Have a geology student you need to buy for this holiday season? Being a geology professor, I can think of a number of things I wish my students had for their work in the lab and in the field. Many will be heading out to Field Camp this summer, and they'll need the right gear to succeed. So this list is for their friends and relatives who want to find a great gift for their favorite geology student.
A pocket knife-tool
Geology students need their own pocket knife for field and lab work. A knife blade is used to check the hardness of many different types of rocks and minerals, an important step in identifying them correctly. In addition, a good multi-tool comes in handy in so many ways when adventuring in the field, whether hiking, camping, or other field activities. My personal favorite, and one I've had for many years now, is the Leatherman Wave. Years ago every boy scout had a Swiss Army Knife; today Leatherman multi-tools are the choice for many outdoor enthusiasts. The Wave has several locking blades, screw-drivers, pliers, scissors, and many other tools. There are many other designs (too many if you ask me!), so which one to choose depends on budget and which specific tools you find most useful. I've found the scissors on my Wave to be the most useful item after the knife blades and the pliers. The Wave is a full-size tool; another good model in this size that's less money is the Wingman. It has only a single blade and lacks the saw, but has larger scissors and a great set of other items. If you're interested in a smaller and lighter option, the Juice S2 looks really useful in my opinion. And for a stylish, more minimalist option, the Skeletool has some excellent functionality, although in my opinion the lack of scissors on this model makes it less appealing (can you tell I like having the scissors on there?). There are many other options too, depending on your specific needs and wants, and most any would be useful to a young geoscientist, so check them out at the links below.
A rock hammer
After a good knife and multi-tool, a rock hammer is probably the most obvious item a budding geoscientist needs. These come in a number of shapes and sizes; my recommendation is to always buy a good quality, single-forge hammer. I tell my students to avoid wooden handles with attached metal heads; invariably with enough use the head is going to fall off, and that could leave you stranded in the field and spending more money for another. Single-forge hammers are a single piece of steel from handle to head, so there's no worry that the head will one day fall off. They are more expensive than the wooden handle type, but in my opinion totally worth the extra cost for their long life. Estwing makes excellent rock hammers and is the brand many geologists use.
Rock hammers come in two main kinds: "soft rock" and "hard rock". Soft rock hammers have a flat chisel end and are also called bricklayers or masons hammers. Hard rock hammers have a pointed tip, and are also called rock picks. I always recommend the soft rock type, because I have found the flat chisel end to be much more useful for a wide range of uses in the field. It works well to wedge in between layers and cracks, and is great tool for shaping up samples nicely for collection. These hammers come in several weights, handle lengths, and grips. Any of the weights are useful, depending on the preference of the person wielding it; I suggest something ~20-22 oz. I prefer the blue shock absorbance handles; some prefer the leather grip.
Many rocks, however, simply won't break with these small hammers. In many cases, a short-handle, 3-lbs sledge will do the trick! Estwing calls these a drilling hammer, and offers them in 2, 3, or 4 lbs; there's a longer handle option also. In the field, I bring a small 3' sledge and a soft rock hammer; together these equip the geoscientist to sample most rocks easily and expose fresh surfaces for clear identification. Estwing makes many other useful tools also, but in my opinion these are where to begin.
A hand lens
After the rock hammer and pocket knife, the hand lens is another essential tool. They come in different sizes and magnification values. The problem with higher magnification is that the focus depth becomes really wafer thin and you can't view your whole specimen in focus at the same time. Many geologists, for that reason, find that a 10x magnification hits the sweet spot between magnification and depth of field. 7x and 14x are decent magnification levels also. A really cheap hand lens, in my opinion, is not a good choice, because the optics usually aren't very good: they may have chromatic aberrations (white light gets separated into blue and red), spherical aberrations (the margins are not in focus when the center is), astigmatisms, and distortions. A well-made lens is free of these and gives a nice sharp, clear view of a sample. Here are a couple to consider:
A book: Annals of a Former World, by John McPhee.
If you were asked to list out all the Pulitzer Prize winning books that covered the subject of geology, my guess is there'd be only one. This book won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction in 1999. It is a compilation of 5 books, 4 of which McPhee had released separately. For this work, the ever eloquent McPhee went into the field with geologists and learned their rocks, their trade, their passions, their culture, and wrote about the experience in really compelling ways. It's an exceptional read and one that many geologists enjoy. In addition to the exceptional writing, young geoscientists will learn much about the geologic history of North America from a fresh perspective. Highly recommended and makes a great gift!
Eye protection: sport sunglasses
Any student of mine who hammers on rocks had better be wearing eye protection. Small bits, chips, and shards of flying rock can be painful, and are especially dangerous to the eyes. Most people hear "eye protection" and think something akin to safety goggles worn in a chemistry lab. That level of coverage, in my opinion, isn't necessary because geologists aren't working with a lot of glass and nasty chemicals. Instead, I recommend to my students that they consider some sort of sports sunglasses. Lab safety goggles are intended for indoor use, so won't shield your eyes from the sun, but you still want something that gives adequate coverage of your eyes, especially on the sides. Motorcycle riding glasses, for example, are intended to protect your eyes, and they are designed to look pretty cool! Fishing glasses are also good; I personally prefer them because they are polarized. Polarized glasses are designed to reduce glare from reflections, namely so that fishermen can see through a reflective water surface to see the fish below, but they cut glare from most any highly reflective surface. Beyond just being useful, this feature is also relevant academically for geoscience students because the geology curriculum includes topics on how polarized light interacts with matter in their study of optical mineralogy. They will literally see how light interacts with nature in interesting ways by wearing polarizing sunglasses. Did you know that blue sky is polarized, but puffy white clouds are not? Any chance for a young scientist to see and think about physics in the natural world is a plus in my book! As with many products there are a wide variety of price options out there - for this, I prefer the less expensive kind! I picked up my last pair of polarized fishing glasses several years ago at a Walmart for $15 and they've been just fine. Here are a couple of links to similar products:
Portable Power
These days, electronics in the field are the norm. Cell phones, tablets, GPS devices, cameras, just to name a few, all require lots of power. Most smart phones are designed to be charged on a daily basis! Out in the field, a smart phone is incredibly handy, even if not within cell phone coverage, for use as a camera, GPS, note taker, etc. So, portable power is really useful.
Many small portable power units I've tried are garbage - they don't hold much charge, don't hold what they do have for very long, and don't reliably turn on when plugged into your device. So, I recommend spending some money on a quality product. Most cell phones have batteries in the 1500-3000 mAh range. I recommend something that will hold ~5-6 equivalents of charge, ~15,000 mAh or so. Something that's made well is going to be reliable. When you plug it into your device, it should start charging and stay on (not randomly shut off for no apparent reason). It should have some sort of indicator lights to let you know how much charge it has remaining. And when you charge it, it should hold that charge reliably. Larger ones also tend to have higher output, which is necessary to charge some tablets.
I use an Insignia 15600 with 4.2 A output that's unfortunately no longer available. It's an excellent product, and I take it with me every time I travel. As I've researched alternatives, I found a couple of options that might work well, though I've not used them myself. Here are some suggestions you might want to check out:
A day pack/backpack
Carrying your gear with you in the field, there's nothing more useful than a high quality day pack. In addition to space for all those amazing specimens collected in the field, budding geoscientists need something to hold all the above gear and more. Rain gear, hats, extra warmth layers, gloves, field books, sample bags, markers and pencils, compasses, electronics, etc. There are so many options here, you're probably better off asking who you're shopping for if they have any preferences. Trying one on is really the best way to know how well it fits.
Much more could be said about clothing and camping equipment, which I may pick up in the future on another post. What other items make for a great gift for geo students? Connect with me on social media and let me know what you think!