Factors such as small plot size, restricted access, and remote sites can often limit adequate sampling of belowground components in field research. Thus, the objective of this study was to design and construct a simple, inexpensive, portable soil coring system for rapid deployment under field conditions which eliminated some or all of the above mentioned limitations. Components of the system included a manual driver of adjustable weight, a manual core extractor, and steel core tubes with clear plastic (butyrate) liners which encase the soil core for retrieval and transport. This system proved to be reliable and efficient in repeated field trials, causing minimal plot disturbance. The use of Styrofoam plugs to separate multiple core samples within the plastic liner drastically reduced the time spent on handling individual samples. Continuous soil cores measuring up to 1 m long can also be collected with this system. The use of plastic liners also greatly facilitated the transport and storage of samples. This low cost system was convenient to operate and assemble or disassemble in a field setting. The unit proved to be effective in cases where mechanized approaches were prohibited or unavailable.