Weather Resistant System For Minelab GPX

[Bootyhunter]

First, let me say I am new to this forum and this is actually my first post.  I've been detecting for 15 years. I started as a coin hunter and while I still enjoy hunting for old silver and copper coins, I've evolved into more of a Relic hunter and water hunter. Now I don't have any gold fields near me, but I do own the GPX 4800 for Civil War relic hunting in extremely mineralized soil in Northern Virginia. It's main weakness, to me, is its vulnerability to rain and moisture. 

So after the first few relic hunts and dealing with inclement weather and bagging our GPX's my good friend and hunting partner and myself knew there had to be a better way. We discussed it and kicked around ideas on one of our 5+ hour rides home after a hunt. We both decided to come up with designs and then we would move forward. After a month, we looked at each others ideas and his was clearly the superior design, so we assembled them and have used them for 2 years in all kinds of inclement weather. They have worked flawlessly. See the Video for details, but they protect against rain, snow, mud, dirt and dust and are field deployable in less than 1 minute. They stay on your machine all the time and can be deployed or rolled up out of the way. They are super light weight and do not add any noticeable weight to the machine. They work with the Goldscreamer set up as well as the stock battery when it's used in a pouch on the side of the GPX.

Please watch the video for details. Since these have worked so well, we have decided to make these for sale. The price is $132.99 for the Goldscreamer setup and $142.99 for the stock battery setup and shipping is $9.99 in the ConUs. Don't trust a $4000 detector to a .50 cent freezer bag. The best part about these is you put it on 1 time then you never have to fool with it again, it will be there when you need it, no matter what the forecast or what weather actually occurs. You can email orders to sjstewartkfd@yahoo.com put GPX WRS Order in the subject line and I will contact you about payment. Orders will be filled only when payment is received. A good chunk of the cost is materials.

You can see the video here:

 

[klunker]

 Well, I guess I'm becoming a grumpy old man but I would rather have seen you first post more about your experiences, finds, and relic hunting in general rather than trying to sell me something. I truly wish you the best of luck. 

[mn90403]

I agree, I've seen a post start out with similar language and I begin to skip ... down the post and then ... to the next post! 

[Bootyhunter]

Well guys that's exactly what I did, I gave my background and I explained in the first paragraph my history with detecting. I live no where near a "gold field". I do, however use the GPX for relic hunting, I'm a member of 6 other detecting forums so I've never felt compelled to join a "prospecting" forum.  But I know the GPX is the king of the gold machines and I figured you fellows have the same issues that we do in the relic hunting world with the GPX and bad weather. Sorry if I've offended some of you, I'm on Findmall, Treasurenet, Treasure Depot,Just Go Detecting, FreindlyMetal Detecting Forums, Dankowskidetecting and so on and so on, it's not like I'm a snake oil salesman just passing through town. Agree completely " to each their own", this is a revolutionary product for the GPX, I know the peace of mind I got having it in place on my machine so if the weather turns sour a downpour isn't going to kill a $4000 machine. I was always nervous with a zippered freezer bag jerry rigged to it and couldn't focus on detecting when there was a threat of rain. I'm sure "some" of you can relate, if you do and you're interested then email me. Thanks. 

[mn90403]

I guess we were reacting more to the 'style' rather than an outright spamming.  The forum owner would have given you a warning or deleted the entry if he thought there was no merit in your product.  As nugget hunters we tend to be avoiding the real wet weather because our targets get masked unless we are using sniping gear.  I for one will tell you that I am a 'fair weather' detectorist with the exception of some heat.

[Steve Herschbach]

My doing nothing is not a judgement of the merit or lack of merit of the product. The forum exists to present information that might be helpful to people. Maybe this product would be helpful for somebody, and I am sure people can judge for themselves. I don't like spammers mainly because they are sneaky third party types trying to pull one over on the forum. But I have no problem with straight up "hey, I made this cool gizmo if somebody wants to buy one" though the Classifieds is the more appropriate venue for advertising.

That said, welcome to the forum Bootyhunter. There are also forums here for coin & relics, jewelry, etc. so maybe you can hang around and post a tale or a find or two.

 

[Bootyhunter]

Thank you. Nice picture and a perfect example, lol. Before registering I honestly thought this to be purely a prospecting forum. I do see the other topics and intend to read and post in them just as I do the other forums I'm a part of.  I certainly don't want to be considered a spammer, I did consider the classifieds but a lot of forums you must have a number of posts before you can post in the classifieds, not sure if it's that way here, and more importantly, unless folks are looking for something particular they probably wouldn't see it.  This is one of those things that you don't know exists, but once you see it you understand the merits of it and some will want.  Thanks to the other poster for explaining about the masking in wet weather for gold prospecting, I wasn't aware of that as I know absolutely nothing about gold detecting. Again I apologize for getting off on the wrong foot, and I appreciate you letting me remain here. Good luck to everyone, that's the one variable that remains constant in all types of detecting!

[mn90403]

Ok, it's true.  I can't think for Steve.  haha  I'm really surprised he has enough time to keep up with all his testing and all the forum entries also.

Is that Wilma?  Nice picture.

Bootyhunter, I'm Mitchel and what is yours?  

Perhaps you have made a product that will let us get our 'old' equipment out in the wet to look for some nuggets.  My present equipment of a 3030 and a 7000 is water resistant to a certain degree and if I got rained on I would worry more about me than the detector!

I still have a 5000 and I may have bought one of your systems to protect it from moisture if it was my primary detector.  

I beach detect and nugget shoot but do very little relic detecting.  I do understand that if you are relic detecting in England on a guided tour you MUST detect rain or shine.  Most of us nugget shooters stay at home until a better day if it is too wet or windy.

Mitchel

[Steve Herschbach]

1 hour ago, mn90403 said:

Is that Wilma?  Nice picture.

Wilma, Doug the Minelab dealer from Alaska in center, and Jim the undercover geologist on left. At my old Moore Creek property in Alaska. I am guessing I have spent more days in the rain with a Minelab PI than most people. Nice to not be concerned about that anymore with the GPZ.

[Rob Allison]

Hey Steve, Bootyhunter and all,

   The cover is pretty nice and will be a good asset to many in areas where there is a not of rain or snow.  Steve might remember, but years ago at either Moore's Creek or Gane's, it rained all day.  It was miserable to be honest and extremely cold.  It it wasn't for finding some nice gold, most probably would have been back at camp where it was warm.  I remember one guy, not sure if it was Glenn, but it was so cold their Minelab shut down several times.  One the unit warmed up, it powered back up.  

Curious if a cover like this would hold some of the heat in.