Jie Shen
Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left to itself can effect much.
It is by instruments and aids that work is done.
-Francis Bacon, 1620
Long-time followers know I’m firmly in the “bad student, too much stationery” camp. I love fiddling with tools and keeping my references, notes, and materials neatly organized. My digital workflow has more or less settled down over the past two years, so instead of tinkering with software, I’ve started tinkering with fieldwork hardware. After three or four years of fieldwork and conferences, I’ve put together a regular kit and some useful bits and pieces. Here’s what I use.
A. Everyday carry (EDC)
1. Hard-drive case: holds two drives and a pile of cables, plus a few business cards just in case;
2. Card holder: ID, credit cards, a bit of cash, and a few business cards just in case;
3. Power bank;
4. Retractable lanyard, for keys I need to take out often;
5. Insect repellent;
6. Multitool: for working on experimental materials or trimming little things;
7. Plug adapter: lets me charge my laptop, phone, and power bank at the same time, whatever weird socket I come across;
8. A little EDC pouch that always contains:
9. A permanent marker and ballpoint pen;
10. Flashlight: magnetic and rechargeable;
11. Emergency whistle: a freebie I picked up at SAA;
12. Tick-removal tool: another SAA freebie;
13. Emergency medication and supplies: different sizes of bandages, allergy medicine, painkillers, anti-diarrhea medicine, and iodine swabs; sometimes an energy bar too;
14. Alcohol swabs;
15. U-shaped hook with a clip: hangs a hat or umbrella on my bag so I don’t lose it. I can also clip shopping bags to it and keep my hands free.
One more thing: I’ve seen a tool clip that attaches to a belt. It might be just right for hanging a trowel.
B. Photography gear
1. Action camera: for recording experiments and fieldwork;
2. Waterproof action-camera housing: protects the camera when experiments get wet or dirty;
3. Magnetic neck mount: fixes the action camera to my clothes with a magnetic base, handy for recording experimental actions from a first-person view;
4. Camera: with a 50 mm prime lens for artifact photos;
5. Plug-in LED strip: for extra lighting. Later I found it wasn’t very portable or easy to mount, so I switched to:
6. Fill light: attaches to the camera, with adjustable color temperature and brightness;
7. Tripod: heavy, yes, but it makes things so much easier;
8. Scale bars: never enough, always hoarding more.
Black velvet: for a background. Good for photographing bone artifacts. For darker objects, consider another background cloth.
C. Use-wear and residue sampling tools
1. Zip-lock bags in all sizes;
2. Permanent markers and a notebook: most experiment records are digital now, but when using a computer on site is awkward, or I need to sketch something, pen and paper are still the simplest option;
3. Small centrifuge tubes: for soil samples;
4. Alcohol swabs: for cleaning sampling tools;
5 and 6. Tools for making use-wear casts;
7. Scale bar: supposedly you have to publish in Antiquity to get one of these, but I snagged one at SAA;
8. Electric toothbrush: for washing off residues;
9. Lots and lots of toothbrush heads: a fresh one for each artifact;
10. Lots and lots of 15 mL tubes: put water samples straight into them to make later processing easier;
11. Waist pack: all the sampling tools above go in one bag. When I arrive, I take it out and get straight to work.
One more thing: I’d run out of gloves. Normally there should be a pack of powder-free gloves too.
D. Everyday essentials
Everyone has their own habits when it comes to everyday supplies. Here are a few things I’ve found useful.
1. Quick-drying towel: for when you don’t trust hotel towels. Small and dries fast;
2. Eye mask: for sleeping on planes, high-speed trains, and anywhere the curtains won’t quite close;
3. Earplugs: to make sure I completely miss the meal service on the plane;
4. Simple slippers: light and don’t take up much space;
5. Toiletry bag with a hook: holds all my toiletries;
6. Shoe bag with a clip: when my suitcase is stuffed with samples, I can take the shoes out and clip them onto my bag.
E. A Big Leiting Backpack That Fits All of the Above
The tripod straps to the side or hangs underneath. A few external pouches keep things sorted. When needed, I can detach a pouch and add a strap to use it as a chest bag or waist pack.
Do share any fieldwork gear you’ve found useful too!
生产力工具 | 田野采样装备指南
沈劼 · 2026/9/4 20:34
中文原文
Neither the naked hand nor the understanding left to itself can effect much.
It is by instruments and aids that work is done.
-Francis Bacon, 1620
关注早的朋友们都知道，我素来差生文具多，爱折腾各种工具，文献笔记资料都要理得整整齐齐。这两年电子材料的工作流基本稳定了，不倒腾软件，就开始倒腾出田野的硬件。经过了三四年的田野和会议经验，目前整理出了一套固定装备和好用物件，给大家分享一下。
A. 随身携带 EDC
1. 硬盘包：收纳两个硬盘、一堆线，顺便放几张名片应急；
2.卡包：身份证、信用卡、一点现金，顺便放几张名片应急；
3.充电宝；
4.可伸缩挂绳，方便频繁拿取钥匙；
5.驱蚊水
6.多功能小工具：加工实验材料或者修剪点小东西；
7.转换插头：在任何奇葩插座面前都能同时充电脑和手机和充电宝；
8.随身的EDC小包，里面永远装着：
9.马克笔和圆珠笔；
10.手电筒：磁吸可充电；
11. 应急口哨：SAA薅来的；
12.拔蜱虫小工具：SAA薅来的；
13. 应急药物：不同型号的创可贴、过敏药、止痛药、止泻药、碘伏棉签；偶尔加一包能量棒；
14. 酒精棉；
15.带夹子的U型扣：用来把帽子或者伞挂在包上防丢，买了东西也可以把袋子夹在上面，把手空出来。
补充：还见过一种可以别在腰带上的工具卡扣，用来挂手铲也许正合适。
B. 摄影工具
1.运动相机：用来录实验过程和田野经历；
2.运动相机防水套：实验沾水或者比较脏的时候用来保护相机；
3.磁吸挂绳：可以通过磁吸底座把运动相机固定在衣服上，方便第一视角录实验动作；
4.相机：配了个50定的镜头，用来拍器物照；
5.插电灯带：用来补光，后来觉得不太便携也不太方便固定，改用了：
6.补光灯：可以固定在相机上，还能调色温和亮度；
7.三脚架：重归重，有三脚架省事多了；
8.比例尺：永远不够，永远囤积。
黑色绒布：用来当背景。拍骨器比较合适，拍颜色偏深的器物就要考虑别的背景布了。
C.微痕残留物采样工具
1.各种型号的塑封袋；
2.马克笔和笔记本：虽然实验记录大都电子化，有时候现场不方便用电脑或者要画示意图的时候，还是纸笔最简单直接；
3.小离心管：装土样；
4.酒精棉：清理采样工具；
5和6.微痕翻模工具；
7.比例尺：据说要发过Antiquity才能拿到的比例尺被我SAA薅到啦；
8.电动牙刷：洗残留物用；
9.海量电动牙刷头：一器一换；
10.海量15ml试管：采水样的时候直接装管方便后期处理；
11. 腰包：以上所有采样工具装一个包里，到了地方掏出包就可以开始干活。
补充：手套用完了，正常情况下应该还有一包无粉手套。
D. 生活用品
生活用品大家各有各的习惯，这里推荐几个好用的东西。
1.速干毛巾：对酒店毛巾不放心的时候可以带，体积小干得快；
2.眼罩：用来在飞机高铁和窗帘拉不严的地方睡觉；
3.耳塞：用来保证机上发餐的时候完全错过；
4.简易拖鞋：不占空间还很轻；
5.带挂钩洗漱包：装所有的洗漱用品；
6.带挂扣鞋包：行李箱被样品塞满的时候，可以把鞋掏出来挂包上。
E.一个能塞下以上所有东西的雷霆大包
三脚架可以绑在侧面或者挂在底下；外挂几个小包，分门别类地装东西；有事还可以把小包拆下来，挂上包带当胸包或者腰包用。
也欢迎大家分享一下自己觉得好用的田野装备！