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By John Hayes Newfoundland Mapping Section, Geological Survey of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1993

Safety First At All Times
	Never work alone in the bush.
	Never work on a cliff edge. Be careful of falling rock at cliff bottoms.
	Always let someone know where you are going, your route and when you will be back.
	Always carry:

		-	Map
		-	Compass
		-	First Aid Kit
		-	Survival Kit

Put them in your backpack and leave them there so you will always have them.
	Always carry or wear adequate clothing to protect from cold, rain and sunburn.
	Always wear safety glasses when using a hammer. Geologists have lost an eye because they did not wear glasses while hammering rocks. Make sure that the people around you have eye protection when you are hammering on rocks.
Remember: The best safety rule is to keep alert and think about what you are doing. See and avoid all danger.

Note:
	A survival kit does not need to be fancy to work. All you need is something to keep you warm, some food and some shelter. The bare minimum is a box of waterproof matches, a few candy bars and a space blanket. Think about what you would need to survive cold and wet, overnight in the woods. Don't make it heavy or you will be tempted to leave it behind.
	A first aid kit should help you treat minor injuries and stabilize major injuries until help arrives. Make sure that you carry a triangular bandage, some pressure bandages and bandaids at all times. Bring insect repellant and sunblock.
	Know how to use your map and compass.

What a geologist carries going into the bush: Clothing Check yourself out from toes to head:
	Good sturdy boots with non-slip soles and ankle support. Some people prefer gumboots if working in marshes. Make sure they fit. Do not wear sneakers.
	Heavy wool socks to prevent blistering.
	Strong loose cotton pants help you move in brush and will not tear. Wear a belt. And remember Light or Neutral Colors Will Attract Less Flies.
	Long T-shirt to tuck into pants. Helps prevent chafing with backpack and makes it harder for blackflies to bite you.
	Long sleeve shirts that button up to the neck to keep flies out.
	Work gloves.
	Hat to keep sun off.
	Safety glasses.
Always carry a sweater and a raincoat with you. You can get hypothermia even in the summer.
Backpack
	Lightweight with enough room for samples, lunch, first aid kit, survival kit, raingear, sweater and a few odds and ends.
	External pockets help you organize things.
	Waterproof to protect contents.
	Good padded straps and a waist belt.
Geological Equipment
	Map
	Compass (with clinometer to measure angles)
	Aerial Photograph
	Air photo holder/clipboard
	Notebook with waterproof cover
	Pencils and waterproof pens
	Camera, extra film and photoscale
	Rock hammer/pick and SAFETY GLASSES
	Hand lens or magnifying glass
	Sample bags, sandwich bags for small specimens
	Marker to label samples
	Pocket knife to test hardness of minerals
	Bottle of dilute hydrochloric acid (a few drops cause carbonate minerals to fizz)
	Magnet to test for magnetic minerals
	Lots of insect repellant

How To Use All This Stuff

It might seem like a lot of equipment to carry around all day but you will use much of it on a daily basis. Here is how all this might work together:

Your have walked all day in the woods, through bog, and into a boulder field full of dead trees using your map, compass and airphoto to navigate from outcrop to outcrop. The flies are thick, but your heavy shirts and hat keep them away. It was cold after lunch so you put on your sweater. You find the outcrop you could see on your airphoto. Walking along the base of it you find a quartz vein. You put on your safety glasses and making sure your buddy has theirs on also you break off a piece with your hammer. With your hand lens you see a little piece of gold so you mark an x on your map and put a number by it. In your notebook you write the same number and make some notes: Gold found in quartz vein sample number xx-92-001 (which you write on your sample). You put your photoscale by the vein and take its picture and record it in your notebook. It starts to rain so you put on your raingear. Check your map, pick out an easy route home because it is dangerous to walk over wet boulders and logs. You see on your airphoto an old logging road which leads out of the forest back to your camp. It is a bit longer but it is easier going so you walk to the road and follow it back to the camp arriving on schedule, safe and sound, with news of a new gold occurrence.