Apex Picks....????

[oneguy]

18" or 24"...….any preference and if so, why?????  Thanks!!!

[Nevada Brian]

4 hours ago, oneguy said:

18" or 24"...….any preference and if so, why?????  Thanks!!!

Oneguy, there are so many variables; however, I have the 18" Apex Badger which I use with my GMT and a 28" Rogue pick that i cut down to size for my GPZ.  I prefer the 28" length as I don't have to bend over as far and it has a large hoe for those GPZ holes, 24" was just too short for me, Im 6 feet tall.  A short handled pick is great for hands/knees detecting and of course less weight.  Because I don't need a heavy duty pick with my GMT, the 18" Apex Badger is ideal, and the 24" would be overkill, IMO.  Since you have the GM 1000 listed as your detector, i would suggest the 18", Hope this helps.

Brian.

[oneguy]

16 minutes ago, Nevada Brian said:

Oneguy, there are so many variables; however, I have the 18" Apex Badger which I use with my GMT and a 28" Rogue pick that i cut down to size for my GPZ.  I prefer the 28" length as I don't have to bend over as far and it has a large hoe for those GPZ holes, 24" was just too short for me, Im 6 feet tall.  A short handled pick is great for hands/knees detecting and of course less weight.  Because I don't need a heavy duty pick with my GMT, the 18" Apex Badger is ideal, and the 24" would be overkill, IMO.  Since you have the GM 1000 listed as your detector, i would suggest the 18", Hope this helps.

Brian.

Thanks Brian.  I should have added that the reason I'm going with the pick is because I have a GPX 5000 coming so bigger/deeper holes (sigh)………..

[Steve Herschbach]

In Alaska I hunted taling piles. They are easier digging, but there is rarely a time when the ground is flat. Lots of side hilling, and so I favored "walking picks" with 36" handles. The tailings are full of trash, and so the digging is constant. That being the case the pick was always in my hand, and made a great aid in navigating steep hillsides.

Now that I hunt deserts and such, I tend to have my pick on my belt way more than in my hands. Hours can go by between targets. So I now favor picks that can hang easily on a belt. 24" is not bad but tends to catch me on the leg sometimes so now 18" is doing the trick for me. If I was digging holes every ten minutes I would go back to the longer handles, but right now I more of less vote for the 18". But it really does just depend on what you are doing.

Prospecting Pick Thread

Here are some of my picks. Right now #3 is the favored one. #1 is an Alaska version that dug many holes.

[oneguy]

thanx guys....I'll go with the 24" and shorten it later if need be????

[Steve Herschbach]

28 minutes ago, oneguy said:

thanx guys....I'll go with the 24" and shorten it later if need be????

That's exactly what I did with my last one. I got the 24" and it would sometimes catch me in the calf. That was really just a placement issue with my belt though. The real impetus for cutting it down was in wanting it to fit in a particular rucksack, and so I cut it down more for that reason. Then I found it rode better on the belt so a win-win.

[goldwright]

I like No9 Steve with the rounded blade, never thought of that for cleaning out small holes in small creeks.  Might modify one of mine