New paper, how exciting!

The picture for this blog looks pretty boring.  Just another picture of a chain of custody form.

Nope, these are special paper chain of custody forms.  Printed them up myself on my inkjet printer… What makes them special?  One is water resistant, one is water proof, and the last one is water proof and tear proof.   Why would anyone want this?

These are forms that field staff use for field work.  As most environmental consultants know, field work goes rain or shine.  Last week, I was in the field collecting legal samples.  Finding dry paper to write on to record information whether it was the photo log or chain of custody, was extremely difficult.  Wet and smudged pages everywhere!  Why risk a field program or possibly losing valuable legally defensible field notes when a solution might exist.

I knew of Rite in the Rain notebooks and they also have a type of paper, which is not usable with my type of printer (inkjet).   To solve this issue, I scoured the Internet, found what I was looking for from the US and ordered it to test it out.  We will be using it next week and seeing which paper we like best.  In a weird way, I am kind of hoping it rains a little just to see how they work. If it doesn’t rain, I might have to mishandle my notes a little and get them a little wet!

You don’t need these types of paper all the time, but when you do, it is great to have them.   Couple these papers with a Rite in the Rain pen and you have the perfect all-weather combination.  There is no excuse for not having the right tool for the job.

It is paying attention to these little details that make a legal sampling project (or any environmental project) go smoothly, rain or shine.

 
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Next blog coming soon: “Make it easy for the lab!”