pinkpantherbeekeeper Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 So what do you guys and gals use to haul your finds, out of the field in? Cat litter buckets, backpacks, plasic bags, hand? Do you have the luxury of pulling up the pick up and place them in the bed? Pics of your gear would be cool! ThanksA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CH4ShotCaller Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 With mine, usually drive right up to 'em. I do have a few where a hike is in order, back pack is my choice when it comes to long hauls. Coffee thermos and water are mandatory in those events. Cookies speak volumes. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. -Albert Einstein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regg Cato Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 teleportation is where it's at i've used anything from buckets to bags to backpacks to bikes...haven't really had the luxury of driving into most of my fossil sites though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bev Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I have a fishing vest with lots of pockets that I wear for the small finds and an insulated backpack with a carry handle in camo that I LOVE! Why insulated? Because it is padded if I have to pack them out. Usually, I just walk along with the backpack holding the top handle. It has several zipper pockets of things I use or to put special finds in to keep them safe. On my website I have a section for the hunt that shows lots of little niceties that make fossil hunting more of a pleasure. Bev The more I learn, I realize the less I know. BluffCountryFossils.NET Fossil Adventure Blog Go to my Gallery for images of Fossil Jewelry, Sculpture & Crafts Pinned Posts: Beginner's Guide to Fossil Hunting * Geologic Formation Maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 It's been a while, but I kept a backpack (with assorted packing materials) and a nail apron at the ready. "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 I use two things primarily, a fruit box from the grocery store and a heavy canvas messenger bag. The bag I use mostly for hammers, chisels, baggies, paper towel, duct tape and smaller chunks of rock if there's room. The larger slabs get put into the fruit boxes. Caleb Midwestpaleo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lmshoemaker Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 A bucket for large slabs to split at home, a tackle box for small things (so they don't collide together and break apart upon leaving the site) and a small tool box for rather delicate or small plates where I wish to minimalize any damage. I bring all of them with me, but what gets used depends on what is found, my site is constantly being renewed by flooding so there is a good mix of plates and isolated fossils laying about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramo Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I'd like to pick up one of those old Mark VII gasmask bags like Indiana Jones carries so I would look cool when in the field, but I've found a backpack or canvas tool bag works pretty good. Ramo For one species to mourn the death of another is a new thing under the sun. -Aldo Leopold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgrilusHunter Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I've progressed from five gallon buckets (never again) to cloth shopping bags to a Kelty day pack to my full sized REI backpack ... whatever gets more fossils back to the truck. "They ... savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were only ignorant of ordinary things." -- Terry Pratchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdevey Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Strapping a bucket to a golf push cart is helpful, works better on open areas and not narrow trails. I was not using it to collect, when I took the pics but It still beat carrying that heavy bucket . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 When my backpack gets full or if I haven't got it with me then I cram my pockets, always make sure I've got pockets when I go walking. A good belt is also a must or my trousers fall down under the weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DE&i Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Now that my son over the last couple of years has found his walking legs and has his bearings about him . He's more than willing to help carry the load on our outings ( many hands make light work ). Darren. Regards.....D&E&i The only certainty with fossil hunting is the uncertainty. https://lnk.bio/Darren.Withers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 ... A good belt is also a must or my trousers fall down under the weight. ...an embarrassing avocational hazard. "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rejd Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I often use those clothe bags that rice comes in. They are very strong, have a handle and sometimes a zipper. A fossil hunter needs sharp eyes and a keen search image, a mental template that subconsciously evaluates everything he sees in his search for telltale clues. -Richard E. Leakey http://prehistoricalberta.lefora.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 This is my fossil collecting machine - stripped-down baby stroller. Sure beats the h#(( out of carrying them! It can't be used on really rough or steep terrain, but I have a flat wooden box (not pictured) ~1.5x the length of a beer flat with rope handles for carrying by hand over the rough spots and it can fit in the stroller, which is parked as close as I can get it to the fossils. I might use a backpack/etc like most of you do but my fossils/matrix are much too delicate. Now I guess I need a tool belt for the tools, for when the flats get too full of fossils to fit tools in with them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 I admit to having an in-situ collection of specimens that are too cumbersome to relocate... "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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 This is my fossil collecting machine - stripped-down baby stroller. Sure beats the h#(( out of carrying them! It can't be used on really rough or steep terrain, but I have a flat wooden box (not pictured) ~1.5x the length of a beer flat with rope handles for carrying by hand over the rough spots and it can fit in the stroller, which is parked as close as I can get it to the fossils. I might use a backpack/etc like most of you do but my fossils/matrix are much too delicate. Now I guess I need a tool belt for the tools, for when the flats get too full of fossils to fit tools in with them... FossilCollector.jpg Great, now I have another "feature" to start looking for while stroller shopping. Caleb Midwestpaleo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Great, now I have another "feature" to start looking for while stroller shopping. Large wheels? The larger the better I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 (edited) Here is my latest addition to the field gear. Now that I am 50 plus, it is harder to rel yon just the backpack or the ole back? That's me dragging a dolly over hill and dale with a titanothere jaw on it. Before the dolly even saw the outback, I loaded the tires with antiflat stuff. Too much cactus around here. Edited August 4, 2013 by jpc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecable Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Lot's of good ideas here. At half a century old (and in the words of Joe Ely "I wish hard living didn't come so easy to me.")--I've become quite the broke-down old drifter. Bad back, gimp leg, gout, iffy knees, arthritic joints all around. I can hump 20 pounds in, with half of that being water or Gatorade that doesn't come back. Depending on the hike out I can handle 30 to 40 pounds out, but no more. Usually that's more than enough, but I'm wanting to collect more micro-matrix. My physical capabilities thus limit me to two to three gallons tops. Since Gary is not as interested in micros I can usually talk him into carrying another ten pounds if it looks promising in return for some of the processed material. But I'm jealous of those of you who talk about multiple five gallon buckets of matrix. I asked my wife about sponsoring a female Sherpa from Tibet. Yes, I know that's totally politically incorrect. My dear spouse actually approves--as long as she (or he for that matter) would also do light housecleaning, laundry and dishes. But I live in Texas, and I don't think they will agree to me having a second spouse, of either gender. Some of the wheeled solutions look promising though. A stroller, wagon, or dolly might work for a few sites where I have to park a quarter to a half-mile away, but could leave the cart right at the base of the formation. Strollers seem to pop up at garage sales and GoodWill stores on the cheap. So until we perfect teleportation, or the government makes it easy for me to obtain a visa for my own personal Sherpa, I'm looking closely at this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikecable Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 Actually, for the site I'm thinking of I just need a trailer and a mule. And a place to keep the trailer. And a place to keep the mule. Oh well, it was a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 I'm 58 but don't feel any different from 28 . I still use two legs, my back and a pack. I find this more convenient than any mechanism. Then again, we usually don't bother with Dino femurs, etc. ...more interested in phalanges, teeth, etc. Years ago I hefted a giant bison skull out. It was jammed solid with bentonite clay. A gorgeous specimen...would carry it 10 meters, stop, rest, etc. A few hours to the Jeep. Got it home, turned the hose on to clean my prize and it promptly dissolved into a hundred fragments. Wah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 (edited) Ouch! My dad recently bought an ATV but I don't know what he'd think of me taking it up my fossil mtn, esp. considering I came home from there once with a flat tire on the SUV (lots of nails etc up there)... Anyway the stroller was cheap ($0. used - apparently they can't be legally resold) and it has made the fossil-collecting life quite a bit easier, though not 100% - I still have to push it around over sometimes rough and hilly terrain! but better than carrying them all that way by hand in flats, whether with or without handles attached. Edited January 28, 2014 by Wrangellian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beach Boy Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Ex military back pack for me , i can fill it with rocks with no strain on the stitching, i have used cheaper hiking type back packs but after a few outings the wear starts to show . Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgehiker Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 (edited) Beach Boy, agree. I pick up a sturdy army or similar pack at the Goodwill store for a couple of dollars. Then tie some flagging tape to it so I can more easily find it if I set it down. Also tie tape to my to the rock hammer handle. Sometimes even tie flagging tape to the side of my glasses as I take them off when looking for micro stuff. Ha...every so often I'll clean out the pack and get rid of all types of rocky crud and then sometimes also find a specimen I had forgotten about but had hauled around a few extra times on other trips out. Edited August 3, 2013 by Ridgehiker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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