5 Misunderstood Facts About Tally Books

Pipe Tally Books are normally used by workers in oilfields. They keep track of the

Tally Books in the Field
Using Tally Books in the Field

exact time that a section of pipe is attached to the drilling rig. Also they record the length and diameter of the pipe. These drilling workers need a heavy duty book that can easily fit into their pocket. That’s a short history of tally books. But here are some things you might not have known about these special books:

  1. Anyone who works outdoors and needs to keep records, can use a tally book. Other users are foresters, wind energy inspectors, handymen, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and waterworks people.
  2. The pages are sewn in, for durability. A little ring binder wouldn’t be as durable.
  3. A new option for the pages is the sewn water-resistant Stone Pad. If you try to tear a sheet, it just stretches a little. You can’t tear it.
  4. The cover is made of high grade vinyl, which comes in colors to coordinate with your company logo. This gives the book a high resistance to rain and abrasion.
  5. Got a favorite pen or pencil? Since these books are custom made, they can have a pen loop built into them.

6 Weird Uses For Tally Books

Tally books were originally made for gas and oil field employees. They use them

Tallybook Uses
Tallybook Uses

to keep track of how many pipes they put down the well when they are drilling. It’s important to know how deep they are at any time. The drillers can enter the time, day, size of pipe and length of pipe, plus anything unusual that happens at each depth.

Since tally books are water resistant, and have lined pages, and fit in your pocket, they have been used for other purposes. Here are some unusual ones:

  1. In a running race, you can enter the ID number and finish time of each runner.
  2. In a sailboat race, you can keep track of the times that each boat passes each buoy, and the finish line.
  3. If you are hired to read water meters in a small town, you can use tally books to write down the meter readings.
  4. Keep track of your medicine times.
  5. Keep a record of your gasoline purchases, and the number of miles you drove since the last fill-up.
  6. Use it as a field book to record what birds you have seen at what times and locations.

Can you think of any other uses?