Docs Swingy Thingy And Swing Arm

[DSMITH]

Been contemplating ordering Docs Swingy Thingy, and the Saga Swing arm, since I added the Axiom 16x14 Mono Coil for sure going to pick up the Swingy thingy and Queegle bungee attachment but was wandering if it is worth adding the Saga Swing arm also, does it give you more control of your detector and coil, and can the Swing arm be removed when I am running the 11x7 Mono and DD without to much trouble, just to remove the added weight

the 16x14 throws the balance off quite a bit on the Axiom, and at my age it is a bit of a work out swinging those big coils

 

Thanks for any replies

[Doc]

If you have 10 seconds, you can detach the SAGA.  You just leave the Pivot Joint on the rod, as well as the rod clip.

Then you push a button pull the rod out of the Pivot Joint and set it aside.

The SAGA is not just a Swing Arm, it's a coil guidance device.  I understand why you think you would not need it for the smaller coils, but trust me, when you see what the SAGA does you need it for small coils as well as big coils because it will save you a lot of stress on your body.

SWING arms do just what they say, it's an arm that allows you to Swing the Detector with both hands.

The SAGA Is a Swing Assist Guide Arm.

Watch this video and you will see that there is no "SWING ARM" ever made that does what the SAGA can do.

I forgot to mention I had a customer that was using the 16 X 14 Mono coil and had a shaft clamp on the Garrett Axiom rod break.  Garrett of course replaced it and it was probably a freak occurrence but since installing the SAGA the customer has had no further issues with the Garrett rod.

But you have to remember that a large coil puts a lot of stress on a rod especially at the end of your swings.  You are swinging in one direction then abruptly changing direction and swinging in the opposite direction. Changing the direction of your swing when the coil has momentum going in one direction causes a lot of stress.  It's sort of like whiplash.  All of that stress is directed at one place, the lower part of the detector rod where the weight of the coil is.  Probably in a slow motion video you could actually see the rod flex as you change the direction of the swing.  We saw that a lot in the Minelab lower rods is the SD/GP/and GPX series.  If you were using an 18 inch coil it was not unusual to see the rod snap right above where it attached to the coil.

The SAGA stops that stress because you are equally pushing with one arm and pulling with the other.  The swing is much smoother and more controlled and you don't get that violent change of direction stress.  

Doc

Start at the 2 minute mark.
 

 

[phrunt]

Well, this one I can help with as a recent owner of the Saga Swing Arm and Swingy thingy, I love the Saga swing arm, I've used the Minelab swing arm a few times but ended up not bothering with it, but the Saga has a district advantage and that is that it pivots any direction, this is very beneficial if you're swinging in variable terrain.  I detect basically 90-degree walls of dug out ground from the old timers and have found nuggets embedded in these walls.  I detect very steep ground and I'm moving my detector all over the place and often lifting it up to detect even above my head, and this is the key to the Saga over the original.

The Queegle bungee is much better than the Minelab one, easier to clip/unclip for sure.

The Swingy Thingy is good if your pants tend to expose your crack 🙂 It holds them up, it's more comfortable than the Minelab Pro Swing harness, not near as big, bulky or hot to wear, however it doesn't transfer the weight to your hips like the Pro-Swing does if that is something that matters to you.  The weights transferred to your shoulder which is fine for me even with the GPZ and its heavy coils, and with a light detector like the Axiom that would be fine too for you I would think.  

The one I really like the most is the Saga Swing arm, it does what a Swing arm should do, I've never been a harness wearer or any of these "weight off accessories" type of person, I found the Hipstick to be a bit weird and felt like a cyborg using it and just thought it was always in the way especially but would consider that type of contraption if I was swinging very large coils in flat open ground although I think I'd work on the design myself and not stick with the original as there are some changes it could benefit from, I'm sure Doc could do a much better version if he didn't mind stepping on peoples toes as he gets custom made parts rather than off the shelf stuff and just assembling it, but it's a product that does the trick and combined with the Swingy Thingy, Saga Swing arm and a Hiipstick your detector would be completely effortless.

See this video on the hipstick if you're not aware of it.  Very easy to make your own if it's impossible to get where you are and a bit of googling will help with that.  It really does take the weight away as your hips doesn't notice it compared to your shoulders.  It's worth buying if you can find it for sale locally somewhere and want a weightless detector.  

I've used my GPX 4500, 5000, 6000 and 7000 all without using bungees and contraptions the entire time I've owned them other than wearing the harness sometimes without the bungee so I could use my speakers and SP01 as I just didn't like wearing stuff on me but I can get used to the Swingy Thingy as it's not big bulky and has the pants advantage which has been a bit of an ongoing problem for me 🙂

 

[DSMITH]

Thanks @Doc and @phrunt I am sold getting ready to place an order as I type

[Doc]

33 minutes ago, phrunt said:

Well, this one I can help with as a recent owner of the Saga Swing Arm and Swingy thingy, I love the Saga swing arm, I've used the Minelab swing arm a few times but ended up not bothering with it, but the Saga has a district advantage and that is that it pivots any direction, this is very beneficial if you're swinging in variable terrain.  I detect basically 90-degree walls of dug out ground from the old timers and have found nuggets embedded in these walls.  I detect very steep ground and I'm moving my detector all over the place and often lifting it up to detect even above my head, and this is the key to the Saga over the original.

The Queegle bungee is much better than the Minelab one, easier to clip/unclip for sure.

The Swingy Thingy is good if your pants tend to expose your crack 🙂 It holds them up, it's more comfortable than the Minelab Pro Swing harness, not near as big, bulky or hot to wear, however it doesn't transfer the weight to your hips like the Pro-Swing does if that is something that matters to you.  The weights transferred to your shoulder which is fine for me even with the GPZ and its heavy coils, and with a light detector like the Axiom that would be fine too for you I would think.  

The one I really like the most is the Saga Swing arm, it does what a Swing arm should do, I've never been a harness wearer or any of these "weight off accessories" type of person, I found the Hipstick to be a bit weird and felt like a cyborg using it and just thought it was always in the way especially but would consider that type of contraption if I was swinging very large coils in flat open ground although I think I'd work on the design myself and not stick with the original as there are some changes it could benefit from, I'm sure Doc could do a much better version if he didn't mind stepping on peoples toes as he gets custom made parts rather than off the shelf stuff and just assembling it, but it's a product that does the trick and combined with the Swingy Thingy, Saga Swing arm and a Hiipstick your detector would be completely effortless.

See this video on the hipstick if you're not aware of it.  Very easy to make your own if it's impossible to get where you are and a bit of googling will help with that.  It really does take the weight away as your hips doesn't notice it compared to your shoulders.  It's worth buying if you can find it for sale locally somewhere and want a weightless detector.  

I've used my GPX 4500, 5000, 6000 and 7000 all without using bungees and contraptions the entire time I've owned them other than wearing the harness sometimes without the bungee so I could use my speakers and SP01 as I just didn't like wearing stuff on me but I can get used to the Swingy Thingy as it's not big bulky and has the pants advantage which has been a bit of an ongoing problem for me 🙂

 

The inventor of the Hip Stick has routinely bought my Swingy Thingy to package with the Hip Stick.  The Swingy Thingy is the perfect fit for use with the hip stick.

Doc

[phrunt]

2 minutes ago, DSMITH said:

Thanks @Doc and @phrunt I am sold getting ready to place an order as I type

You won't be disappointed I'm sure, and if you still want to take even more weight off consider the hip stick, no doubt one day as I age that hip stick I've got stuffed away somewhere in a cupboard may come out and get used as it does do what it claims🙂

 

[Doc]

1 minute ago, phrunt said:

You won't be disappointed I'm sure, and if you still want to take even more weight off consider the hip stick, no doubt one day as I age that hip stick I've got stuffed away somewhere in a cupboard may come out and get used as it does do what it claims🙂

 

The disadvantage of a Hip Stick is it transfers the weight to your belt and pushes your pants down.  The disadvantage is solved when you use the Hip Stick in conjunction with an Ultra Swingy Thingy because the Swingy holds your pants up as you have mentioned.

Doc

[Doc]

Phrunt I'd love to have some pictures of you detecting a side wall that I could use for advertising.  The Minelab Swing Arm is no help for this kind of overhead work.  But this is where the SAGA excels.

Doc

[phrunt]

This is the sort of thing I'm talking about.

The Saga is perfect for detecting large areas like this, and what you want is depth so the big deeper coils are a good idea, and the Saga helps with that.  This would be 2 or 3 times my height.

I stumbled across an old photo JW took of me detecting one of these walls, I found 2 bits of gold in that bit of wall that day before moving onto flat ground and finding a couple more.

My harness is only on for my SP01 amplifier with twin speakers and to hold up my pick 🙂  It's nothing to do with the detector weight, the GPZ with 8" coil is effortless.

[Doc]

Oh wow.  Next time your detecting a wall using the SAGA snap a picture.  Thank you.

Doc