Minerva8918 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 (edited) Hi everyone! This may be a little long, so I apologize in advance. A friend and I plan on making a day trip to the Lost River area to look for trilobites and other fossils in the shale there. Neither of us has any experience with looking for trilobites, but would like to give it a shot. My fossil collecting experience consists of many leisurely strolls along the banks of the bay around Calvert Cliffs, so this is way out of my element!After reading through a bunch of topics on tools, we will of course have plenty of water and snacks, safety gear (eye protection, gloves, first aid kit, sunscreen, bug spray, etc.), knee pads, a hat, paper towels and aluminum foil for holding our finds, ziploc bags, plastic bags, duct tape, and I've read that super glue is good to have as well. I will keep these in a backpack or large (zippered) canvas bag.I would appreciate some advice on the other tools we may need.We each have an Estwing 20 oz Bricklayer hammer (model # E3-20BLC if relevant) coming our way. I read that it's the same hammer as their Estwing Supreme 20 oz Chisel Edge Rock Hammer (model # E3-20PC).Although this hammer has a chisel edge, would it be better to bring other sized chisels as well? If so, can we safely use the flat side of our hammers to strike the chisels, or would we need something like a crack hammer? I know to use cold chisels, not wood chisels. I have one pretty large chisel that I think is a masonry chisel. It's got a hand guard, is about 9 inches long, and the bit is 2 3/4 in. wide. (Photo below) I've read that the fossils at this site are quite fragile, so does that mean we should be extra gentle with the tools on the rocks?Basically, any advice, techniques, other good locations nearby that would be good places to look would be greatly appreciated!Thank you for taking the time to read and respond Edit: I also have a weird fascination with crinoids, so those would be fun to find, as well as other fossils, of course! Edited July 9, 2015 by Minerva8918 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 I think you have a great fossil collecting tool set. Your off to a good start, and have a great time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minerva8918 Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 I think you have a great fossil collecting tool set. Your off to a good start, and have a great time Thank you! We're both really excited to give it a try. Do you collect trilobites where you are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nepenthesguy Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Wish you guys luck when you end up going! It is a great hunting location, but be careful the piles of talus are unstable. Also if you happen to come across a red nikon camera let me know, kind of lost mine there on 7/18 when an outcrop I was perched on gave way (I ended up at the bottom, about 40 ft, without a camera ) Edited July 21, 2015 by Nepenthesguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minerva8918 Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 Wish you guys luck when you end up going! It is a great hunting location, but be careful the piles of tallus are unstabe. Also if you happen to come across a red nikon camera let me know, kind of lost mine there on 7/18 when an outcrop I was perched on gave way (I ended up at the bottom without a camera ) Oh no! Sorry to hear that about your camera. I will definitely keep an eye out and will bring it back with me if I see it (I'm also in NoVA)! Have you tried giving the local PD a call to see if anyone turned it in? Thank you for the warning about the tallus. I've never been to this location before, so I don't know what to expect. So looking forward to the trip though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raggedy Man Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Leave no stone unturned! Good luck finding those pesky little buggers as they can be elusive. Best regards, Paul 1 ...I'm back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hi Minerva, up in my area of Ohio Trilobites are very rare. I only have a few tail sections. I go to southern Ind. where the chances of finding bugs are better. also western Oh has some nice ones. A nice rolled Phacops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minerva8918 Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 Hi Minerva, up in my area of Ohio Trilobites are very rare. I only have a few tail sections. I go to southern Ind. where the chances of finding bugs are better. also western Oh has some nice ones. A nice rolled Phacops 2015 05 03_Lodi with Canon_1001_edited-1.jpg Wow!! That's a really cool one!! Do you get to get to go look for them often? I'm really excited to give it a shot. I really don't know what to expect. Hopefully we'll come home with something to show off though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 That rolled Phacops is the best one I have from the LaFarge Quarry at Paulding, Ohio and I found it as my first fossil on my third trip there. Each time you go to an area fossil hunting you bring home information that your brain processes and you can't wait to get back to put your new knowledge to use. Read, research, hunt, find. It gets better the more you do it, and don't get disappointed, it's a learning experience. The more you learn the better it gets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiggieCie Posted August 9, 2015 Share Posted August 9, 2015 This is one of my recent finds and it is a very special fossil and extremely rare. You never know what the next rock will bring. That keeps us going. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/56213-my-very-rare-northern-ohio-brittle-star-strataster-ohioensis/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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