Foraging Tools

Since the foraging season is upon us, I thought I’d give a list of supplies and tools you’re going to want on hand in the field!

To be clear, these are just standard things I like to take with me but there are plenty of times where I have to make do without if I find something unexpectedly.

So, while these are good standard recommendations, you don’t absolutely need all of these when foraging.

NOTE: I may have links to things in this article, but none of them are affiliate links, I just enjoy the products.

Harvesting

Shears

I like to carry some shears/pruners with me for when I take cuttings of woody plants or need to prune trees.

It’s also nice to have some kind of scissors or shears just for general harvesting. I use two pairs for different things, one is an old, thrifted pair and the other is a set of Woodland Tools shears that I really like.

If I know I’m going to do a lot of pruning, I’ll take my large tree pruners with me as well (I generally keep them in my car at all times).

Here’s a link: Woodland Tools

Knife

There are so many great knives to have out with you. I have one carbon steel fixed blade knife (no idea what brand it is as it was a gift) and I will sometimes take my hook knife with me for things like mushrooms.

The industry standard brand is Opinel which I do recommend. I have a small keychain mushroom knife from them which is nice especially with the brush on the end.

Generally, you can use most basic knives! I would stay away from serrated kitchen knives or really long parring knives though just because they’re more impractical.

Link: Opinel Harvest Knives

Horihori/Trowel

A “Hori hori” is a Japanese trowel knife used mainly for gardening, but I find it very useful when harvesting roots or digging up shoots!

I have the Barebones Ultimate hori hori, it is awesome, and I love it. I have used others, but most of the time they get rattly after a while, but this one feels pretty sturdy and is more comfortable to hold!

The other thing I like about it is that it comes with a sheath which most do not.

If you don’t want a hori hori, then a basic trowel will do as long as it’s a decently sharp one and provided it's sturdy! I have used a really cheap old trowel from a yard sale and it bent nearly every time I used it.

Link: Barebones Hori hori Ultimate

Link: Woodland Tools Trowel

Hatchet/Saw 

A hatchet and a small hand saw can be nice to have, but they’re only really necessary for heavy pruning (for example, maybe you find a really gnarled apple tree that you want to clean up a bit) and for harvesting chaga (which I will write about another time).

I have a hatchet-cleaver which works well enough, and a used handsaw works fine.

If I was going to get a new saw, I’d buy one of the ones from Woodland Tools or even one from Fiskars since both are great brands with good reputations.

If I was going to replace my hatchet-cleaver, I’d either restore an old hatchet (because I enjoy doing that work) or I’d get one from Cold Steel.

Link: Woodland Tools Hand Saws

Link: Cold Steel Hawk

Utility

Baskets

Baskets are a must-have!

There are plenty of actual basket brands you can go with but honestly I’ve found that the best way to get baskets is to buy them secondhand for dirt cheap.

At thrift stores in my area they constantly have new baskets coming in of all shapes and sizes, and they almost never sell for over $4-6.

When you get baskets, I’d get at least one or two that are close to a bushel size for things like apples, a couple medium sized baskets with handles, and at least a few small baskets for berries and small mushrooms!

Baskets come in handy for when you need to carry large quantities of something but don’t want to squish what you’ve harvested.

At some point I may write about basketry when I have more experience, but for now just know that you can also make your own baskets as well!

Bags

As for bags, I’d stick to mesh produce bags for mushrooms (so that spores can drop as you walk) and reusable tote bags.

I use homemade canvas bags made by my mother-in-law, and mesh bags my wife made from an old sheer curtain.

I’d only keep a few bags in your pack unless you plan to use a lot of them or if you just don’t want to take baskets!

Small Containers

I keep a couple of those small hobby/tacklebox boxes in my pack specifically for harvesting seeds or weird things I want to identify or observe later (like oak galls or a weird nut).

If you’re really into saving native seeds or spreading seeds from plants you forage, this is a nice thing to have on hand.

I’ve casually seen plants going to seed at gas stations and had to scrape by with an old water bottle or something to save them when having a container would’ve been very convenient!

I don’t necessarily recommend anything in particular, just something that can hold lots of little seeds!

This is another item you can definitely thrift.

Backpack

There are so many good backpacks and foraging bags out there.

Basically, any backpack will be fine as long as it’s big enough to hold everything you need it to hold and isn’t uncomfortable.

Remember, you aren’t looking for something like a hiking or camping pack since you’re not packing a ton of stuff, just the gear you need for foraging. This isn’t usually a multi-day endeavor.

I use a cheap one from amazon which works well enough but if I were to get a new one, I’d get any of the following:

Link: Barebones Foraging Bag

Link: Frost River Isle Royale Mini

OR a simple daypack from any sporting goods store.

Herb Strip Tool

An herb stripping tool (also called an herb stripper, or a strip) is a flat piece of wood or metal that has different sized holes in it used for

By running the stem of a plant from top to bottom through the right sized hole, you can instantly strip all of the leaves off.

This is especially useful for herbs or if you want to harvest the stem itself and just clean it up to use for weaving.

There are tons of herb strippers and honestly, I don’t think there’s enough of a difference between them to recommend a specific one at the moment. They all get the job done which is what matters!

Full disclosure, while I’ve used herb strippers before I don’t actually carry one with me in my pack right now! So it’s nice to have, but not absolutely necessary!

Safety

Field Guides

A non-negotiable thing to keep in your pack is field guides. I’ve mentioned several foraging resources (including guide books) in a previous article before, but really any guide by Samuel Thayer or Lisa M. Rose are a safe bet!

A quick warning, be very careful about buying random guides from Amazon. In recent years several people have reported foraging guides written by AI with false information in them. This is a matter of life or death, do NOT buy guides written by disreputable authors!

Gloves

A cheap set of gloves is great to have on hand (see what I did there?) at all times.

I mostly keep gloves with me for harvesting stinging nettle or plants with thorns like raspberries or blackberries.

They can also help you avoid touching poison ivy and similar plants.

Nothing special to say here, just bring some gloves!

Water bottle

Goes without saying, bring water if it’s hot out or you think you’ll be out for several hours! Most foraging jaunts I take are only 30 minutes or so long since I know exactly where to find stuff but if I’m scoping out a new area I might be gone longer.

This isn’t as intense as hiking, but water is good to bring with you.

Shoes

Although you won’t likely be gone for hours and hours, a decent set of shoes for walking around in or some boots for wandering through puddles or mud are good to bring.

This will sound crazy to most of you, but I honestly wear Earthrunner sandals!

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that for everyone, but I’m so used to being barefoot that regular sneakers hurt my feet and when I wear sandals, I don’t have to worry about my feet getting wet!

For you readers, get some good waterproof muck boots and some shoes you feel comfortable walking in.

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