Happa --
THANK YOU for the very kind words! I do consider each customer a "friend" and "cohort" in this great hobby that we share. I'm just another detectorist, who likes to use equipment that works well, and does its job properly. And from that perspective, the goal I have in mind for each person who contacts me, is to provide them with something that I believe will help make each hunt more enjoyable, and make their detectors more comfortable to swing.
I especially am glad to hear of your experience with the counterweight. I know for some, it remains counter-intuitive to "add weight" to what is marketed as being a "super-light machine." But the fact is, lightweight -- without balance -- is NOT comfortable. It's the difference between carrying a 2x4 from the MIDDLE of the board, versus from one of the ends. Either way, no matter which way you try to carry it, the 2x4 weighs the same. But -- it is NOTABLY more difficult to carry a 2x4 from near one of the ends, than it is to carry it from the MIDDLE, where it is "balanced." Yes, absolute weight matters some; after all, it's always good to swing a machine that weighs as little AS POSSIBLE. BUT -- if achieving the lightest weight possible means sacrificing balance, then what you've actually done is made the machine MORE difficult to swing, than it would have been had you made it 10 or 12 ounces heavier, but PROPERLY BALANCED...
I'm glad to hear, Happa, that by experimenting, you convinced yourself that it's not "in your mind." And you are right -- it's not. It's simply physics...
Thank you for the great feedback!
Steve