WesD

I use the Link made sledge/maul handles when I make my own picks. Ace hardware should carry them. Fitting them is pretty easy and takes me maybe 10 min. If you have a chop saw and table mounted belt sander, you're good. Cut the end off where they slotted it for a wedge so you just have a straight handle shaft... Then sand to fit. Rotate the handle carefully while your sanding and keep checking until your close. Pound it in the tube with some gorilla glue 2 part epoxy or similar, and pin it with a shovel rivet. This one or a similar one might work for you.

Phrunt, Here in the NorCal gold country, most the guys I know that hunt creeks successfully use SDC2300s. Great detector for water hunts, small coil for crevicing, super stable ground balance, and no worries if you drop it.

At least they are square nails. Round nails on the other hand, I take as an insult. To me, they are one of the most vile horrid things one can detect in the gold fields.

I was hiking to a patch in Norcal when a "yellow dog" ran across the trail a short ways in front of me. I thought that's weird, a lost dog out here in the forest, but then my dog theory quickly changed as a big cat returned to the trail for a better look at me, I suppose. I remember he was big and his tail was twitching about.. We stared eyes for about 10 seconds and then I raised my pick, let out a yell, and off he went, stealthy as a cat. I never heard him run. Nothing like a bear crashing through the woods. I can imagine if one were to attach, you probably wouldnt hear it coming, especially with headphones on. Also had a small scorpion bite when I was brushing away dead oak leaves with my hand. Felt like a bee sting and pain was gone in 15 min.

Yep, what Steve said! In California we have thousands of little creeks, benches and rivers with craggy bedrock where small coils are king. 10 x 6 coils are money makers in these environs.

Yep anything small like 8x6 or 10x6 would be the sweet ticket!!! I always felt Minelab wouldnt go there, as it would cut into the sdc sales, but sure hope I'm wrong!

What I have observed, is the threshold will be very stable after an auto tune, but then the instability creeps back in, and again an auto tune needs to be done to keep the sanity. Maybe Minelab will have a software fix for us? posting from NorCal Motherload country

Chet that would be great, but as it sits now if you want a small coil top end gold detector, you have to buy a 2300. You want a big dog 19" coil? You have to but a GPZ. You like that nice midsize 11" hunter, well clean me out! Drop more $ down on a 6000. Minelab has a pretty good gig going and I dont see them dropping the security chips anytime soon. We can hope for aftermarket always!

Boys, up in the Plumas territory, they consider that a bottle of gold dust. Not sure when they call the color a nugget, but I imagine somewhere around the size of a walnut! Truly a promised land.

I found the 6000 is like all the old Minelabs wrapped in one package. Basically the ultimate prospecting detector, like swinging a vlf, 2300, old gpx, and gpz, all at the same time. For new patches of gold this is awesome! For old patches of gold, if you've already gone over them with ALL of the above detectors, the results probably wont be that epic. A few nuggs will be found, but it doesnt seem to be revealing some new dimension of dirt that the combined effort of the old detectors missed.

Ive known a number of guys that had 100k years detecting gold, but none of them had to solely rely on that gold to keep a roof over their head. It was all bonus gold. So ya you can really hit it good sometimes but its a stock market ride and it always busts at some point. No guarantees you will ever even find one more piece in your life. Gold is always spotty, inconsistent, fickle

Nice pics Steve, thanks! Always interesting to see how ground looks like in other areas. Yup, dig n detect is the ticket to success in a lot of places!

That little stuff is fun when its steady and also makes you appreciate the big lunks. Is that creek gold or dry diggins up there in Montana?

Call me paranoid, but Im not sure I would want even more hf radiation beaming through my noggin on an 8 hr hunt. Wes- who still plugs into the 1/4 jack

Actual cost on the 'labs aint that bad if you consider they hold a good resale value. Your "rental" cost is the difference what you paid for it, minus sold for. Some even come out richer on the resale. As long as you can cover the initial investment, then you just keep flipping the $ to the next model. Sell old model, add a couple grand to cover cost, and your off to the diggings. 1 or 2 oz always pays off the detector and you have peace of mind being covered under warranty, as they always seem to break something.