INCLY Rock Pick Kit Review: Long-Term Field Use

Twelve years of tumbling rocks in my garage has taught me one thing: the rocks are the easy part. The tools are what let you down. I have ruined a perfectly good Saturday with a cheap hammer that shed its head after a dozen swings. I have blistered my palm on a chisel that was softer than the stone I was trying to split. And I have stood in a desert wash holding a handful of loose tools with nowhere to put them. So when I picked up the INCLY 15-piece geology rock pick hammer kit about two years ago, I expected more of the same. Two years of creek beds, desert washes, and a few long afternoons in the backyard garden later, I can tell you exactly what holds up and what does not.

Before I get into the details, a little context. I am Gary, a retired machinist in Tucson, Arizona. I have tumbled rocks in my garage for about twelve years, and I walk the Tucson gem show every winter with my wife Carol. My dog Biscuit, a nine-year-old red heeler mix, naps on a blanket at the back of the workbench and only stirs when the tumbler rattles too loud. This review is about field tools, not tumblers, but the same rule applies to both: you want equipment that does its job without making you think about it.

How I've Used It

I have had the INCLY kit for about two years. In that time it has been to the Santa Cruz River bed a dozen times, out to the desert washes east of Tucson more times than I can count, and it has sat on the passenger floorboard for the whole Tucson gem show every winter. I use the hammer mostly for splitting and prying, the chisels for working seams, and the goggles every single time I swing. That last habit is the one I would insist on if you are new to this.

My usual day trip goes like this. I load the kit into the truck along with a couple of water bottles and a lunch. Carol and I drive out to a wash, park, and walk the gravel bars looking for agate and jasper. When I find a promising piece, I tap around the edge with the hammer and decide whether to split it on the spot or carry it home. The kit has been through maybe forty of those trips, plus a lot of bench work in the garage.

Back home, the kit hangs on a peg over the garage workbench next to the utility sink, which is where I wash the stones before they go into the tumbler. Biscuit keeps his blanket at the other end of the bench. He has learned that the clink of the hammer means I am done for a while, because I usually head inside for coffee after a splitting session.

What's Actually in the Kit

The INCLY kit is a 15-piece set, and the box is honest about what you are getting. You get a rock hammer with a flat striking face and a chisel edge on the back, a set of chisels in several sizes, a pair of safety goggles, a pair of work gloves, and a carry bag that keeps everything in one place. There is also a lighter rock pick that I use when I am prying or scraping rather than splitting. Nothing in the box is a surprise, which is exactly what I want from field gear.

The hammer is the piece I care about most. The head is attached properly, which sounds like a low bar until you have had a cheap one fly off mid swing. The grip is textured without being sticky, and it fits a gloved hand well. I have swung it hard enough to ring my ears through the goggles, and the head has not loosened after two years of steady use.

The chisels are the second most used pieces. They come in a range of widths, and I find myself reaching for the middle sizes most often. The steel holds an edge well enough for field work. I do not use them for fine trimming, that is what the bench tools are for, but for opening a seam or splitting a nodule on the spot, they do the job.

One detail I appreciate: the kit does not try to do too much. Some sets throw in a compass, a whistle, and a magnifying loupe that you will never use. This kit sticks to the tools that matter for collecting, and it packs them so they stay organized. For a 15-piece set, that is the right call.

How It Holds Up in the Field

The real test of any rock tool is not how it looks on day one. It is how it behaves after a season of dust, grit, and the occasional drop onto gravel. After two years, the INCLY hammer has a few dings on the striking face, which is normal and does not affect function. The chisels have mushroomed a little at the striking end, which is also normal. I dressed them once with a bench grinder and they were back to like new in ten minutes.

The goggles are the surprise of the kit. I expected them to be the throwaway piece, the thing you replace after a month. They have held up. The lens has a few scratches from being tossed into the bag, but the strap is intact and the fit is still snug enough to keep dust out of my eyes on a windy day in the wash.

The gloves are the weakest part. They are thin enough that a sharp edge of chert finds its way through, and the elastic at the wrist has gone slack. I replaced them after about a year and a half. That is not a dealbreaker. Gloves are wear items, like socks. But if you are buying this kit expecting the gloves to last forever, you will be disappointed.

One trip stands out. Carol and I were out near a wash east of town, and I found a piece of agate the size of a grapefruit wedged in a bank. I spent the better part of an hour working a seam with the chisels, tapping gently, checking the crack with a fingernail, tapping again. The split came out clean. That is the kind of moment this kit is built for, and it is why the hammer and chisels stay in the bag even when I am only going out for an afternoon.

Where It Falls Short

I have three honest complaints. First, the carry bag is functional but nothing more. The zipper is the kind that will eventually give out, and the straps are thin. I keep the bag on a peg and carry the kit by the handle, and it has held up, but I would not trust it to survive being thrown around the bed of a truck.

Second, the kit does not include a heavier sledge, which matters if you work with bigger material. For most field collecting, the included hammer is enough. But when I find a boulder-sized piece of chalcedony, I go back to the truck for my heavier hammer. That is not a flaw in the kit, it is a limitation you should know about before you buy.

Third, the chisels are field tools, not finishing tools. If your plan is to do fine detail work at the bench, you will still need your dedicated bench chisels. The kit is designed for collecting and rough splitting, and it does that well. It does not replace a full shop setup. For that, I keep a separate set of fine files and a small chisel set on the bench.

How It Compares to What I Used Before

Before the INCLY kit, I used a mix of pieces I had collected over the years. A hammer from a hardware store, a couple of chisels from a garage sale, a pair of goggles that fogged up every time I got warm. The INCLY kit replaced all of that in one purchase. The main difference is that everything fits in one bag, so I stop losing tools in the truck. That sounds like a small thing until you have spent twenty minutes looking for a chisel in the gravel.

I have also handled kits at the Tucson gem show that cost a good deal more. Some of them have nicer handles and leather sheaths. But for the kind of collecting I do, creek beds and washes where tools get dusty and occasionally dropped, I would rather have a kit that I do not worry about scuffing. The INCLY kit hits that balance. It is not the fanciest tool on the table, but it is the one I keep reaching for.

If you are comparing kits, the things that matter are the hammer head attachment, the chisel steel, and whether the goggles actually fit. The INCLY kit gets all three right. Fancy handles and leather sheaths look nice at the gem show, but they do not split rocks any better. I would rather spend the difference on good rock hounding books or gas for the truck.

Maintenance Notes From Two Years of Use

Rock tools earn their keep when you clean them after a dusty trip. I rinse the hammer and chisels under the utility sink, dry them, and give the moving parts a light coat of oil every few months. The chisels get dressed on the bench grinder when the striking ends start to mushroom, which has happened once in two years. Ten minutes of maintenance keeps this kit ready to go.

One habit that has saved me trouble: I empty the bag at the end of every trip and let everything dry before it goes back on the peg. Grit left in the bag works its way into the zipper and the glove elastic, and that is what kills the cheap parts first. A minute of cleanup now beats replacing a zipper later.

The other maintenance habit is checking the hammer head before a trip. I give it a tap on the bench and make sure it feels solid. It takes five seconds, and it is the kind of check that keeps a two-year-old tool feeling new.

Two years of creek beds and desert washes, and the hammer head has not loosened. That is the test that matters.

Who This Is For

Buy this kit if you are a rockhound who collects in the field, or if you are just starting out and want one purchase that covers the basics. It is also a sensible kit to keep in the truck for the times you pull over to look at a promising outcrop. If you tumble rocks at home, this kit covers the collecting side of the hobby, which is the half people often forget about. You cannot tumble rocks you never picked up. I would have bought this kit the day I started tumbling, and it would have saved me the cost of the cheap hammer I ruined.

Who Should Skip It

Skip it if you already own a good hammer and chisels, because you would be paying for pieces you will not use. Skip it if you do most of your work at a bench with fine tools, because this kit is aimed at field collecting, not detail work. And if you are the kind of person who wants heirloom tools with leather sheaths, you will be happier spending more at the gem show. There is nothing wrong with that. It is just not what this kit is.