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Hip Mount / Chest Mount For Fisher Gold Bug 2


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This is a follow up thread to my previous thread Control Box Cover For Gold Bug 2.

The Fisher Gold Bug 2 was one of the very earliest best designs for nugget detecting ever conceived and to this day I think the case can be made for it being about as good as it gets. Lightweight, tough, and easy access control panel. But what really sets the Gold Bug 2 apart is a feature getting really rare these days. It comes set up right out of the box with the ability to hip or chest mount.

Now light as the Gold Bug 2 is this may seem to be no big deal. Many detector manufacturers these days feel that way. Thier detector is pretty light, so why worry about hip or chest mount capability? Most purchasers do not care, so the capability is fading from the scene. However, there is hope with new wireless designs that are bringing this capability back to the fore, as in the XP DEUS, but better yet, with no cables at all.

Even the DEUS though feels heavy compared to a hip mounted Gold Bug 2 sporting a 4" x 6" elliptical coil. Talk about featherweight! Hip or chest mounting keeps the control box under the rain jacket, safe and dry. For serious wading it is impossible to beat chest mounting with anything short of a waterproof detector.

The Gold Bug 2 control box slides off the rod assembly. Two slim slots integrated onto the back of the control box are designed for belt use. Simple as can be to hip mount.

fisher-gold-bug-2-belt slots.jpg

Belt slots on Gold Bug 2

fisher-gold-bug-2-hip-mount.jpg

Now the fun part is you can make a chest harness for nothing. Here I have just taken a camera strap I had sitting around and clipped it into the upper end of each belt slot. Adjust belt and strap to length and now you have a harness! Finally, when used in conjunction with the control box cover from the other thread, you have a nice chest mount setup with cover.

Very important. Be very aware of the coil cable where it exits the control box. I mount the hip box on my rear hip so when I bend over the cable does not bend against my body. Same thing with chest mount. Get the control box up high to try and eliminate any excessive repeat bending in the cable. If you ignore this you will have a premature cable failure at the point, so do not say I did not warn you.

fisher-gold-bug-2-simple-chest-harness.jpg

Simple homemade harness for Fisher Gold Bug 2

fisher-gold-bug-2-chest-harness-with-cover.jpg

Gold Bug 2 chest mount

fisher-gold-bug-2-chest-harness.jpg

Chest mount with cover

Here are a couple real life photos. First with me at Ganes Creek, Alaska in 2001 with my first larger nugget I ever found there, a rocky 14 dwt specimen. We were swinging 14" coils those days for ground coverage. Then my buddy Jeff Reed in 2002, again at Ganes Creek, with a chest mount setup.

steve-herschbach-14-dwt-gold-nugget-ganes-creek-2001.jpg

jeff-reed-fisher-gold-bug-ganes-creek-2002.jpg

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Been using the Fisher harness for the GB2 for many, many years at Ganes Creek. Detecting in rain, sleet and beautiful sunshine. When it rains just put your raincoat over it and away you go,,

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But my local Fisher dealer told me the little red pouch for the GB2 has not been made in 5 years at least? Dunno why some dealers still list them as available? I'd like to have one if somebody actually still had one to sell? Too bad I never learnt to sew? I like Steves setup tho. So, what was the issue with the 14 inch coil then Steve? I know you told me to stick with the 10 inch as my big coil....

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Hi Tom,

Because those dealers have pouches to sell, unlike your local dealer? As it says in my article "It was discontinued for several years and then made available again. Last MSRP I saw was $18.95 and part number 103696"

Have you tried contacting the dealers that say they have them?

We were using the 14" coils for ground coverage to look for large gold nuggets in low mineral ground. I was not thinking you were involved in that kind of scenario and so advised that large coils are not usually useful on the Gold Bug 2 in higher mineral ground. In my opinion. I currently do not own a large coil for my own Gold a Bug 2 for that reason.

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Thanks for the Gold Bug 2 write ups on covers and body mounting Steve. I didn't realize the slots were for belt mounting.

 

You mention wireless use. Is there a headphone wireless set up you recommend for the GB2? With the amount of rain we get here in the northwest corner of California (in a normal year), along with river edge detecting, these mounting suggestions are really going to help. A good wireless system would make it even better.

 

It's nice how you comment on the full range of detectors, past as well as the most current.

 

Mike 

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Hi Mike,

Thanks, GPZ stuff is getting a bit much, so wanted to mix it up.

I have not found an add on wireless setup I get too excited about. The TDK Kleer setup vanursepaul got at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/595-wireless-headphones/?p=4762 looks good enough I am very tempted to buy and try. The problem is I prefer headphones with independent volume controls and the wireless setups usually do not have that. Still, would be nice.

What we need is a plug in transmitter mated to a receive module that you can plug any headphone into. Like the Minelab WM10 module for the CTX 3030 but with independent transmitter module.

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Yes, I too appreciate the individual controls of traditional headphones.

 

I also went back and read your write up in 2011 on the Gold Bug 2. A good read originally, a better re-read. It's amazing what a person can learn or relearn of the unique features of a metal detector, the ground we search and the target we're after. Especially from experts perspective.

 

Mike

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  • 2 weeks later...

I could only locate new GB2 hip/chestmount pouches over at MetalDetector.com , what used to be called Detector Electronics. Price was cheap, under $16 but a $9 ground shipping charge.Look for them under Detector covers and bags.

Just ordered mine today. Very few dealers seem to have them and the chest mount harness I got from Rob in  Arizona has no instructions or photos to show how it attaches to control box? Plus, I just noticed my GB2 control box is riveted to the S rod. Steve, do I carefully drill out/grind off the rivet and use a bolt on the S rod instead?

 

-Tom

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