Backyard Safari Rock Excavators Field Kit

I should have read the reviews more closely, but I loved the idea of the kit for my budding geologist and went ahead and got the kit for his sixth birthday. The rock pick hammer is made of pot metal, and did bust in half on the second (very soft) rock my son pounded on. The "safety goggles" are not protective eyewear, as it says in the fine print on the box, but having safety gear included made my son think about safety. He decided to wear long pants and gloves when working with the kit. The bag is a good size and seems well sewn, and the "loupe" fits well in his cargo vest pocket. The surprise gem of the set is the pop up field guide; it's laminated well and folded in such a cool way, that it fits perfectly in another vest pocket but opens up enormously to reveal a lot of great rock facts and pictures. My son read it and compared backyard rocks to it for an hour. So while I probably wouldn't purchase this again unless I got another Lightning Deal, and I will have to replace the hammer, I'm glad I got it when I did.

I got this for my 5 year old son. He is always digging and collecting rocks and mining in the back yard. He was so excited when he opened this gift. He put all the gear on and ran outside. In less than an hour he came back in with the hammer, head broken in half. The hammer being metal I thought would hold up well, so I was very disappointed as was he. The concept great the hammer very poor.

Seems like a nice kits complete with adjustable collection bag, safety glasses, magnifying glass and rock hammer, however after only three days of using the rock hammer it broke. The head of the hammer split into two pieces where the head attaches to the handle, it is a poor design and cannot be fixed.

My son has loved this kit its almost lasted a year now, the only thing that has broken is the lense but Im sure I could just pop the lesnse back into the cover.

I was very excited about my son's reaction about this product, he is a 6 yr old rock entusiast, naturalist, and so, he has a bug vac and he loves it, when he got the rock excavator field kit he got crazy, well at least for one hour, the hammer broke after just a few hammer hits, awful quality, my son was very dissapointed and me of course, Backyard Safari must have to change that hammer definitely

3 stars since I was expecting a more substantial gift for the price. Had hoped for a heavier duty set for a nine year old. Not sure this will hold up to his explorations. He was happy receiving it though. Time will tell.

This is a great set for anyone interested in the outdoors and explorers. Definitely aimed at older kids (5-7+). Hammer/chisel is real metal and meant to be used to open rocks.

The head of the hammer came off the handle...within the first hour. Hadn't even taken it outside yet.