| Overview
Before you start collecting sand it's important to give
some thought to a number of important issues. These are
factors you need to decide before you start. Failing to do
so can cause heartache and potentially some additional financial outlay
at a later date.
One of the first considerations you need to make is
within what geographical region are you going to collect
sand, i.e. locally such as your home country or globally?
Personally, I only collect sand from the British Isles,
especially Scotland. If you decide to collect sand from
further away you will need to ask yourself how you are going
to achieve that. Will you go there yourself or trade sand
with other collectors?
You will also need to decide what you are actually going
to collect. Sand is technically classed as a loose material
with individual grains between 0.0625 mm and 2.00 mm in size.
Ask yourself if you will also collect smaller materials such
as silt or clay, larger materials such as fine gravel or a
mixture of the two.
The quantity of sand you need to gather in the field is
another factor to consider. This will
depend on the size of the containers you choose to house and
finally display your samples. If planning to exchange sand
you will need to gather additional quantities.
Large sand collections can take up a lot of space and
you'll need to give some thought to how much space you have
available. This will be affected by your choice of display
and storage containers. Large containers obviously take up more space than smaller
ones. They also weight more as well. Space will also be
needed for drying and washing your samples. You will, at an early stage, need to decide on the type
and size of storage container you want to house your
collection. How much these will cost, their availability and
space requirements should also be considered.
You may also want to consider the type of locations you
want to collect sand from. Some collectors only collect
samples from beaches, while other like myself, will collect
from just about anywhere. Of course, you can always change
your mind later. Some collectors collect their samples based
on a theme, for example, they may try to get samples of sand
from all the different states in the USA or from all the
beaches in their own county or region.
The great thing about sand collecting is that there are
no fixed rules, you can collect what you want, where you
want, when you want and how much you want. What you do with it is up to you.
There are no official clubs or societies that will insist
you follow any particular method. It's all up to the
individual. |
