Author Topic: Waterproof Survey Books (Read 6286 times)

Cookie · « **on:** January 21, 2011, 03:56:07 pm »

Does anyone know a good source of waterproof survey books?

Hitch n Hike's offering at £21.75 seems a tad pricey.

Duncan Price · « **Reply #1 on:** January 21, 2011, 04:01:58 pm »

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-A6-WATERPROOF-NOTEPAD-Notebook-Paper-Pad-Military-/400170727443?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Scuba_SnorkellingEquipment_SM&hash=item5d2c08b813

Can you get me one as a finder's fee?

I cut the pages out an stick them to my diving slate...after surveying sumps, I take them off and archive them.

SamT · « **Reply #2 on:** January 21, 2011, 04:27:07 pm »

Hard to beat ebay above, but Pinders stationers in sheffield do these at about 11 quid IIRC. (if you want wire binding and a nice hard red plastic cover front and back)

hydrophobia · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2011, 07:46:34 pm »

Rite in the rain books are quite good - http://www.tamarackgroup.co.uk/acatalog/Rite_in_The_Rain.html

ianball11 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2011, 09:12:58 pm »

The chartwell are good I used to get them from york survey centre for work, bulk discount available.

http://www.yorksurvey.co.uk/marking/notebooks/664/waterproof-book-ruledfeints.html

They can be a bit small sometimes but then they also fit in pockets well

Ian B.

Cookie · « **Reply #5 on:** January 31, 2011, 11:29:12 am »

Hi,

thanks for the feedback. The ones from Pinders Stationers with the hard covers look the best for me.

Cheers.

jarvist · « **Reply #6 on:** January 31, 2011, 05:39:50 pm »

The generic one's that Duncan linked to are pretty floppy, but more than serviceable. Just a plastic comb binding top, so you can accidentally unbind half the book, particularly when ripping out sheets.

You can also get one's with a green vinyl cover made by BCB:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WATERPROOF-Notebook-Notepad-Pencil-Army-Paper-Pad-A6-/190496812960

I quite like these, Imperial College CC use these with our self-made pre-printed A6 survey books, as well as the little A6 waterproof notebooks. The survey book just tucks into the see-through plastic wallet, so it's pretty flexible. The whole thing fits nicely in a Meander oversuit pocket.
Gives quite a bit of protection to the pencil, you can keep other spares (more pencils!) / PSS bits of plastic under the see-through cover on the top.

AndyF · « **Reply #7 on:** January 31, 2011, 05:49:11 pm »

You can get those envelopes made out of plasticy fibre stuff. They are cheap and waterproof and tearprrof , you can chop them up and staple them and draw big sketches on them....

or... waterprrof A4 sheet

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Memory-Map-Toughprint-Waterproof-Paper-Inkjet/dp/B000MMUA4C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296496051&sr=8-1

or.... these look cheap

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Web-tex-Waterproof-Notepad/dp/B002687TB2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1296496051&sr=8-3

jarvist · « **Reply #8 on:** February 04, 2011, 05:17:14 pm »

Quote from: jarvist on January 31, 2011, 05:39:50 pm

You can also get one's with a green vinyl cover made by BCB:

Regret to inform that the new BCB green vinyl covers are nowhere near as stiff / seemingly durable as the old ones

I'm going to try putting a layer of plastic (the PP packets that Helly Hansen thermals come in seem about the right thickness / rigidity) within the top + bottom pockets to see if that improves things a bit.

jarvist · « **Reply #9 on:** February 25, 2011, 03:16:17 pm »

Found the Gelert version (all the BCB/Gelert / comb binding waterproof notebooks seem the same), for the tasty price of £0.95:

http://www.outdoorvalue.co.uk/products/camping-accessories-miscellaneous/161-gelert-fishingbushcraft-waterproof-notebook.html

DavidGibson · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2011, 10:51:41 am »

In the past I have used notebooks and paper from http://www.weatherwriter.co.uk/ and Hydrocopy paper from http://www.graphicdesignsupplies.co.uk

I use quite a lot of waterproof paper (Zecom/Hydrocopy). The advatage is that you can print on to it using a laser printer so, if you want to make your own special grids or tables, you can do this. Last time I bought a box of 100 sheets of Zecom paper I think it was £40 so its not cheap, but its great for anything where you want to print on waterproof paper - maps, signs, instructions for runners/walkers/orienteers etc. Ive not actually used it for Cave Surveying

sluka · « **Reply #11 on:** March 17, 2011, 11:23:51 am »

Anyway, there is a way how to make waterproof any piece of (printed) paper excluding printed by laser printer.

http://cachtice.speleo.sk/impregnation/

M.

Antwan · « **Reply #12 on:** March 17, 2011, 12:58:46 pm »

Hmm.... Napalm? on paper?

Sounds like fun if your still using carbide lamps!

sluka · « **Reply #13 on:** March 17, 2011, 01:41:17 pm »

Quote from: Antwan on March 17, 2011, 12:58:46 pm

Hmm.... Napalm? on paper?

Sounds like fun if your still using carbide lamps!

What polystyrene has common with napalm?????

graham · « **Reply #14 on:** March 17, 2011, 02:22:48 pm »

Quote from: sluka on March 17, 2011, 01:41:17 pm

Quote from: Antwan on March 17, 2011, 12:58:46 pm
Hmm.... Napalm? on paper?

Sounds like fun if your still using carbide lamps!

What polystyrene has common with napalm?????

Polystyrene is one of the components of Napalm B.

What solvents are used to get the polystyrene impregnated into the paper, I cannot read the link, benzene?

sluka · « **Reply #15 on:** March 17, 2011, 02:40:09 pm »

Quote from: graham on March 17, 2011, 02:22:48 pm

Polystyrene is one of the components of Napalm B. What solvents are used to get the polystyrene impregnated into the paper, I cannot read the link, benzene?

But polystyrene is very very very common plastic material you may find everywhere around you starting with thermal insulation of houses through packing material to plastic cups. The solvent is ethylacetate. They are flamable, but not in any case as napalm. You may fire petrol, way to complicated solve polystyrene in ethylacetate?????

underground · « **Reply #16 on:** March 18, 2011, 12:36:20 am »

Google Translaty

wookey · « **Reply #17 on:** March 18, 2011, 02:34:56 pm »

That gelert one is very cheap. Has anyone actually tried it?

They only seem to have one left, otherwise I'd buy 10.

I've used all the books suggested here except for the gelert one. The red-fronted ones are a bit cheaper from York survey supplies. http://www.yorksurvey.co.uk/marking/chartwell-books/664/waterproof-book-ruledfeints.html

The best chartwell rag-paper book (according to at least some surveyors) is the metric mining transit one:
http://www.yorksurvey.co.uk/marking/chartwell-books/669/mining-transit-book-quadrillefeints.html
It's also one of the most expensive.

The cheap floppy ones need a backing plate of some sort otherwise they are very annoying.

And of course no-one uses paper any more for cave surveying :-)

jarvist · « **Reply #18 on:** March 18, 2011, 05:24:40 pm »

Quote from: wookey on March 18, 2011, 02:34:56 pm

That gelert one is very cheap. Has anyone actually tried it?

We (ICCC) bought a load in 2007, they have seemed to perform fine. The feel of the plasticy paper and construction is utterly indistinguishable from the BCB ones, the earliest worked examples of which we have going back to 1995 (the comb binder used to be black, and the print on the front page was of a different design and monochrome, that's all that seems to have changed).

The main design issue with the comb-bound survey books is when people rip out pages either for PSSs, or for archival of the data.

Quote

They only seem to have one left, otherwise I'd buy 10.

Sorry about that -- they arrived yesterday.
They might soon be restocking though, as the 1st parcel they sent (inc. 5 Gelert books) was 'lost in the post' and has been returned after they sent out a new parcel with fresh stock.

Quote

The cheap floppy ones need a backing plate of some sort otherwise they are very annoying.

I quite agree -- though seem people seem to like how 'invisible' they are in an oversuit pocket through the squeezes, storing the pencils in their 1st aid bottle / with the instruments.

Quote

And of course no-one uses paper any more for cave surveying :-)

Just me & everyone I know :-)

pwhole · « **Reply #19 on:** April 01, 2011, 11:50:02 am »

I just found these US-made Aqua Notes, designed for writing in the shower (?) - look like they might work well in caves though:

http://www.myaquanotes.com/AboutUs/tabid/78/Default.aspx