INCLY Rock Pick Kit vs ARTKUNST

If you collect rocks in the desert, you learn fast that the tool matters more than the rock. A flimsy pick bends on the first good basalt nodule, and then you are back to prying with a screwdriver. I have been tumbling rocks in my garage here in Tucson for about twelve years, and I have gone through more cheap rock hammers than I care to count. So when the INCLY rock pick kit showed up on the porch, I figured I would run it against the ARTKUNST kit the same way I used to test tooling at the machine shop: use both until one breaks, and keep notes. That is the only honest way to compare two kits that look almost identical in the product photos.

Short answer up front. The INCLY kit is the one I reach for on a normal collecting day, and it has earned a permanent spot in the truck. The ARTKUNST kit is a good starter set, and it usually costs less, but the gap in handle feel and chisel steel shows up within the first few trips. Here is the honest breakdown.

	INCLY 15 PCS Geology Rock Pick Kit	ARTKUNST Rock Pick Kit
Price	Mid-range for a full 15-piece set	Usually a bit less for a comparable set
Piece count	15 pieces: rock pick, chisels, goggles, gloves, canvas bag	Similar count, a few kits ship with fewer extras
Rock pick handle	Solid, comfortable grip that stays put in a gloved hand	Functional but lighter, feels less secure on hard hits
Chisel steel	Holds an edge through repeated use on rhyolite and quartz	Edge rolls sooner on the same material
Storage	Canvas carry bag keeps everything together in the truck	Bag quality varies by kit version
Best for	Regular collecting trips and serious hobbyists	Beginners and occasional backyard digging

How I Tested

I did not test these kits in a clean workshop, because that is not where they get used. I spent most of a collecting season working out of a dry wash north of Tucson, splitting open rhyolite and quartz, prying out nodules from caliche, and digging around creek beds after a good rain. The first real test came on the second Saturday in March, after the spring rains had scoured the washes clean. I spent the morning working one fist-sized agate nodule free of the bank, and I counted my swings the way I used to count cuts at the lathe. That was the day I started trusting the INCLY handle. I also carried both kits to the Tucson gem show last winter and handled every similar set I could find, just to see where they fit in the wider market.

Each trip I rotated the two kits, alternating which one I grabbed first out of the truck. I kept notes on handle comfort, chisel edge life, how well the bags held up, and whether the safety gear stayed usable. Biscuit, my red heeler mix, came along on the short trips and napped on a blanket in the garage while I cleaned the tools. He hates loud rattling noises, so I do the sorting and the tumbling on the far end of the workbench.

Where INCLY Wins

The first thing I noticed with the INCLY kit is the handle. I have big hands from thirty years at a lathe, and most rock picks feel like toys. This one has a solid grip that fits a gloved hand the way a tool should, and it does not twist when you hit a hard nodule at an angle. I have had cheap picks spin a quarter turn on the first good hit, which is how you end up with a bruised thumb and a rock that is no closer to being split. The INCLY handle has never done that to me, even on the morning I spent hammering on a basalt boulder to knock off a sample the size of a loaf of bread. After a full morning in a desert wash, my hand was not sore. That alone puts it ahead of every other budget pick I have used, including the ARTKUNST pick.

The chisels are the other reason I keep reaching for the INCLY kit. I split open a lot of rhyolite, and the chisels in this set hold an edge. I used the same pointed chisel for three weekends before it needed a touch-up on the bench grinder. The ARTKUNST chisels worked, but they rolled sooner, and a rolled edge means more hammering and less control. For the price of the set, that is a real difference.

The storage bag matters more than you might think. The INCLY kit comes with a canvas carry bag that keeps the pick, chisels, goggles, and gloves together in the truck. When I am standing on a hillside, I do not want to dig through a loose pile of tools. Everything has a place, and the bag has held up through a season of being thrown in and out of the truck bed.

Where ARTKUNST Wins

I am not going to pretend the ARTKUNST kit is junk, because it is not. It usually costs less, and for someone who wants to try rockhounding without spending much, that matters. The kit covers the basics: a hammer, chisels, goggles, gloves, and a bag. If you are a beginner who mostly wants to crack open a few geodes in the backyard, the ARTKUNST kit will get you through the first season without complaint.

Where ARTKUNST really wins is the price of entry. When you are not sure this hobby will stick, buying the cheaper set is a reasonable move. I have known plenty of people who bought a fancy kit, went out twice, and let it gather dust in the garage. The ARTKUNST kit lowers that risk. Just know that if you do get hooked, you will probably upgrade within a year, and the INCLY kit is the upgrade I would buy.

The ARTKUNST kit is also a little lighter in the bag, which is fine for a kid or for someone who does not want a heavy tool bag on a long walk. There is nothing wrong with that trade-off when you are starting out. I just found that the lighter handle transmits more vibration on hard hits, and my hand noticed it by the end of a full day. By the third hour on a quartz outcrop in the hills east of town, my grip hand was tingling, and I had to stop and shake it out. The date was the third Sunday in April, and my wrist was still complaining the next morning. The same job with the INCLY pick left my hand feeling fine. Vibration is one of those things you cannot see in a product photo, but you feel it in the wrist by lunchtime.

Details That Matter in the Field

A rock pick kit is more than the pick. The goggles and gloves that come with the INCLY kit are actually usable, which is not always true in this price range. The goggles fit over prescription glasses without digging in, and the gloves have enough padding that a missed strike does not hurt the way it does with a bare hand. I replaced the gloves after a few months because I wear them on every trip, and that is normal wear, not a defect.

The chisel set in the INCLY kit includes a flat chisel and a pointed chisel, and I use both more than I expected. The flat chisel is good for prying apart thin slabs, and the pointed one is what I use to start a crack in a round nodule. The ARTKUNST kit has similar pieces, but the steel does not hold up as long between sharpenings. That is the kind of detail that does not show up in the photos.

One more thing worth mentioning: the INCLY kit does not pretend to be a full mining rig. It is a collecting kit, sized for the kind of work a hobbyist actually does on a Saturday morning. If you need a sledge and a set of heavy pry bars, you are looking at the wrong category. For knocking samples off an outcrop and splitting them to check the inside, this kit is sized right.

What I Would Change

No kit is perfect, and the INCLY kit has a couple of things I would tweak. The gloves are fine for light work, but they are not heavy enough for prying on sharp basalt all day. I wear a pair of leather work gloves over them when I am doing serious splitting, and that is an easy fix. The goggles are good, but they fog up a little in the summer heat when you are hiking between spots. On a June morning in the Rincon foothills, I stopped three times on the hike in to wipe the lenses. I tried using my shirtsleeve, which only smeared the dust, so now I carry a small lens cloth in my chest pocket. It is a small annoyance, not a reason to pass on the kit.

The other thing I would change is the way the chisels are stored in the bag. They sit loose in the main pocket, and they can rattle around on the drive out. I wrapped mine in a shop rag, and that solved it. It is a small thing, but it is the difference between arriving ready to work and arriving to sort out a tangle of tools.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the INCLY kit if you collect regularly, if you have larger hands, or if you are tired of replacing bent picks and rolled chisels. It is the kit I keep in the truck, and it has held up through a full season of trips to creek beds and desert washes around Tucson. The handle fits, the chisels hold an edge, and the bag keeps everything in one place. That combination is worth the difference in price for anyone who gets out more than a few times a year.

Buy the ARTKUNST kit if you are just starting out, if you are buying for a kid who is not sure about the hobby yet, or if you only need a tool for the occasional backyard dig. It is a fine starter set. Just set your expectations: the handle is lighter, the chisels roll sooner, and you will likely want the INCLY kit once you get serious about collecting. That is not a knock on ARTKUNST. It is just the difference between a starter tool and a working tool.

A pick that fits your hand and chisels that hold an edge will do more for your collecting than any fancy bag or brand name.

The Bottom Line

After a season of using both kits side by side, the INCLY kit is the one I would buy again. It is not the cheapest option, and I am not going to tell you it is the last rock pick you will ever own, because I do not believe in that kind of talk. What I can tell you is that it does what a collecting tool should do: it fits your hand, holds an edge, and keeps working when you are a long way from the truck.

If you are still deciding, think about how often you will actually use it. Once a month in the backyard, the ARTKUNST kit is plenty. Every weekend in the field, the INCLY kit pays for itself in the first season, mostly in the chisels that do not roll and the handle that does not twist. I keep mine in the truck with a spare bag of goggles, and Biscuit keeps his blanket on the garage floor. That is the setup that works for me.

One last note on maintenance. I clean the chisels with a wire brush after each trip and give the pick head a light coat of oil before it goes back in the truck. The INCLY steel takes the abuse well, but no tool likes being put away wet. Ten minutes of care keeps this kit ready for the next wash, and that is about the best I can say for any piece of field gear.