Oct 1, 2025
Like stainless steel, some rocks contain a lot of iron, nickel, and chrome which makes them very tough.
In August and September I spent time in Alaska and northern British Columbia, recovering rock samples by helicopter for companies interested in natural hydrogen production. The process might be summarized as; break open a rock to look through a hand-lens at its insides, repeat, sometimes collect a sample with gps location for lab analysis and map-making.
I knew these rocks would be resistant to breaking so on the first trip, I brought my long-handled 12-pound hammer and generally carried it slung over my shoulder above a backpack I was filling with labelled rock samples.
Although the 12-pound hammer broke every rock I wanted it to, it seemed to be overkill and after a day of traversing challenging terrain, it began to seem unnecessarily heavy and cumbersome. Carrying and swinging a 12-pound hammer all day felt tiring and non-optimal.
On the next trip, I brought my usual 3-pound rock hammer with a 12-inch handle assuming I could break any rock because in all past field-work that was true. It went on my belt-holster where it could quickly go in and out as needed as I traversed the area of interest collecting rock samples. Alas! There were 2 locations where despite my maximum force I could not break open the rock (I’m stronger than average for a 250 pound guy). There were also several locations I had to give it all I had with many whacks to finally break a rock. Too small of a hammer turned out to be at least as tiring as the 12-pound hammer, and was more frustrating.
I knew from direct and indirect experience that the head will fly off brand-new wooden-handled 3-5 pound hand-hammers after a few really hard clanks, so I didn’t want just any old hammer. After I got back I did some online reading, and learned about this 6-pound hammer with a 16-inch handle, made for the mining industry with a purportedly unbreakable handle.
This hammer by JET tools will conveniently fit on my belt holster for regular use all day, and I presume I can land it with sufficient force to crack into even these “almost stainless steel” rocks (ultramafic iron-rich dunites and chromatites).
I’ll bring safety glasses or maybe a face shield when I go to another project for more helicopter sample work on tough rocks next week.
What fun!
