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In an age of notebook computers, tablets and other ubiquitous mobile devices, who — some may ask — still uses a notebook and pencil?

Well, there’s me (answering with my hand raised). And you. And you, too. And I see you, too; thank you for that raised hand.

You see, readers, good ‘ole paper and lead will never go away. And I’ll tell you why: Some tasks, like taking notes in the field, are just not conducive to using delicate electronic gadgets. Because out in the field, we drop stuff. And stuff breaks.

Or stuff gets wet. Then stuff gets ruined.

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Unless you have a Rite in the Rain notebook and pencil (about $34). With this gear you can, literally, write in the rain. Which is handy for at least two situations: Recording range notes when shooting in a downpour and recording field notes when hunting. The entries might go something like this:

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Range: “Fired two boxes of Black Hills .223 through the Anderson AM-15 in heavy rain. Gun functioned great. Ammo struck targets dead center (as always). Gear note: Filson Tin Cloth hat worked great. Water ran directly off brim of hat on to notebook. Kept writing. Hands very cold. Handwriting not too legible.”

Hunting: “Been sitting in this tree stand for two hours and haven’t seen a thing. Every now and then I hear a grumble but I think it’s my stomach. Can’t see anything because it’s raining. Not sure there’s a deer to be found anywhere in the county.”

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And because the Rite in the Rain notebook and pencil are engineered to work when wet, I can share these important notes with my wife or my friends, who quite simply don’t understand why I do these things.

Moreover, just to be comprehensive (and almost obnoxious) I put the Rite in the Rain notebook and pencil to a more stringent evaluation: the hold-it-under-the-running-kitchen-faucet test. Yep, even with water pouring over its pages, the pencil laid the lead down on the paper as if it were perfectly dry. Worked every time.

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What would you use a Rite in the Rain notebook and pencil for? Raise your hand and let me know in the comments below.

— Mark Kakkuri

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