48 pages. Elans have 20. Hence one reason for the difference in price.
>
> I've never had to use an Elan book in the rain, so I can't really say. But I can say that Rite in the Rains can get pretty wet and still function. What is more, if they do get wet a few minutes on the defroster puts them right again.

I was comparing the Elan Cross Section Book E10X10K (6.5"x8.5" book w/ 160 pages) and the Rite in the Rain Cross Section Book No. 370-6F (6.75"x8.75" book w/ 160 pages). I prefer bigger books to sketch in.

From a local Dealer:

Elan E10X10K = $ 8.95
RITR 370-6F = $18.85

If I worked in the rain, I would use them, they are fantastic. I have the notepad style in my truck just in case, but since I'm solo, I get to give myself a day in the office if it's raining. I find it's just not worth the hassle and risk to the equipment. Not to mention I hate working wet.

> If I worked in the rain, I would use them, they are fantastic. I have the notepad style in my truck just in case, but since I'm solo, I get to give myself a day in the office if it's raining. I find it's just not worth the hassle and risk to the equipment. Not to mention I hate working wet.

Now Andy, just because you have a Hurricane bearing down on you this week, that is no excuse not to have the survey ready for closing next week. BTW, what's the wind rating on those Rite in the Rain books?

I used to carry one of little ones in my back pocket even if I wasn't the "official" book keeper. Even my little chicken scratch helped keep me focused on details.
At one place I worked, we didn't keep field notes at all.... until a few big busts came up and my personal notes helped tracked down the culprit. Myself and the "super" then collaborated on field notes particularly for traverses.

Anyway, I always liked those little ones. About 3"x5" or so.

> I used to carry one of little ones in my back pocket even if I wasn't the "official" book keeper. Even my little chicken scratch helped keep me focused on details.
> At one place I worked, we didn't keep field notes at all.... until a few big busts came up and my personal notes helped tracked down the culprit. Myself and the "super" then collaborated on field notes particularly for traverses.
>
> Anyway, I always liked those little ones. About 3"x5" or so.

Yeah, I don't know how you keep no notes at all. At the place I used to work, I lot of the instrument men would have their own book to keep their notes that were not the official field notes. Mostly setup and backsite notes with HIs and HRs. I'm not sure how prevalent that practice was though.