Rick K - First Member Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 I recently bought a Tesoro Diablo II nugget detector on local Craigslist for a really great price. I wanted a nugget machine because I currently don’t have one and I had never seen, much less owned - a Diablo II. It comes after the Diablo and before the Lobo, Diablo Micro Max, and LST. It uses the same 20kHz coils as the original Lobo and is all metal only. The main reason I went for it was that included in the price was - A Hodan pick, a Faswing rock hammer, driving hammer, two drills and a pair of snake proof gaiters - plus a couple of loupes, a Keene “gold Magnet”. I was telling a fellow AZ Treasures Unlimited club member about this and mentioned that a while back, it was posted (here, I think) that these were no longer available because the company was no longer making them. If I remember the post correctly, it went on to say that it was because John Hodan had passed on. I am delighted to announce that while the company is gone, I am reliably informed that John is alive and well. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don in SoCal Posted September 24, 2020 Share Posted September 24, 2020 My first machine was the Gold Demon II. I had a number of coils for it, the 4.5X7 DD coil was the most impressive. To my memory it was capable of about 3/4 the depth of the LST on #8 shot with the 6X9. I liked the manual ground balance and the retune switch for zeroing in on pinpointing. Good starter for a dig it all machine. Lack of coils really makes it a dinosaur. That Faswing rock hammer must be a Chinese clone for an Estwing (so sorry). The Hodan pick, you did great. The rest of the bundle made it a good CL buy. Good news about John, Thx. Should you ever get bored with your Pantera..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 Hmmmm... I was a Hodan dealer for a long time, and was told John has passed when the company closed. I was on board early and did a lot to get his product known. That’s been years ago, and I find it hard to believe he hid out and let people like me believe he is gone if it’s not true. I still use his picks to this day when prospecting. Anyway, I could have been misinformed and am happy to hear it may not be true. http://arizonaoutback.ipbhost.com/topic/12311-going-goinggone/?tab=comments#comment-71662 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted September 25, 2020 Share Posted September 25, 2020 How do we find out if John is gone, or not! And why this quandary!??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB_Amateur Posted September 26, 2020 Share Posted September 26, 2020 Rob Allison still has them listed on his site. Maybe he just had a large inventory built up, or maybe the company was resurrected? http://www.nuggethunting.com/HodanPicks.htm Also there he says "I'm a personal friend of John Hodan, owner and manufacture of these greats prospecting picks." Rob can probably answer the question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K - First Member Posted September 26, 2020 Author Share Posted September 26, 2020 John claims to be alive and fine - I was telling a fellow club member about the pick and mentioned that the company was closed and John had passed. The guy called me back shortly after and said he had called and asked Hodan if he was still alive (they are pals apparently) - John said he was still at large - the company is closed however. The hammer and rock hammer are in fact Estwing - sorry about the typo. I have a line on one of the small coils for the Demon as well one of the 15” “surfboard” coils. Air testing the standard 10” coil - with a slight negative GB, I get about 1” (and a bit) on #9 shot and 2.5” on #6 and 10” on a nickel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe D. Posted September 26, 2020 Share Posted September 26, 2020 I will believe he is still alive when he sends me a free pick with his signature!???? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick K - First Member Posted September 26, 2020 Author Share Posted September 26, 2020 Here’s the email I got from my fellow club member - and Hodan’s pal - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Herschbach Posted September 26, 2020 Share Posted September 26, 2020 Well, I'm glad to hear that! I still have four of his picks; in fact I am putting a new handle on one today. #3,4,9, and 10 below are all Hodan picks. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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