Rite in the Rain
Tacoma, Washington — all-weather paper invented for logging tallies in 1916, and the only thing in a soaked pack that still works with a pencil.
The product exists because Pacific Northwest loggers needed to record a tally in the rain, and it traces to 1916 in Raymond, Washington, where Herbert Buffington connected with Jerry Darling. It is still made by J.L. Darling in Tacoma; Pennington Creek Capital took a majority stake in 2025, describing a 109-year-old company. The paper sheds water rather than repelling ink — it works with pencil or an all-weather pen, will not take water-based inkjet, and recycles with ordinary office paper. On a site mostly about equipment that keeps you alive, a notebook that survives the weather is the least dramatic and most frequently used thing here.
- 1916Traced to Raymond, Washington and the logging tally book
- 2025Pennington Creek Capital acquires a majority stake
- Pencil or all-weather penWhat actually writes on it — inkjet and water-based ink will not
What we'd reach for
- All-Weather NotebooksThe pocket top-spiral in its various sizes — the one that lives in a chest pocket and outlives the shirt.
- Field BooksBound books for surveying, forestry and engineering, with the ruling those trades actually use.
- Loose-leaf and copier paperAll-weather paper by the ream, for forms and printed documentation that goes outside. Laser, not inkjet.
- All-Weather PensThe pressurised pens that work upside down and wet. Worth buying with the book rather than after losing a page of notes.
- Tactical and field formsPre-printed formats for inspection, incident and patrol documentation.
- CoversThe polydura and fabric jackets that turn a notebook into a system.