Packing Mineral Specimens While Collecting on a Field Trip

Tips for wrapping and packing your fragile crystal finds in a backpack out in the field. Use newspaper, roll it up in a long tube and have it sized so the diameter when flattened is wider than the mineral specimen is tall. When you do flatten this tube, wrap this around the mineral tightly, creating a custom sized “box”. Then make another flattened tube to wrap over the top of this “box,” thus protecting the top & covering the bottom, or back of the piece. Lastly, wrap the specimen overall, like a gift package, taking care to remember which is the top of the parcel. These may now be stacked on top of each other safely inside a backpack. Taking extra care will be worth much in the long run. If not, you might as well just have a rock garden, instead of an interesting and valuable mineral collection. QUALITY is very important.