Best gold pan?

DizzyDigger

Gold Member
Dec 9, 2012
5,787
11,445
Concrete, WA
Detector(s) used
Nokta FoRs Gold, a Gold Cube, 2 Keene Sluices and Lord only knows how many pans....not to mention a load of other gear my wife still doesn't know about!
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Look for the Garrett Gold Panning kit. Several of the sites supporting
vendors sell them.

Good pans, good price and comes with a 1/2 classifier.
 

tonofsteel

Jr. Member
Dec 21, 2017
23
18
Gap of Canada
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Look for the Garrett Gold Panning kit. Several of the sites supporting
vendors sell them.

Good pans, good price and comes with a 1/2 classifier.

When I was starting out I purchased the cheaper/smaller Garrett kit and like what happens to most during the first year ended up buying a bunch of different tools and other pans. The smaller kit does NOT include the Super Sluice and in hindsight after all the purchases and panning I would have just went with the more expensive Garrett kit that does include it and stopped buying after that. Now a days I usually only take the SS when going out to sample or pan since it seems to have the right balance between durability and usability in addition to going through the most material (for me anyways)

Just wanted to share since I wish I would have just bought the larger kit and been done.........
 

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,949
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I am a fan of the super sluice pan as well, never really understood what a sluice had to do with it but it is a nice size sturdy pan with steeper walls, a couple huge cheater riffles and a nice wide bottom. I'm also a fan of steel pans.
 

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deserdog

Hero Member
May 17, 2013
508
443
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I think the super sluice part of just a gimmick. It is a good pan. Easy to use. You can also dry pan with it, I have a couple of times, and was suprised with the results. Stay away from pans that are you flexible. I also like a wide bottomed pan.
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,222
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
When I was starting out I purchased the cheaper/smaller Garrett kit and like what happens to most during the first year ended up buying a bunch of different tools and other pans. The smaller kit does NOT include the Super Sluice and in hindsight after all the purchases and panning I would have just went with the more expensive Garrett kit that does include it and stopped buying after that. Now a days I usually only take the SS when going out to sample or pan since it seems to have the right balance between durability and usability in addition to going through the most material (for me anyways)

Just wanted to share since I wish I would have just bought the larger kit and been done.........


x3 for super sluice

all of Garrets stuff is STOUT

I chucked a 15# rock up the bank once... came rolling back ..two foot open air drop..
CRACK right on my super sluice.
Thought she was toast for sure.

Weird white line. Took a year to form a real crack. Still my main pan.
 

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Hamfist

Sr. Member
Aug 1, 2014
264
431
SoCal
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Whippet, 151, GH, shovel, brain
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I have four or five Super Sluices and they are great, but I have recently found myself using the 15" Minelab pan almost excusively. It's a bit of a hybrid of the Super Sluice and Proline, both of which I really like.

The Minelab is also BLUE. If Garrett ever makes the Super Sluice in blue, I will probably buy another half dozen of them. Gold pops so much better against blue...at least to my eyes.
 

Goldwasher

Gold Member
May 26, 2009
6,077
13,222
Sailor Flat, Ca.
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Gold Bug 2 Burlap, fish oil, .35 gallons of water per minute.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I have four or five Super Sluices and they are great, but I have recently found myself using the 15" Minelab pan almost excusively. It's a bit of a hybrid of the Super Sluice and Proline, both of which I really like.

The Minelab is also BLUE. If Garrett ever makes the Super Sluice in blue, I will probably buy another half dozen of them. Gold pops so much better against blue...at least to my eyes.

I still haven't seen a minelab pan in person.

No one around here sells them

I also like the proline pan
 

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,949
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I have one of the 15" minelab pans, I won it in the raffle at an EBP meeting. As far as I can tell it has the same dimensions as the super sluice, same wall angle large bottom but it has finer cheater riffles. I like operating it but it has alot more flex and its made in China so...
 

AllenJ

Full Member
Mar 7, 2018
133
225
Northern CA
Detector(s) used
White's TDI SL, Minelab GPX5000 & GM1000, Garrett Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
The 10" Minelabs pan is my go to prospecting pan. Fits nicely into the daypack, steep walls and good riffles. It is also easy to handle a 10" pan when you have to be in awkward positions panning. I like the Super Sluice for when I know I'm going to be doing buckets of material but it does not fit nearly as well into the daypack as the 10". I got a couple of Prolines for Christmas and look forward to trying them this spring.
 

Hamfist

Sr. Member
Aug 1, 2014
264
431
SoCal
Detector(s) used
SDC2300, Whippet, 151, GH, shovel, brain
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I never would have purchased the Minelab unless I saw it in person at GPAA show. Figured I’d give it a try. It’s not as sturdy as the Super Sluice but much sturdier than the Proline. I use it for panning cons after the Gold Cube does its thing so it never really goes out into the field. Out there, it’s a SS for sure.

Sucks that it’s made in China and costs more than the Garrett :/
 

Capt Nemo

Bronze Member
Apr 11, 2015
1,058
1,609
Oshkosh, WI
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You can use the riffles in the Garrett pans as a sluice, just keep the material stratified so that the heavies can sink and the lights can slowly dribble out of the pan. As long as the riffles can keep exchanging, the gold will drop into the riffles. Stopping the stratification and then washing the material out, just flatboards the sluice. Just think of the pan as a 3-4 riffle sluice.
 

KevinInColorado

Gold Member
Jan 9, 2012
7,037
11,369
Summit County, Colorado
Detector(s) used
Grizzly Goldtrap Explorer & Motherlode, Gold Cube with trommel or Banker on top, Angus Mackirk Expedition, Gold-n-Sand Xtream Hand pump
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I bought a 14” minelab pan at a gold show and wasn’t impressed with it in the field. I thought I’d like the blue color but it just didn’t work with my eyes. Also nowhere near as tough as the Proline or the Garrett.
 

Bodfish Mike

Sr. Member
Dec 12, 2014
499
1,354
Bodfish and Marin county CA
Detector(s) used
Garrett , Whites
keene puffer drywasher , Keene A51 Sluice
Primary Interest:
Other
I bought a 14” minelab pan at a gold show and wasn’t impressed with it in the field. I thought I’d like the blue color but it just didn’t work with my eyes. Also nowhere near as tough as the Proline or the Garrett.

Yep -- Green and Blue pans are great if you want to see Black sand -- I hate Black sand.
I want see Gold and with a Black pan it is very easy to see with my eyes.
Cheers Mike
 

N-Lionberger

Bronze Member
Dec 1, 2013
1,359
1,949
Arcata, California
Detector(s) used
Fisher 1212-x
Fisher Gold Bug 2
Whites 4900/SP3
Dowsing rods
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I have the big 17" proline pan it folds up like a taco full of gravel.
 

Zortan

Newbie
Mar 2, 2019
2
3
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I like the Super Sluice as well. I made some mods to mine which has made it much more user friendly as far as I am concerned. I went ahead and made some instructions on those mods if anyone cares to see.
 

cyzak

Bronze Member
Jul 14, 2018
2,339
3,798
Mountains of Western Colorado
Detector(s) used
Garrett, General Mathematics, Geometry,Pentax,,Do the math it's there.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Garrett 14" gold trap gold pan can not go wrong with this one.
 

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