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Navagear points us to “Rite in the Rain”:

The folks from “Rite in the Rain” were at the Pacific Marine Expo, and I picked up a brochure, an all-weather pen, and another pocket-sized spiral notebook…thanks guys!

See, I use these products every day. Into my pockets each morning go my keys, wallet, coin purse, cell phone, and my little Weems & Plath-branded Rite in the Rain 3″ x 5″ all-weather spiral notebook.

I have been using these products for many years in fairly harsh environments aboard ship and highly recommend them for use on deck.

“Rite in the Rain” Product Links;

• All Weather Pen
• Adventure Travel Journal All Weather Writing
• All-Weather Pocket Journal
• All Rite in the Rain Products

Also be sure to check out another gCaptain favorite;

• Fisher Bullet Space Pen

Merry Christmas to gCaptain’s readers but especially to those at sea this year and the family missing you back home.

Over the next few weeks we are going to be sharing gift ideas. So if you have a loved on who is a Captain, Mate, Engineer or just a boater sailing the ocean keep an eye on our new Gifts Section.

Our first pick is a device that has made my life at sea significantly more enjoyable, the Tivo DVD Burner. Sure you could buy a video ipod which we also highly recommend but nothing is better than having a device connected to your TV, downloading TV shows for FREE.

The best part is how easy this unit is to use. It hooks up and operates just like a normal TIVO allowing you to pause and record live TV but insert a blank DVD-R/RW and it burns your shows to a disk he can take with him to work.

Bonus features:

• The Burned DVD’s work on any DVD play.
• The unit can record and burn movies from HBO, Starz…
• If your tivo runs out of space simply burn the extra shows to DVD and keep them for later.
• Select the option “Season Pass” and tivo will record the entire season of your show to disc. Perfect for catching up on series while you were away at sea.
• DVD’s are cheap to mail. Send your the burned DVD’s to his ship’s agent at the next port of call and we promise he will be the most popular guy on movie night.
• The unit also lets you transfer and burn movies from your old camcorder to DVD.

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I carry three things with me every time I go on deck. A Pelican Flashlight, Channel Locks and my knife. I have tried many and my absolute favorite knife is the Spyderco Assist!
What makes this the best knife?

• Thanks to the sheepsfoot blade I know I’m not going to acciently stab myself in bad weather
• It has a built in (really loud) whistle in case I go overboard.
• It’s designed to open with one hand
• Sypderco are simply the best quality knifes.
• The combotip allows you to have the benefits of both a straight and serrated edge.
• See the ridges on the back of the blade and again on the front of the handle? If you open the blade just enough to get a line in then squeeze the blade against the handle you’ll very safely cut the line.

How sharp does the knife have to be for the last “trick”? Very sharp but spyderco has Free Sharpening for life and a broken blade will never cost you more than $25 to replace. If you are looking for a simpler/thinner knife be sure to check out the Leatherman Rescue.

If I don’t have my spyderco on me it means I’m carrying my second favorite knife; the Leatherman Wave. A great multipurpose knife since leatherman has an excellent warranty, each knife has both a straight edge and serrated blade. These blades are located on the outside of the knife so they are easily accessible with one hand.

With the Spyderco Assist being sold at Amazon for $59 and the Leatherman Wave on sale for $65 you can probably afford both and thank us the next time a storm rolls through during lines.

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