blackjack

While I do think the Nemo is a good product and I don't want to start a discussion on which dive system is the best, In my opinion the thing that makes the Nemo energy efficient is also it's weak point that is the on/off switch in the regulator. I had concerns about it's serviceability in Australia as well, on inquiries to the dealer it seemed like it had to be sent back to the USA to be serviced. I ended up with the AirBuddy system, for three reasons, I was able to talk to the manufacturer via phone and email, they sell a full list of spare parts and are happy to have the unit user serviceable in fact they have videos on it on their website and lastly I was able to talk to them about making modifications to the unit, I wanted to use a bigger battery, they went out to their way to help me achieve that. I'm really impressed with the AirBuddy's build quality they use the best components from around the world and assemble it in their Sydney workshop.

Yeah I understand the portability part, there's three of us to share the load, if we didn't have a budget the nemo wins in the potability stakes, we would have one each, but with spare batteries that's over 10 grand, ouch, we are finding gold but not that much. Reliability ? time will tell, life is a compromise, good luck with your nemo, and keep us updated.

Erik, I'm confused, two laughs from the funniest post I've seen on this forum.

No, I've bought the Australian made AirBuddy, this unit allowed us to run two divers. Plus we were able to talk to the manufacturer and work out a system were we could run it from a larger battery. Jan and the crew at AirBuddy were really helpful plus they back it with a full list of spare parts, which makes it user serviceable. For one diver and portability the Nemo looks like a good choice.

The critics have obviously never experienced, the spinechilling moment when you see a snake go under the fridge. I support all animals and their rights to share the planet, but you have to draw a line in the sand.

A great alternative g-j by the time you take into account socks and trousers. I think the reason Australian snakes are so venomous is that they have a relatively poor way of delivering their venom i.e, via grooves down the side of their fangs rather than a hollow fang. This is just from memory I didn't fact check.

100% the same as Tasmania.

Sounds like Tasmania.

100% red light, a torch, a vibrator and 100gm. weight saving, I've already added a 6" coil to my 800 but I'm going to sell it for half what I payed for it and rush out and buy a 900........it's only going to cost me $2200 I can make that up in the coins I find jumping fences at night, with that red light and torch on the 900.

I wasn't expecting to see a metal detector

Location, Location, Location.

Hey strick, after reading all the comments the Nemo does seem to have some problems. The very thing that makes it so efficient on battery power may also make it prone to unreliability i.e. a switch in the regulator that keeps turning the compressor on and off. Think I'll look at an Australian made unit AirBuddy their website has a complete list of spare parts which makes it user serviceable. I would prefer to see that than videos with pretty girls.

Hey N/E did you end up buying a hookah unit, we area looking into it.

Hey Alby, I can't seem to find any details about the unit in Australia. See my posts on sniping under the gold panning forum. On our last trip we were working an area where it got too deep and came to the conclusion that we need a hookah unit. We are looking at a Chinese unit based on price, an Australian made unit based on quality and parts and serviceability, as well as the Nemo. All I can find about the Nemo is that it's by a Florida based company, is it made in the USA ? And after using it for a few years what's your verdict. Your opinion and any others that are use this hookah system or similar would be appreciated.

After a good days sniping we have to walk past an apiary to get back to camp, Corey was ahead of us by 20 meters, Brodie and I were walking together, I'd just mentioned how in the past the bees have been well behaved, when Corey got stung. The s... hit the fan in a matter of seconds, I now know what making a bee line means, I saw a line of bees coming straight for my head. We stared running, we were in our wetsuits and and all put our hoods on as we ran unfortunately for me there was three bees in my hair, they stung me, while running top heavy with a back pack and trying to get my hood back off, I tripped on a rock. A series of increasingly long steps followed, until the inevitable happened and I fell heavily, my partners stopped to pick me up, we had left the bees behind, and with a bit more than my pride bruised I hobbled back to camp. It could of been a lot worse Corey got stung four times and me five, Brodie escaped injury, we had a good laugh about it later, but in hindsight it could have got nasty really quick. Here's some pictures of the weekend, sorry I can't post any photos that may give away the location, I'll post them when we finish in the area.

Hey Erik, nice finds, 1.30 am that's dedication, looks to be worth it though. Blank shell is interesting, I have found .303 shells and one blank but not that size. As you say the gold ring looks to of been in the water a while. Big tides up your way !

You've got it covered, that is the 'book' on beach hunting.

January 5th 2023 according to Surfline the largest West-Northwest swell to hit California in decades, given the direction and your location did you miss the worst/ best of it ?

Phrunt's advice is to detect less popular locations or to be more precise locations that haven't been detected by others. Good advice, but what I can't figure is how come I only ever find ring pulls bottle tops and foil, are you bastards leaving that stuff on the beach !

Sad but a sign of the times, I look forward to my monthly copy of Australian Gold Gem & Treasure. Obviously I'm a dinosaur, but I just prefer the printed version, If didn't have a printer I wouldn't use my computer nearly as much. Yes I have a computer not a smart phone, for my convenience I use a dumb phone. " how do you fleece sheep"....... charge $1200 for an i phone.

Interesting to hear that you can use mechanical means to shift water in Vic. I wonder what the rules are in other states ? There seems to be a lot of gray areas, for instance gold and other minerals found in Tasmania belong to the crown and unless you have an additional right to it you cannot keep it. Yeah right I'd love to see that rule enforced ! The other vexed question in Tasmania is needing to get permission from the Exploration lease holder, considering most of the land is under an E.L. and most E.L. holders are large mining companies, and when asked for permission they don't respond or say no, no one I know of ever asks. In Western Australia this has been addressed by paying $99 on top of your prospecting license, but there are pedantic rules about it's use. Surely after paying for your prospectors license, that should be enough to give you access to crown land, after all we are limited to what we can do by the rules of the license. Another disturbing trend is the way insurance companies are limiting land holders to give permission to prospectors to use their land. Bureaucrats, lawyers and insurance companies have changed the world that I grew up in. Reminds me of a song by Robert Cray Nuthin' But Woman ' you can give me an hour alone in a bank pay all my tickets wipe the slate blank you could buy me a car fill up the tank tell me a boat load of lawyers just sank.......................

If only the people who buy miners moss, dream matt etc. knew that nearly everything will catch gold. People here in Australia buy pay dirt i.e. dirt with gold in it to 'practice' their panning, without working out that it's actually hard to loose a piece of gold when panning.

That's funny, I'm new to this forum but I hope Reg doesn't read this, Hey Reg our nuggets float during the clean up !

Wedges are a great idea. I use to carry a small crowbar, but even an extra couple of pounds can be a killer on some of our hikes. I've got an aluminum wedge, there's no shortage of rocks to hit it with.

When working next to a stream sluice yabbie pumps are easy on your back to feed the sluice, not sure what they are called in the states, bait pump ??