Often you'll hear the expression. "that dealer had a lucky score". I subscribe to the theory that luck is when opportunity meets preparation. There's a good chance that the dealer who made that lucky score had one or all of these tools on hand at the time of his or her prize find.
 You wouldn't work on your car without the right tools right? So why as an antique dealer or collector should you go in the field without the tools you need?

Here are my 7 must have field tools for antiques dealers and some their uses, some obvious and some, not so much.

1. Flashlight: Your a rookie without one! Even on a well lit day at a flea market they can come in handy for looking under tables, in cupboards for signatures of furniture makers etc.
2. Cigarette Lighter: For pin tests for "Plastic or Ivory" checks, also a great tool for identifying synthetic or organic fabric. IE: If you need to know if a blanket is pure cotton or has a rayon in it, fray a very small thread and take the lighter to it, if it curls into a ball, it's a synthetic. If it ashes away, it's organic.
3. Pocket Knife: There are so many uses for this one it's not even funny, but my favorite is using it to threaten the competition in a crowded buying situation. Just kidding! I like  a small folding knife that fits right on a key chain so it won't get lost.
4. A  magnet: Lots of uses, but my favorite is to tell whether or not something is brass or copper plated or solid. A magnet won't stick to solid brass, bronze or copper. There are other metals it won't stick to, but those are usually the ones you'll need to verify for value.
5. A jewelers loupe or magnifying glass: Again, this tool has many uses, one way to tell whether or not an antique item is gold plated is by using a strong loupe. Under good magnification you can often see brass, copper or another base metal showing through most old gold plated items, especially the edges and places where the item is handled most.
6. A note book & pen: Among it's many possibilities, you may want to jot down info for and item you wish to check out and come back later for, but be warned the good stuff sells quick!
7. A pocket scale: If your buying gold or sterling silver these days as many people are, this is a must.
   

So those are my lucky 7, you'll have a lot more "luck" with them, however there is one not on here that I used to carry all the time and eliminated the use for with a very simple method. I suggest you learn this method and you'll never be without this tool. The tool is a ruler and the elimination process is to measure your hand and other body parts for reference. This way, when you need to measure the top of a table to see if it will fit in that 3x5 corner nook, you simple use your hands to approximate and voila!

There's another big benefit to having these tools at your fingertips, it's the air of authority and expertise. When you pull out a magnifying glass to check on a gold mark you gain instant respect, something that is crucial in the price negotiation process.

I'd love to hear useful and unusual ways you've used some of these tools in the field, so if you have any tips, please leave them in the comment's section.

Thanks for reading,
AW