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Write in the Rain


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Hey everyone,

I was curious about a few things with these "waterproof" notebooks. I've seen a few in caches, and never had trouble signing them, and have recently began to look into them as a alternative to putting my geocaching-notebook in a ziploc in my bag. Based off of initial appearances, I'm sure they do fine with a little rain here and there, but how do they do in honest-to-goodness waterlogged conditions?

 

If I were to take a page out, and affix it to a tree/pole/backside of a bear, do you think it would remain legible enough to hold a clue for a multi?

 

Also, has anyone tried the National Grographic Adventure Paper? Same idea, but can be run through a printer.

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The paper does great..... If you print anything on it, you must use LASER printing.

 

If you use INKJET print, the ink will run when the paper gets wet.

 

The paper itself doesn't fall apart, gets wet, dries out and still holds it structure. You can write on it if its wet or dry. My husband and I use it for all of our logs and is especially great for micro logs where you can't fit a plastic bag in the container.

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The paper does great..... If you print anything on it, you must use LASER printing.

 

If you use INKJET print, the ink will run when the paper gets wet.

 

The paper itself doesn't fall apart, gets wet, dries out and still holds it structure. You can write on it if its wet or dry. My husband and I use it for all of our logs and is especially great for micro logs where you can't fit a plastic bag in the container.

 

Exactly.....I just found several and the paper was fine but the log entries were smeared and unreadable.

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I'm sure they do fine with a little rain here and there, but how do they do in honest-to-goodness waterlogged conditions?

Rite in the Rain is a coated paper. Nat Geo is something like vinyl. Both will eventually disintegrate outdoors, and print will fade before that. If it remains wet, all bets are off. You might try printing on one of those (or ordinary paper), mounting it on a sturdy material, then coating it with polyurethane or some other waterproof clear coat.

Link to comment

For some interesting facts about 'waterproof' paper, check these guys out:

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/

I learned a few helpful tricks over there, especially regarding which paper types are inkjet friendly and which are laser printer friendly. I've been using old Fed-Ex document envelopes, (cut 'em to size & run 'em through my printer to create logsheets), which are made out of Tyvek, essentially the same stuff as the Nat-Geo paper. It prefers laser printers, and will smudge under long term exposure to water, but seems to hold up well otherwise.

Link to comment
I'm sure they do fine with a little rain here and there, but how do they do in honest-to-goodness waterlogged conditions?

Rite in the Rain is a coated paper. Nat Geo is something like vinyl. Both will eventually disintegrate outdoors, and print will fade before that. If it remains wet, all bets are off. You might try printing on one of those (or ordinary paper), mounting it on a sturdy material, then coating it with polyurethane or some other waterproof clear coat.

I find Rite in Rain holds up for a long time - it will eventually yield to some fungi, having various blotches, like all paper, but dries out again and is still pretty good. The Nat Geo paper also holds up very well, but I have noticed it becomes slippery when exposed long term to water (it may be a slime mold.) Either paper holds ball point signatures quite well, felt tip is destined to run and fade and stamps vary depending upon ink used.

 

A couple years ago I bought a box of 200 sheets, 8.5 x 11 of Rite in Rain and had created various artwork for strips of various widths to prep these on my laser printer.

 

A word of advice - keep your log strips simple - a little notice or icon at the top (I use the Groundspeak Geocaching icon, with the www.geocaching.com url beneath it) and leave the lines off, nobody can stay within them and some of these fancy onces are just wasting paper, example:

 

NAME ________________________________________________

DATE ________________________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

This is going to mostly end up:

 

NAME ___Melvin_______________________________________

DATE ___Apr 11, 2012_________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS _TFTC!______________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

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I've seen a few in caches, and never had trouble signing them, and have recently began to look into them as a alternative to putting my geocaching-notebook in a ziploc in my bag.

Like others mentioned, if the log stays wet all the time, all bets are off. The Rite in the Rain paper is just a good additional level of protection. I still put mine in ziplocs.

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I use a Uniball Powertank RT pen with pressurized ink. It writes on just about anything. The rite-in-the-rain paper was never intended to be long lasting underwater paper. It just handles mist, rain and the occasional wetness without falling apart. If you feel like you need either a ziploc or rite-in-the-rain paper for a logbook - I would conclude that you have a fundamental failure of your Geocache container.

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I use a Uniball Powertank RT pen with pressurized ink. It writes on just about anything. The rite-in-the-rain paper was never intended to be long lasting underwater paper. It just handles mist, rain and the occasional wetness without falling apart. If you feel like you need either a ziploc or rite-in-the-rain paper for a logbook - I would conclude that you have a fundamental failure of your Geocache container.

 

My intention was to never throw a logbook in the water. I was actually thinking more along the lines of stages of a multi, without containers.

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There are a few types of Rite In The Rain paper. The regular RITR is water resistant, for laser printer. Don't try to print using inkjet - the ink will smudge.

 

RITR also have a synthetic, waterproof paper for laser printer called DuraCopy. I have not used this before.

 

Finally, RITR has waterproof inkjet printable paper called WeatherJet. The product description says "can be written on with all-weather pens only".

 

National Geographic Adventure Paper is waterproof, inkjet paper. It feels much thicker than regular RITR. It's available at REI if you have one near you.

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I'm sure they do fine with a little rain here and there, but how do they do in honest-to-goodness waterlogged conditions?

Rite in the Rain is a coated paper. Nat Geo is something like vinyl. Both will eventually disintegrate outdoors, and print will fade before that. If it remains wet, all bets are off. You might try printing on one of those (or ordinary paper), mounting it on a sturdy material, then coating it with polyurethane or some other waterproof clear coat.

I find Rite in Rain holds up for a long time - it will eventually yield to some fungi, having various blotches, like all paper, but dries out again and is still pretty good. The Nat Geo paper also holds up very well, but I have noticed it becomes slippery when exposed long term to water (it may be a slime mold.) Either paper holds ball point signatures quite well, felt tip is destined to run and fade and stamps vary depending upon ink used.

 

A couple years ago I bought a box of 200 sheets, 8.5 x 11 of Rite in Rain and had created various artwork for strips of various widths to prep these on my laser printer.

 

A word of advice - keep your log strips simple - a little notice or icon at the top (I use the Groundspeak Geocaching icon, with the www.geocaching.com url beneath it) and leave the lines off, nobody can stay within them and some of these fancy onces are just wasting paper, example:

 

NAME ________________________________________________

DATE ________________________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

This is going to mostly end up:

 

NAME ___Melvin_______________________________________

DATE ___Apr 11, 2012_________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS _TFTC!______________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

Wow... really?!? Most logs I see look more like this:

 

NME DTE

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

Link to comment

For some interesting facts about 'waterproof' paper, check these guys out:

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/

I learned a few helpful tricks over there, especially regarding which paper types are inkjet friendly and which are laser printer friendly. I've been using old Fed-Ex document envelopes, (cut 'em to size & run 'em through my printer to create logsheets), which are made out of Tyvek, essentially the same stuff as the Nat-Geo paper. It prefers laser printers, and will smudge under long term exposure to water, but seems to hold up well otherwise.

Old FedEx envelopes work great. I have one stage of a multi that's been out for two years now with nothing but a piece of fabric protecting the paper from the elements. I recently had to re-ink the coords on the paper because the original was fading, but that's it. I suspect the paper will be good for quite a few more years.

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What about using a piece of coroplast intead and writing on it with a permanent marker? Coroplast comes in different colors and also clear.

Depending on the complexity of the stages, the OP could write with a paint pen on a thick piece of plastic, engrave or scratch info into a metal tag, or write on a plastic or cloth leaf, or on any small waterproof object. But if the OP's handwriting is as bad as mine, computer printing is a good choice.

 

Even ordinary paper could work if the stages are match tubes, if they can't be confused with the cache.

Link to comment

I use a Uniball Powertank RT pen with pressurized ink. It writes on just about anything. The rite-in-the-rain paper was never intended to be long lasting underwater paper. It just handles mist, rain and the occasional wetness without falling apart. If you feel like you need either a ziploc or rite-in-the-rain paper for a logbook - I would conclude that you have a fundamental failure of your Geocache container.

 

My intention was to never throw a logbook in the water. I was actually thinking more along the lines of stages of a multi, without containers.

Briansnat once pointed out tags similar to these copper ones. You can "write" on them (imprint might be a better term) and within a few months they develop a nice greenish sheen on them outdoors. I have 2 multicaches that use them for stages. They last forever.

Link to comment
I'm sure they do fine with a little rain here and there, but how do they do in honest-to-goodness waterlogged conditions?

Rite in the Rain is a coated paper. Nat Geo is something like vinyl. Both will eventually disintegrate outdoors, and print will fade before that. If it remains wet, all bets are off. You might try printing on one of those (or ordinary paper), mounting it on a sturdy material, then coating it with polyurethane or some other waterproof clear coat.

I find Rite in Rain holds up for a long time - it will eventually yield to some fungi, having various blotches, like all paper, but dries out again and is still pretty good. The Nat Geo paper also holds up very well, but I have noticed it becomes slippery when exposed long term to water (it may be a slime mold.) Either paper holds ball point signatures quite well, felt tip is destined to run and fade and stamps vary depending upon ink used.

 

A couple years ago I bought a box of 200 sheets, 8.5 x 11 of Rite in Rain and had created various artwork for strips of various widths to prep these on my laser printer.

 

A word of advice - keep your log strips simple - a little notice or icon at the top (I use the Groundspeak Geocaching icon, with the www.geocaching.com url beneath it) and leave the lines off, nobody can stay within them and some of these fancy onces are just wasting paper, example:

 

NAME ________________________________________________

DATE ________________________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

This is going to mostly end up:

 

NAME ___Melvin_______________________________________

DATE ___Apr 11, 2012_________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS _TFTC!______________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

Wow... really?!? Most logs I see look more like this:

 

NME DTE

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

 

Just about as bad as the ones I find with about 1mm to write between lines. Crazy to find these in Regular caches, too.

 

I cut my strips varying widths, so if I find a cache which needs a new log and can fit a larger strip, off one goes. Several are cut to Bison Tube width and always have scraps left over for blinkies.

Link to comment

I use a Uniball Powertank RT pen with pressurized ink. It writes on just about anything. The rite-in-the-rain paper was never intended to be long lasting underwater paper. It just handles mist, rain and the occasional wetness without falling apart. If you feel like you need either a ziploc or rite-in-the-rain paper for a logbook - I would conclude that you have a fundamental failure of your Geocache container.

 

My intention was to never throw a logbook in the water. I was actually thinking more along the lines of stages of a multi, without containers.

 

Assuming you are just going to put the co-ordinates out, I would suggest a piece of metal and an engraver to write the numbers on it. If you use a brass key tag (available from your local locksmith) it will age to a nice patina that can make it very hard to notice.

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the lines of stages of a multi, without containers.

 

Like Starbrand, I'm using copper plant tags for this.

 

Works great, lasts forever, becomes more camo'ed over time. Can end up being too hard to find, so hints come into play.

I bought the cheapest tags I could find, and had to sand the coating off so they'd oxidize. Left them in vinegar overnight to hasten that process.

As I already owned a number punch set, I used that, but you could hand scribe them too.

Link to comment
the lines of stages of a multi, without containers.

 

Like Starbrand, I'm using copper plant tags for this.

 

Works great, lasts forever, becomes more camo'ed over time. Can end up being too hard to find, so hints come into play.

I bought the cheapest tags I could find, and had to sand the coating off so they'd oxidize. Left them in vinegar overnight to hasten that process.

As I already owned a number punch set, I used that, but you could hand scribe them too.

 

I was thinking it might be neat to do something more complex than just entering coordinates in as a waypoint. Perhaps an "X" on the map, with the last siginifigant digits printed, so the person had to get close to the X / know how to read a map to get the first digits of each coordinates, with the final part of each coordinate being provided to pinpoint the cache. Kind of a "learn to read a map" cache.

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What about using a piece of coroplast intead and writing on it with a permanent marker?

I had to Google that one. Now I know what all these signs along the sides of highways are made of. That's some pretty sturdy stuff. I'm thinking, if the piece of coroplast were protected from UV, any markings applied with a Sharpie should last dang near forever. I'm not sure how deep Sharpie ink would go into the coroplast, and the answer to that would be essential for determining if it would be suitable for moist environments. My favorite method for a multi is a soda bottle preform, (or match safe), with a piece of PVC inside. I write the next stage coords in Sharpie on the PVC. The ink gets drawn down pretty deep into the PVC, so even submerged for extended periods still leaves it legible.

 

I will try the coroplast and see how it holds up. B)

Link to comment
I'm sure they do fine with a little rain here and there, but how do they do in honest-to-goodness waterlogged conditions?

Rite in the Rain is a coated paper. Nat Geo is something like vinyl. Both will eventually disintegrate outdoors, and print will fade before that. If it remains wet, all bets are off. You might try printing on one of those (or ordinary paper), mounting it on a sturdy material, then coating it with polyurethane or some other waterproof clear coat.

I find Rite in Rain holds up for a long time - it will eventually yield to some fungi, having various blotches, like all paper, but dries out again and is still pretty good. The Nat Geo paper also holds up very well, but I have noticed it becomes slippery when exposed long term to water (it may be a slime mold.) Either paper holds ball point signatures quite well, felt tip is destined to run and fade and stamps vary depending upon ink used.

 

A couple years ago I bought a box of 200 sheets, 8.5 x 11 of Rite in Rain and had created various artwork for strips of various widths to prep these on my laser printer.

 

A word of advice - keep your log strips simple - a little notice or icon at the top (I use the Groundspeak Geocaching icon, with the www.geocaching.com url beneath it) and leave the lines off, nobody can stay within them and some of these fancy onces are just wasting paper, example:

 

NAME ________________________________________________

DATE ________________________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

This is going to mostly end up:

 

NAME ___Melvin_______________________________________

DATE ___Apr 11, 2012_________________________________

TIME ________________________________________________

COMMENTS _TFTC!______________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

 

Wow... really?!? Most logs I see look more like this:

 

NME DTE

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

___ ___

 

Congrats on being the FTF.

Link to comment

For some interesting facts about 'waterproof' paper, check these guys out:

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/

I learned a few helpful tricks over there, especially regarding which paper types are inkjet friendly and which are laser printer friendly. I've been using old Fed-Ex document envelopes, (cut 'em to size & run 'em through my printer to create logsheets), which are made out of Tyvek,

 

Isn't Tyvek the same stuff used as a moisture barrier to wrap newly constructed houses? If so, it could probably found in very large quantities at a big box hardware store like Home Depot. Get a few people to go in on a purchase and you'd be set with log sheet paper for life.

Link to comment

For some interesting facts about 'waterproof' paper, check these guys out:

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/

I learned a few helpful tricks over there, especially regarding which paper types are inkjet friendly and which are laser printer friendly. I've been using old Fed-Ex document envelopes, (cut 'em to size & run 'em through my printer to create logsheets), which are made out of Tyvek,

 

Isn't Tyvek the same stuff used as a moisture barrier to wrap newly constructed houses? If so, it could probably found in very large quantities at a big box hardware store like Home Depot. Get a few people to go in on a purchase and you'd be set with log sheet paper for life.

I know the name brand is the same. I'm guessing the material is as well.

Since I don't hide micros, and rarely hide smalls, I don't need a lot.

The few old Fed-Ex document envelopes I had laying around suited my needs.

Link to comment

For some interesting facts about 'waterproof' paper, check these guys out:

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/

I learned a few helpful tricks over there, especially regarding which paper types are inkjet friendly and which are laser printer friendly. I've been using old Fed-Ex document envelopes, (cut 'em to size & run 'em through my printer to create logsheets), which are made out of Tyvek, essentially the same stuff as the Nat-Geo paper. It prefers laser printers, and will smudge under long term exposure to water, but seems to hold up well otherwise.

 

Hehe...that what I use for some of my caches. House wrap are another thing I use and they are made out of tyvek as well.

Link to comment

For some interesting facts about 'waterproof' paper, check these guys out:

http://www.waterproofpaper.com/

I learned a few helpful tricks over there, especially regarding which paper types are inkjet friendly and which are laser printer friendly. I've been using old Fed-Ex document envelopes, (cut 'em to size & run 'em through my printer to create logsheets), which are made out of Tyvek,

 

Isn't Tyvek the same stuff used as a moisture barrier to wrap newly constructed houses? If so, it could probably found in very large quantities at a big box hardware store like Home Depot. Get a few people to go in on a purchase and you'd be set with log sheet paper for life.

I know the name brand is the same. I'm guessing the material is as well.

Since I don't hide micros, and rarely hide smalls, I don't need a lot.

The few old Fed-Ex document envelopes I had laying around suited my needs.

same stuff but rougher, not as smooth like on old fed ex envelopes. I go to the post office and pick up a few. FREE!

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Just bought a few RITR logs. When I got them in the mail, I whipped out my trusty geocaching pen(yes the pressurized one in the 'shop' tab. best money I've spent...love it) ran the log under the faucet in the kitchen, and scrawled my name on the last, soaked, page. Loved the result. Two great products, that thus far, have held up to their descriptions.

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