SluiceGoose....Hog Mats vs. Bazooka Tube

[Bronze]

Took the bazooka tube and some hog mats out on the river yesterday. This is far from anything scientific and controlled. So take it for whats its worth. Just a good day on the river.

 

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[Bronze]

Wow.......no comments? Or is it one of those "mom always said if you didnt have anything nice to say".....

 

[California_Diggin]

Nice video. I am still debating between a traditional type sluice and the bazooka. Always enjoy videos that compare the two.

 

[utah mason]

Nice video and gold.

 

[utah mason]

Nice video and gold. Instead of drilling hole to secure Mats how about cutting out riffles and just using side bars to clamp down Mats. I run 30" prospector and a51 with hog Moss. wish I would have got the Mats instead, but was worried about not having enough water flow. After watching some videos I think I should have gone with mats

 

[Goldwasher]

Not called a Bazooka tube fyi.....there is a "Bazooka tube" and thats not it...just sayin'..... Hogmatts are awesome. You can get away with less classifacation if you dont leave the regular riffles in. They cause build up of larger stuff. If you watch the video Doc released on his stream sluice you will see what I mean.

 

[goldhog]

LOL.... Love the "hand me down" mats Bronze....

Yes, riffles over the mats are generally not run, but I've seen people do it with success.
If you run bare mats and have the water flow, then classifying is either not needed or very minimal.
Just picture a 5" or 6" dredge running with bare mats and 5-6" rock rolling down the sluice.
That's kind of the picture I like people to think about.
Installing them in a traditional sluice does take some workarounds, that's why we finally decided to
come out with the stream sluice package this year. I had to totally redesign the way sluices join and
make a "mat groove". Ended up work out great.

I'm just glad it's about 40 degrees warmer down here.
Your video makes me cold.
Doc

 

[et1955]

Your friends with the sluice had the advantage over you, they could see that they are on the gold immediately, unfortunately they were classifying wrong, 1/2 inch is the lowest you need to go for that spot you were at, been there many times. With the right classifier you do your classifying at the dig site not at the river, it's all about efficiency, why carry 16 buckets down to the river when you only need carry 5 that are classified, I average 4 buckets an hour, that's classified to a 1/2inch and run threw the sluice, 16 of those is my average per day of mining, estimating depending on thy type of material I am digging that comes to about 48 unclassified buckets and on the sky where you were mining that translates into about a gram of gold. Also for that place an electric highbanker is the only way to go since setting up a sluice near where the gold is can be very difficult.

 

[Bronze]

Your friends with the sluice had the advantage over you, they could see that they are on the gold immediately, unfortunately they were classifying wrong, 1/2 inch is the lowest you need to go for that spot you were at, been there many times. With the right classifier you do your classifying at the dig site not at the river, it's all about efficiency, why carry 16 buckets down to the river when you only need carry 5 that are classified, I average 4 buckets an hour, that's classified to a 1/2inch and run threw the sluice, 16 of those is my average per day of mining, estimating depending on thy type of material I am digging that comes to about 48 unclassified buckets and on the sky where you were mining that translates into about a gram of gold. Also for that place an electric highbanker is the only way to go since setting up a sluice near where the gold is can be very difficult.

I spent quite a bit of time getting him set up and testing the spot for him. Then I made the mistake of not testing the spot I was digging in because of time. Big mistake. I agree with you on the high banker. We talked about that while we were out and it would definitely make life a lot easier. Would love to get one of the Gold hog big high bankers in there.

 

[Bronze]

Not called a Bazooka tube fyi.....there is a "Bazooka tube" and thats not it...just sayin'

Yeah, I know its a "Bazooka Gold trap", we've just nick named it "bazooka tube".

 

[KevinInColorado]

Good video. Hog Mats are a superior product vs. traditional (aka old fashioned) riffles and moss and such. Your day wasn't a reasonable comparison of course since you were digging out of separate holes and all but both a solid products that stand head and shoulders above other sluices.

PS that's a Bazooka Goldtrap Sniper right? I do suggest you respect the product branding and also know which mats (UR, scrubber, etc) you are using so you can educate people. Using a nickname like bazooka tube will just confuse the new kids.

 

[Goldwasher]

Good video. Hog Mats are a superior product vs. traditional (aka old fashioned) riffles and moss and such. Your day wasn't a reasonable comparison of course since you were digging out of separate holes and all but both a solid products that stand head and shoulders above other sluices.

PS that's a Bazooka Goldtrap Sniper right? I do suggest you respect the product branding and also know which mats (UR, scrubber, etc) you are using so you can educate people. Using a nickname like bazooka tube will just confuse the new kids.

It's a prospector Kevin. The secret is to count grizzly wires.....that's what I've heard at least ; )

 

[Aufisher]

Those Prospectors look sweet!

 

[utah mason]

I would like to see a comparison out of same hole. Alternating each shovel load between two sluices

 

[et1955]

I would like to see a comparison out of same hole. Alternating each shovel load between two sluices

Won't work, this is ancient river bed, the deposition is not uniform, one shovel full could be richer than next, but it really comes down to this, there is no contest here, neither one is better than the other. It all comes down to the Miner and his experiences and knowledge using his choice of mining equipment and the area he is mining.

 

[goldenIrishman]

MAn.... Sure wish I had water like that down here!!!!! sniff....sniff

 

[Bronze]

Won't work, this is ancient river bed, the deposition is not uniform, one shovel full could be richer than next, but it really comes down to this, there is no contest here, neither one is better than the other. It all comes down to the Miner and his experiences and knowledge using his choice of mining equipment and the area he is mining.

Ed is right here. You can test pan behind a rock and have nothing and then go right in front of the rock and have a good amount of gold. Then go 5ft up stream and have nothing again. I've been working that spot for over 2 years now and its taken a LOT of test pans to find the pay streaks (if you want to call it that, more like pay pockets). On that trip I spent more time getting my buddy set up than I spent on myself and doing a couple test pans. And just when you think you have it figured out, the floods hit and change everything. The floods coming down that river are torrential and will displace massive amounts of material. Where we were sluicing at will be '10-'15 under water at flood time and you will hear and see boulders the size of a Volkswagen bug being thrown down river.

 

[Bronze]

LOL.... Love the "hand me down" mats Bronze....

I'm just glad it's about 40 degrees warmer down here.
Your video makes me cold.
Doc

Best kind of mats you can get

Temp wise its usually OK, even when the snow is out. Its when the wind picks up that it just flat out hurts.

 

[Bronze]

PS that's a Bazooka Goldtrap Sniper right? I do suggest you respect the product branding and also know which mats (UR, scrubber, etc) you are using so you can educate people. Using a nickname like bazooka tube will just confuse the new kids.

Its a prospector. I got lucky and got the mats correct and I'll make sure to use the proper name with Bazooka. Makes good sence since I am trying to hit the beginners out there.

 

[GrizzlyGremlin]

Won't work, this is ancient river bed, the deposition is not uniform, one shovel full could be richer than next, but it really comes down to this, there is no contest here, neither one is better than the other. It all comes down to the Miner and his experiences and knowledge using his choice of mining equipment and the area he is mining.

This is the truest comment out there. Equipment is far far far less important than being a "miner". Equipment has become way too important!
Just because you have a 4" with air, 1 1\2" blaster, 3 stage self classifying sluice doesn't mean you will find more gold than a cutthroat maniac with a #2 and stream sluice. Certainly good equipment will make moving dirt easier, but there is no fantastical law stating that the more you spend the more you make. Of course this can be true, but knowing how to run dirt makes equipment quite irreverent.
I could go to my local creek, set up a slab of concrete as a sluice, and find much more gold than someone with all the whistles. 2 yards of dirt over concrete with 70% retention still beats the breaks off of 1 yard of dirt with 99%. Finding more gold is 95% about moving more dirt. The tools used to help are just that..Helpers.
Having ranted out, I choose a 36" stream sluice with 1\8" U-type black up front, and 1\4" deep v for the rear 2'. Simplicity is often overlooked!! Gold hog mats are great, I got to see them in action finally. Honestly though I saw little difference in the 1\4" deep v versus the GH mats, other than the GH holding more material in the cleanouts.
Regardless of your brand selection, rubber mats do a great job, not really comparable to a zooka, because they operate on totally different premises. I greatly prefer mats over traditional riffles, and carpet for stream sluicing.