Club Activities

Safety, tools, equipment, and clothing requirements all vary depend on the type of site you’re visiting, the season, weather, the type of work you’ll be doing there to collect specimens, and your own personal or group’s needs. These are some universal examples of tools needed on trips: 

• safety glasses
• gloves with a rubber grip
• crack hammer (Estwing geology hammer or similar)
• medium to large chisel
• collecting bucket (5 gal. available at hardware stores)

Spring & Summertime brings a new set of elements and additional items you’ll need to make it a fun, safe field trip. When it‘s a bright, cool 70° day, we usually don’t think sunscreen & shade until we‘re in a wide open field or quarry, and the sun‘s beating down on us for hours. Here’s a few must-haves to cross off on your summer rockhounding checklist: 

• Sunscreen
• Hat with a brim
• Bottle of water to stay hydrated
• Bug Spray

Some important ways to help you plan and prepare for your field trip & rockhounding needs are 1. Knowing the nature of the site, and 2. Knowing your own capabilities:

• Environment: Check if you'll be working in a wet or dry environment, what the terrain is like, and the current weather in the area.
• Walking Distance: Find if there's a walking distance to the site from the parking area. Factor in bulk & weight of equipment you're carrying to the site, and also back with the specimens included. It's easy to get over-zealous. Plan around what you can physically handle at a specific rockhounding trip & if you personally need to carry minimal required gear, so you can keep your experience safe and convenient.
• Extraction Methods: Check specifics on the type of work you'll be doing to extract specimens at that site. Is it a site where you'll be mining , or walking around with just a crack hammer looking for surface specimens to pull out?
• Listen for the Club's Instructions & Updates: Remember to listen for important announcements and keep an eye out for emails from your organizer, as they will be sending updates you'll need for the field trip.

Etiquette in field trips is incredibly important. Learning etiquette protects the property you've been given access to (commercial and private), helps your Club build a solid reputation to expand field trip opportunities & future visits, keeps geologically unique areas in good standing for future generations, and for personal and group safety:

• GATES: Always leave gates exactly the way you found them. If it's shut, make sure to close it behind you each time you go through.
• RESPECT YOUR PARTNER: Respect your rockhounding partner's limitations (no specimen is worth hurting your child or partner in tow, when traversing a difficult spot for it).
• SITE OWNER POLICIES: Adhere to the site owner's policies & restrictions for accessing their property, remember you're an invited guest. Many places are restricted to educational uses only. Respecting their rules helps keep the Club in good standing for future invitations.
• CLUB RULES: Honor your club's or group's rules & requests, no matter how seemingly insignificant or tempting to do otherwise. 
• STAY CLOSE BY: Stay within the designated boundaries of the rockhounding site and stay with your group.
• PICK UP YOUR TRASH: Make sure to take your trash with you when you leave!

Be prepared for messy, wintry, dirty work!
Warm clothing layers, old jeans, heavy socks, winter coat, wool hat and heavy gloves, heavy waterproof boots (steel toes not required),. Expect sites to be chilly, muddy and wet.