63bkpkr
Silver Member
- Aug 9, 2007
- 4,069
- 4,618
- Detector(s) used
- XLT, GMT, 6000D Coinmaster
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Due to a knee injury and attempting to be "a good boy" I stayed out of the hills for my five days off from work this 4th of July 'Holiday'. I've gotten some rest and that's good, I've gotten things done in the new apt. and that's goood but I am missing out on what I really wanted to do this five days off, go hike in the mountains and prospect.
So instead I took a look at historical articles on Tnet under digging tools and it seemed (to me) to be in need of updating so here's my 2 cents worth on digging tools.
Here we have a Costco purchase from several years back. These are Corona tools still available from Corona at ~$18 each. The double ended Mattock in the center is the one I've carried into the hills with me. It has a solid weld job that holds the handle to the double Mattock blade head and I've used it to pry out some boulders and it did not give way. Each is 14" tall and likely they are made in a little city south of Chicago, called "CHINA".
In the first picture we have a full sized military folding shovel and in front of it is the Gerber 'Gorge' collapsing handle shovel. I've backpacked each but have found the Gerber to be more useful than its big brother. The second picture shows they are about the same length (~ 9") when folded but the Gerber is much narrower. The Gerber is a "solid tool" and has taken some hard use as a shovel, a chopper and as a hammer/beater/banger as it has a hammer head on it that is very solid (at the bottom center of the shovel in collapsed view). The third picture is of the full sized shovel folded and resting in the 1/8" mesh classifier/carrier I made for it, a shovel full just fills the classifier. The Gerber can be found at Amazon for ~ $18 and free shipping as of 07July12.
Here is my version of a double ended scraper/digger/thingy. It's a little larger than 1/8" diameter steel rod that I used and heated and then pounded the flat end, finished it off by rounding it clean and then filed the point on the opposite end. I never got around to bending the angle on one end and found I liked it the way it is.
This is an Eastwing brand Geologists Pry Bar or Gad Pry Bar, it's 17 3/4" long after using it for a few years. I bought it from an online geologists supply house as I could not find it anywhere else. A well supplied Eastwing dealer may have them in stock, somewhere.
And of course the Lesche Digger/Cutter/etc. tool and a very good tool it is. BUT notice the black thing just above the Warning notice 'W'. That is a rare earth magnet that I get two of for free every time I wear out one of my Sonicare toothbrush heads. I keep one or two of these with me on every trip as well as a small zip lock plastic bag as they DO come in handy.
And for the city playing with my coin machine I use this probe (home made). The brass part is about 7 3/4" long including the threads as it is threaded into the black handle. The handle is a piece of aluminum round stock ~ 3/4" outside diameter with a drilled and tapped hole at the center of its horizontal length and another drilled and tapped hole at one end of it, that end hole can just be seen in the picture (the black is heat shrink tubing). I just can not seem to cut a big hole in a lawn even though I do have the Lesche so I use the probe and as it is a soft brass I can 'usually' extract a coin without damage. After using the probe steady for about two weeks the point has to be filed down as it gets a Very Sharp point on it from the abrasion of pushing it into the soil. If need be, even when dull it would be useful to ummmm, protect myself with.
My "Don't Leave Home Without Them" tools for prospecting are the Gerber Gorge, the Eastwing pry bar and my home made digger/scraper w/the flat/pointed ends. I also take some sort of classifier and I've grown fond of my BatPan gold pan so it comes as well as the GMT and one or two coils, a set of headphones (now the wireless TDK's) and a few other odments like food, sleeping bag, etc. and my insurance policy. I just don't leave home without the insurance policy!!
I hope everyone did something worthwhile over the 4th and please share your favorite tools as I do not want to miss out on some neat goodie.........63bkpkr
So instead I took a look at historical articles on Tnet under digging tools and it seemed (to me) to be in need of updating so here's my 2 cents worth on digging tools.
Here we have a Costco purchase from several years back. These are Corona tools still available from Corona at ~$18 each. The double ended Mattock in the center is the one I've carried into the hills with me. It has a solid weld job that holds the handle to the double Mattock blade head and I've used it to pry out some boulders and it did not give way. Each is 14" tall and likely they are made in a little city south of Chicago, called "CHINA". In the first picture we have a full sized military folding shovel and in front of it is the Gerber 'Gorge' collapsing handle shovel. I've backpacked each but have found the Gerber to be more useful than its big brother. The second picture shows they are about the same length (~ 9") when folded but the Gerber is much narrower. The Gerber is a "solid tool" and has taken some hard use as a shovel, a chopper and as a hammer/beater/banger as it has a hammer head on it that is very solid (at the bottom center of the shovel in collapsed view). The third picture is of the full sized shovel folded and resting in the 1/8" mesh classifier/carrier I made for it, a shovel full just fills the classifier. The Gerber can be found at Amazon for ~ $18 and free shipping as of 07July12. Here is my version of a double ended scraper/digger/thingy. It's a little larger than 1/8" diameter steel rod that I used and heated and then pounded the flat end, finished it off by rounding it clean and then filed the point on the opposite end. I never got around to bending the angle on one end and found I liked it the way it is. This is an Eastwing brand Geologists Pry Bar or Gad Pry Bar, it's 17 3/4" long after using it for a few years. I bought it from an online geologists supply house as I could not find it anywhere else. A well supplied Eastwing dealer may have them in stock, somewhere. And of course the Lesche Digger/Cutter/etc. tool and a very good tool it is. BUT notice the black thing just above the Warning notice 'W'. That is a rare earth magnet that I get two of for free every time I wear out one of my Sonicare toothbrush heads. I keep one or two of these with me on every trip as well as a small zip lock plastic bag as they DO come in handy. And for the city playing with my coin machine I use this probe (home made). The brass part is about 7 3/4" long including the threads as it is threaded into the black handle. The handle is a piece of aluminum round stock ~ 3/4" outside diameter with a drilled and tapped hole at the center of its horizontal length and another drilled and tapped hole at one end of it, that end hole can just be seen in the picture (the black is heat shrink tubing). I just can not seem to cut a big hole in a lawn even though I do have the Lesche so I use the probe and as it is a soft brass I can 'usually' extract a coin without damage. After using the probe steady for about two weeks the point has to be filed down as it gets a Very Sharp point on it from the abrasion of pushing it into the soil. If need be, even when dull it would be useful to ummmm, protect myself with.My "Don't Leave Home Without Them" tools for prospecting are the Gerber Gorge, the Eastwing pry bar and my home made digger/scraper w/the flat/pointed ends. I also take some sort of classifier and I've grown fond of my BatPan gold pan so it comes as well as the GMT and one or two coils, a set of headphones (now the wireless TDK's) and a few other odments like food, sleeping bag, etc. and my insurance policy. I just don't leave home without the insurance policy!!
I hope everyone did something worthwhile over the 4th and please share your favorite tools as I do not want to miss out on some neat goodie.........63bkpkr
Last edited:
Upvote
0
