Equipment for a first trip
Updated
A genuinely short list, and two items on it do more than the rest combined.
The short list
A rock hammer with a proper handle. Not a carpenter's hammer, which chips and sends steel flying.
Safety glasses. Chisels. A pry bar. Gloves.
A loupe, 10x.
Newspaper, small boxes, bags.
A backpack or bucket you can carry loaded over rough ground.
Water, food, sun protection, and a phone with offline maps.
Safety first, genuinely
Eye protection every time a hammer is used. Rock chips are the standard injury in this hobby and they are not minor.
A hard hat wherever there is anything above you.
Boots with ankle support. Collecting ground is loose by definition.
And nothing that requires entering a working. Old mines are the thing that kills collectors, and no specimen justifies it.
What to skip
A sledgehammer, until you know what you are doing with one.
Chemical cleaning supplies, until you have material that needs them and have identified it.
A microscope, until you know whether micromounts interest you.
Anything mechanized, which frequently needs a permit and always needs more care than a first trip warrants.
The two that matter most
The notebook, which converts what you find into specimens rather than rocks, and is the cheapest item on the list.
Wrapping material, enough of it, used at the face. Half the damage in this craft happens on the walk back to the car.