tools for collecting

[Klytus]

I guess it's worth considering tools cheap enough to leave behind if long distances and difficult terrain are expected,you can always use them again if you pass that way again.

 

[sfhellwig]

By the looks of some of those lists it sounds more like your going to battle than collecting

Have you ever gone collecting beyond your city limits? I drove a few hours away to a very rocky area where pick axes were necessary. Luckily the fellows I was with brought the picks. We went to collect, and battle it was.

 

[grouper52]

Toilet paper.

 

[Goon Salo]

just use leaves...but make sure its not poison ivy

Toilet paper.

 

[Alex DeRuiter]

Making sure it IS poison ivy will certainly make for an interesting collecting trip.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I guess it's worth considering tools cheap enough to leave behind if long distances and difficult terrain are expected,you can always use them again if you pass that way again.

Funny you should say that Klytus. All of the American SW is one big mine. In the late 1800's this place was literally CRAWLING with miners trying to strike it rich, and EVERY canyon, draw, creekbed, rockcut, etc was poked, prodded and shoveled. There are THOUSANDS of mines scattered around, many of which have collapsed, but some of which are still dangerously accessible. Just in Southern California:

In 1869 gold was discovered near Julian, attracting hordes of miners from the Mother Lode, and swelling the town to a population greater than that of San Diego. Also, during this period, zinc, lead, and silver mines were booming in the western canyons in the Santa Anas (hence, Silverado Canyon). Nearby, in Trabuco Canyon, still stands the remains of the large (and unproductive) tin mine, once owned (about 1900) by Gail Borden of the Eagle Milk Co., who'd hoped to use its yield to produce cans for his milk.

I bike and hike in Trabuco and Silverado Canyons, and it seems like no matter where you go you bump into old mining equipment. Sluice boxes, shacks, tools... It is all slowly rusting and rotting away into the gravel. The farther you get from roads the more you will see and find. I'll be in the backcountry 10 miles from the nearest road and run into an old miner camp...

 

[Klytus]

Can you still stake a claim or are those days long gone?

Say you did find a vein of gold,who should be contacted so a fellow has a good chance of actually living longer than the revealing of coordinates?

Should you take a gun just in case?

 

[grouper52]

just use leaves...

Well, sure - I mean, I use leaves most all the time at home. But for a really special occasion like a collecting trip I like to pull out the good stuff.

 

[grouper52]

Can you still stake a claim or are those days long gone?

Say you did find a vein of gold,who should be contacted so a fellow has a good chance of actually living longer than the revealing of coordinates?

Should you take a gun just in case?

"Yes" to #1, "complicated answer" to #2, and "yes, of course, always, everywhere" to #3.

 

[Frojo]

What is that called? That's a good tool - can't say that I've seen one before but I immediately see how it would be handy.

It's called a shovel head with a pipe and a loaded end.

It's just a smallish spade of which I broke the plastic handle off trying to lever a rock out of the ground. The shaft has concertinaed at the top from hitting with the hammer.
It works exceptionally well and quick because you can knock it down into the ground as deep as you want and due to the angle of the head it sort of curves down in under the tree. So you just knock it in, pull out, knock in again a shovel width to the side, repeat , all the way in a circle around the tree.
I had a bunch of trees in the ground I had to take out, started the normal way, digging a trench and then working my way in under the tree, took ages and verrry tiring. After coming up with this idea I managed the rest in next to no time, it is really quick and fairly effortless in comparison.

 

[grouper52]

Should you take a gun just in case?

Just in case folks thought my answer above to this question was in jest or a bit too radical, this link and the accompanying comments in the thread may shed some light: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2804030/posts

 

[donkey]

im looking for tools i can hike a good couple miles with three people

Fold up army surplus trenching tool
brickie's hammer (most versatile tool i have ever known)
fold up pruning saw
gardeners multi tool (secateurs, knife, dibber)
these all fit nicely into the pockets of any decent sized backpack and are not very heavy.

 

[Klytus]

Does anyone use the Japanese tools for excavation,the sledge hammer,the mattock etc?

I see them in some catalogues and even in these videos.

http://blacksmith.org/forums/threads/1177-Mattock-and-pick-forging-in-Japan

 

[ghues]

A good selection of tools to cover different situations but not too big/bulky...........Will....I've heard that moss works well...........
Sometimes when you forgot the pack its good ol' grunt work.

 

[energy0540]

Nice post....

 

[joyee]

Nice sharing man, This is the way to expose to your ideas. Thanks for sharing such a nice thread.
Keep it up...

Custom Printed Napkins

 

[yenling83]

Here's what I do, you might not care, but i'll tell you anyways

Generally I will go hiking or mountain biking first to scout out for good trees with just my water bottle or a small day pack w/ some food and a flexible kitchen knife. When I find a tree I'll examine the base and use my knife to try and find out if it's collectable. I'll go back to my base camp or truck and get what I think i'll need.

Here's what I take in my Sturdy Metal Frame Backback-
*Rope-to tie tree on frame
*Pre Moist New Zealand Sphagnum moss in trash bag-Orchid moss, you can re use this, you can buy on ebay
*Mister bottle & Water-
*Garbage bags-wrap firmly around root ball
*Clear Packing tape-help secure trash bags
*Large Root hook-for combing out roots when needed
*Sturdy Shovel
*Cheap kitchen knife-somewhat flexible blade used to find roots and trace around root pockets
*Small sledge hammer
*Couple differntly shaped Chisels-I think they are brick chisels
*2 small Japanese style push saws
*loppers
*TP and Wet Wipes
*Bear Spray

What I leave in my truck and use when needed
*Big Bar's

 

[Jason]

..............?

 

[monza]

..............?

View attachment 21372

Oh ya I hear that's hoe you do it in Oregon.