Prospector’s Knife, Ax & Pick

Prospector’s Knife
Another thing that is a very good tool to have is a knife. Invest in a hunting knife because it can serve for a diverse amount of purposes while on the field. It can be used for scrapping, digging and prying. Try to get one that is lastingly sharp, fundamentally rugged sheath so that you are able to use it for everything such as chopping and cutting corner stakes or to put up a shelter for example with. A jackknife can also be useful to do the heavy duty carving that it required, and this carving can then be sanded down smooth with gravel from a stream bed. A knife is something that can also be used in order to scrape the sides of the crevice. There are also chisels etc. but as we mentioned earlier there are these things called crevice tools and using them can prove to be a very profitable thing as it can help save you some time. Place the substance you scrape out from the crevice into your pan and pan it until the mixture reduces down to pebbles and sand. Get the pebbles out and then place the rest of it into the wide mouthed plastic container so you can refine it later on.

Prospector’s ax
A light belt ax and the bigger hatchet can be utilized on the field, however if you are looking for something that is a little more practical we suggest getting a good quality one that is not to weighty and that has a regular size cutting surface. There are many different options as far as the kinds one can get. Some come with riveted leather sheaths as well. If the ax does not come with covering though, you can wrap the blade yourself before including it in your outfit. Remember that a prospector will also need a pickaxe to adequately stir up the ground he is working on. 

Prospector’s pick
A pick is a necessary item for placer or lode prospectors as well as for the dredge operator. It will be necessary to at least have the small portable ones that collapse and can be carried on a belt for example. There a number of stores that have these available and they are very useful for prospecting trips in which a lot of walking is going to be done. Picks are part of the essential tools that all serious prospectors should have. In occasions when you need to work in bedrock crevices, a pick chisel crevicer is the perfect tool for it. It is not easy to break down heavy bedrock with a trowel or a mayhoe. Bear in mind though that this is not a lightweight tool and it should only be carried when you have found an area that you are going to be working on in bedrock that is not decomposed. Decomposed rock is easier to break down with tools that are not as heavy. You may also want to consider getting a little crevice tool as well because these are very helpful for when you want to dig out or pull out teensy pieces of gold.