Texture-by-feel Water Spray Bottle

Description

Site assessors usually have a lot of “stuff” to carry into the field. We believe that it is a smart idea to have site assessment reference materials in a convenient location close at hand…and unlike your cheating high school friends with crib notes, there is no need to be embarrassed about it! But lets face it, writing on your hand just doesn’t look that professional, and there isn’t that much room. So we developed two different Texture-by-feel Water Bottles to suit the needs and preferences of site assessors.

We have taken a “texture-by-feel” flow diagram (ie. similar to the one originally developed by Steve Thien*) and adapted it to fit on a waterproof plastic label which is applied to a specially selected spray bottle that site assessors could use in the field. By placing the flow diagram on a water bottle that you need anyway, it saves having to carry and refer to another item, or flip through a clip board for a chart. We even added a scale along one side of the label to make it easy to check the ribbon length.

Recommended practice is that the test pit soil profile should always be examined in a moist condition. So for those regions with dry soils, the 16 oz. bottle holds lots of water and comes with a durable spray nozzle so you can spray down the wall of your test pit.

Thien’s method says add water “dropwise” to get soil to the appropriate moisture content to make a moist cast, ribbon etc. You can spray the soil, but our bottle also comes with a small flip spout cap that lets you squeeze out water, one drop or a few drops at a time. The flip top is durable and leak proof, great for storage between jobs.

If you work in a region which receives abundant precipitation, and don’t need a spray bottle to moisten the walls of your test pits, you might prefer our 8 oz. size Texture-by-feel Drop-wise Water Bottle instead. It only comes with the flip spout cap and conveniently fits into your shirt or pants pocket.

To read the full story behind the development of our Texture-by-feel Water Bottles, check out this blog article on our consulting services web site.

*S.J. Thien. 1979. A flow diagram for teaching texture by feel analysis. Journal of Agronomic Education. 8:54-55