Summer holiday - packing list for the microscopist

[MicroBob]

Hi together,
here in Germany the Corona pandemic is under control to some degree and it is allowed and acceptably safe to spend the holiday here. Parts of the world disc border are to be found here in well populated germany and this is where we will go for a bit of kajaking, coffe drinking, book reading, sitting around, waiting for things to happen, and Bob will become bored...
Last year I too my fishing gear, but this proved not worthwhile as I sleep or do the things above when the fish bite. Of cause I did some microscopy too, but just a little. This year I will take my compact stereo microscope (Zeiss binocular on microscope stand), but which of my microscopes do I take? My Biolamini, the Zeiss-Winkel travel microscope or a Zeiss Standard Junior, perhaps even with PZO DIC, in Bundeswehr army box? I really have to concentrate a bit to get my stuff packed well. On a short trip to a sleepy coast village I took the traveling stereo and Zeiss Winkel, but actually forgot to take one single slide and cover slip! Can you believe it? And I had just got 600 new Duran borosilicate glass slides sitting on the kitchen table, my wife looking sternly at me when I would remove them...

Do you have a holiday ahead and do you intend to pack a microscope kit? What do you take?

Bob

[Roldorf]

Hi Bob,

We just got back from the Harz and we took our stereo microscope with us 'no slides required', along with a hammer.
Weather was wonderful and the rocks outstanding.

[BramHuntingNematodes]

Take a dozen jam jars of FAA and take samples.

[MicroBob]

Hi Alan,
I would have liked to look at my diatom samples whether they are worth keeping, repeating and cooking. I recently had got a plancton sample from the northern atlantic, 400km or so south of greenland, and the diatoms were great. This was from a research ship and I thought:" Trousers up to the knee and a couple of draws with the plancton net...". Well my sample was not quite as nice but the cleaned sand grains have a beauty too!

Bob

[Roldorf]

Hi Bob, you can't have everything, we went for fossils (and minerals of course) and only found tiny plant remains. Good job we had the scope with us as you needed it to see them.

[Roldorf]

We are thinking about a trip to Denmark in late August (fossils again). Hoping that all is better by then. We just had confirmation that our mineral course in Clausthal-Zellerfeld in September has been postponed until next year accomodation was all booked and arranged will just have to go it alone.

[MicroBob]

In Denmark you could also find diatoms in Hagklit and Fegeklit on island Mors and on Fur. They are placed in the Limfjord where diatoms had good conditions for a long time and a lot of diatomit has been deposited over time.
In case you come to Roskilde the Handverksmuseet is very attractive.

[deBult]

Plankton net, a few jars, some AFE, slides, scissor, pincet, pipet etc and an Old refurbished Olympus mono scope In its plastic case plus a LED camping lamp.

[Rylander]

Hello everyone. When the holidays come, I bring both microscope and stereo microscope. It is the Wild M11 and M5, as well as tweezers, paper and bags to collect mosses in. This year it will be at home in Denmark that the holidays are held, so a trip around the country.
Rylander