Pans for Christmas gifts

[Lakemonster]

I have no knowledge of the pans out there today... other than browsing the net a little to see what is there.

I need to buy 2 pans for a family member that is headed to Az this Christmas and is going to try some prospecting. Aside from a metal detector... he and his brother have no equipment. I thought a couple of pans would be in order.

What would be decent pan for beginners? And where would you buy this pan from? I'm not necessarily cheap, but he will likely be using the pan once or twice at best... so an investment grade product is not really called for here.

I sure appreciate any input you have in advance

[Hefty1]

There must be a prospecting shop nearby that you could go to.
They should have pans.

[Gramps43]

Do a Google or Bing search for "gold panning equipment" you should find quite a bit of info. Basically you want a 12 to 14" pan with some riffles in a 40° section, color isn't important but a lot of folks like black to able to see the gold a little better. You might also search for "how to pan for gold" and copy & paste a set of instructions to a WP and then print them and wrap then with the pans.

Gramps

[russau]

whatever pan you get, condition it before you try to pan with it!it has a mold release agent on it that needs tobe removed and the surface of the pan needs to be slightly scuffed up but not gouged out! the release agent will cause the water in your pan to bead up and thats not a good thing. then get in lots of practice before you go out and look for gold. if you dont do these little, importent things, youll likely get frustrated and give up!

[Lakemonster]

Hey thanks guys!

I wish I had a prospecting shop.... I live in East Texas where there is basically NO gold.

I ended up finding 3 pans on ebay.... and got those.

I did read up on seasoning the pans. A scrub and soak in detergent was recommended. I thought about using TSP instead. Any reason why that would be bad?

[russau]

ive never used it but theres lots of things i havent tried! try it on the backside of the pan to see how it reacts with the plastic.

[Gramps43]

TSP is trisodium phosphate, it's a good grease remover and shouldn't effect the plastic. Just use 180 grit sand paper and scrub down every mm of the inside then wash good in the tsp and they should be good to go.

Gramps

[Nitro 54]

I have a lot of different pans, and always keep going back to the 12 inch Keene pan with riffles. It just fits my hands perfect. They are not expensive .

[63bkpkr]

I enjoy using the Batpan (Batpan.com) but its kinda expensive............63bkpkr

[calisdad]

I like the Batpan too tho I haven't mastered it yet. The pan you get with a GPAA membership has great riffles that let you work quickly without losing gold. For $40 you get a membership and a bunch of other goodies:

http://www.goldprospectors.org/zenca...roducts_id=535

[ivan salis]

garrett has a nice lil panning kit -- green plastic type with a screen type "classifyer" pan a bigger and smaller pan and few other bits of stuff that might fit you to a T --not too costly but still nice $25 at sportsmans guide