Foraging Tools

[elkhound]

Whats your favorite foraging tools? From digging to gathering to picking and so much more that falls under this very broad subject.

 

[TexasCharm]

All the ones I've left at home when I find myself in a rare foraging place!

No, really. I try to carry some hand nippers, a little hand spade of some kind, a knife (I always have a knife) and some zip lock bags and plastic cups.

Thanks about it.

Most of the time I'm hand gathering the putting them in shirt (kinda like I do my eggs when I forget my egg basket..)

I'm a mess!

 

[randyt]

I like a container that hangs in the front if me, something open. Also a inverted Y with one long side. I use this to pull down branches. I.have a loop on the bottom of mine so I can hold it down with my foot and use both hands to pick. A small set of loppers for cutting off plants

 

[randyt]

I have a custom made hori hori too

 

[elkhound]

I like a container that hangs in the front if me, something open. Also a inverted Y with one long side. I use this to pull down branches. I.have a loop on the bottom of mine so I can hold it down with my foot and use both hands to pick. A small set of loppers for cutting off plants

i had a walking stick that i put a hand garden tong set thingy on..it worked great...i could pull down branches easily...reach into tight places...catch slithering things trying to get away from me...lol it was broken and i need to build another one.

 

[elkhound]

I have a custom made hori hori too

care to show it please...i am getting ready to order one.

 

[randyt]

care to show it please...i am getting ready to order one.

I'll take a photo tomorrow. It's at my cabin back in the woods.

 

[elkhound]

I use to use as shovel for digging ramps.But last several years i use a 4 prong garden fork and its much better.

I keep a 5 gallon bucket and a one gallon bucket with me all the time.People often offer you items you just need a container for it...fish,walnuts,tomatoes etc. etc.

Always have a rucksack that can get dirty and stained....walnuts are rough on a pack...lol

I will take a bushel basket gathering ramps...or i did...my one place i gathered at my buddy died and now as of couple of years ago they sold it. I glad i transplanted as many ramps as i did.


I would like to have a miniature pulaski hatchet...think full size pulaski shrunk to hatchet size. It be great for digging and chopping roots and more.

 

[randyt]

I have a ww2 mattock

 

[elkhound]

I have a ww2 mattock

one of my favorite tools is a axe mattock...its to heavy for going deep into some areas.

 

[elkhound]

One thing i do is carry a basket so if i gathering mushrooms...mainly talking morels...i can scatter the spore through the woods as i walk.

 

[randyt]

One thing i do is carry a basket so if i gathering mushrooms...mainly talking morels...i can scatter the spore through the woods as i walk.

I use a onion sack

 

[Patchouli]

I wonder whatever happened to my mom’s mattock. She used it in landscaping. It too was old, even in the 1960s.

 

[Bacpacker]

I have a few different tools to use depending on what I'm going after.
4 prong tater fork, small shovel, a couple of stainless tools for a flower bed, but they are both full tang and very tough. Also a Hori Hori knife, cheap, but works ok. My favorite though is a axe/curved handle mattock. I'll have to take a photo of it. Only place I've saw one like it was on a you tube vid of a guy that does bushcraft campsites. I found it at a gun show and it felt so good in the hand I had to buy it.

 

[Peanut]

For herbs I used meat shears from the kitchen section of a hardware store. They can snip delicate plants and thicker vines etc.

For digging I have two items from Predator tools. I've had both 20yrs, a hand spade and a shovel. Can't wear them out, heavy steel. They are best digging tools I've ever used, period. They are hand made by a guy in NJ, he used to donate shovels to the troops in iraq and stan. For every shovel purchased he built and donated one.

The two I have are serrated, great for ripping through roots when hand digging a water line trench for example. I just looked at his website, he no longer makes the shovel I bought but has 5 or 6 new models.

My shovel looks rusty, just a little surface rust. Still as solid now as the day I bought them. I actually sharpen the tips with a file.

https://www.predatortools.com/ I highly recommend them...

This is one of his new shovels from his website tonight. They aren't cheap but hand made in his shop. He cuts the steel and welds everything together.

 

[Cabin Fever]

We usually do not have to dig for wild edible. The most handy thing we have, especially if we're far away from home is this splint pack basket. It hangs on the wall during the off-season.

 

[randyt]

I have a couple baskets. Here a photo of one. It came from Cronks trapping supply out of Wiscasset Maine. I've had it for nearly 50 years. Got it when I was a little kid

 

[randyt]

Another photo of hori hori and a little black ash gathering basket

 

[Patchouli]

Whatchyall call those heavy pocket tools that I have a hard time using, I’ve got at least 3…maybe if I put wd40 on it? You know, is it called a multi-tool? some have a screw driver, Phillips head, saw, scissors, knife, can opener, etc.
Remember when paper grocery bags were more common? I try to keep one of those on hand for putting plants in. Having a little hand trowel to dig up something. I haven’t thought about having an actual type of saw riding along in the trunk but I know my LH used to have all kinds of stuff in his little beater car. VW zoom zoom.
A tarp to lay stuff down on and not get the vehicle so full of dirt or mud.
And always the walking stick but I don’t normally take it everywhere.
I did use to keep the shovel in the trunk.

 

[randyt]

I bought a big bunch of muslin bags with drawties for gathering

 

[d_marsh]

Whats your favorite foraging tools?

 

[Peanut]

View attachment 167681

Here ya go! Cave drawing in France...

 

[Canon29]

I have a small ultralight titanium trowel which can be used to effectively dig up bait and roots and the like. A common one for me is to dig up the rhizome of a fern to boil for a primitive soap or if I find a node of wild onions or something which always elevated primitive foods- ill dig around in an under dead logs for bait to fish with and of course its perfect for a quick cat hole.

Of course my favorite is gonna have be my hunting saddle.

Prime example:

 

[joel]

Small shovel & five gallon bucket, hand shears & folding saw.
I grow most of my food, that I do not buy.
But these wild things do show up from time to time.

 

[Tim Horton]

I had a Fiskars brand knife/trowel I kept in the Kubota UTV named ..PEPE..

https://www.amazon.com/Fiskars-Mult...ori+garden+knife+perwin&qid=1732122362&sr=8-9

 

[elkhound]

When we talk foraging we often think only plant stuff and fruits/nuts etc. But if you are out roaming fields and forest and waterways you should have at least a little fishing kit...say a small handline or tiny fishing pole like those tiny tenkara rods or very least line and hooks so you can cut a limb and gather up a mess of bluegill or whatever...same goes for a 22 rifle or sidearm you are proficient with.

Most of us are out in our vehicles so we can keep a decent fishing pole and a long gun behind seat of our truck or in trunk.

 

[Tim Horton]

.same goes for a 22 rifle or sidearm you are proficient with.

Most of us are out in our vehicles so we can keep a decent fishing pole and a long gun behind seat of our truck or in trunk.
==
My neighbor, Olie, finely convinced his fishing buddy, Swen, to show him his favorite secret spot.. So they are loading the truck and Swen puts a 22 rifle in the boat.. When they get on the lake Swen says now when we get a big one, you shoot in in the eye.. So later Swen does catch a big fish.. And says to Olie ...shoot it in the eye... A very frightened Olie says ...which side of the boat?...