favorite tools {was: [Rockhounds] Virgin Valley Nevada Collecting}

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

Great topic!

I usually carry a 4 lb cross pein hammer (one end is flat, the other is
a wedge), an Estwing geologist's hammer (good for trimming specimens,
and scaleing pictures), a camera, safety glasses. a screwdriver, a field
book, a compass, a pocket Bible, pepper spray for critters, a swiss army
knife, a hardness kit, some water, a current newspaper, and four chisels
(one is a wide point). 

I usually leave a pry bar, first aid kit, and shovel, in the vehicle; I
seldom get them out. 

Two empty buckets and a light backpack going in.

Kreigh





DonH wrote:
> 
> Tim Fisher wrote:
> 
> >
> > My meager tool bucket of 10 years ago has expanded into two full 5
> > gallon buckets and a couple big bars & shovels that I usually just leave
> > in the pickup in case I get the urge. I think I have 200 lbs. of tools
> > now :D
> 
> Tell me about it.  I got into the habit of having two buckets full of
> tools.  That's fine when your car is right next to the collecting site,
> but when you need to hike in, it is a hideous situation.  I have since
> engaged in "negative growth."
> 
> I find the essential tools for nearly *any* trip to be a 3-lb. crack
> hammer, a few sizes of steel rock chisel, three carbide-tipped chisels,
> including one about the size of a soda can that Trow & Holden customized
> for me; a gad pry bar, and a handful of spring steel wedges.  All this
> fits in a backpack.  The bucket holds a bundle of newspapers (you can
> get lots of free ones when the newspaper people come to empty out the
> racks of ad papers at the corner store) and egg cartons.
> 
> Of course, different collecting environments require different tools.  I
> may also carry a long-handled 4-lb. mini-sledge; a shovel or spade;
> sieving screens; washing water; hand trowels; or some extra-wide masonry
> chisels.
> 
> One thing I have, but almost never carry, is one of the famous Estwing
> geologist's hammers, with a flat face on one side and either a pick or a
> narrow curved pry bar on the other side.  As many old-timers put it,
> "those are about good for putting in pictures for scale."  I often watch
> students go on field trips, armed with brand new Estwing pick hammers,
> trying to break hard rock with the pick end.  Eventually they give up
> and need to be introduced to the hammer and chisel method.  Over the
> years, on average, I have found a small crack hammer and a careful
> selection of chisels to be far more versatile than one of those Estwings.
> 
> Don
> 
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