Rite in the Rain Weatherproof Starter Field Planner Kit, Black CORDURA fabric Cover, 1" Ring Binder, Ruler / Writing Guard (No. 9250B)

I've always wanted to have a Rite-In-The-Rain notebook for a long time. I thought that I would just get a simple notebook and pen and be done with it. But at the last minute I decided to wait and get this binder and the 982T paper to go with it. Now that I finally have ordered it and have used it a while, I'm so glad that I waited!The binder isn't huge, but it does hold a lot of paper. Also, it's extremely well built. It reminds me of something like Maxpedition would make. It has a fantastically placed hook-and-loop panel on the outside to put a name tag. The zipper folds around to the top where you can loop it through a heavy d-ring and use a small padlock to keep your notes private. Even if you do use a lock, you still have one spot on the outside of the cover that you can keep a few notes that you don't want to lock away and want to keep handy. Additionally the outside has a nice handle that's adjustable.On the inside it came with a nice clear ruler and a binder for fitting pre-punched paper. The inside cover has multiple pen slots and even has a slot at the bottom to hold a Fisher ink cartridge that could either be a spare or a different color. That was a very nice touch I thought. The pen slots come in all sizes and can hold any size pen that you might have. I was worried when I ordered it that it might not fit my Schrade machined aluminum pen, but several of the pockets are more than capable of holding it.Above the pen slots inside the front cover you also have a spot that you can put a small calculator or some map tools. It isn't elastic or adjustable, however, which is the one and only drawback to the entire product that I have found so far. The back has several slots for storing notes or cards or just about anything. As I keep this binder in my INCH BOB for storing all kinds of stuff, I have put in the back (so far) some memory cards, phone cards, envelopes, a small amount of cash, stamps, coins for parking a car/phone calls/change, the survival Pro-Knot card by John Sherry (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0922273227/), a small penlight in red for reading at night, and a few other things.All-in-all I highly recommend this product and all Rite-In-The-Rain products. I suggest if you order this product and want some paper (which doesn't come with it) to order #982T (http://www.amazon.com/Rite-Rain-Tactical-Loose-Paper/dp/B001943ZU8/) as well when you order this.Also, as a side note, remember not to use magic markers with Rite-In-The-Rain paper. I have seen YouTube videos that show the ink just falling off the paper when wet, but regular or Fisher type pens and/or regular pencils are just fine!

I’ve used Rite in the Rain paper and notebooks for years for various purposes, especially while doing outdoor fieldwork. In October 2022, I decided to move entirely to Rite in the Rain paper for my daily planner and retire my other (popular) page-based planner system. I’ll skip over many of the details of my reasoning to make the change and just say that it made more sense for my current and immediate future needs for a planner system.I picked up the 9250T as I already had some paper that would fit, and the binder itself checked the boxes of what I was looking for. Settled into it pretty quickly with some ideas of turning out some custom pages that I could print out to fit my specific needs. I liked the size adding to the convenience of always having it close by or in hand and not being a burden to carry. It easily fits in my daily carry bag, my backpack, or a daypack that I use on some outings. It just fits.Sadly, I managed to drop my planner while getting out of my truck at home on a rainy night and it spent the night outside in a pretty heavy rain event. When found the next day I kicked myself while being thankful that I could expect most everything inside to be in far better shape than my prior solution. The interior certainly got wet, as evidenced by my business cards and a few various receipts being done for. The Rite in the Rain pages inside were still very legible with no running ink. I have been using the OR97 all-weather metal pen that uses the Fisher Space Pen technology as my primary writing instrument. I like that it is now offered in orange (The ‘OR’ of the ‘OR97’) as it stands out if (okay, when) I drop it in the field. I have found that I can write on the pages with a gel pen, but they streak easily and may not have held up under this event.End of the story is that I popped my planner in my dehydrator (an Excalibur 3926TB 9 tray if you must know) on about 115-120 to expedite drying. I lost a few pages in the back of the planner that were wrinkled beyond my liking, but the rest of the RitR pages and the planner itself came back like a champ. The planner is made in the USA by Tactical Tailor with the ‘Made in the USA’ part being one of the boxes I wanted to be checked when buying a planner. The structure got a bit soft in the dehydrator and had me worried that this thing was done for. I reached out to Rite in the Rain, and they were quick to respond, offering to replace the planner and ‘call tag’ the one I had for inspection. All it needed was an extra day to sort itself out, so I replied that I was happy with what I had and would not need a replacement or a call tag.100% a positive experience with the product and Rite in the Rain customer service. Cannot recommend it enough. As a creature of habit, I expect to be a customer for years to come if they continue to make a high-quality, domestically produced product.

I ordered this to set up my own planner and journal. The quality of the binder is nice and sturdy. This is a good size to use and carry with me on trips. There seem to be a lot of ways to customize this that I will take advantage of for my personalized use. Rite in the Rain products cost a little more than some other binders you could get but I think these are worth the extra money in the long run. I noticed also when writing on the pages with a Fisher Space Pen vs. the Rite in the Rain pen, the Rite in the Rain pen is more impervious. The Space Pen smeared a little and I was surprised because I had been under the impression they were the same cartridge/ink. To test them I wrote words and large ink marks on the Rite in the Rain paper and let it sit a few minutes and then ran them both under water. The Rite in the Rain ink did not smudge or come off at all as far as I could see. The Space Pen refill ink turned the water slightly black when it beaded up on the paper, smudged ever so slightly and the characters stayed perfectly on the page but still smeared and the ink. The Space Pen ink was slightly discolored, somewhat blue even though it was black ink. I'd recommend sticking with the Rite in the Rain pen and cartridge for these. I love my Fisher Space Pens, and recommend them, but I will use them for other things where I use other paper as it seems to work good in other applications because the Rite in the Rain pen is slightly dryer. They each have their advantages/disadvantages. I know this is not a pen review, but hope it helps it you decide to use this planner system or any Rite in the Rain products.