Tortuga

Really nice. It's deep GPZ targets like those that convinced me to get a pinpointer. Makes recovery a lot faster and safer, I can pinpoint the exact spot the target is in and not worry about hitting it with the pick.

I have the same issue. Most "wide" sizes don't fit me. The Rocky S2V's in size wide fit great tho.

Asolo's are also excellent boots. Was going to say they probably have the edge over Salomon's but are a little more expensive too.

Those Rocky boots he had were probably the S2V's. They are excellent boots, some of the best I've worn. Not too heavy like Danner's and not cheap, lightweight made in China boots either. "Vibram" is just the brand of the outsole they use on them. Lots of boots have Vibram outsoles. They are not metal-free tho, the eyelets are metal. More than likely he didn't know exactly what you were asking him. If you're just using an SDC I wouldn't worry too much about wearing metal-free boots. I use a GPZ and I wear boots with metal in them. I've never had any problems. You just have to be mindful where you swing. I think it's the guys with GPX's using 20" coils that need to worry about metal-free boots. If you don't need tall, 8" military boots check out Salomon GTX's. They are comfortable and durable ankle-high boots. They're some of the best on the market right now. As far as GPS's I really like the touchscreen models because they're user friendly and you can navigate the menus on them quickly. I use a Garmin Oregon 650 with a rechargeable battery. I've never uploaded any Google Earth files to it tho so I can't help you there.

The year isn't over yet so I'm still counting....

That's a monster digging pick! Shouldn't even have to bend over when you're swinging that thing.

11 grams is real nice nug. Can't wait to see the pics.

This has been my experience as well. Dug some shallow screamers anyone could have found but they were off the beaten path. And also dug some deep, spongy stuff right near the road that I think only the GPZ would find.

It's got a little of both. I've found some solid ones and some specimens down there with the Z.

Plan on visiting Greaterville? I'll be poking around down there around Xmas time.

Interesting discussion. Earlier this year I found one nice sized nugget that any GPX should have found. I think I was just in a spot that no one had bothered to check. Then a few months ago I found a deep specimen nugget that was classic GPZ gold. I think it was just too deep and porous for any GPXs to find. So I think the hunt can go both ways; sometimes being on good ground can win the day and sometimes it's the technology.

Never heard of it! Neat.

0.4 oz is a nice slug of gold. Maybe nothing special for Australia but in the US bigger ones are getting harder and harder to find.

Tobin I've definitely done the same thing a few times, especially digging the hot pockets of soil. At the end of the day it comes down to target response. True metal targets will have a shorter, sharper tone and I've since been able to walk away confidently from a few hot spots I thought were deep targets as well.

I almost met Paul out in the goldfields a few weeks ago but he was out hunting with his new Z. Finally met his buddy Justin instead. I'm sure I'll get the chance to meet Paul in person eventually. Congrats on being the Detectorist of the Year. Chris

Oh ok so there's an actual "threshold adjustment". I don't play with that aspect of it much and I don't have the detector in front of me so that's why I asked. I usually just run it with the sensitivity turned up a little, high yield and depending on the feedback I'm getting from the ground either normal or difficult soil. Haven't delved into it much further than that.

What setting are you adjusting to get a quiet threshold? The only one I've played with so far is turning the audio smoothing on and off.

I had the B&Z Booster. It's really meant to be used with an external speaker because you'll pick up some feedback from it if you're using headphones. Was a nice little device tho.

First strike with the new Z in Greaterville?

Must be the same stuff I found. I posted the specimen here- http://forums.nuggethunting.com/index.php?/topic/11666-copper-nugget/#entry81648

Did it put off a loud signal on your detector? It may have some silver on it as well. Green is usually some kind of copper oxide but I found a piece of ore that I posted in Rob's forum that looked like a big mix of copper, quartz and silver. Just didn't have time to erode yet I guess.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've run Normal soil setting much at all since the update. Just seems too hot and noisy for where I detect. I used to run it all the time, not anymore tho.

I basically run the stock settings on my GPZ, with the Sensitivity turned up just a little. Depending on ground noise I switch between Normal and Difficult soil. 90% of the time I have Auto-Smoothing Off, depending on EMI in the area. I've never had what I'd call a "quiet" threshold with my GPZ. I typically don't use Normal soil setting as much as I used to because I feel the high threshold in that setting masks targets. I pretty much just ride the faint wave of sound till I hear a waver or chatter. Dug some deep targets before from an odd "breaking" noise I've gotten in the threshold before. I read some good advice on these forums about digging anything that's repeatable and disturbs the threshold, not just obvious metal target hits.

Gold prospecting is the only hobby I think I've ever had where I've actually got the chance to MAKE money. Skiing, snowboarding, surfing etc. all I did was spend money and take home memories. There's no guarantee of success with nuggetshooting, but there's a chance you can take a little money home at the end of the day. And sometimes A LOT of money if you hit a big nugget. At the end of the day we're all just buying our gold. Unless you've been lucky enough to have found enough to pay off your detector and you start actually making a profit.

Wow that was really interesting. I like this pic of a modern day arrastra.