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flyguy784

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Couple of questions from a new guy.

I split a lot of shale, what's the best hammer for this? I'm currently using an inexpensive brick layers hammer and would like to upgrade. The head fell off a couple times. What do the more experianced guys reccomend?

Next, what's the best "bag" to carry back specimens and tools? I'm using a backpack and it leaves a lot to be desired.

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Hi Flyguy!

Estwing makes a bunch of different hammers - all good. I have a hammer with chisle point for splitting and another with a pick point for digging. I recommend having both. When collecting, I use a carpenters tool belt to hold my hammer and small tools, and a frame backpack for hauling everything else. A good frame backpack with a waist belt will allow you to carry a lot of weight with minimal effort.

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Hello Xiphactinus, thanks, I have an Estwing pointed hammer, I'll get the chisel point. I also have several frame packs, I'll try that next trip out.

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I have found that there is no "best" way to carry equipment. I have a tool belt, with a shoulder strap that I carry most of the time, I also have a smaller belt, which has a hammer loop, and a couple of pockets, which I carry when I am roaming, hunting mushrooms, etc., I also have a back pack for carrying things out if distance is involved. It is hard to beat a 5 gallon bucket, if you don't have to carry it very far. Have lots of stuff, and let the conditions dictate what you need. Tell your significant other that I said it was okay to buy it.

Brent Ashcraft

ashcraft, brent allen

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Ordered my new Estwing yesterday, dug the backpack out of the barn, emptied the 12 pennys' out of my nailing belt. I'm covered. Thanks guys.

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Now all you need is an intern to be your Sherpa!

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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The question is rather broad as you would use different types of containers and t4ools for different fossils.

what i've grown to uae most of the time is a small sledge and a masonry hammer. the masonry hammer i usually buy in home depot - there is only one kind they sell , and its antivibe. i said usually buy because i brek them pretty often ( not because they are bad quality - because of the way i use them)

the sledge i have has a pretty long handle - probably over a foot long, maybe foot and a half and it's 2.5lb. i have another 4 lb - it all depends on what you are comfortable swinging with. i also have an 8 pounder for heavy damage.

i have used lots of different backpacks, was never fully satisfied with either one - right now i have the one from cabella's - lifts 175lbs, you guys in most cases wont4 need that loading capacity. i just keep my tools in the backpack but a belt is a good idea. what is it about your back pack that you don't like?

i also have tried a great number of hand trucks, broke a few , and still havent found a perfect one.

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Guest Nicholas

I use a welding hammer, you can sharpen it to have a pick point and a sharp chisel point.. they are light weight and cheap.

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The first rock hammer I bought was a cheap one with a fiberglass handle. Snapped that sucker on a hunt that should have been all day, but I broke my hammer in the 1st hr. I went to Lowes and bought a metal handled one and I think it was only $20 not bad. With that I use an old flathead screw driver. light and easy to stick in my pocket. Bigger stuff I have a rock chisle and 4lbs sledge. 5 gallon bucket to haul it around cause it doubles from tool holder to fossil holder.

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The question is rather broad as you would use different types of containers and t4ools for different fossils.

what i've grown to uae most of the time is a small sledge and a masonry hammer. the masonry hammer i usually buy in home depot - there is only one kind they sell , and its antivibe. i said usually buy because i brek them pretty often ( not because they are bad quality - because of the way i use them)

the sledge i have has a pretty long handle - probably over a foot long, maybe foot and a half and it's 2.5lb. i have another 4 lb - it all depends on what you are comfortable swinging with. i also have an 8 pounder for heavy damage.

i have used lots of different backpacks, was never fully satisfied with either one - right now i have the one from cabella's - lifts 175lbs, you guys in most cases wont4 need that loading capacity. i just keep my tools in the backpack but a belt is a good idea. what is it about your back pack that you don't like?

i also have tried a great number of hand trucks, broke a few , and still havent found a perfect one.

My current backpack only has one main compartment. I don't like putting my finds in with my tools. It's a small school type, I'm going to try the bigger camping type.

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I would reccomend a Kelty Redwing as a backpack of choice as Ive been using one for the past several years.

They are available at almost any large camping suppy outlet like REI & Campmore.

High Quality, well built, and tough as nails.

It has lots of room in the main compartment, a multitude of pockets to sort fossils or your gear, is an internal frame pack, well padded with the all important chest strap which really helps when packing out those heavy loads. I packed out a 112 lb of petrified wood earlier this spring and my only worry was if I could actually fit it in the pack to begin with!

What I really like about it is the two mesh pockets on the outside that make it handy to reach around and grab your beverage of choice and the ice axe loop which is perfect for carring my Estwing Paleopick. I can just reach back over my head and pull it out whenever I see someting interesting.

As far as tools go, you cant go wrong with anything by Estwing. High quality forged steel with rubber grip handles to absorb shock.

Why buy cheap junk from the warehouse lumber stores that will break the first time when an Estwing tool lasts for years.

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Everybody hunts for different kinds of fossils. I use an estwing elongated handled pick hammer and a 4 pound sledge that also has the elongated handle. I do have to resharpen the pick hammer once in awhile, but way back when, when I used to have a sellers number, I bought about 6 pick hammers and several sizes of mini sledges. I had three boys so I had to buy several of each so everyone could fossil dig in style! Plus, I got them for about 20 bucks each using my retail tax number. Im still using them and resharpening them to this day!!! For digging up huge 300 to 400 pound slabs, Ive got plenty of big huge chisles and about 4 or 5 really big pry bars, from 4 to 7 feet long!!! Yeah, they are heavy, but they can do tons of work and helps greatly to try and get some really nice quality fossils. As for back packs, my son in Iraq gave me one of the best ones ive seen and used! but sometimes I get such big huge rocks that the only way to get them to the truck is to attach a big rope to it and just drag!!! If that doesnt work, take a very long rope, (I always bring lots and lots of rope) and get your truck as close to it as possible and start dragging. Ive scared people getting to fossils that I really want!!! Think ahead and drag a rock that big to somewhere where you can back your tailgate to it and 'manhandle' it into the bed of your truck. Belive me, ive brought home some rather huge rocks in the past. I hope this helps and good luck.

RB

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Everybody hunts for different kinds of fossils. I use an estwing elongated handled pick hammer and a 4 pound sledge that also has the elongated handle. I do have to resharpen the pick hammer once in awhile, but way back when, when I used to have a sellers number, I bought about 6 pick hammers and several sizes of mini sledges. I had three boys so I had to buy several of each so everyone could fossil dig in style! Plus, I got them for about 20 bucks each using my retail tax number. Im still using them and resharpening them to this day!!! For digging up huge 300 to 400 pound slabs, Ive got plenty of big huge chisles and about 4 or 5 really big pry bars, from 4 to 7 feet long!!! Yeah, they are heavy, but they can do tons of work and helps greatly to try and get some really nice quality fossils. As for back packs, my son in Iraq gave me one of the best ones ive seen and used! but sometimes I get such big huge rocks that the only way to get them to the truck is to attach a big rope to it and just drag!!! If that doesnt work, take a very long rope, (I always bring lots and lots of rope) and get your truck as close to it as possible and start dragging. Ive scared people getting to fossils that I really want!!! Think ahead and drag a rock that big to somewhere where you can back your tailgate to it and 'manhandle' it into the bed of your truck. Belive me, ive brought home some rather huge rocks in the past. I hope this helps and good luck.

RB

RJB you are definately nuts!! :D but then again i transported a 500 lb + jacket with an eocene alligator 2 miles in soft dirt with a rusty wheel barrow with a tire that was half flat. only to put it and the wheel barrow in the back of my mom's chrysler cirrus. it was riding low but it made it the 100 miles home!! and it was still worth it. all this was only after a friend and i rigged ourselves up like oxen to try and drag it out with rope. that was not happening.

i guess it just goes with the territory

brock

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RJB you are definately nuts!! :D but then again i transported a 500 lb + jacket with an eocene alligator 2 miles in soft dirt with a rusty wheel barrow with a tire that was half flat. only to put it and the wheel barrow in the back of my mom's chrysler cirrus. it was riding low but it made it the 100 miles home!! and it was still worth it. all this was only after a friend and i rigged ourselves up like oxen to try and drag it out with rope. that was not happening.

i guess it just goes with the territory

brock

Yeah, we fossil hunters are all nuts to a certain degree! it all depends on just what you are willing to do,, well and hopefully not get hurt. I can tell you the story of the estwing pick hammer and my ribs and the pick hammer won!! I had three broken ribs and had to hike out of a huge canyon, but I still had some very nice crabs to show for it!!! The bad thing was, I had to wait 3 weeks before I could do any prepping again!! Owch,,, owch,,,!!! I think it took only 30 minutes to hike down, but 2 and one half hours to hike out!!! Owch,,, owch!!!

and I didnt use my moms chrysler! Heh,, heh,,

RB

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Couple of questions from a new guy.

I split a lot of shale, what's the best hammer for this? I'm currently using an inexpensive brick layers hammer and would like to upgrade. The head fell off a couple times. What do the more experianced guys reccomend?

Next, what's the best "bag" to carry back specimens and tools? I'm using a backpack and it leaves a lot to be desired.

I use a rock hammer. It's has a square head and the back end has a great what looks like an ice climbers' pick :) that and a chisel.

As for the bag, it depends on what you are getting. If you were to collect material that is in small rocks, I'd say the bag is find. If you are collecting boulders ;) You're going to need a bucket. I normally will wrap up my fossil in newspaper so they don't get too damaged. You can even use egg-crate mattress foam if you are really protective ;)

The soul of a Fossil Hunter is one that is seeking, always.

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  • 4 months later...

Wow - I thought I'd done quite well when I bought my fossil hunting tools, but compared to you guys, my kit is silly. I have a small plastic box (about 6 inches by 12 inches) that I carry my stuff in, including a few different-sized picks, a gardening shovel, a flathead screwdriver, a couple of paintbrushes (in case I find something delicate and have to get dirt off it) and some plastic bags to put my finds in.

I think I'll be upgrdaing soon too.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka!" but "That's funny..."

The distance between insanity and genius is measured only by success.

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i have an estwing rockhammer that i bought from a store in louisiana that's been destroyed by the hurricane. irony. i have a backpack that i bought from a recycling center run by a church. i have a sledgehammer and crowbar from an estate. i have aluminum foil and ziplock bags from wal-mart. i have tj to carry it all after my hip starts hurting too much. i don't have plaster because if i find anything that good i'll probably just tell somebody else about it and bring a lawnchair and beer and get plastered while i watch them deal with it.

[side note to impressionable yute reading this forum. go to bed! it's late! no, anyway, the last comment above was a form of humor known as "hyperbole", or willful exaggeration for comedic effect. Drinking alcohol to excess is clearly not the way to deal with having found a great fossil. Excessive imbibicatoryation of aclohol is something that can lead to premature extinction, which can lead to redundant, if not synonymous, plastering.]

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i have an estwing rockhammer that i bought from a store in louisiana that's been destroyed by the hurricane. irony. i have a backpack that i bought from a recycling center run by a church. i have a sledgehammer and crowbar from an estate. i have aluminum foil and ziplock bags from wal-mart. i have tj to carry it all after my hip starts hurting too much. i don't have plaster because if i find anything that good i'll probably just tell somebody else about it and bring a lawnchair and beer and get plastered while i watch them deal with it.

[side note to impressionable yute reading this forum. go to bed! it's late! no, anyway, the last comment above was a form of humor known as "hyperbole", or willful exaggeration for comedic effect. Drinking alcohol to excess is clearly not the way to deal with having found a great fossil. Excessive imbibicatoryation of aclohol is something that can lead to premature extinction, which can lead to redundant, if not synonymous, plastering.]

You are in rare form tonight, :rofl:

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"not rare enough", some are thinkin'...

Ah come on you know we love u man, u are always good for a good laugh!!!!!!!!

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i have an estwing rockhammer that i bought from a store in louisiana that's been destroyed by the hurricane...

Coincidence?

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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...u are always good for a good laugh!!!!!!!!

...and, quite often, a good hard think.

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

“Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley

>Paleontology is an evolving science.

>May your wonders never cease!

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