Portable/compact sluice help!!!

[ezrider2]

Hello
I am looking to purchase or make a portable sluice to haul in a backpack. There are so many out there!! Your help is appreciated. I will be working areas in California. Do you have a favorite? Plastic or metal? Thanks for your help and expertise!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[russau]

I really like the Le Trap sluice for what you are planning!

 

[goldenIrishman]

Both have their good and bad points. Metal is sturdy but weighs more while plastic is light but not as strong and can be subject to U.V. degrading the plastic over time. Nothing worse than having your sluice get busted up during the hike in to where you're going to be working. Kind of defeats the reason for hauling that weight in if you know what I mean. Metal sluices will have other parts besides the box that will need to be carried in as well. Riffles, matting, etc. The Le Trap that Russ mentioned is a one piece unit so the box is the only weight as the riffles are molded in. The Le Trap also has a very good reputation for how well it catches gold of all sizes.

Not knowing how much experience you have in understanding how a sluice really works, all I can do is to remind you that you should let the conditions dictate the equipment needed to work the materials instead of allowing the equipment to dictate which materials you can run. A sluice that will allow for a couple of different setups would be best. My sluice allows for riffles to be used or not as well as several different types of matting. Which matting I use depends on what kind of materials I'm working in at the time. Of course I'm not backpacking into our dig site so weight is not an issue.

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

One of the smaller Bazookas would be hard to beat. For backpacking I the Supermini.

 

[Reed Lukens]

For backpacking you want something light and dependable. I picked up an Angus Mackirk Recon 2 this year after a friend showed me his. I have lots of different sluices but wanted one that I could throw in the backpack and carry for days at a time when we are out hiking around in the deep woods here. The recon works great but you want the right amount of water and flow and it will have to be adjusted for different types of material depending on how you classify for the best recovery. The Bazooka's and the aluminum sluices are good sluices but the Recon 2 is a backpacking sluice. Check out their website and they do actually have one called the backpacker also. Recon II Sluice - Angus MacKirk

Here's a pic of my grandson using ours this summer.

 

[ezrider2]

Thanks for your response. I do understand how a sluice works and have read tons about them. I have never run a sluice just panned. So my experience is none with a sluice. That I is why I am in the need of assistance. I have to hike in to the east fork of the San Gabriel river so I need something portable and not to heavy and extremely effective. I will be taking a young person with me so I would like them to learn and have fun (I want to learn too). Thanks again

 

[Rdg Sluicer]

You wouldn't go wrong with any of the sluices suggested above. Just depends on your preference. Good luck and have a great time. Gold is still where you find it no matter what tool you use to find it.

 

[jvan]

I know you want a backpack model, My self I have went through so much gear in recent months until I got the Gold Hog Raptor highbanker, If you want something small then you should get the gold hog mini Mini Highbanker I am sure you can pack it in a full size hiking pack... Only thing is you will need a little electric pump and a battery, Think all and all you could pack everything right about 40 pounds and you will trap very good gold with this unit and don't need to classify so that will help to recover gold faster...

If that is too much for you then just get any raw sluice body, you can get them on ebay for $50-$60 for the sluice shell, then order Hog mats and you won't be disappointed... IMO I think they are the best mats out there...

 

[GoldpannerDave]

I really like the Le Trap sluice for what you are planning!

I second the LeTrap. It is very light, easy to carry. You can slowly feed it without classifying and it still catches the fine Colorado gold. Hand feed it, even with clay, and you get the gold. The drop riffles are great.

I have a Bazooka also and I love it, but it is heavy and more expensive.