Counter Weight

[Norm S]

I just made the shaft shorter to a  comfy length and I don't notice the weight at all. At 1st i had the shaft a bit to long and was swinging my arc about 3' in front of me and the detector felt unbalanced. Then I looked and I had room for adjustment so I slid it up and made it shorter and now my arc is at about 2'.  This thing is a breeze compared to the E-Trac, When I detect I go as light as possible so I don't need to add weight for balance. At 73 yrs old dropping to my knees 30 - 50 times a hunt wears me out enough without extra weight. 

[dewcon4414]

Norm....... its balanced weight, you honestly only notice its no longer nose heavy.   Yes you can shorten the shaft.   But very few beach hunters do... . thats why when we can we use a straight shaft..... for that extended swing.  Also in the water to close and you can step on your coil even.   Way to much sand to cover with the coil right in front of you.

[parkgt]

14 hours ago, Norm S said:

I just made the shaft shorter to a  comfy length and I don't notice the weight at all. At 1st i had the shaft a bit to long and was swinging my arc about 3' in front of me and the detector felt unbalanced. Then I looked and I had room for adjustment so I slid it up and made it shorter and now my arc is at about 2'.  This thing is a breeze compared to the E-Trac, When I detect I go as light as possible so I don't need to add weight for balance. At 73 yrs old dropping to my knees 30 - 50 times a hunt wears me out enough without extra weight. 

I just got mine and did the same as Norm, shortened it up.  With the shaft now in this more upright position no reasonable amount of weight is going to change the balance point.  In this position all added weight is going to do is add WEIGHT. 

With your hand lightly holding the handle push (with no arm strap on) push the top of the shaft away from the bottom of your forearm.  Note how much pressure you have to exert (think weight) to make any meaningful difference in the perceived nose heaviness of the coil.  Then ask yourself do you really want to add that much weight to a light detector?

I heated and reformed the arm cuff for a tighter fit.  I used it today for two hours without the strap and had no control issues and did not notice any of the rotational torquing others have commented on.

The shorter more upright stance does reduce the swing radius and may not suit everyone; particularly as mentioned above for water hunters.  But those that need or want to keep weight and stress to a minimum might want to try it.

Remember no matter how you set it up to keep your grip as light as possible.  A death grip on the handle will wear you out sooner no matter what configuration you decide on.

[dewcon4414]

The handle is a good fit.  I used to use to small of a handle with the Xcal.   I ended up with TRIGGER FINGER.  Just changing to a fatter handle solved that.   A lot of sand to cover for us and we arent picking thru nearly as much trash as a park hunter would be.

[SittingElf]

I put together my 600 yesterday and adjusted the arm cuff to just below my elbow.  Length to put the coil about 12" in front of my feet for swinging.

Tested swinging it, and after more than 10 years swinging a GTI 2500, this thing felt light as a feather!  I may feel differently after some time, but for now, I couldn't be happier, and don't feel what others are calling "nose heavy".