I have only been prospecting for a couple of years, but have used both pans. The green pans (garrett) have deeper grooves which are supposed to trap more gold if you are qwik panning. I recently purchased a Garrett pan and was able to process more material with more confidence. However I still like to use my black pan to finish panning when I get down to the black sands. Buy them both and experiment for yourself.
I agree that you need both. I use a 14inch Proline pan in the field and a whole stack of Keene 10" black pans at home for finish processing. Shop carefully for black pans...you want a nice smooth bottom - no ridges.
Thats right, green to sample and black to clean up. I also picked up a baby blue finish pan while i was in colorado. Its hard glass smooth plastic with a very shallow angle on the edges. This pan lets you remove layers of lighter sand very easily. Its much touchier than a regular pan but boy can u get the stupidly small 2-400 mesh stuff out.
That's like asking a baseball player what bat to use. The answer is whatever you feel most comfortable with. I've used a dozen different pans but I like the black pan with 3 riffles along the sides and a flat bottom. I use it for all stages of panning, no need to carry a bunch of different pans. Is it better than all the rest, yes, to me, because that is what I'm comfortable with. I don't like pans with crevises and catches in the bottom, they get in my way but others like them. Try a few out, if you're doing it close to right, they all work.
I agree with spiller with one exception, I like the garret with the added ridge in the bottom. An added trap for the gold. That is just what I like. Everyone likes different pans for different reasons. It's a personal thing. I started with a steel pan, no traps, so you had to be good or loose the gold. So what ever floats you boat learn to use it like it is an extention of you hand.
i have tried the black pans at the local gold museum here. they are not bad, but i prefer my green Garret pans. much easier to see the black sand in my personal opinion.
Like others prefer green or blue but just preference.
I met a guy that swore by purple.
I don't think it matters as long as you sand your pan lightly or use river rocks and scratch it up a little when it's new.
That stupid coating when they are new is like panning on ice.
Lightly sand your pan again every so often too
When I was young all I used was steel or copper and both work great for packing being that they don't break easily. I've broken a lot of the green Keene pans over the years and one blue proline. Then I had a thick plastic drop bottom pan that rolled itself into a hot dog in the back window of the car one day.
I used the old copper pan for years and it is still one of my favorites for throwing into the back pack. I don't really like any of the Garrett pans just because they don't fit my style. I have them all but never use them so they are scattered out in the yard.
I really like the Pioneer pan that Frank still makes for everyone. It's the black one in the picture though it comes in different colors. I like green but I really like the blue finishing pan the best over everything else for finish panning. As far as for regular panning it's just whatever I feel like using that day which is always either the green Keene pan or the Black Pioneer pan because they both have distinct differences for different styles on panning. As far as the Proline pan goes, it really doesn't measure up to these other 2. The Keene has 3 stages to choose from as well as the Pioneer and both work excellent.
A pan is a pan... °°°No°°° all pans are different and some pans will work a lot better than others in certain situations. I used the black finish pans for years until I found the ultimate blue one
Here's a little video that shows the blue finishing pan in action.