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New Doc Pick Ns22


DigsAlot

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I got this pick from Rob, excellent customer service by the way!!!! Rob was able to send the pick to me in time for me to give it a run before the season ends.

My thoughts on the pick are a little mixed. I would say it is a good buy. There is a few things I would say should be changed or looked at. 

First, the blade side has the wrong grind angle, much like an axe vs a pick. This makes the chisel edge too thin and subject to bending marring or even breaking chips off when using it in a desert setting.

Second, the handle has a taper to it. At first, I thought this would be great. As a lot of picks these days have to thick a handle. Done in order to give it more strength; but creates a bulky handle as a result. In that setting, a taper would be nice. The other thing that we run into, is to small a handle next to the head of the pick, resulting in a weak handle that breaks. In the case of the NS22 pick. We have the perfect size handle at the pick head going into the metal sleeve. The taper results in making it to thin in the middle of the handle. Now the handle does return to the normal size at the end of the pick handle. Again, at first this seemed like a great feature; in reality, it makes the part of the handle you would normaly use one handed to thin for a comfortable and solid grip. Therefore creating hand/grip strain. When using it two handed, It makes for an odd feel trying to grasp either end of the handle to get the normal grip during two handed operations. It would be better for the handle to remain the original size all the way down. It is hard to find a pick with just the right size handle. I think this pick has that perfect size with out taper. Just my thoughts.

Third, comes the point of the pick. This pick has a wedge like tip. Some might like this type design. I personally do not, after trying it out with the NS22 pick. What I found was durning one handed operations it would make the pick deflect to one side or the other. Also, it didn't have the same penetration as a spike version would have. I do a lot of detecting in the Rye patch type area. In our dirt, it helps to have the spike to get a good depth per swing. With this wedge design it slows the pick down to fast to get that nice pick depth per swing. I plan to plasma cut my pick to the point style. I tried it in more gravel type dirt to be fair, thinking it might work better in that environment. It did not. Same result. 

Fourth, the wedge width is perfect for scrapping the top or clearing out the hole. The wings work great for that little extra piling effect when pulling the dirt from the hole. Except for the grind angle the blade side of this pick is great. I have already had the grind edge deforming. It has a bend from hitting a small gravel patch at Rye patch. The metal thickness is just about right. Changing the grind would be perfect.

 Fifth, the overall length of this pick is great, not to long or to short. You can use it one handed or switch  to two handed for those bigger Zed holes when needed.

Last, I did notice that my pick had a grind dig on the point side, top. It is a little deep, perhaps a 16th of an inch. This would be a quality control issue not a design issue. The paint comes off from use as expected, in case someone wanted to know about that fact. It does have a proper size pin holding the handle in place. Not one of those small pins you some times see.

Overall, I would say that this pick is worth buying. I was going to special order picks like this from Australia from the original designer. But this pick came up and is close enough to satisfy my needs. Our Australia members will  Recognize the overall design. However, for us in the USA this has design has been lacking in our market. The NS22 fills that void. Is it perfect no, is it a good pick probably. I plan to keep using it myself.

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Thank you for the through and honest review, that in itself is rare. The Australian pick you may be thinking of was called the Super- sede and sadly they are not being made any more. If they were that would be my new wanna try.

The best-made, toughest pick I have ever owned is the Hermit Pick made originally by Joe (joeforthegold), and later taken over by Bunk. It has never failed me in almost two decades of punishing use.

This pick that you have reviewed does not make me want to change. (no disrespect meant at all DOC)

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Hey Digsalot,

   Thanks for the honest comments and business.  We very much appreciate both.  Doc and I are very close, known each other for about 25 years now.  I will pass this info to Doc so he can get some good feedback.  We have sold a good amount of these "Nugget Stalker" new picks.  I have to agree, the pick selection in the US is minimal now.  I have reached out to several Australia makers, but the cost of shipping is tough to make a buck here in the US unless I'm orders 100+ picks.  

Doc sent me some more information about them recently - 

Quote

 

Doc:  $89.95 with no magnet, $99.95 with magnet, user mountable.  Never know where people want to install the magnet.  The magnet is a nice magnet, approx. 1 1/4 in diameter by 3/8ths inch thick.
 
The Pick is 22 inches long.  The pick from blade to pick point is 11 1/4 inches long and the wide end is 5 1/2 inches wide.  The pick weighs in a just shy of 3 lbs.  Beautifully balanced.  I had a chance to use it at the outing and hate to brag, but it is the best most efficient pick I have ever developed.  The Ash wooden handle has a slightly larger end of the handle to give you a better grip. 
 
Doc

 

 

 

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34 minutes ago, DigsAlot said:

Thanks for the commits Rob. I just wanted to give a fair review. I am not bagging on the pick. It will replace my current apex.

Dear Digsalot,

Glad to have your feedback.  As with everything, everyone has different opinions about what they like and what they don't.  I'm not going to get too involved in explaining why I designed the pick in this manner.  I value all criticism and opinions because after all, all opinions are valid, and they will help me make better products.

I used the pick on an outing for the first time last week.  I was very pleased.  I designed this pick based on things I want in a pick.  But what I want, may not necessarily be what the masses want.

The sharp blade that you mention could develop nicks???  Under no circumstance should you ever use the wide blade of the pick to hack at the ground, so I assume that is not what you were doing.  I always use the pick end to break up the ground and the wide blade to pull the dirt out of the hole.  I know I sometimes have to fight the urge to use that wide blade to hack at the ground.  The purpose in having the sharp edge on the wide end is to deal with dead brush that many times get in the way of recovering a target.  I detect a lot of nuggets that are close to or in bushes that line gullies.  Being able to clear that brush and get my coil over the target is a plus. I do agree that I think the blade is a little too sharp, but man does it clear the brush. 

I do take exception to your statement.  " I was going to special order picks like this from Australia from the original designer."  I am the original designer! 

Yes!  I am the original designer of the WALCO pick with bent edges from S.H. Wallace in Australia.  At one point in time I was the major importer of WALCO picks into the United States.  At that time they offered the W1 and W3 pick.  The smaller one was shaped like a piece of pizza, and the other was larger with a spike on one end welded to a wide blade on the other end.  I told S.H. Wallace that I wanted them to make two picks that were basically the same size, but I wanted the wide blade to be shaped differently with bent wings to enable more efficient dirt removal.  They complied with my design request and I dubbed these picks the WOMBAT picks.  I still have the emails from November and December of 2004 where I am giving them instructions on making the blade wider, and then finally to bend the edges in. 

December 9, 2004:  "Can you call Cliff at S.H. Wallace and ask them if they got my email back to them upping my order of picks in the new design, and whether they can bend the edges in a bit ?  Thanks!  Doc"

The bitter truth is that WALCO makes amazing picks, but they could not keep up with my demand here in the U.S.  I remember the first time I ordered 300 picks, and they asked, "Mate, what are you going to do with 300 picks?"  LOL  They were having problems getting the number of handles needed to fill my orders.

I personally found the handle on my new Nugget Stalker pick very comfortable, but I may not be a good judge.  I'm a little guy, 5'7" with small hands, and wear a 9.5 shoe.... no jokes please!   So for me the handle feels good.  I grasp it right in front of the end of the handle where it gets larger.  That larger end gives me the feeling that the pick will not slip from my hand.

How did you feel about the weight?  It is one of the lighter picks I have ever designed.  It comes in right under three pounds, which is significantly different from the prior pick I designed which weighed almost 5 pounds. I am wondering whether the pick point seeming to slide to the side is a product of the pick point, or the lack of weight?  As I said I am going to be very interested in how your modifications affect performance.

Fortunately my pick is made in the United States and I have complete control over modifying the design elements, including the grind of the blade shaping the point and the way the handle is made.  I hope others will be as thorough in testing this pick and offering their input.

It was 1990 when I designed the first commercially available prospecting  pick.  Up until that time everyone was making their own with their trusty welders.  However if you were not fortunate enough to know how to weld, you were stuck trying to use a Estwing pick, which were woefully inadequate. 

I really do appreciate your in depth critique.  I know it takes a lot of time to do a write up like this, and a lot of thought.  I look forward to hearing your evaluation after you have done your modifications.  My first run of picks was only 200 pieces, so there is always room for improvement.  Thanks again for the thoughtful evaluation.

Digsalot,, Listen if you need another pick to play with modifications, let me know.  I would only ask that you share with me the results, good or bad that you experience from modifying.

Doc

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32 minutes ago, davsgold said:

G'day Rob Allison

My "Gold Digger Picks" are based on the "Mallee Boy" pick, which has been around in Australia for many many years.

I have been making my version now for at least 3 years.

And yes freight to overseas is quite expensive, and I guess the main reason only a few have gone over to the USA, in a one at a time type of shipments

cheers dave 

Your Gold Digger picks look amazing.  However, my experience with S.H.Wallace was disappointing.  Don't get me wrong, they are a fantastic company and Cliff and company are great people.  However, I think they underestimated the American market and in particular my marketing reach.  And they had no control over their suppliers who could not meet demand.

Once I started ordering 300 picks at a time, and placing additional orders before they had even shipped the 300, they started having supply issues with the company that supplied handles.  I had spent thousands and thousands of dollars advertising and marketing WALCO picks in the United States and it was way more successful then I think they could have expected.  I overwhelmed them with orders and ended up with a lot of disappointed customers.

Not to mention most of the cost of the picks were wrapped up in exorbitant shipping costs.  We parted way as good friends that realized some things were beyond our control.  S.H. Wallace had no control over a handle manufacturing company that could not timely deliver handles to fill my orders.

Doc

 

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Thank you for the information Doc. Let's talk about the fat elephant in the room lol. I made the remark about original designer based off a manufacturer in Australia telling me he came up with the design. That combined with never seeing one for sale in the USA gave me no reason to doubt his statements. He provided me with many design specs as we where chatting about specs and mods I thought would work here in the good ole USA. So apologies if that is wrong or upsetting. 

Steve lots of respect for your ability to review items, tell it like you see it and not ruffle feathers.

Doc I would enjoy working with you on view points concerning the NS22. I plan to start with the tip. Got a couple other prospector tool ideas I will be adding to the pick as well. Feel free to send me a PM if you want.

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