speedman2049

11 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

This looks like a decent description of serpentine asbestos.

It's certainly important from a safety standpoint to take hazards seriously.  However, like any hazardous material, it's the amount of exposure, and to a lesser extent, how that exposure is spread over time.  From the article:  Heavy and frequent occupational exposures are more likely to cause disease than are nonoccupational exposures; however, a lifetime of exposure to low levels is also recognized as a potential hazard.

It's good that you've become aware of the hazards of handling serpentine, and your activity around it going forward should be one of caution.  However, if I were you, I wouldn't fret about a few hours spent collecting panable material in the conditions you describe.  Easy for me to say, but I've been in related situations with regards to ionizing radiation.  Knowledge is your first and most important line of defense.  All others follow from there.

Thanks, makes me feel a little better lol!

Nice find!

I was out the day before yesterday taking some samples and found this greenish rock that seemed brittle and layered. Turns out it may be Serpentine rock which contains asbestos!

I wasn't to happy when I found that out as I was digging out a bunch of dirt and fine gravel where there was nothing but this stuff as was bringing back a bucket to pan at home. Now I'm worried about all that dust I was around, just great....

Also the battery seems to last a really long time on both the wireless headset and the detector itself!

Started the day at around 10:00am and finished close to 6pm with only stopping to use the unit when going to lunch and changing locations to try out various places. The headphones are telling me full charge still and the detector went from 5 bars to 3 bars, pretty damn good for using it all day almost non stop! This was with the small coil so maybe the larger one would draw more power.

Came back from the day and no gold nuggets for today 😞

But that's ok as I'm still getting used to the machine and learning it!

I very much like this little gold kruzer and learning to trust it more! For example, I was for the most part using it in beast mode with the gain turned pretty high up and many a time I'd find a target, dig, find nothing, pass the machine and it would tell me, something is still down there, keep looking buddy, it's there and slightly less deep this time on the deepth meter. I kept telling myself, this thing is going Crazzy there ain't nothing down there, then finally after digging more than half a friggin foot or more, I found the tenniest little piece of metal, or a little piece of aluminum foil (what the hell is a little piece of aluminum foil doing in the ground like nearly 1 foot deep is beyond me lol). This happened multiple times me thinking the machine was Crazzy but each time it was right, I've learnt to trust it now lol which gives me confidence now in the machine and trust.

The mineralization bar helped me as well to know when to ground balance as I kept changing spots as I was hunting from sand to rocky boulders to going into the water with big slabs of rock etc...

I really like the ground balancing, super easy, just hold the button GB and it tells you to pump the coil and as you start pumping, each time you get close to the ground it beeps and gives you the GB value recorded and you do this 3 times or so and the GB value is set! I haven't tried yet the auto tracking GB, maybe next time.

This is what I ended up finding today, a mix of ground in a parc near the river, boulders by the river, sandy beach area, going into the river and scanning pockets and crevices and rock slabs on shoreline of river, trying not to get my kruzer swept away by the currents lol.

I have no idea what the weird handle looking type thing is, or the 2 other little pieces!

The 8 little rocks are little metal pieces that were ringing up on the detector with good id numbers but I have no idea what they are, would have to check again each one to see what the id rings up as and then see if I can test and identify each one.

P.S. Going to be heading back out tomorrow but this time with a friend and will be mainly panning tomorrow but bringing the Kruzer to scan the front and back facades of rocks in the river to help target good possible spots to pan!

Alright boys, taking her out for some gold nugget hunting today!

I'll let you guys know how i do!

Wish me luck!

I had no idea it came with a carbon fiber lower shaft! Have it assembled and charging the headphones and unit as we speak!

Ahh yeeeeaaaahhh!

Looky what I picked up at the post office today!!!!!!!

1 hour ago, Swegin said:

Sorry about your engine.  I guess you figured out what JEEP stands for.  Just Empty Each Pocket.  I do miss mine sometimes.

 

Erggg,

Had a 2007 Jeep Grande Cherokee with 5.7l v8, Quadra Drive 2 with the Eaton lockers on front center and back. When it ran, it ran good but just had to recently scrap it as to many corners they took to cheap out on it, essentially the pressed in valve seats. Had a valve seat drop in to the engine and then bye bye engine...

I had a nice hole in one the pistons as verified when i used a bore cam and removed a spark plug, i was not happy....

I could go on with the amount of short cuts they took on the Jeep i had (wheel nuts were hollow with chrome caps that snapped, engine fan hydraulically driven by power steering pump instead of electric fans to power it, etc...).

150k km and jeep was scrapped, un-acceptable.

My sister had my old Jeep which was a Jeep Liberty and engine had also died on hers too.

Never again will i get a Jeep, got burned on that.

3 hours ago, phrunt said:

Most places I go are pretty safe but a few locations I go to can be a bit risky, so I take some personal protection to them. 

Unfortunately my coil does pick it up being a metal spray can so I need to keep it in my backpack with my lunch on the ground somewhere and go to my bag if I need it.  My wife told me it also comes in a tube with no metal, but I'm yet to find it at the local store.  I'll probably have to buy it online.

Do you guys use bear spray for the bears? My sister lived in Canada and told me about bear spray, I thought she was joking at first.

No, Bear spray is a real thing here! It's apparently super strong mace (concentrated capsaicin from peppers). However i don't know if i would trust it, i mean one strong wind gust or how far the bear is from the spray could leave you having a very bad time.

I personally would take a good riffle if possible, if you are in remote areas as there are Bears, Wild Cats (Lynx, BobCats, Cougars etc...) and Wolves, charging Moose or Deer, and although all the above is rare, it's still a possibility....

4 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

And you are where?

Then you won't mind letting some of us in on the bounty!

 

Haha sure! It's pretty much like that for all the provinces in Canada and in my case Quebec!

Cheers!

Here where i am the whole province is open to public exploration as long as the land isn't under claim and is not private property. It would be a impossibility to explore all of it in a lifetime so tons of untouched land!

This includes areas that are known and have active mining for gold and just by panning 1 or 2 weekends i had found some teeny tiny flakes without knowing the area to well and try some random spots (hope it's not pyrite lol!

Hey there kac, ya no salt water around me in my province (Quebec), only beaches that are all fresh water here!

I will definitely try it for fun anyways, just to see!

Ordered my Gold Kruzer today!

And now the waiting game lol!

Hey PeterInSa, ya i saw that video, as well as a bunch of others on the Gold Kruzer. Looks nice!

I also so a video of these dutch coin hunters and the guy was using the Gold Kruzer and was finding coins like crazy, like one after another non stop on the beach with it! After that he went to a park and again finding coins silver earnings etc... Apparently as he said, there's no gold nugget spots in his country, but for some reason he bought a Gold Kruzer? Not sure why, maybe because he was also hoping to find lots of lost jewelry too and choose that model, but i was still impressed as didn't think it would work to well for that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbNBQW53O5s

Hey Kac, ya i don't plan on going in for a full dive under water lol, just small rivers/streams, but if i ever do i'll keep it in mind, thx!

For sure, will do!

I'm excited to get it and start having some fun exploring with it!

I'll let you guys know when i get it, hopefully soon!

Alright i think i'm pretty much settled on the Nokta Makro Gold Kruzer (61kHz).

It will fill the primary role nicely which is gold nugget hunting, it's water proof, comes with 2 coils, and i seen videos of people successfully using it to still dig out coins etc in soil! If after getting really used to the machine, and trying it out for coins/relics and see i'm not happy with it for that role, i can still go on to get a Vanquish to fill that specific role!

Payday tomorrow so i think i know what i'm going to get LOL!

Thanks Phrunt and everyone else that responded as well!

Much appreciated!

And a special thank you to Phrunt and Mxt Sniper (we had chatted quite a bit in messaging), as they gave me tons of info so i'm in a much better informed position to make a decision.

Wow that's impressive!

I never thought that the 11" would be able to pick up on those tiny pieces!

I think i saw some posts on another thread from you that said that you were quite happy taking out the Vanquish for coin hunting as it was fun and easy and usually chose to take it out over the Equinox 800 most of the time. Is that still the case? Just trying to gauge if i should do the combo detectors or just go all in on the Equinox 800!

In my case the majority of use would be in small rivers and creeks with lots of rocks, and some land as well.

I didn't know that the 11" could detect small gold, good to know! I was under the impression i would sooner or later need the 6" to find small gold! Thx for the info!

Alright have some time to think about either the Vanquish 440/Gold Kruzer combo or full send with the Equinox 800 lol

Hey Guys, thx for the replies!

I've been reading and researching non stop including today for like 6 hours lol!

I really like the Equinox 800, downside is with a 6" coil you're looking at $1500cad! I could just get the Equinox 800 then in a couple of weeks get the 6" coil for it, that would be one way.

Another way i was also thinking was get the Vanquish 440 ($360cad) and have that as my coin/relic machine and try it out for gold just for fun but plan ahead on getting a dedicated gold detector like the Makro Gold Kruzer (61kHz) ($835) and i would have 2 purpose built machines and still be under $1200, a difference of $300cad between those 2 vs the Equinox 800.

Thoughts on this approach?

Would it be a good way about it as i would be under $1200 and have 2 purpose specific machines, or $1500 for the Equinox 800?

Thanks again for the replies and info!

5 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The F19 is a good option too, while not waterproof the coil is.   Here is it for sale for $401 USD I believe

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Fisher-F-Camo-Metal-Detector/1937215.uts?slotId=0

For gold I'd pick that over the Vanquish 440.

The Equinox is obviously better again but price is obviously higher.

What are your thoughts on a used Minelab Explorer 2?

I have one around me here for sale with 2 coils and it to is multi frequency (1.5 - 100kHz).

28 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The Vanquish v8 coil is not an issue, perfect for small gold. I am sure many wish that coil was available for the Equinox, I'm one of them 🙂 

The big issue is the lack of ground balance, for me it doesn't matter as I'm in mild soil, but if you are in mineralised soils you would benefit from it, it may not work well at all where as a detector with an ability to ground balance will.  For this reason the Equinox 600 would be better, and the 800 of course better again.  Hunting on bedrock in a creek or river it might well be perfectly fine but it's not water proof or even resistant where as the Equinox is.  The F19 might be the better pick over the Vanquish for the gold due to the ground balance, for coins I'd go the Vanquish.

Vanquish 540 Pro Pack is a good deal though, I've got one.

The Equinox wins as it's pretty good at everything.

Hey Phrunt,

Thanks for the reply!

Ya i was originally really looking at the Vanquish 440 for the multi frequencies that are the same on the Equinox, as a general all around detector that could be used for gold nuggets and some coin/relics, as there is a huge price gap here for both in Canada. The Vanquish 440 going for $370cnd and the Equinox 600 for $860cnd and the Equinox 800 for $1200cnd!

It's looking more and more that it might be iffy going with the Vanquish (as i don't know how mineralized the soil is in my area) and the better choice (although more than double the cost) would be a Equinox.

26 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Welcome to the forum, speedman2049!  You've gotten some good advice so far and Phrunt's explanations are quite good.  I will add a couple things:

1) you mention 'coil swaps'.  Do you have added budget to buy more coils?  If not (now or if not until later) then you shoud get a detector whose coil best fits your needs/wishes.

2) If you can go over budget by $50 then the Fisher F19 should get consideration.  It is the same detector as the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro except you can buy it with the closed 5"x10" coil which will be better for nugget hunting and is still a good performer for coin, relic, and jewerly hunting.  (One of the threads Phrunt linked to might already have addressed this.)

3) If you can go over budget by $250 then that puts you in range of the Minelab Equinox 600 which Steve Herschbach has shown is a quite capable small, even tiny gold detector.  It does come with the open 11" coil (unfortunately none of the three Eqx coils is closed ) which probably isn't the first choice for small gold, but Phrunt has tested it and said on multiple occasions it's still very good at that.  (The 6" coil which retails for about $180 USd will be somewhat more sensitive to the tiny gold.)

4) I always point out that when budget becomes a constraint, the used market is worth considering.  Sometimes the warranty will still have time left (but make sure it is transferrable -- in general Fisher, Bounty Hunter, and Teknetics are not).  Most of the time (in my experience, anyway) warranties aren't needed.  It's certainly a tradeoff, though.

Hey there, thanks for the reply!

Ya Phrunt has given me some good info there as well as you and also Mxt Sniper as he and i are having a nice conversation going back and forth over private messaging! He's been giving me a lot of nice info and tips!

One that i was looking hard at was the Vanquish 440 as it uses the same multi IQ frequencies (5-40khz) and looks to be a dumbed down, less optioned and cheaper quality built Equnox. Unfortunately as Phrunt said, there is no manual ground balance and also there are only 3 coils smallest of which is a 8" coil.

I was thinking about the potential of using it in non discrimination all metal mode maybe dig all targets (since it's a river area in the middle of nowhere) and correlate any potential nugget finds to the ID# coming on the screen and over time get a feel with it.

Still the issues on coils and no ground balance are issues.

Thanks! Will take a look at the info there as well!

3 minutes ago, phrunt said:

The best place to start is

A few notes on your selection.

A 6.6kHz Time Ranger isn't a good choice for small nuggets, the new Time Ranger Pro is more capable, of even better a Fisher F19 as it has the better coil for prospecting.  Both can be used for coins also.

Vanquish lacks manual ground balance meaning if you detect in mineralised ground where gold often is you may encounter issues, it is capable of small gold but due to the ground balance maybe an issue.  Time Ranger Pro is a better choice at the cheaper end, Gold Monster is a far better choice overall if you just want to use it for gold.

Gold Bug 2, tried and tested, can't go wrong, harder for a new user to learn, Gold Monster is VERY easy to use, so more likely to have success quicker.  Not good for coin/relic hunting at all.

Explorer 2 would be a pretty good coin detector for you, not recommended for nugget hunting.

Gold Monster, best choice for small nuggets, especially seeing its so easy to use.  Good for professional and amateur users.

And last but not least you forgot the obvious choice, Equinox 600 or 800.

You mentioned searching in rivers, Equinox is waterproof.  Equinox 600 and 800 even with the stock 11" coil will find gold as small as the Land Ranger Pro/F19, most likely smaller, with the accessory coil they'll equal the Gold Monster on tiny nuggets, we are talking 0.00X of  gram.

Equinox 800 is better than the 600 due to it's extra features, wireless headphones and it has gold specific modes.  600 can still use used for gold but not quite as good overall.

The Equinox is not only one of the best gold nugget vlf''s it's also one of the best coin machines on the market.  I think you would benefit saving a bit longer, then not out growing your detector quickly and wanting a better one.

Thank you so much for your reply and insight!

I will take a hard look at both the Time Ranger Pro and the Equinox line up!

Thanks again to both Mxt Sniper and Phrunt for your replies!

Hello from Canada!

Long time lurker here from Canada reading up on many many pages on here (and others) on detectors and needed some advice/user experiences that people have had (and thank you in advance as i appreciate any reply taking the time to do so!).

This would be a first time detector for me and ideally i would like to spend around $400usd and can maybe stretch it to $600-800usd if i wait, although i'd really like ideally something in the $400 range.

My primary use would be for small tiny gold nuggets in my area (~0.1g-~1/2g) mainly hunting placer gold in rivers/riverbeds, and some relic/coin hunting on the side if possible with coil swaps.

A couple of detectors that made my short list:

-Bounty Hunter Time Ranger (non pro) ~$300usd (Pros: comes with 8-inch search coil and 4-inch Gold Nugget coil   Cons: Operating frequency 6.6 kHz) Seems like it can get the job done and used for both gold nuggets and coin/relics, price hard to beat, only downside is the 6.6 khz on smaller nuggets i think.

-Minelab Vanquish 440 ~$300usd (Pros: Multi IQ Frequency 5-40khz   Cons: Not specifically designed for nugget hunting, no small 4-5" coils) Also seems like it could get the job done with the v8 coil although more geared towards coin/relic, still with possibly playing with sensitivity and no discrimination could be a viable option and was thinking about this one heavily.

-Fisher Gold Bug 2 ~700usd (Pros: 71khz frequency   Cons: Specifically designed for gold nugget hunting, high price, not multi versatile as not many coils) On the higher end of the budget with price, not really versatile in the sense that i can only really use it for nugget hunting, on the other hand excels at nugget hunting but that's all.

-Minelab Gold Monster 1000 ~700usd (Pros: 45khz frequency  Cons: Pretty much the same as the Gold Bug 2) Again high end of the budget, same as gold bug 2 except lower khz but easier to use.

-Minelab Explorer 2 ~300usd used! (Pros: 1.5khz-100khz, multiple coils  Cons: Discontinued, Not designed for nugget hunting) I found a user Minelab Explorer 2 that comes with a carbon fiber shaft, 10" coil, 7" coil, 2 battery packs! I think for the price it's a steal! I also read that although general consensus is that it can't do gold nuggets, however a couple people had tweaked the settings and were still able to pick up nuggets that were as small as 2grain (0.1gram) with small coils!

Please let me know what you guys think would be a good fit, as well as any others that you can think off, and again thank you in advance for reading this and replying!