Rite in the Rain No. 97 Pen: Plan for Wet-Weather Notes

A rain shower turns a simple checklist into a small equipment problem: the page is damp, your gloves are wet, and the ordinary pen in your pocket starts skipping. The Rite in the Rain No. 97 All-Weather Metal Clicker Pen is built for that moment. Its black pressurized cartridge is designed to keep feeding ink when the pen is upside down, cold, or writing through surface moisture, with the cartridge housed in a powder-coated brass barrel.

This is the textured flat-black No. 97 with black ink and a 0.9 mm point. It is a focused field tool, not a promise that every wet page will feel like smooth office paper.

A pressurized cartridge changes where it can write

The No. 97 uses a pressurized cartridge, so ink delivery is less dependent on pen angle. Rite in the Rain specifies operation from -30°F to 250°F, at any angle, and underwater to 35 feet. Those figures describe the cartridge's design limits; the practical benefit is more ordinary: you can jot a measurement against a wall, write on a clipboard held overhead, or finish a note during a downpour without first arranging a perfect desktop position.

The permanent black ink is also intended to write through water, sweat, grease, and mud. That makes the pen relevant to survey crews, field technicians, trail volunteers, first responders, and anyone who records information where clean, dry hands are not guaranteed. It does not make a soaked sheet indestructible. Paper still matters, and pooled water can interrupt clean contact at the tip.

The brass body is compact rather than tactical-looking

The No. 97 measures 5.125 inches long and 0.375 inch in diameter, with a listed weight of 0.05 pounds. Its straight, powder-coated brass barrel and pocket clip look restrained beside oversized tactical pens. The click mechanism also lets you deploy and retract the point one-handed, which is useful when the other hand is holding a radio, sample bag, or clipboard.

The tradeoff is feel. The specified point size is 0.9 mm, and the cylindrical metal barrel has no cushioned grip. If fine handwriting is your priority, assess the point and grip against the paper you actually use. It is easy to carry and sturdy enough for a work pocket, but long sessions of small handwriting may be better served by a lighter pen with a narrower tip.

Pair it with paper that matches the job

The pen can write on ordinary paper, but its strongest case is a field notebook that stays usable when damp. Rite in the Rain's own coated paper is the obvious match: the pen supplies pressurized ink while the paper resists turning soft or tearing in moisture. For a dry desk, compare the writing width, grip and refill you already prefer. Weather capability alone does not settle that everyday choice.

The cartridge is replaceable, which keeps the brass body in service, but it uses the brand's No. 37R black pressurized refill. Include refill availability and cost in the buying decision. This is not the best pick if you want to use any generic click-pen refill already in a supply closet.

Before packing for a long outdoor job, identify the replacement cartridge by its model and ink color. The black 37R is a separate item; the pen's clip and barrel are not a supply of spare ink. Keep any spare where it can be found, and check the pen on the intended notebook before leaving a dry workspace.

Buy it for field reliability, not a delicate pen feel

The No. 97 earns its place when a failed note has consequences: a missed measurement, an unreadable trail log, or a checklist that must be completed outside. Its useful combination is specific—one-handed click action, a metal barrel, and a pressurized cartridge that works at awkward angles and across a wide temperature range.

Skip it if your writing happens mainly at a dry desk, you prefer a needle-fine line, or you dislike proprietary refills. For wet-weather notes and dirty work sites, however, it solves a real problem without turning the pen into a bulky multitool.