Rite In The Rain All Weather Universal Notebook Review
Rite In The Rain's 3.5 x 5 in Field-Flex pocket notebook weighs 68 g and keeps notes legible in rain, mud and sweat, though its perfect binding is the weak point.
Overview
The No. 374-M is Rite In The Rain’s smallest soft-cover bound book: 112 pages of treated all-weather paper in a flexible cover that fits a hip-belt or shorts pocket. It suits hikers who log mileage, water sources, and trail notes in conditions that wreck ordinary paper. The trade-off is a perfect-bound spine that gets less praise than the paper does.
Key Specs
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Weight | 68 g |
| Dimensions | 3.5 x 5 x 0.25 in |
| Pages | 112 (56 sheets) |
| Page pattern | Universal (combined lined and gridded) |
| Paper weight | 20 lb |
| Binding | Perfect bound |
| Cover | Field-Flex |
| Perforated | No |
| Made in | USA |
| Item no. | 374-M (ISBN 978-1-60134-022-1, NSN 7530-01-536-2655) |
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Weather resistance. The paper is the reason this notebook exists. Rite In The Rain’s wood-based stock is coated to shed rain, sweat, grease, and mud, and reviewers who have carried the brand’s books for years describe pages that stay legible after soaking, spills, and field abuse. One coffee-spill account has the owner writing straight through the puddle, with the page cleaned up afterward and the remaining sheets unaffected. Testers note the paper can crinkle slightly once it dries, a cosmetic cost most hikers will accept.
The distinction matters, though: this is water-repellent paper, not a synthetic sheet. Backpackers on gear forums point to Rite In The Rain’s separate Polydura-style synthetic lines for fully submersible use. For a notebook that lives in a pocket or a lid pouch, repellent is enough. A few raindrops won’t bleed through the stack and fuse the ink together.
Writing tools. The paper is picky. A graphite pencil or Rite In The Rain’s own All-Weather pen writes on wet pages. A standard ballpoint works once the page is dry, and the line is paler than the all-weather pen’s. Gear writers have called that pen a good ultralight pick in its own right, since it is small, writes wet or dry, and its cap snaps on cleanly. Gel pens and fountain pens are the wrong tools here.
Format and handling. Field-Flex is the brand’s most pliable cover stock. It molds to a pocket and springs back, and it carries a ruler, conversion charts, and map scales on the cover. At 0.25 inches thick and 68 g, it is a small carry for a full season of notes. The Universal pattern, which combines horizontal lines with a finer vertical grid, handles text, quick sketches, and simple maps. The sheets are 20 lb, so this is a thinner book than the brand’s 32 lb spiral and hardcover notebooks. Pages are not perforated and tear out by hand, which leaves a ragged edge.
Binding. This is where owners voice complaints. Perfect binding is glued at the spine, and the pages are flat sheets rather than folded signatures. One Amazon buyer received a copy with half the spine glue missing and fixed it with waxed thread, stitching through the face and back covers because the sheets can’t be sewn through the spine. Most owners report no such problem, and the manufacturer says the binding holds through bad weather and years of abuse. A glued spine is still a bigger risk than a stapled book, which is how the brand makes its thinner pocket pads.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Pages stay readable through rain, sweat, mud, and grease
- 68 g and a quarter-inch thick, with 112 pages
- Flexible cover conforms to pockets and springs back
- Cover rulers, conversion tables, and map scales
- Universal pattern suits notes, sketches, and logs
- Made in the USA, and widely stocked
Cons
- Perfect-bound spine can fail, and the sheets can’t be sewn through the fold
- Limited pen choice: pencil or all-weather pen when wet
- Water-repellent, not submersible
- 20 lb paper is thinner than the brand’s larger books
- Pages are not perforated
Who Should Buy This
Thru-hikers, section hikers, and field workers who want a pocket log that survives a wet season: trail notes, resupply math, wildlife sightings, geocaching entries. It is also a good backup for anyone who doesn’t trust a phone in a downpour. Hikers who want a book they can fill and abuse for months should look at the stapled mini pads or the larger Polydura-cover books. Anyone who writes with gel ink or fountain pens, or who wants a journal with generous page size, should look elsewhere.
Verdict
The 374-M does what it promises at a weight that rounds to nothing in a pack, and the paper earns the brand its reputation. The glued spine is the one thing to watch, so check it when the book arrives. Buy it, pair it with a pencil or the all-weather pen, and expect it to outlast most of your other gear.