Christmas gifts for geologists: field beverages

Other suggestions: [Cameras] [Tough Gear] [Maps]
Finding an appropriately rock-orientated present for a geologist might seem a daunting task to the outsider. Raiding an outdoors shop can be risky, since they already seem to own more field gear than normal clothes; whilst buying them a pretty rock risks getting “Humph, it’s only quartz.” So, for those of you who are currently tempted to give up and give them a gift voucher, over the next few days I’ll be discussing a few possible options which would certainly go down well with my inner rock geek, so might also win you brownie points with the ones in your own life. The comments will doubtless provide agreements, disagreements and further suggestions from the rest of the geoblogosphere.
First up, there is the issue of liquid refreshment in the field, particularly the pressing issue of how the hell you’re supposed to get a decent caffeine fix when you’re away from civilisation. This is an especially serious problem if, like me, you consider instant coffee to be an abomination. In South Africa, I was eventually driven to taking my little Pyrex desk cafetiere with me on field trips, which was good for me, but not so good for the cafetiere, which at least had the courtesy to get me to the end of the Northern Cape trip in July before cracking up. Fortunately, somewhat more practical (and durable) options exist for field caffeination, in the form of toughened cafetiere mugs: once the coffee has brewed, you push down the plunger, and then drink straight out of them. I’ve looked enviously on ones like this before.

pressmug.jpg


However, I think the ultimate field coffee gadget has to be these babies.

travel_caf_mug.jpg

They even have a little storage compartment in the base to keep fresh coffee in (although, for extended trips, you’re probably going to need a somewhat larger sealable container (for example).
A good Thermos flask will never go amiss for those who geologise in Northern European climes; as well as hot drinks (or at least hot water to put in your funky cafetiere mug), I’ve always found that a lunch break on a chilly field day is made infinitely more pleasant if you’re supping on warm soup rather than cold sandwiches. For cold liquids, there is of course the mighty SIGG bottle:

SIGG.jpg

However, don’t go thinking that a beaten-up looking SIG bottle is automatically ripe for replacement; the number of dents can act as a proxy for time spent in the field, and hence wear and tear carries a certain amount of prestige. The Platypus is also quite popular, because you can drink from them without stopping to rifle through your bag.

platypus.jpg

Personally, I’ve always thought they looked rather disturbing, particularly if you put fruit juice or something in them (it doesn’t help when you hear them referred to colloquially as ‘bladders’).
Finally, for somewhat more robust field refreshment, there’s always one of these:

mirrored_hip_flask.jpg

But I’m not sure that you really want (or need) to encourage us.

Categories: field gear, fieldwork, gifts and gadgets
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